I have finally spoken directly to Norm MacDonald, President of the Ossining Historical Society (OHS) concerning the “Leatherman” project. Apparently, the two emails I sent to the OHS, on 12/6/2010 and 3/21/2011 were never received. I will always admit when I am wrong, and I sincerely regret not making more of an effort to speak with him directly before today. Unfortunately, this error may have negatively impacted the movement to “Leave the Leatherman Alone”. I suppose it has appeared that I have been using the anonymity of the Internet, instead of bringing my concerns to him personally, as President of the OHS. I profusely apologized for this, and other comments I have made, that were interpreted as discourteous to him, or to the good work that the Ossining Historical Society does. I have tried my best to keep this debate ISSUE based, and factual, not personal. As I stated in my first post on this site:
“I have created this site to inform and educate, and give myself and others a forum to speak their minds on this topic. All comments are welcome, and please feel free to sign the guestbook. I only ask that we all take a cue from Old Leathery himself, because although he didn’t use words and he looked a wreck, he somehow still managed to represent himself with dignity to the strangers he met.” (12/5/2010)
I would ask that anyone who visits this site keep this in mind moving forward. Historical Societies are local treasures, and the work that their volunteers do to preserve the legacy of our past is invaluable.
