BELLOWS FALLS — At this year's Bellows Falls Village Meeting, the majority voted to dissolve the memorial fund of Sarah Burr Howard, founded in her memory in 1900, in a disgraceful act of modern capitalism.
The original $10,000 trust fund has been in place in the village since 1916 ($5,000 donated in 1900, another $5,000 donated in 1916), when her husband, Luther, donated what was then a very large amount of money to be set aside in a trust fund with the interest used specifically to assist village residents, the poor.
At the meeting, I spoke for Sarah Burr Howard and said that the dissolution of a memorial trust fund is wrong and dishonorable.
The residents of Bellows Falls, without regard for this tragedy, voted to dissolve the fund and take the $10,000 (which was a trust fund never to be touched) plus the current $397.88 interest balance (which was intended to be given to the poor of the village in her memory), applying the full amount to the Greater Rockingham Area Services loan from the Rockingham Revolving Loan Fund, thus dishonoring the memory of this person.
I left the meeting feeling utter disgust. I am not sure what I can do about it. It disgusts me that memorials mean so little to our community that the capitalist appeal of acquiring $10,397.88 in the revolving loan fund trumps a memorial.
I do not think that the villagers of Bellows Falls fully understand that this is the end of a memorial they have just voted for. The Sarah Burr Howard Memorial (emphasis intended) no longer exists as of today. Her name will be gone from records within a year; she will be gone.
My sincere condolences to Luther G. Howard, at the loss of his beautiful memorial in his wife's name. My words cannot convey how awful it feels to have been a part of this completely avoidable failing in our humanity.
Sarah Burr Howard's name should not be forgotten, nor the love her husband had for her, as his generous memorial attests. Shame on you, Bellows Falls.