(3/2011) March brings to mind St. Patrick’s Day, March Madness, a four-week national college basketball tournament, and the beginning of Spring on March 20th . Growing up in the 1940s, I used to go to the theater to watch a lot of black and white movies and had this crush on a beautiful movie actress by the name of Hedy Lamarr. What I didn’t realize was that she in 1940 invented the cell phone technology we use today. Sybilla Masters received a patent in 1715 for cleaning and curing corn.

In 1809, Mary Kies invented a process for weaving straw with silk or thread which helped the nation’s hat industry. Susan B. Anthony, in 1869, became the co-founder of the first US Woman’s Suffrage Organization. In 1881, Clara Barton became the founder of the American Red Cross. Mary Anderson received a patent in 1905 for the windshield wiper. Kevlar was invented by former DuPont chemist Stephanie Kwolek of Wilmington, Delaware in 1965. The first video home security system was patented by Marie Brown in 1969.

There are so many women that have made contributions to our way of life. You heard of Betty Ross, Amelia Earhart, Sandra Day O’Connor, Condoleezza Rice but did you know that Victoria Woodhull was the first woman to be a presidential candidate back in 1872. If you have some time this month, you may want to celebrate March’s National Women’s History Month by introducing yourself, your kids and closet friends to our country’s most influential woman.

At the February Carroll Valley Borough Council meeting, Chief of Police Richard L. Hileman gave his 2010 annual Police Report. He reported the Department responded to 2,091 calls for service in 2010 which represented a 6.2% increase over 2009. Calls for service are incidents requiring a police response and do not include vehicle stops or other routine duties. The 2,091 calls for service resulted in 242 Uniform Crime Reports or UCRs. An UCR is a crime as defined by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and categorized into Part 1 and Part 2 Offenses.

Part 1 are homicide, forcible rape, robbery, assault, burglary, theft, and arson. Part 2 are everything else except traffic offenses like stop signs or speeding. Part 1 offenses increased about 2.3% and Part 2 offenses decreased 23.8%. Based on the numbers, crime decreased approximately 17% overall to near 2008 levels. How safe are we? As explained by Chief Hileman, the state-wide rural crime rate for 2009 was 18.8 Part 1 and 42.9 part 2 per 1,000 residents.

Carroll Valley’s 2010 Part 1 was about 11% less and Part 2 was 42% less at 17.8 and 33.2 per 1,000 respectively. This amounts to Carroll Valley having 17% less crime overall than similar rural areas in Pennsylvania. As far as Traffic and Ordinance Citations, the Police Department issued 395 traffic, non-traffic and ordinance citations including 234 for speeding,109 for other traffic, 1 for ordinances and 33 for underage alcohol which represents a 50% increase over 2009 figure of 22. This underage drinking is a concern and will be discussed at the Carroll Valley Public Safety Committee on March 14th.

The Fairfield Fire & EMS is mailing reminder letters to households that did not respond to their annual solicitation. Based on my conversation with those who manage the firehouse, they understand that it may be difficult to find a few extra dollars in light of current economic conditions but they are hoping that you can give what you can no matter what the amount. The fire company uses such creative fund raising methods such as bingo, small games of chance, raffles and rental of fire company space.

All of these efforts generate money but at the cost of many hours of time provided free by fire company members. There is a concern that these volunteers are starting to burnout. The Fairfield Fire & EMS needs your support by volunteering your time to help out in fund raising events, by volunteering your time in responding to an emergency if qualified or by volunteering your advice on how the fire company can continue to remain a volunteer service. Every Tuesday evening is training night at the fire company. If you have a moment, stop in. Talk to them.

The Carroll Valley Citizens Association (CVCA) is planning to hold a dinner meeting on March 18th at 6:30 pm at the Carroll Valley Pavilion in the Carroll Commons. Both Dave Hazlett, our Borough Manager, and myself have been invited as the evening speakers. The topic of the evening will be "What is going on in the Valley". If you are interested in attending, please call Charles Dalton, the CVCA president, at (717) 642-8696 for reservations.

I had the pleasure on February 9th to welcome Taverna to our valley during a ribbon cutting ceremony. Taverna is a Greek word used to describe a small, unpretentious café or restaurant in Greece. If you have an opportunity to dine out, visit Taverna and be served by Nick Kalathas and his wife LaShay. It will be a dining experience.

The Borough will be holding the following meetings in March: Planning Commission (Mar 7th); Public Safety Committee (Mar 14th); Borough Council (Mar 15th); and Parks and Recreation Committee (Mar 23rd). If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me by email at mayor@carrollvalley.org or by cell at (301) 606-2021.