Its official! Earlier this summer, The New York Times (Week in Review) confirmed reports that Hostess, after wartime restrictions imposed over six decades ago, restored banana crème flavoring to its Twinkies product line. Each year, according to the Times, over 500 million of these delectable crème filled sponge cakes are consumed nationally.

My own love affair with Twinkies began during those dark days of World War II when rationing of everyday food products such as sugar and meat, leather and rubber goods and gasoline were daily occurrences. Whenever we were able to save a few nickels we headed over to Abby's Candy Store and plunked down our coins for several packages of Twinkies along with our favorite beverage, usually a 12 ounce bottle of Pepsi Cola. Pepsi produced so much gas in our pre-adolescent stomachs that it usually took several of us to finish its contents. It was rumored that General Patton secretly fueled his lightly armored Sherman tanks with this beverage as they chased Rommel's Panzers across the African deserts and ultimately along the hedgerows of Europe.

It wasn't until I joined the Levittown School Board in the 1970s that my childhood love affair with Twinkies was renewed by a group of woman who served on the PTA Nutrition Committee. Known affectionately as the Twinkie Police, the committee's goals, as I recall, were two-fold; e.g. ban the sale of Twinkies in our schools and ensure that each of their children receive a nutritionally balanced hot gourmet lunch, with dessert, for no more than 79 cents. Each month their intrepid leader would harangue the school board about some aspect of the district's Food Service Program, including sale of Twinkies in our buildings.

Several weeks ago we learned that the Levittown School District, under the watchful eyes of our useless school board, suddenly discovered it had overspent its 2006-07 budget by as much as $7 million dollars, in what has been described as "isolated accounting errors." Errors that any competent bookkeeper would have immediately discovered! Unfortunately these "isolated accounting errors," prior to discovery, were also carried over into the current school budget (2007-08). The Levittown School District is, in effect, bankrupt! How, I wonder, could this have happened with all the alleged fiscal controls and high-priced "talent" we employ in the Levittown School District?

I recall that each month, the district treasurer (Levittown's chief accounting officer) would provide the board with two critical reports; notably a cash reconciliation and budget status report. I can assure you that each of these reports was scrupulously analyzed and discussed prior to being approved at a regular monthly meeting. It is evident that this board simply shows up and rubber stamp whatever is placed in front of them. Attend a regular monthly meeting and you'll quickly realize all they seem to discuss is how many free lunches or wonderful football games they've attended. Most meetings are concluded prior to the 10 o'clock evening news. Hardly what you would expect from a group elected to represent the educational or financial interests of our community!

Where are the members of Levittown's Twinkie Police when we desperately need them? They may not have had the charisma, for example, of an Oprah Winfrey; yet, they were mothers with a goal, a plan and the determination to see it through! Twinkies, I'm told, are no longer sold in our schools. With all due respect to the Hostess Company, maybe it's time that we also rid the Levittown School District of the Ding Dongs on our present school board!

James P. Ward