Needs substantiation
Dear Editor:
I commend your sense of fairness and dedication to the first amendment. However, I fail to see why you publish letters that contain charges that lack documentation or explanation. The letter of Ward Hartzell in last week’s issue is a prime example. To quote:
“Obama’s presidential agenda has been to demolish our Christian history from 1776 (and even from 1620). To demolish the Christian faith and Christian church. To demolish Christian marriage and promote promiscuous male-on-male sodomy….”
So, is there a speech in which Obama changes Christian history? An example where Obama belittles or besmirches the Christian faith? An example of Obama promoting sodomy? The letter is replete with charges for which there is not even an attempt at substantiation.
We all want to hear from fellow readers, just not unsubstantiated tirades.
Mark Miller, Winthrop and Seattle
Appreciating Hank
Dear Editor:
Thanks to Hank Konrad and his family and the crew at Hank’s Harvest Foods. They are always there for the people in the valley. Thank you so much.
Mitch Blackledge, Mitch’s Automotive, Twisp
Many thanks
Dear Editor:
We wish to express our heartfelt condolences to the families of the firefighters that were killed and to the young man that was injured. We did not know most of these men, but were reminded that we did know Tom Zbyszewski from Montessori preschool a long time ago. He was a lovely young person and will be missed.
We also wish to offer our many thanks to all the firefighters battling to keep the blazes from spreading too far. The PUD is to be congratulated for keeping outages down to a minimum.
Barbara Burns, Dorothy Dorn, Idle-A-While Motel, Twisp
A Methow wedding after all
Dear Editor:
First of all, thank you for all of the updates and keeping everyone informed during this difficult time! I know this has been a trying time for the valley, especially since it is the second year in a row the valley has been so affected by fires.
I am writing for a very special reason, and I would very much like to share this story with the entire Methow Valley.
I was supposed to get married on Aug. 22 at Spring Creek Ranch in Winthrop. My husband and I have spent time climbing at the pass, and the Methow Valley has always held a special place in our hearts. When we were planning our wedding, we knew we wanted to hold our celebration in the most beautiful place in Washington.
Last Wednesday our wedding plans (and the valley!) were thrown into chaos. We were hopeful that the fire would be mild, but then all hell broke loose and the lives of three young firefighters were lost. We had family evacuated from Winthrop, and knew we couldn’t ask 160 of our closest friends and family to travel into fire danger. We also knew that our presence in the valley would place a strain on the resources, and honestly, we would be in the way.
Two days before the wedding, the valley was facing a state of emergency, and we were facing moving a big wedding to the west side of the state — somehow, and somewhere. A close family friend offered their property that had recently hosted another wedding, and our friends and families jumped at the chance to help us re-create our dream wedding on the west side.
But — perhaps the most touching part of this entire process was how the people from the Methow Valley rallied around us. Our caterer, Cameron Green, agreed to continue food prep at her house and then drive it to Buckley, Washington, with a few willing staff members to serve dinner for us. Despite power outages and threatened property, Cameron put together a delicious meal and most importantly, drove it to us so we could have a wedding and feed 160 people.
Our photographer, Sol Gutierrez, agreed to drive out to Buckley without a second thought. I’m sure we never would have found another photographer on such short notice in the middle of wedding season. Our celebrant, Kate Wallace, also stopped for a night on her way out to the coast to bring us the touching ceremony we had worked on together for several months. Furthermore, all of the places where our guests were lodged — hotels and cabins alike — contacted our guests and refunded everyone’s reservations without a question. And thanks also to Spring Creek Ranch owner Sarah Berns, whose compassion and understanding for our situation was incredibly touching.
We could have made Plan B work. We could have ordered food from a restaurant for self-serve, lots of people could have snapped a few shots of our day, and we could have found someone to help us exchange vows. But that’s not what happened. Plan B ended up being the most incredible wedding we ever could have asked for, truly an epic event, because of these wonderful people from the Methow Valley.
We always knew the Methow Valley was special, and the manner in which these people conducted business went above and beyond all expectations. They are not wedding vendors, they are friends that gathered around us to help us create lasting memories and we are forever grateful. We weren’t able to have our dream wedding in the Methow Valley, but they stepped in and they brought our dream “Methow Valley” wedding to Buckley.
With love, Kathleen and Andrew Berger, Tacoma
