A ton of thank yous
Dear Editor:
We are boxed and staged and almost done with cleaning, weeding and mowing to make ready for our home’s new owners and to head for our next life adventure in the art/history community of Tubac, Arizona.
Robert and I are overwhelmed by the support, the expressions of love and the physical labor that we have had from so many valley people! They have been with us through this difficult time of actually making the decision and the execution. Thank you for your words of wisdom! Thank you for many different sessions of heavy lifting, moving boxes, tires and furniture to Peter Polson and Mark and Keelynn Roman and Karen and Helm Thiemer! How about buddies that not only come to help set up and organize your yard/moving sale but come the next day to run it! We are so blessed, thank you Lois and Alan Caswell, Walt and Kathleen Havens, Jane Hill and Betty Buckley. Thank you Bruce Honsinger for your countless trips in your pick up to drop off at the Senior Center, The Cove, Room One, the “take it or leave it” and the dump!
On top of this were the dinners and the parties and various gatherings where we heard expression of love and support and promises of a bed when we come back to visit and many promises of visiting us in our new home. A heartfelt thank you to the Confluence Gallery and Loy Young, The Merc and Missi Smith, the Liturgy Group, the Methow Episcopal Fellowship and to Liz Johnson!
This is truly a magical valley filled with wonderful exceptional people who gave us 15 years of beautiful memories and experiences. Thank you all.
Robert and Charlotte Nelson, Winthrop
Be prepared
Dear Editor:
“A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.” This applies as much to the computer age as it did pre-Industrial Revolution. It could even apply to fire prevention preparations.
At Notre Dame, the fire-detection system was so sophisticated that it was incomprehensible in a real fire. A low-paid guard, three days on the job and doing a double shift, read the alarm: “Attic Nave Sacristy — ZDA-110-3-15-1.” Ordered to immediately investigate, the guard had to guess which of 160-plus locations this meant. He went up the wrong tower and a 30-minute delay followed before the fire department was called.
My friends in Australia live in an area even more wildfire-prone than the Methow. When their “big one” hit (six months after Carlton Complex!), they realized their weak link. Pumping water from their 50,000-gallon (!) reservoir relied on a generator that could only hold an hour of fuel. Forced to evacuate, they couldn’t keep the generator running.
With the Boeing 737 Max, the weak link was Boeing’s greed. In order to beat Airbus in sales, it told airlines that the new planes needed no additional pilot training. It also made certain key safety backup systems optional. We know the deadly results.
My home has an automatic propane generator that will keep our water running 24/7 for 10 days. It worked during Carlton Complex Fire, with irrigation hoses, sprinklers, and battery timers all around my house. A recently installed, buried irrigation system, however, has a problem. The fancy controller doesn’t run without AC power. Had I not wired the controller into a generator circuit, the results in a fire could have been catastrophic.
You don’t have to be a pessimist to prepare for things that can go wrong. Back up your smartphone if that is the only place you have all your contacts. Read the FireWise and District 6 tip sheets for fire preparation — and follow them. Stay safe!
Randy Brook, Twisp
About that noise
Dear Editor:
In response to Mr. Campbell’s letter about the Town Council changing the rules for noise pollution for certain nights of the week, specifically Thursday through Saturday, or residents making modifications to their homes so that those who do not live in Winthrop can let their hair down and raise hell on the weekends: Sorry Mr. Campbell, but that ordinance was in place (1993) and it was put in place for the health and safety of the residents, not party-goers.
Now, if you are willing to contact the residents of Winthrop and offer to make your suggested changes to their domiciles, I am sure the Town Council will take your recommendation to change the municipal code under consideration once those modifications have been completed at your — or the business owners’ — expense.
However until then maybe the non-resident business owners and their employees should be considerate of the residents that do live in Winthrop and abide by the ordinance that specifies that “loud and raucous, or frequent, repetitive, or continuous sounds created by musical instruments, audio sound systems, band sessions, or other devices capable of producing, amplifying, or reproducing sounds which unreasonably disturb or interfere with the peace, comfort, and repose of another and can be clearly heard by a person of normal hearing at a distance of one hundred (100) feet or more from the property from which the sound originates.”
And just in case you have not figured it out by now, yes it was a legitimate complaint and not by a next-door neighbor but by a resident that lives more than a half-mile away.
Vern Herrst, Winthrop
