Thanks from Jamie’s Place
Dear Editor:
Thank you so much to the volunteers that showed up to the Jamie’s Place Garden Party, as well as those that donated. A special thanks to Hank at Hank’s Harvest Foods, the Do It Center, Ace Hardware, and Wild Hearts Nursery, and those individuals who donated time, sweat, thoughts and plants. What a productive, fun time! It was wonderful to create a beautiful space after such a tough year.
Jessica Kulsrud
Associate Director, Jamie’s Place
Checking the restrooms
Dear Editor:
This is in response to the ongoing toilet dilemma in Twisp. I am viewing this from both sides. I understand The Merc’s concern over the safety of the public restrooms there. I understand that the police can only check on it so many times, as they have many other duties.
I offer a solution. Whenever someone goes into town, and if they have the time, check on the restrooms and report any suspicious activity. Some would say this is spying on your fellow citizens. However, this is to help law enforcement and also The Merc. Use the buddy system if you are concerned about your own safety.
We need to help each other out here, as our community usually does. If the bathrooms are open, I intend to check on them when I come to town, which is about once a week.
Also, is there outside video surveillance? I thought there was at one time. This problem needs to be solved.
If the people using the restroom for ill purposes realize how much it is being checked, this may deter them. Let’s do it.
Pearl Cherrington
Twisp
Gratitude for community’s care
Dear Editor:
To our dear community and beyond, Ari, Chloe and I want to extend a heartfelt and sweeping thank you. Four weeks ago we received the call that everyone fears most, the sudden death of a family member, our beloved Papa Joe. The pain of such a loss is beyond words, but so is the gratitude for the support that has flooded our lives since that moment.
During this month we have received: nourishment from everyone bringing us amazing meals, a nimble and constant response to the ever-changing landscape of our needs, amazing understanding and support from Deirdre and the board of Methow At Home, generous financial support, a deluge of beautiful cards with heartwarming messages of love, an incredible participation in Joe’s celebration of life, hundreds of loving hugs, thoughtful gifts, counseling, healing work, prayers, legal counsel and more than I even know. This culture of caring in the Methow is something extraordinary. Our family experienced a similar outpouring 14 years ago, when Joe went through kidney failure and his transplant, and now tragically once again. I am humbled and inspired to continue to pay the kindness forward.
We have learned more than we want about losing someone suddenly and the power of being able to lay a loved one to rest with beauty and presence. A huge thank you to Eddy over at Precht-Harrison-Nearants, who supported us to bring in our own casket built, painted and filled with love by Joe’s friends and family. We were able to sing, cry and dance Joe to rest. The hole in our lives and hearts will forever be there, but we gain strength from the grace of everyone’s love. Thank from the bottom of our hearts.
Tracy, Ari and Chloe Sprauer
Twisp
Understanding our history
Dear Editor:
This Memorial Day I am moved to comment on the misplaced fear by many states that want to quite literally whitewash our history. People can hold complex thoughts, and are able to understand that while the founding principles of our nation are indeed an inspiring step forward in justice for the common person, those sentiments were a product of their time.
The first voters in our fledgling democracy were white men, and not even every white man but only those who owned land. Men without property, women, Native Americans, and people of color were excluded from the democratic experiment. Do you know of the origins of the KKK? About the 1921 Tulsa Massacre? The forced abduction of Native children from their families to be sent to “residential schools” where their heritage was obliterated? The 1917 beating of women suffragettes marching peacefully for the right to vote?
I love our country and want us to fully realize the ideals so beautifully stated in our Constitution. If we neglect educating ourselves about the struggles for democracy we will never understand the issues that are so urgent today. I am thankful for those who have given their lives for our country, and that includes those who have lived and died for justice.
Sandy Vaughn
Oroville
Investigation needed
Dear Editor:
Thanks to attorney Gil Webber for his recent letter condemning the cowardice of a group of county employees who anonymously and sarcastically ridiculed former Okanogan County Prosecutor Arian Noma on Facebook, according to cumulative accounts in the New York Post, Spokane, the state of Oregon, Methow Valley News, and other Washington locations — leading eventually to his resignation. In Webber’s opinion, Noma was one of the best prosecutors he had ever worked with in his 30 years in Okanogan County.
I decided to vote for Noma when he spoke at a candidates’ forum, advocating for reform of the criminal justice system with an emphasis upon youth and rehabilitation. Having seen the issues his students faced in the Baltimore school system, he had decided he could best help them by becoming an attorney.
From the perspective of having taught full-time for 27 years in this county’s public schools, I offer these experiences: A quiet, likable Native American girl once entered my elementary classroom after a string of foster homes and recent release from juvie. Incredibly, the file that accompanied her indicated that the “crime” for which she had been incarcerated was that she had kicked another student under the table!
Later, a Latino in elementary school who qualified for special ed was expelled for a “crime.” His program had been delayed for months, without the required communication with his parents in their native Spanish language, and without due process. Fortunately the state of Washington intervened in this case and the child was belatedly re-admitted, with the district required to retrain their special ed staff.
Aside from needed reform, I’m disturbed that voters elected Mr. Noma fair and square, yet he was driven from this position by an anonymous group who refused to address alleged complaints through appropriate channels. Sadly, residents of the Methow attended the Black Lives Matter demonstration along with Noma, but I’m not hearing local objections to his treatment and the racial implications. Is it easier to deal with racially-oriented tragedies occurring outside our own back yard? The public deserves an investigation from a legal entity outside of Okanogan County.
Isabelle Spohn
Twisp
