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Letters
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- Written by: Annelle Durham
We could not have asked for a timelier response to our request.
If the branches fell during a winter storm they would have damaged some of the equipment in the boatyard.
The crew was most helpful and willing during all stages of the project; the entire job was completed in three hours!
Many thanks from the Clear Lake Scullers.
Annelle Durham is a member of the Clear Lake Scullers. She lives in Upper Lake, Calif.
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- Written by: Hedy Montoya
The Spirit of the Season core group began to meet in September to organize and implement all necessary to see to the needs of folks in south county this Christmas.
The folks were registered, the Wish Trees went up, donations garnered and food donated and we had Val’s Pet Shop in which to hold the event. All seemed to be going well and then I got so sick I couldn’t do a thing.
That’s when the miracle happened. All our volunteers gathered and made sure we had the best Spirit of the Season ever.
I cannot begin to express my gratitude, most especially to Phyllis Kelsey, for going all out to make sure that the children received the community gifts and families were given a turkey dinner with all the fixings … and did a yeoman’s job in organizing and keeping all going smoothly.
Also, I publicly wish to thank everyone who helped this year and pray to heaven I didn’t leave anyone off the list. My apologies if I did.
Here is a list of community angels: The aforementioned Phyllis Kelsey, Sandy Tucker, JoAnn Harmon, Lyn Kerr-Hansen, Pastor Voris Brumfield and the Middletown Community United Methodist Church, Bonnie Thompson, Kathleen and Kelly Connors, Mary Jo Gawley, Mary Rose Pott, Carolyn Tobin, Susan Watts, Wansley Adam, Jeanne Netherwood, Daniel Frost, Clay Stewart, Nanette Marian and hubby, Mary Copeland, Ned Munger, John Sullivan, Joe Butler, Marti McCarthy, Stephen Hebert, Clover Dairy and Hettie and Jim Hendrickson, Cindy Weber and the students of Loconoma High School, Linda DeDominic, Laura Pimentel, Walt Gafvert, Jill Gibbs, Lorna Cruz and the folks at Calpine, Glen Herman, Donna Crofoot and the folks at Twin Pine Casino, Grinder’s Steep, Cheryl Tom’s family, Vet Connect, Christine Bougas, Troop 315, Wendy Gattoni and the Middletown schools, FFA Middletown, Store 24, Tri-Counties Bank, WestAmerica Bank, St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Mulligan’s in Hidden Valley Lake, HVL Realty, Val’s Pet Shop, Food’s Etc., Hardester’s Markets, Lake County Milers, Bettye McKinstry, Gary Graves, Nancy Ray, Jan Solari, Middletown Senior Center, and Lorrie Gray and the Hunger Task Force.
I thank all the donors: church groups, businesses, service groups and individuals and families who generously support Spirit of the Season. We simply could not carry on this grass roots community holiday program without your donations.
A list of those donors will be forthcoming. I simply wanted to offer thanks on behalf of all who had a sweeter Christmas because the Spirit of Season is alive and well in our small town.
We are blessed to live in a place who knows how to come together to take care of the fragile, vulnerable or needy.
I’m reminded of the quote from Paula D’Arcy, “God comes to us disguised as our life.” At times help comes to those in need and sometimes when you want to do your heartfelt best and cannot, but other angels step up and do God’s work.
Hedy Montoya is the Spirit of the Season coordinator. She lives in Middletown, Calif.
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- Written by: Voris Brumfield
More than 408 people attended the eight-performance run of the 2011 Renaissance Pageant & Feast held at the Middletown Community United Methodist Church.
Thanks to the people of Lake County who supported this annual event.
Special thanks to the Lake County Marketing program, the local media and Hardester's Market Middletown staff, who were amazingly patient and cooperative, while helping load more than 225 pounds of ribs, eight cases of cider, four cases of potatoes and 240 pounds of chicken.
This 100-percent volunteer production included a story and decor by Laura Lamar, music and drama directed by Claudia Listman, and cuisine coordinated by Voris Brumfield.
The performers, singers, community members and people who made the back of the house run and kitchen smoothly are thrilled to offer a glorious production setting off the Advent Season.
Join us next year, huzzah!
Voris Brumfield is pastor of the Middletown Community United Methodist Church in Middletown, Calif., and one of the pageant's organizers.
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- Written by: David Gebhard
Instead of sending our youth out to fight and die for our country, how about allowing them to live for our country.
War should be reserved for self defense only, instead we need to elect leaders who can achieve consensus with our neighbors. Tolerance and empathy should be accepted tools.
Humans are the same under the skin. Our varied environments have made small differences in our color skin, nutrition and cultural habits.
The true cost of war is now becoming apparent. Young men are returning with PTSD, which we used to call shell shock or battle fatigue, and need help their whole lives the families of these young men will pay a stiff price for the rest of their lives.
We seem to forget the old cliché, violence begets violence. We need leaders who have peace as a priority, nay a necessity. I realize that that this message is
War is an abomination. War has the devil laughing and angels crying.
I realize we all know these things, but we seem to be taking war for granted. The U.S. has been using war for a foreign policy, now we have a holy war, the worst kind, for instance the Hundred Years War and the Crusades.
Let us save our best young people for peace, not war. Let us wage peace, war on pollution each other.
Americans used to take great pride in not being aggressors, instead we were defenders of human rights and democracy around the world. The world’s respect and admiration were boundless. As many immigrants came here for our freedoms as our economic bounty.
Somehow our identity has blurred, and we are getting stingy, wanting to limit immigration, which is how so many of us got here in the first place.
Immigrants have always renewed our cultural vitality, added to our identity and reputation. We were always proud to be a melting pot for the world. Are we getting to be paranoid? Are we afraid of losing our country to our immigrant newcomers?
As long as we curtail our schools we deserve to be paranoid, but not from within, as our foreign competitors pour money into their school systems, they insure that they have a place at the economic forefront tomorrow.
We, on the other hand, are insuring that our children will grow up in a fading power, as our economic might is slowly eroding.
Creativity and innovation have made us the powerhouse we presently are, but without education we are following in the footsteps of our third world neighbors in guaranteeing our children a secondary role in global economics.
Military might follows economics eventually, for instance the mighty Soviet Empire fell economically while trying to keep up with us.
So excuse me if you already knew these things, but we all need to remember them when school budgets are cut and wars are used for foreign policy.
Our priorities are skewed, instead of cutting spending and taxes, we need to invest in our future.
Do not waste time saving greedy bankers, save our children’s future. Save our schools, reinstitute auto shops, homemaking, wood shops, and all the electives that keep kids in school.
David Gebhard lives in Lakeport, Calif.