By David Fortier

Come Sunday, Mother’s Day will have come and gone, but not without delivering flowers to my mom. To tell the truth, Mary is the one who picks the flowers, typically, this is a hanging plant, and as usual, it is a beautiful combination of yellows and purples and pinks, that will sit by the door to my mom’s house all summer. 

I get to deliver the hanging plant, though, and this is the first indoors visit to my mom’s since coronavirus struck. We even got a hug in. 

And, yes, of course, it’s Mother’s Day for Mary, who will get to hang some plants on the porch and work in the yard. And it’s only the second Mother’s Day for the mom’s of the grand kids.  

Happy Mother’s Day to all! 

Among the favorite memories this week came on the heels of leaving Lake Compounce’s opening ceremony Saturday morning. As Mary and I were leaving, watching the families stream in, I heard one young teen murmuring out loud, “I can’t believe it’s happening, I can’t believe it’s happening,” as she hugged herself and shuffled quickly to the entrance. 

(The entrance tunnel now has photos from the Lake’s history lining its walls.) 

And another favorite memory: another young teen, running over to the welcome board where she stood with her back against it to make sure she was tall enough to ride all the rides, yelling out to her dad, “Dad, does it look like I’m tall enough now?” 

The opening ceremonies, included a welcome and a tour by Lake Compounce General Manager Larry Gorneault Jr. Among those whom Gorneault introduced were Bristol Mayor Ellen Zoppo-Sassu, who presented the Lake with a letter and painting from the city acknowledging and honoring the Lake’s contribution over the past 175 years, and Lieutenant Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, who presented a Happy Birthday card from the Governor’s office. 

Prior to the speeches, people gathered to enjoy some food that will be included with this year’s menu, the chicken and waffles was pretty good but the syrup did not flow freely, since it was chilly, and more than one person who tried to pour it wound up with those long spidery webby threads from the syrup packets. The only way to break them meant sticky fingers.  

It was a good morning! 

And then again, Saturday was a busy day all around, beginning with the 7th Annual Kids’ Fishing Derby at Pine Lake and another Farms to Families food distribution.   

Of course, we are in a municipal election year, and this coming week is a council meeting, that is Tuesday. Anyone can join online by heading over to the official city website’s agenda center, scrolling down the page to the council meeting agenda and opening the agenda for a link to a virtual meeting. 

And of course, hanging over the election, at the moment, are those red signs showing up across the city, touting, “I support term limits.” The signs are part of local Republicans effort to paint the Democrats as conspirators who are angling to overturn term limits. It’s just a bald attempt to snatch power using a disingenuous claim.  

For all intents and purposes, the Dems are trying to figure out how to respect voters wishes by upholding the 2013 referendum where voters overwhelming chose term limits for elected officials.  

The catch is this: the issue was put on the ballot incorrectly under a previous administration and now a Democratic city council and mayor have to clean up the mess. Doing the right thing leaves them open to criticism, since the Charter Revision Commission, which also represents the people of Bristol, recommended resolving the issue by putting it back on the ballot this year. Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place. 

Rather than taking the low road, I would hope the local Republican Party would help resolve the issue—which the Democrats will end up resolving with or without their help. In the end, the goal is to respect voters, who, in this instance, will need to understand the problem and do the right thing themselves. 

Again, at the moment, the Democrats have two choices, which they are working simultaneously: first, the mayor has requested that members of our state legislation seek a resolution at the state level—it is there where the statutes need to be corrected; and second, the city council will have to consider—at possible risk to themselves–whether to vote to accept the recommendations of the Charter Revision Commission, one of which includes putting the issue back on the ballot for voters to reverse the original vote, until that the situation can be revisited at the state level. 

If you are interested in the conversation, there will be a city hearing addressing Charter Revision Commission this Thursday evening. Here is the agenda, which includes a link to the virtual meeting. 

“Come Sunday morning” is intended to be a weekly review, a recounting of the past week and an anticipation of week to come. Among its features will be reviews of old and new books, sharing of favorite podcasts, some family news, Bristol events and happenings and issues surrounding education, work and community journalism. He can be reached at dfortier@bristoledition.org.