Thanks to everyone who contacted me by phone, letter or email during the past few weeks. Hopefully, more SouthShore residents are realizing that this column provides an opportunity for you to sound off and to share your ideas and beliefs with other residents of the community.

When my 24-hour voice mail system was installed to handle an increasing number of phone calls, we thought the system selected would adequately handle the number of calls that were likely to be received. However, the number of calls received has exceeded the capacity of the system.

A new 24- hour voice mail system has been installed which allows callers to leave a longer message and is capable of storing a larger number of messages. The number remains the same – 273-8976.

My policy is to return all phone calls promptly, usually within 24 hours. If you have phoned and have not received a response from me, please phone again. My apologies for any inconveniences this may have caused. I’ve been assured that the new system will do the job.

Are you a regular reader of this column? If so, you may find the following email that I received from a reader of interest.

E-mailer Bridget Fagen – Ruskin: " My husband and I read your column

every week. In fact, it is the first thing we read. Sometimes we cutout the column and keep it on hand. Some of these have been misplaced or given to others. Is there a way for us to get copies of past columns?"

Answer to Ms Fagen: " Because of your request and requests received from other readers, special arrangements have been made to allow you to gain access over the Internet to past THE VOICE of SouthShore columns. Here is how it works:

1. Place the following Web address into your browser to access THE VOICE of SouthShore column - http://www.observernews.net.  A link to the Observer News is also available on my Website at http://buysouthshore.com.

2. At the top menu, click on to THE VOICE of SouthShore and this takes you to the current issue of my column, which you can view or print out.

3. For past issues, click on to Archives in the top menu and various dates of publication of the Observer News will appear. Click on to the past date of issue.

4. Simply repeat the above procedure to view and/or print past issues.  (Ed. note:  A search function is also available to help you to find specific VOICE of SouthShore columns).

5. If you plan to visit this web site on a regular basis, you may wish to enter the web address into your favorites for easy access."

Next week, I plan to continue to look into the mailbag to share with you the input from SouthShore residents. Do you have something to say? If so, please let me hear from you, along with your permission for me to share it with others.

Send letters to: THE VOICE of SouthShore, P.O. Box 476, Ruskin, FL 33575-0476. Phone: 813-273-8976.