To the editor:
There are many reasons I consider myself lucky.
For instance, I’ve lived on South Whidbey for nearly 10 years and until today have never been robbed. It was only a very small item, but I am compelled to write about it.
Until today, I had one of those magnet-bumper stickers on the back of my car that said, “1.20.09 BUSH’S LAST DAY” because, well, I’m excited about Bush’s last day in office.
In fact, when I went into PayLess today, I grabbed my bags out of my trunk, looked at my bumper magnet and felt proud of it.
When I came out of the store and went to my car, the “1.20.09 BUSH’S LAST DAY” magnet was gone.
Perhaps the person who took it is as excited as I am that the Bush administration is only nine months away from extinction. Or perhaps, the person who took it loves Bush and wanted to display my magnet on their car, not realizing its message.
Whoever you are (and you know who you are) I just want you to know that I am sending you oodles of peace and love in the hopes that you’re taking great care of my “1.20.09 BUSH’S LAST DAY” magnet.
It’s wonderful to know that my “1.20.09 BUSH’S LAST DAY” magnet will have a new and loving home and that many others will see the message — just as I intended.
I’m also hoping that next time you feel like lifting a magnet, you’ll have the good manners to ask first.
Next time I won’t buy a magnet, but a good ol’ fashioned bumper sticker.
Jeanne Juneau
Langley
Let’s wake up and save this country
To the editor:
I’m just about convinced that Karl Rove, Dick Cheney and Bush have a file cabinet labeled “National Dirty Tricks” that is causing my paranoia to blossom like a field of tulips.
Read this: “The Panic of 1893 turned the state of Washington’s economy upside down. The turmoil resulted from the disastrous fiscal actions of the Republican-led Congress under President Benjamin Harrison, which whittled away a $100 million treasure surplus, primarily through what writer J. Kingston Pierce called ‘enrichment programs for wealthy industrialists.'”
Sound familiar? Read on: “That, coupled with the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890, led to rampant inflation that hit the West particularly hard. The first signs of trouble appeared (in Anacortes) in July 1893, when banker John Platt hung a notice on his bank’s front door. It stated that his Bank of Anacortes had ‘closed its doors and was…suspending payment owing to the stringency of the money market'” (“First Views, an early History of Skagit County, 1850-1899”).
Republicans have dug a deep hole of debt that swallowed up a healthy surplus and is now eating away at the very solidarity of our economy. Didn’t former chairman of the Reserve Alan Greenspan use the “R” word last week and confirm that we are, indeed, in a recession? The GOP has almost brought the United States to its knees.
The Democrats better wake up and get moving — in lock step — if they are going to salvage this country’s housing economy, military might, education, manufacturing industry, transportation and highway programs. It took a decade to recover back in 1899. That’s half a lifetime for a child! What do you want for your children?
Carol Byng
Coupeville
It’s been a fulfilling and glorious ride
To the editor:
I have officially been retired as an active lawyer by the Washington State Bar Association, having been approved by the Washington Supreme Court to be transferred from active status to that of “emeritus” providing pro bono work for the Island County Lawyers Program in Oak Harbor.
This means my private law practice has ended as of Feb. 13, 2008. I opened an office in 1972 in Langley at “Watson Towers” across from the former city hall on Anthes Avenue between First and Second streets and was the first full-time lawyer on South Whidbey. For the past several years, I have been operating my practice out of my residence on Sun Vista in Clinton.
I wish to express my appreciation and thanks to the South Whidbey community and to all of my wonderful clients who placed their trust in me. It’s been a glorious ride with many friendships, honors bestowed, civic accomplishment and a life well-lived. What a great place to have been able to live and become retired.
Clients’ files can be retrieved from G. Kenneth O’Mhuan, attorney, 5511 Freeland Ave., Freeland, WA 98249, (331-7456).
John M. Watson
Freeland
Hero award is especially gratifying
To the editor:
The Soroptimists of South Whidbey were honored recently with the Linda Lee Martens’ Health Hero award for their program, Heart of a Woman. Cardiovascular disease is the largest cause of death for women worldwide. Because symptoms for women are often vague and different than those of men, women may die from their first cardiac event.
The South Whidbey Soroptimists have provided the gift of wellness to South Whidbey women who could not otherwise afford it with the Heart of a Woman program.
Recipients can access Whidbey General’s Heartwise program that will teach them what their risk for a cardiac event is, and more importantly, preventative actions they can take now to reduce their risk of heart disease.
The screening is at no cost to the woman; funding being provided by the Soroptimists.
If you live in the zip codes of Greenbank, Freeland, Langley or Clinton, you can call the Center for Essential Wellness at Whidbey General Hospital to set up an appointment for your free Heart Healthy Screening from now through June.
And on behalf of the Soroptimists I would like to thank the board of health and the Community Health Advisory Board for this inspiring recognition.
Marti Murphy
Chairman
Heart of a Woman
Donors make our program possible
To the editor:
Horsemanship Opportunities for Potential Horsemen (HOPE) acknowledges, with sincere appreciation, generous contributions from our donors. These gifts will be used for rider scholarships, program operations and horse maintenance.
Thanks to: an anonymous donor, Arise Charitable Trust, Island Thrift, Keener Family Properties LLC, South Whidbey Rotary, Mary Solt, Brenda Phillips, Karen Newman, Miriam Burk, Erika Kardly-Jones, South Whidbey Pony Club, Whidbey Island Waldorf School.
Thanks!
Denise Boyett
Executive director
HOPE
Tax help helped a thousand residents
To the editor:
A huge thank you is due to the 25 AARP tax aide volunteers who provided free tax assistance to 1,004 Whidbey Island residents this year.
The volunteer aides who gave more than 1,578 hours are Tom Adams, Stan Alexander, Janell Baker, Tom Baxter, Karen Bishop, John Bolte, James Bruner, Winson Ewing, Roger Foley, Sharon Godfrey, George Haglund, Jim Hossfeld, John Howard, Edward Hueneke, Kurt Jaehning, Colleen Johnson, Kristy Knickrehm, Teddy Rees, Dustin Remick, Maddie Rose, Chuck Starkey, Steve Stradtman, Stella Tandecki, Ed Van Patten, Margaret Vasquez, and Shelley Wolfman.
Thank you again to Sno-Isle libraries in Oak Harbor and Coupeville; Skagit College, South Whidbey Senior Center in Bayview and Service Alternatives provided support with rooms, storage, and coffee for the clients and workers.
Appreciated also is the support from the Island newspapers, WKBD radio and all the sites that allowed posters.
Thank you everyone.
Karen Bishop
AARP Tax Aide Local Coordinator
Treat yourself to Meerkerk Gardens
To the editor:
Last Thursday morning, I stopped by Meerkerk Gardens just south of Greenbank, and
I wanted to share what a lovely oasis of quiet and beauty it is.
Birds singing, hundreds of rhododendrons blooming, flower beds bursting with energetic daffodils from almost white to intense yellow. Benches placed here and there allowing one to sit and soak up the quiet and peacefulness. Peak bloom is right now through May.
Admission is $8, but a sustaining membership of $50 allows you and your household members free admission all year plus two guest passes. Treat yourself to a membership now and enjoy weekly walks through the remainder of peak bloom.
What a lovely counterpoint to too many gray, cool days and energy draining news.
Karen Anderson
Clinton
Quick assistance is greatly appreciated
To the editor:
What wonderful people we have in this community!
Last week, I was faced with what I thought was an unsolvable problem. I needed to move a large, decades old, non-functioning, and very heavy freezer from the basement of the House of Hope in Langley. A few phone calls to people who use the building for meetings and programs and my dilemma was solved.
I want to thank everyone who helped: Shelly, Crystal, Judy, Micah and his buddies and others whose names I don’t even know. You are the greatest!
Judy Yeakel
Langley
Support group is here for moms
To the editor:
If you are a single mom or a mom who feels single — would you enjoy an evening without having to cook dinner for yourself and your kids? Where you could sit and share both joys and challenges while child care providers supervise the children? For free? Where you could perhaps make new friends, hang out with old ones, get and give some support, and even share new ideas ?
The Family Resource Center, tucked behind the Primary School, provides a small oasis once a month for moms.
On the third Thursday of each month, a group of women, and their children, gather to share a meal and child care provided by the Resource Center. Dinner starts at 5:30 p.m.; then from 6 until 7:30 p.m. the children go with the caregivers and the group enjoys some adult conversation, mutual support and often a few laughs. This group is designed for moms who are single as well as those who are partnered; who are the primary family caregiver and feel the need for support and community.
We live in a culture where, for most people, the supportive, extended family lifestyle no longer exists and South Whidbey is no exception. Parenting, primarily by moms, is often done in isolation. As much as mothers love their children, meeting their own needs can be either pushed aside or left until last. The Family Resource Center believes that giving moms a break and an opportunity for connection is not only fun but helps them be the moms they strive to be.
For information, call the center at 221-6808, ext. 4602.
Lynn Smith, Crystal Coglas, Elisa Stone, Katie Coale and Erin Waterman
South Whidbey
An offer and an appeal to Langley
To the editor:
The Langley Community Club endorses Mayor Paul Samuelson’s “Neighbor to Neighbor Action Grants.”
Applications will be available on Spring Clean-up Day, April 26.
The club will be offering amounts in the range of $200 to $250 to the neighborhoods where grants have been assessed and approved. Details of the grant program will be appearing in The Record.
In retrospect, the Langley Community Club has contributed in many ways to the betterment of our community. I am thinking about Lynn Young, wife of the High School principal in 1967, who formed the club; Pastor George Goodenough producing dittoed meeting notices in the basement of the Methodist Church encouraging membership; Richard Proctor, who served as president for so many years, and had a vision of Langley as an artistic and cultural center.
Along with Ron Childers, his partner, helped to bring live theatre to Langley and made WICA a reality; Martha Murphy, a longtime member, saw the vision for a children’s theatre; Dave Swenson promoted the youth center and Dorothy Cleveland who dreamt of a bus system. Then, there were the workers such as Arlene Chambers, who faithfully watered pots by carrying water from the city hall and foresaw a vision of beautifying Second Street and Fran Abel and her husband who supervised the purchasing and planting of the trees and bulbs.
This just names a few people in the 40-year history of the club.
If you are interested in history, a binder of The Langley Community Club, “The First Forty Years,” is available at the reference desk of the Langley Library. Take time to peruse it and you will see how many citizens working at the grassroot level have created the town you enjoy today.
Bob Dalton, Lauren Sigman and Tucker Stevens are the current officers. They are appealing to those inside and outside of Langley who have a concern or vision for the betterment and livability of our community to join the club. This proud club needs new members in order to preserve and continue its history.
There are four potluck supper meetings a year to bring residents together who desire to improve, maintain and enhance life in our community. The next potluck will by in May. Details of the meeting will be published in The Record.
Also, members participate in an annual spring cleaning of downtown streets and sponsor the Soup Box Derby in late summer.
Ethel Waters
Langley
Yet another bad choice in cartoons
To the editor:
Once again The Record has published a cartoon that is truly remarkable for its insensitivity. Mocking the NRA is one thing, but referring to the “cold, dead hands” of a decent man so recently lost to a dread disease is tasteless at best.
S.J. Prescott
Freeland
Enough is enough on Banks bashing
To the editor:
I feel the need to express my opinion regarding recent articles concerning Prosecuting Attorney, Greg Banks. I’ve worked in the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for about four years and I was here during the election. It was a very difficult time to go through and extremely stressful.
Now, however, we have a terrific staff. Greg is doing a great job! Employees who work in this office are happy and are working well as a team under his leadership. It’s really sad that this turmoil has to continue reappearing and bringing back all the unpleasant memories from the past.
It would benefit the public more to focus on allowing Greg Banks and his staff to do their jobs serving the public instead of having to deal with all this negativity.
Susie Coleman
Greenbank
