Stories from

Michael K. Hall, a Batavia resident, reminisces about his dad in the Buffalo News this morning.

My father was interested in politics but he did not have a formal party affiliation. He was more interested in the quality of the man running for president than whether he was a Democrat or Republican. I wonder what he would think of the extreme polarization within our country concerning politics and the two major parties.

I have a general idea of how he would feel about the war in Iraq. He was not a supporter of the Vietnam War, and when my brother Stuart and I were there it must have been hard on him. I think that the year I spent in Iraq would have been hard on him as well. I believe that he would be appalled at the notion one could be labeled unpatriotic if you had a different viewpoint or opinion than the one that was put out by the government supporting the war. He was also a student of history and would wonder why our country does not seem to learn from our past history in this area. He would have little sympathy for terrorists or terrorism as a means of political change. The concept of suicide bombers would boggle his mind.

Emphasis added, because that "year I spent in Iraq" is the kind of thing that could use more explanation in context. Hall is a retired superintendent of schools, so what was he doing in Iraq?  I'm curious.

A couple of people have asked how to make friends ...

Well, I could recommend a good book, but on The Batavian, there are two easy ways.

First, go to the People link up top and scan all of the people who have registered and look for people you would like to be friends with, click on their names, go to their profile pages and you'll find a link that says "Add to Friends." Click that link and then click "Yes" on the next page.  You can go through that same process for as many people as you like.

The second method is to click on the "My Friends" link in the left-side navigation.  When you go to that page, you'll see a series of links across the top of your friends list that allows you to manage your friends (haven't we all been tempted to do that sometimes!).  There is one link called "Invite Friends."  You go use the form on that page to invite people you know, people you have an e-mail address for, to sign up for The Batavian and become your friend.

Also, a word about guestbooks: We've added the guestbook function so you have a more direct way to communicate with other members of the site. Guestbooks are not private messages, but they do allow for more direct communication (rather than, say, through a comment on a post).  I've already noticed one member has left a couple of messages like, "Hey, didn't I go to high school with you?"

I'm already having fun with the new "Friends" feature. I see other people are, too.  If you haven't tried it yet, please check it out.