From the April - May  2001 Edition 

Letters to the Editor: Bad Idea   These letters are in response to an article in a previous edition about banning the use of power tools on weekends.  See Article     Bad Idea  If Fair Lawn bans power tools on the weekend you can count on me to bring every power tool that I own out onto my front lawn and to turn them on all day. And that will be after notifying the police and the court of my intent to do so.   Weekends are the only time that many of the residents have to do work around the outside of the house. Remember, the safe operation of a power tool requires sufficient light by which to see.   Nighttime during the week does not meet that requirement. I'm terribly sorry if you have a hangover and want quiet. That does not give you the right to require that I operate my tools in a manner that could be dangerous to me.  MR   No Other Time I would feel safe in assuming that this person who suggested banning Outdoor powertools on weekends does not have to contend with a two-job household, children, helping with homework, attending school functions, Cub/Girl Scouts, sports, etc on a daily basis. They apparently think that everyone has nothing better to do than slowly plod through their yardword by hand, as opposed to using power tools that cut the time by at least half.   Furthermore, it's plain to see that they have no sympathy for those of Us who DO have a schedule like what I described above. We have no choice But to cram in yardwork on weekends, and even then it must be scheduled Around shopping, paying bills, taking care of the INSIDE of the house, going To sports games, running errands, and managing to spend some quality Family time together.   It's no wonder so many people hire landscapers. I (stupidly) did all the yardwork myself last year, and wound up spending 6-8 hours EVERY WEEK taking care of our modest 5000 square feet of grass. And that was with an entire arsenal of powertools.   Since this person doesn't like us doing yardwork on weekends, maybe they would prefer if we took care of it at 10:00 or 11:00 on weeknights instead, since that's what time it is by the time the dinner dishes are cleaned up, the laundry's done, the kids are in bed, and the garbage is put out.  R. Pagano