General - The City of Lowell is the Big Winner in the Next Election
It was well known that one of the "little" Ogonowski boys was an American Airlines pilot. He had done well for himself, built a big house on his piece of land up on the south side of Marsh Hill just across from Dr. Ogonowski, the dentist for most of my extended family.
My great-grand parents, then my grand parents and now my aunts and uncles have farmed the land just down Marsh Hill from the Ogonowski family for over 100 years. We were French-Canadians, they were Poles. Neither of us are Shaws, Richardsons or Zacks in this small, traditionally Yankee town near Lowell.
We worked hard in our respective fields under the same hardscrabble conditions. Hard work. Family. Self sufficiency. These were the hallmarks of Dracut "market gardeners." 'Farmer' is really a reach for this small plot subsistence in the shadows of the great belching mills that first brought our ancestors to Lowell.
Despite farm deferments, most of the men went to war when called. They voted. They went to the Grange meetings down on Bridge Street to discuss local issues of the day. They went to church. They cared for their neighbors in need.
To some, the obituary and news reports of Capt. John Ogonowski, pilot of doomed AA11, may have looked routine, save for a comma and the words "part-time farmer" describing his personal history.
If for no other reason, I could endorse Jim Ogonowski's candidacy for listing 'farmer' equally with a long career in the Air Force and Air National Guard.
In an industrial state with ever limited natural resources, no one would confuse these farmers with ConAgra or Tyson.
The Ogonowski farm, like my own family's farm, continues to grow good family values, conservation of limited resources and an abundant crop of strong character.
For the record, I don't see eye to eye with Jim Ogonowski on most of the issues (and I have the utmost respect for his opponent, Niki Tsongas), but Merrimack Valley is fortunate to have two candidates that are as connected to the people as Jim and Niki. Lowell will not lose this election.
