Messages for president; Walker giving America a chance to speak out.

Byline: Betty Lilyestrom

COLUMN: LEICESTER NOTEBOOK

B.J. Hill, the Leicester resident who is walking across America collecting residents' messages for the person who will be elected president of the United States in November, has reached Saline, Mo.

Since starting out in San Francisco on March 1, B.J. has now traveled 2,145 miles, visiting parts of eight states , more than a third of the 21 on the walking route which he expects will come to an end in Boston on Nov. 1.

Other states he has touched, some only briefly, are Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota and Iowa.

The number of messages he has collected, all of them written in the resident's own hand in the notebook B.J. carries with him, now number more the 1,000 and represent individuals from every age group and every walk of life with every manner of complaint.

A recent message from a young man in Omaha, Neb., indicated that he at least appreciated the opportunity to express his opinion this way even though he couldn't do it at the ballot box.

"I'm not quite 18, so I can't vote," he wrote. "I feel sorry that I have to miss out on such an important election. I work a job, I'm old enough to drive a car and I even pay taxes. I think it would be great if the voting age could be sixteen. So many teenagers care about who leads our nation, but we don't have a say about who it gets to be!"

The young man included his e-mail address along with the comment "I'm a culinary student, so if you need a cook, let me know."

B.J. got quite a different message from a career airman camping with his family in Iowa.

"I am an Air Force supply sergeant and I have recently returned from Iraq," he wrote. "This makes my fourth trip to the desert since 2001. Please do all you can to bring about world peace and to bring all of our troops home."

For several weeks, B.J. followed the 321-mile-long Cowboy Trail, the nation's longest rail-to-bike trail which parallels Route 20 across Nebraska.

"It is a popular route for cross-country trekkers," he said, "and it seems all the residents have a story of meeting someone who biked/unicycled/carried a cross/walked backward across America. Who knows? I can picture an old-timer saying years from now `I once met a guy who was walking around collecting messages for the president. I can't remember his name but I signed his book'."

The Board of Health will be holding a public hearing at 7 p.m. July 31 at the Leicester Senior Center, 40 Winslow Ave., about adopting regulations for outdoor wood boilers.

The boilers, which use wood to heat piped water in outdoor structures to heat homes, barns and other buildings, are

regulated by state law, but the Health Board is proposing that the town adopt its own set of regulations.

Among possible items for consideration are changes in the distances permitted between the boilers and the structure being heated, and between the boilers and abutters, as well as the dates during which the boilers may be used.

Selectman Thomas V. Brennan Jr. noted that the boilers may currently be used only between Oct. 15 and April 15,, which would make no provision for individuals who wanted to use the boiler to heat water for an outdoor pool during other months.

A draft of the proposed local regulations is available at the Board of Health office, in the Leicester Town Hall at 3 Washburn Square. Written comments on the proposal will be accepted at the office until noon on July 28.

The Leicester Lions Club has commissioned a new Cat's Meow souvenir depicting the club-sponsored Lions Park at Route 9 and Bottomley Avenue in Cherry Valley.

The club was granted the right to turn the land, former site of the Cherry Valley Elementary School into an attractive park, which holds benches dedicated to deceased Leicesterites and a fountain, surrounded by an expanse of greenery and shrubs.

The club has also taken on the responsibility for maintaining the park, a project members feel will probably cost up to $1,000 a year. King Lion Stanley A. Zagorski said half the proceeds from the sale of the new Cats' Meow will be placed in a fund to finance the maintenance of the park.

The park replica will be sold at the weekly concerts on the Common during August and at the annual Harvest Fair in the fall, Mr. Zagorski said. They can also be ordered by calling him at his office, [phone] or by e-mail through the selectmen's office at lechasseurs.leicesterma.org.

They will also be available at the club's pitch party at 7 p.m. Aug. 15 at the Leicester Senior Center. Admission to the pitch party is $4 plus a non-perishable food item. Party proceeds are used to benefit Massachusetts Eye Research and the club's projects in the Leicester community.

NAME: LEICESTER BOARD OF HEALTH