In the Library of Congress I fell unexpectedly into their collection of Women’s Suffrage in Sheet Music and this 1916 song by Alfred Bryan, Jerome H. Remick & Co and Herman Paley caught my ear, my eye and my imagination. “ She’s Good Enough to Be Your Baby’s Mother and She’s Good Enough to Vote With You.” What a title!

Here are the lyrics with no adjustment for 2021 political correctness.

No man is greater than his mother
No man is half so good
No man is better than the wife he loves
Her love will guide him
What ‘ere beguile him

She’s good enough to love you and adore you
She’s good enough to bear your troubles for you
And if your tears were falling today
Nobody else would kiss them away
She’s good enough to warm your heart with kisses
When your lonesome and blue
She’s good enough to be your baby’s mother
And she’s good enough to vote with you

Man plugs the world in war and sadness
She must protest in vain
Let’s hope and pray someday we’ll hear her pain
Stop all your madness, I bring you gladness


She’s good enough to love you and adore you
She’s good enough to bear your troubles for you
And if your tears were falling today
Nobody else would kiss them away
She’s good enough to warm your heart with kisses
When your lonesome and blue
She’s good enough to be your baby’s mother
And she’s good enough to vote with you

She’s good enough to give you old Abe Lincoln
She good enough to give you Brandon Sherman
Robert E. Lee and Washington too
She was so true she gave them to you
She’s good enough to give you Teddy Roosevelt
Thomas A. Edison too.
She’s good enough to give you Woodrow Wilson
And she’s good enough to vote with you.

Paley, Herman, and Alfred Bryan. She’s Good Enough to Be Your Baby’s Mother and She. Jerome H. Remick & Co., New York, 1916. Notated Music. https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.100008305/.

Thank you for reading and sharing my history and Norwich Community blog freely with your family or friends or anyone you think might be interested or in a position to take on some of the suggested projects. Don't hesitate to contact me for further information. I am happy to pass along anything I can. Together we can make a difference. Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs

Am I wrong? Am I really wrong? When it comes to Norwich city politics I keep asking for a plan. Any plan. Just something with a beginning, steps to achieve or not but some sort of goals to reach and an ending being a better city. But what I keep getting are no plans but astronomical estimates and plans for another bond because the price Norwich would pay for the bond is low right now.

A plan that says only “We are going to take a loan out for the City (that’s the bond) and figure out how we are going to spend it later.” does not work for me.

Telling me that a bond needs to be taken out so more exorbitant salaries can be paid to people who may or may not have the required skills for a job that hasn’t been decided on or described yet does not sound fiscally responsible to me.

Please don’t tell me the City needs to have another study performed to assess what we have, don’t have and what our community and population needs are. Sorry but we have enough of those that sit on shelves in Norwich City Hall and Otis Library and yes, most of the recent ones are even available on-line. If there is in fact further confusion as to what members of the community are in need of, perhaps its time to ask the City of Norwich Department Heads what they and their staff are seeing. I’ll bet the Norwich Clergy Association and the area ambulance services would be happy to make a list too.

I looked at the Economic Development Strategic Plan 2015, City of Norwich and it proved to be an excellent source of what is where in Norwich, attitudes of the residents and lists good and bad points for industrial and business sites. It is not a perfect document and I would like some clarification of some of the points. But some goals were accomplished and now its possible for other goals to be set. I do not care who wrote the Plan or which political party was in place. The fact is, there is something in place that can be used. It has a variety of focus points. Choose one or choose five. Just don’t start all over again. It is time for the members of the Norwich City Council to begin to work together and to demonstrate open and honest fiscal responsibility for the residents and taxpayers of Norwich, CT.

Ask yourself, how proud of something are you if you can’t tell people about it? Please members of the Norwich City Council do not ask me to support a bond for which there is no plan or one you cannot speak proudly about. Thank you.

Thank you for reading and sharing my history and Norwich Community blog freely with your family or friends or anyone you think might be interested or in a position to take on some of the suggested projects. Don’t hesitate to contact me for further information. I am happy to pass along anything I can. Together we can make a difference. Email comments on this blog to berylfishbone@yahoo.com View my past columns at http://www.norwichbulletin.com/section/blogs.