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Ed Houck's 1961 announcement of
his bid for Burgess of
Emmitsburg
Originally published in the
Emmitsburg Chronicle April 21,
1961
An
Open Letter To The 'People of
Emmitsburg'
Emmitsburg this week I was
asked; "What did I think my
qualifications were to ran for
Burgess of Emmitsburg?" I
answered this person and now I
would like to tell you.
Our town charter calls for the
candidate for Burgess to be a
legal resident of Emmitsburg for
at least 2 years immediately
preceding the election and must
be a qualified voter in the
town: These are the written and
must qualifications and to these
I wish to add what I feel are my
personal qualifications.
I
was born in Emmitsburg a little
over 30 years ago and with the
exception of my two years in the
service have lived here all of
my life. I plan to keep on
living here and seeing the
community grow. When I was
nineteen years old and just
completed my fresh-man year of
college my parents died and from
that day forward I was in a
business world where I had to
learn to move with the changing
times. In the past year I have
purchased my sisters' share of
the business and of the property
and how know what it means to
carry the full burden of the
property owner. I purchased this
business as a share in the
future. I want my business to
thrive but it can only do this
if the community where we live
also thrives.
Doris, my wife, and I will soon
celebrate our tenth wedding
anniversary and we have four
fine children that we want to
raise in Emmitsburg. I want them
to have all the advantages that
are due them. while they grow
up. I feel that, planning now to
insure these different things
will keep many of our younger
set from leaving our town.
My
answer to the question of "Am I
interested in the community or
just my own personal
gains?" is this. From the time I
became old enough to belong, I
have worked in community
organizations. In the Vigilant
Hose Co., I have been art active
member for better than a dozen
years and I am proud that I have
served as an officer in the
company for most of those years.
I became active in our local
Scouting pro-gram in the spring
of 1954 and have served as Asst.
Scoutmaster and Scoutmaster of
Troop 284 and now serve as
Advisor for Explorer Post 265. I
was a- charter member of the
Chamber of Commerce in
Emmitsburg and was active in
that for many years.
Ia
m a charter member of the
'Junior Chamber of Commerce and
served for the past year as
chair-man of the Community
Development Committee. I have
attended community development
meetings on the state level in
the Jaycee program. I received
the Emmitsburg Jaycees' first
Distinguished Service Award for
out-standing service to my
community. Our committee of the
Jaycees ran the recent survey as
part of our program to find out
what Emmitsburg needs and wants.
Other organizations which I have
taken an active part in during
the past years were the Alumni
Asso. of St. Joseph's High
School, the American Legion and
the Junior Citizens Committee of
Emmitsburg. I spent almost two
years on the road as a traveling
sales-man and used much of the
time in finding out the problems
of the other towns. I have
talked with the leading
businessmen of many towns on
their problems and have learned
much from the conversations.
I
have worked on problems in our
town and have offered my
services on many special
occasions. I know that the
problems of the town need to be
discussed and the best result
for the citizens is expected.
This planning for our future
will need young men who are also
planning their future and the
energy which is needed for the
end result can only come from
those willing to meet these
problems and work, for their
solution.
If
elected I will work together
with the other elected officials
for the good of the community. I
will not be in favor of putting
aside issues which may mean more
work for us or will I be a "Yes
Man" to every suggestion which
is made without serious
discussion and finding out of
the details. It is true that I
am for the youth of the
community 1,00% too. I am for a
well informed public in' civic
matters and for everyone to be
treated fairly and for the
citizen to have, a right to
voice- his opinion at an open
meeting. I am for HARMONY in our
local government and with the
people of our town. know that if
we work together we can make
Emmitsburg a place to be proud
to live in and raise our
families. If you have thought
enough to register for the local
election then I can only ask
that you think of the future of
Emmitsburg before you vote.
Signed
J. E. Houck
Ed
Houck is the author of the
following Historical articles in
our archives ...
Do
you have an old newspapers
clipping detailing life in
Emmitsubrg?
If so, e-mail it to us at
history@emmitsubrg.net |
