Mailbag: The Crossing Guard We Almost Lost

To the editor: for twenty-two years the crossing at Elm and Second has been run by the same woman, in the same orange vest, with the same whistle that every child in this town can identify from three blocks away.

This fall the position was listed as one the budget might not cover. I want to put on record what the crossing looks like at eight in the morning: forty children, a delivery truck, two parents late for work, and one person standing in the middle of it all who knows every child's name and most of their dogs.

I am glad to read that the position was kept. I am writing because I think we came closer to losing it than most people realize, and because 'nothing happened' at that corner is not luck. It is her.

Signed, a reader on Elm Street. The Times confirms the position is funded through June, and we will be at the next budget meeting to ask about the year after.