No, not the cartoon character Charlie Brown, fine a kid as he is. I'm talking about a more mature person of the same name, Bethlehem's chief of parks and public property, who for many years has been just about everybody's favorite city employee. And why not? During his tenure with the city he has done his best to satisfy all the needs of all the citizenry to the fullest extent possible. In fact, he says the biggest stress of his job has come at those moments when he has realized he can't help everybody.
I had my own encounter--a pleasant one--with Charlie Brown a few years ago. Looking at Musikfest's street planters, I decided it would be great to have flowers on the streets on the South Side. Specifically Fourth Street, where I was then living in a concentration of shops and restaurants.
Charlie was agreeable, and had a dozen or so planters delivered to my street and placed where I indicated.
But I guess my idea was before its time. The planters looked great until night fell. Then the vandals struck. I spent a couple of terrified nights out on the street, trying to frighten them away. But no one can be everywhere at once, and the terrified can hardly intimidate those who strike terror.
The original idea may still be ahead of its time for Fourth Street. Somebody, maybe the then-South Side Merchants' Association, tried to put flower plants around the sidewalks in moulded concrete urns. Heartbreakingly, the vandals struck again. And again...
Most recently, at least as far as I know, came the major depredations involving the Miles of Mules project. Various mule sculptures on the South Side were battered, knocked over, blown up...
Apparently it will be a while before a thing of beauty is a joy forever, at least in Southside Bethlehem. But I remain grateful to Charlie Brown for making my part of the experiment possible. And that seems to be characteristic of the man, as practically everybody who has dealt with him testifies. If you have wanted to do some worthwhile thing, he has wanted--and, if possible, acted--to help make it a reality.
This paragon of public servants is set to retire within a few days. As Shakespeare put it, in another context, "When comes such another?"
Not soon,I fear.
Enjoy your retirement, Charlie. And may future public employees be inspired to follow your example of service.