Dear Editor:
RE: Kat Florence withdrawing financial support for Elora projects; going after online bullies instead, Feb. 20.
I have never yet been riled up so far as to write to the editor of any newspaper, but what is happening to the owners of Kat Florence is so outrageous that I have to speak out.
We moved to Elora in 1983 when the “newcomer” label was already being applied to those who wanted to improve Mill Street. I am not a business owner but have been a resident of “tourist towns” most of my life. Sure, parking is always a problem and needs a solution, but we must remind ourselves that our village and its residents are the envy of all those tourists who travel here from across the world just to look at it for a few hours.
What Kristy Hillis and Don Kogen have done to spark and support the renovation of Mill Street and Lower Geddes, including the light project, is sensational. To be able to drive or walk through the lighted streets at night is truly heartwarming in this cold old-fashioned winter.
Kogen, last week, referred to the online bullying as schoolyard bullying. But, at least in the school yard, people can see who the bullies are. When they can hide behind their sacred screens of anonymity, they get much more bold.
Would any of these cowards ever say the same things face-to -face with their victims? Why are society and the leaders of our new high-tech world absolutely refusing to remove the anonymity from social media.
If communication technology and AI are capable of so many astounding feats, why can’t they take away the shields and masks that allow online bullies to thrive?
I wish Hillis and Kogen all the best in their quest to expose the cowards who appear to want to pull Elora back 40 years.
Terry Jackson,
Elora