Helping LBHS students
Dear Editor:
Over the years, many Liberty Bell High School students have benefited from the generosity of the InvestED Grant Fund along with donations from Public School Funding Alliance and our wonderful community.
The InvestED Grant Fund allows us to provide support to our students with short-term, item-specific, need-based funding such as ASB cards, sports fees, AP & SAT testing fees, college credit, yearbooks, class trips, senior caps and gowns, traffic safety and personal items. InvestED provides assistance for students to encourage them to stay in school and get involved within their learning community.
Last year we received donations in the amount of $3,376.94 that we distributed to 70 individual students for 110 different items.
If you would like to help make a difference for today’s students, you may make your donation in person at the Liberty Bell Office with Debbie Bair, or you may donate online through our website pathway: Methow.org, Parents/Students, Fund Raising, InvestED. InvestED is a 501 (c)(3) ID# 23-7189670. All funding goes directly to students at Liberty Bell or you may choose to sponsor a specific student.
We greatly appreciate the support of our community to help us meet the critical needs of students, help them stay in school and continue to be successful.
Debbie Bair, Liberty Bell High School
A common sense of loss
Dear Editor:
This is intended to compliment the “Favorite bear” letter of Oct. 24, as it touches an emotion in me. I have been a serious hunter since early childhood (my mother mentored me), with some breaks due to professional demands, and, with my wife, I have gotten serious again in older age. We also greatly enjoy life in our wilderness home, with all the wildlife and nature activity.
With this background, I’d like to offer my perspective after reading that very well composed, thoughtful, and even touching letter. First, I know exactly your feeling. The house doe (or cougar, or bear) is part of the family. We have had many. Yet, we harvest many different animals, mostly away from home. Much of our food is harvested game and fish. A significant part of our exercise regime is associated with the rigors of hunting.
I have often thought about this apparent contradiction, especially while watching for game to harvest. Why we hunt is an age-old question and must be answered by each person from within. It is a very personal thing and one person’s answer may not make sense to another person. The age-old, natural desire for the activity seems to spring up in some, often random, people without apparent reason.
As long as the harvesting is responsible (humane and safe), sustainable (proper game management), not imposing on others (e.g., trespassing), I see it as a proper usage of our resources and an essential part of game management. The conflict you experienced is when all these good things still resulted in the sadness of losing the house “doe” even when the hunters apparently were legal and ethical. I would have felt the same way. It is likely that another bear will soon show up, as their population is far from threatened. But, still, there is a sense of loss. What to do?
Thomas B. McCord, Winthrop
Thanks for litter pick-ups
Dear Editor:
Many kudos to the Methow Valley Back Country Horsemen for picking up litter on Twisp River (the first 2 miles) and Methow Valley Snowmobile Club for picking 22 bags of litter for the first 2 miles from Twisp this fall.
Betty Wagoner, Twisp
