It is very gratifying that this newspaper can help get out the word about the upcoming Kyle’s Heroes Walk for Down Syndrome Awareness that will take place on Saturday, Nov. 7 at Theodore Roosevelt Park in Oyster Bay from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
It is auspicious that in this same issue of the Enterprise Pilot we talk about the Oyster Festival. The spirit of giving is alive and well in this waterside community.
We were trying to research on the Internet, a comment we remember from a discussion of Alexis de Tocqueville, the Frenchman who toured the United States during our formative years. Wikipedia offered this synopsis that filled our requirements. It said and we quote loosely, that, “In Democracy in America, published in 1835, Tocqueville wrote from the perspective of a detached social scientist. Tocqueville wrote of his travels through America in the early 19th century. He saw democracy as an equation that balanced liberty and equality, concern for the individual as well as the community.”
Tocqueville saw in Americans the ability to form associations for the greater good. In the words of Wikipedia, “Tocqueville thought that association, the coming together of people for common purpose, both public and private, binds Americans to an idea of nation larger than selfish desires, thus making both a self-conscious and active political society and a vibrant civil society functioning independently from the state.”
That is what we are aiming to comment about. We are a people who don’t sit back and wait for government to help us – instead, we band together and take action. The desire to help organizations that help others in need – the purpose of the not-for-profits raising funds for their groups at the Oyster Festival – is that concept at work.
It is a great and good thing. It makes life better for all of us. Let’s hope for great weather for Oct. 17 and 18, and if you are one of the workers – our compliments to you. If you will be one of those attending the festival – our cheers to you. It takes all of us to make things in this great country/society to work. Bravo!
