To the Editor:  I just received my copy of the East Hartford Gazette and I have to tell you, Bill, the article about the Bluegrass Festival in East Hartford does a tremendous disservice and I repeat a tremendous disservice to all those folks who worked so hard and put in so many hours to make our town of East Hartford shine.

I am sick and tired of the negative comments weekly in the Gazette that tend to tear the town down, piece by piece. Who gave the right to one woman to be the voice of our town's conscience? I certainly didn't. It's for that reason I'm writing to tell you what I saw at the Podunk Festival.

Firstly, working the Main Gate (Hillside entrance) I greeted all the people approaching the ticket booth with the comment "Welcome to East Hartford. Where are you folks from?" I found that many East Hartford residents were pleased to find out that there admission was free.

Others from other towns in Connecticut and all over the east coast were happy to be in East Hartford for this music event. In other words the festival provided a great platform for our town to strut its stuff. I'm sure many of the town merchants - and I could name a few - benefited from this event.

Secondly, I don't know of any other event where we could draw people to our town and show them what we are all about. The EH Police Department did us proud. Every single member of our police department that I observed acted in a gentlemanly fashion and were only too willing to assist any of the visitors to make their visit memorable.

Thirdly, I think it does a great disservice to all those volunteers who worked endless hours and I'm saying "volunteers" not being paid but willing to give of their time and talents. You couldn't have hired a better group of people to run an event.

So, why is it then we have to be subject to innuendos about impropriety in the way we handle this event? Had she been there and I'm not sure if she was. I think even she would have been proud of East Hartford.

We have to stop this guilt by innuendo on how funds are handled and not allow the bogey man in the closet approach to cast a negative light when so many people worked so hard for our town. All too often we can read about what is wrong or goes wrong in our town but when we have a star we should polish it to make it shine even brighter.

I'm sending you my photograph because I would like to fill the spot where this woman's photograph appears weekly as the only spokesperson who is watching over our well-being. She has become a laughing stock to all who witness her antics. I think its time for other East Hartford residents to speak up. Whether it's pro or con there are other voices in our town and they should be heard also.

I close by reminding you that I never saw any other article in this week's Gazette that praised the workers and it is for that reason I feel they were done a grave disservice.

As a proud resident of East Hartford I want to congratulate and thank all those who worked the 15th Annual Bluegrass Festival this year. I look forward to next year and hope more East Hartford residents will join us to volunteer their time.

Salvatore G. "Jerry" Ingallinera
East Hartford