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LETTERS TO
THE EDITOR
The Editor:
The voters of Whatcom County have a capable, effective and honorable
state representative in Doug Ericksen, and have, for good
reason, re-elected him by substantial margins in 2000 and
2002.
An environmentalist Republican, Ericksen’s legislative
record continues to earn him respect outside his party and bring
him votes the GOP might not normally obtain.
Which makes Ted Mohr’s brickbats in last month’s
All Point Bulletin all the more ludicrous. Not mentioning Ericksen
by name, Mohr proceeds to attack “the Republican” as
one “born with a silver spoon in his mouth and has never
worked for any profit-making organization outside of his family-run
enterprises,” and that “his party bought the election
for him two or three terms ago.”
Mohr’s rant is typical of the anti-Bush rhetoric that has
surfaced in recent months in the letters section of this newspaper.
The casual reader might even conclude that Mohr is dissing President
Bush, not Representative Ericksen. This type of mud-slinging
is what we have come to expect from Democrats who are still mad
as hell about the 2000 presidential election.
In reality, very little of Mohr’s mud sticks to the wall
and hopefully will not lodge in the consciousness of undecided
voters. Although Mr. Mohr (and, for that matter, Michael Moore)
is entitled to his opinion, it’s a good idea for the rest
of us to use our critical faculties when “opinion” is
masqueraded as “fact.”
Doug Ericksen is the son of a Lutheran minister in Bellingham.
The only “family business” they have is the Lutheran
ministry, which includes Doug’s father, his uncles and
grandfather. Despite Mr. Mohr’s insinuations, the Lutheran
Church is hardly a “profit-making organization” or
a “family-run enterprise.”
The “silver spoon” stuff is nonsense. Ericksen is
the product of a traditional, middle-class upbringing. He attended
Cornell University on an economic need scholarship, supplemented
by work study and loans. Following graduation, he earned a Master’s
degree in Environmental Policy from Western Washington University.
He has worked as an English teacher and an employee of the Washington
Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Doug Ericksen regularly takes time to visit Point Roberts and
meet with constituents. Earlier this year, Doug played an active
role in the efforts to establish a sport fishery off Lighthouse
Park. His work in documenting the legal questions and legislative
history of the fishery proposal is familiar to the many supporters
of the recreational sport fishery, which would have positive
economic and environmental benefits for the residents of Point
Roberts.
He is endorsed by the Machinist’s Union and the Public
School Employee’s Union. In addition, he has the endorsement
and support of the Washington Farm Bureau and the Northwest Dairy
Federation for his continuing efforts to preserve family farms.
Mr. Mohr’s claim that “his party bought him the election” is
also unfounded. In fact, Doug Ericksen has been outspent by his
Democratic rivals in two of the past three elections, first by
Democrat Al Jensen and again by Jim Boyle in 2002.
John Lesow & Stuart Grant
Former Republican precinct committee officers
Point Roberts
The Editor:
I want to thank everyone who supported and came to the ninth
annual Point Roberts Arts and Music Festival. I especially
want to thank Westshore Terminals, Whidbey Telephone
Company, International Marketplace, KAFE Radio and Sterling
Bank. Sterling Bank also helps us tremendously during
the festival by manning our festival booth, selling T-shirts
for us and helping us with our money management – thank you so much, crew!
My two co-directors, I applaud you. Craig Jacks and Eddie Buendia
work long hard unpaid hours to produce a festival for this
community. We do it to make this community a better place to
live. We do it to provide a celebration of the beauty and resources
that we are lucky enough to enjoy.
We do it so that the children of this community can look back
at their childhood in Point Roberts and remember how much fun
it is to grow up here.
Thank you so much Eddie and Craig for realizing how art and
music provide color and life to our community and for disrupting
your lives unselfishly to give this to us.
Thank you to Whatcom Parks and Recreation for being open and
welcoming year after year and especially to Ben VanBuskirk
who has always been there for us, encouraging us, and doing
everything in his power to help us. I can’t tell you just how much
his support has meant to us. His staff is so hard working and
so positive and the park is such a wonderful place to be because
of Ben’s dedication and exemplary management skills.
Every year we have made improvements and taken the Arts Foundation
to a higher level. This year the Arts Foundation bought several
instruments for children who wouldn’t have the resources
to obtain one. This year we discovered that the art budget for
our own Point Roberts primary school was exceedingly small. Ed
Buendia found a donor and got thousands of dollars worth of art
paper donated. Last year, we became bonded so we were able to
bring in vendors for the festival from all over the Pacific Northwest – over
three times what we have had in the past! We would eventually
like to build an Arts Center so that Point Roberts children could
take classes in music, dance, drama and visual arts for a nominal
fee.
We’re still dreaming and step by step, making that dream
come true, thanks to all of you who donated time, products and
money. Again, Point Roberts, my heart is yours.
Pamela Oakley
Point Roberts
The Editor:
In this age of e-mail, text messaging and cell phones, letter
writing may seem a dying art but here, on the pages of your
newspaper, writers use this forum as a way of expressing their
thoughts and opinions through letters.
I’d like to express my thanks for this and encourage others
to express themselves through the U.S. postal service. Letters
are still very much alive. The postal service delivers billions
of them every year. A letter has the power to express thoughts
and feelings and touch those we care about in a way that’s
more memorable and lasting than other forms of communications.
And letter writing helps promote literacy in our country.
Nothing touches the heart like opening your mailbox to find a
card or letter from a loved one or close friend. You can touch
it, save it, and re-read it as many times as you like. Letters
become keepsakes, even family heirlooms and help record a snapshot
in history.
It’s truly amazing how much happiness 37 cents can bring
into someone’s life. I encourage everyone to write a letter
to someone soon. Consider a soldier, an old friend or a distant
family member. They will greatly appreciate it.
Writing letters is a skill we must not allow to fade from our
society. It is one of the simplest yet most effective methods
of binding our nation together.
Rebecca Perry
Postmaster
Point Roberts
The Editor:
In your last issue of the All Point Bulletin, Ross Douglas candidly
expressed the view that I was full of crap regarding my pre-July
Fourth complaint about the border guard who blocked me from
bringing in a few bags of steer manure.
I called Ross to see where he is coming from. In a nutshell,
his view seemed to be that all of us who live here are so blessed
to live in this beautiful place that we should never complain
about hassles we might sometimes encounter at customs. While
I hear what he is saying, I can’t help but note that while
Ross is whizzing through with his NEXUS pass, I am stuck in traffic,
unable to get a NEXUS pass due to being red flagged in the computer
over a couple of complete absurdities that cause me to regard “the
gummint” with a jaundiced eye. I still feel, in total seriousness,
that we’d all be better off if Alaska, Washington, Oregon,
and Northern California seceded from the den of iniquity that
America has become, and that B.C. and Alberta should similarly
secede from Canada.
By the time Ontario and Quebec vote, the outcome of the Canadian
election has already been determined, while in America, no one’s
vote counts because the black boxes in the voting machines are
controlled via patent rights by shadowy figures who refuse to
divulge their inner workings- so the “elections” are
a farce. See www.blackboxvoting.com. Recently I joined Freedom
Force International www.freedomforceinternational.com and encourage
everyone in Point Roberts to examine the “Creed of Freedom” on
their website.
If it resonates with you, please contact me at jham@iahf.com
or 945-0352 so that we can get enough people together to form
a local chapter. If you live in Canada and would like to get
involved, I can be reached at 800/333-2553 (North America). Unless
more people from both the U.S. and Canada develop an accelerated
awareness of the threat to force both nations into a clone of
the European Union dictatorship in our hemisphere called the
FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas), the move to control us
from tit to tomb will only keep accelerating to the point where
all of us will be stripped of our most deeply cherished freedoms.
Visit www.stoptheftaa.org. The audio introduction on this site
will make your blood boil.
The FTAA is NAFTA on steroids. It is designed to crush what’s
left of America and to force us into a global totalitarian state.
I, for one, do not like the idea of biometric identifiers one
bit. Retina scans, anyone? DNA scans? Microchips? I urge Ross
Douglas to ponder the truth of what I am saying very carefully,
and to think twice next time he considers shooting from the hip.
A book that is well worth reading which goes into an in depth
examination of the emerging American Police State is titled Cruel
and Unusual: Bush/Cheney’s New World Order. I urge everyone
in Point Roberts to read this book and to join me in joining
Freedom Force International which is ably exposing the evil that
is the New World Order. Freedom Force International was founded
by G. Edward Griffin author of The Creature From Jekyll Island
which chronicles the history of the scam known as the Federal
Reserve.
John Hammell
Point Roberts
The Editor:
In last month’s edition of the All Point Bulletin regarding
the Blaine school budget, the headline reads, “School district
cuts all after-school buses.” If the headline were true
then I would expect the district to have eliminated all non-essential
busing in the district including all sports and non-sport activity
buses and van uses. Unfortunately, only the Point Roberts after
school activities or turn-out bus has faced the “no frills” transportation
budget cut leaving parents and kids to make the tough decision
whether to join any after school programs.
Although the reporter stated no one showed up at the July board
meeting to contest the decision, he failed to report in either
this paper or The Northern Light that a group of a dozen or so
dedicated and concerned parents and kids did show up at the board
meeting last May 24 to once again ask for the board’s continued
support of the turn-out bus as well as the April board meeting
which was held at the Point Roberts primary school. The district
is well aware and informed about the desire to keep the turn-out
bus for Point Roberts.
Last May I was sent a report from the district transportation
department that showed the turn-out bus cost per rider/per day
from last September 8 through May 12. The report outlined each
day used with: mileage, cost of miles, cost of driver, number
of riders, number of sports, number of other, and finally cost
per rider. No data was kept as to which sport or other activity
was being used. Also missing were footnotes as to how the district
calculates the cost per mile at $93 for 62 miles and the cost
per driver at $43.96 for two hours. Last year I addressed the
board with specific transportation saving ideas to consider for
this year’s budget; such as two central pick-up and drop
off points for the regular bus thus eliminating driving the entire
route. Using the figures above if we eliminated a half hour each
way, and if 16 driving miles were reduced (times 180 days) that’s
an approximate savings of over $8,000.
To reduce costs, I asked the board to consider the turnout bus
for the fall and spring programs as ridership increased during
those seasons. I also asked to look at a cost analysis for all
non-essential bus and van use costs in the district and compare
those costs with ours, as well as the additional transportation
cost due to the double bus run initiated with the change in the
primary and elementary schools later start time. To date I have
not received any information.
What the board and district employees fail to understand is that
we are without a boys and girls club, or a community center offering
programs for school age kids throughout the year. We depend on
the district for extra-curricular school-sponsored sports and
activities to keep our kids involved and connected to the Blaine
community and school and some of us just can’t do it without
their help. Although the district benefits from the additional
funding our “remote and necessary” status provides
from the state budget, I only wish they would financially support
our remoteness when our kids need it most.
Renee Coe
Point Roberts
The Editor:
For the past 10 years the Blue Heron Gallery has attempted to
provide a venue for local artists. It has been exciting to
see the gallery grow from its beginnings in a converted garage
and its five original contributing artists. It is time to say
thank you to the loyal art enthusiasts, both summer visitors
and permanent residents, who have visited the gallery over
the years. Without your support and encouragement, local artists
might not have had the opportunity to share their work, their
talent and their dreams.
On August 1, the gallery expanded once again. Thanks to Elliot
Slater and my patient husband, Paul (who both worked incredibly
hard for weeks to meet the August deadline), the gallery proudly
opened the new Featured Artist room. This past month showcased
the creativity of former resident Lesley Simpson. It was exciting
to hear the positive comments and to see that Lesley’s
show was a financial success. Thank you, Lesley, for taking a
leap of faith in the new venture.
The featured artist for the month of September will be Val Sewell,
an artist well known in Vancouver and Point Roberts for her bright
and lively watercolors.
Again, thank you to all for your enthusiastic support over the
years.
Kitty Doyle
Point Roberts
The Editor:
The Point Roberts Seniors Association would like to thank the
members of our community for their support of our recent pie
sale fundraiser.
Many thanks also to the International Marketplace for allowing
us to use their entrance areas for our sales and to the Thrifty
Foods bakery department for the donation of pie tins and crust
materials.
This was an ‘international effort’ as reflected in
our town and membership. We are open on Wednesdays and Fridays.
Come join us for lunch and fun!
Summertime in Point Roberts! Does it get any better than this?
Armene Belless
Program director, Point Roberts Senior Activity Center
Point Roberts
The Editor:
As a frequent cross-border traveler I have met the good, the
bad and the ugly in U.S. customs officers. While the vast majority
do their job well without antagonizing people, some guards
appear to have left their brains as well as their manners in
the
closet.
The anonymous letter-writer to The Northern Light August 12-18
edition while trying to defend the customs guards gave a very
poor analogy regarding Canadians traveling to the U.S. We Americans
are very fortunate to have such a wonderful neighbor in Canada.
The writer disregards the fact that every time our northern neighbor
visits the U.S. they help the local economy. We certainly don’t
need to create hostility between two countries that have lived
peacefully for years.
Finally a word to the letter writer. Have the courage of your
convictions next time and include your name. You took the coward’s
course of action by remaining anonymous.
Patricia McCairen
Point Roberts
The Editor:
I am writing to thank you for your generous donation to the Point
Roberts Skate Park. Due to parks and recreations Irene Waters
and Dave Niles’ involvement the land is cleared and we
are waiting for concrete to be poured. This is scheduled for
early September.
I would also like to thank Terrie LaPorte for the donation
from the recent garden tour, Sterling Savings Bank and the
Maple Beach Home Owner’s Association.
The Rotary Club has pledged the first ramp, the center pyramid.
If anyone else would like to contribute to the park, you can
do so at Sterling Savings Bank, or mail it to: PR Skatepark,
P.O. Box 1484, Point Roberts, WA 98281.
Helena Biga Furno
Action Committee, PRSP
Point Roberts
The Editor:
Based on the three angry responses to my letter published in
the June edition of the All Point Bulletin, one would think
I’d threatened to fly a fully-loaded jumbo jet into the
Reef! Wow, the tobacco industry perpetuated doom and gloom
continues to get thicker – and more nauseating – by
the hour.
I had to laugh at the predictably lame responses and the childish
name-calling which, of course, are so typical of what desperate
people resort to when they have no legitimate arguments.
Not one of the three letter writers even attempted to actually
refute anything I said in my letter. It’s clearly much
easier – and more entertaining – to simply dismiss
it/me, as “self-righteousness,” “pontificating,” “whining
and belly-aching,” “pompous,” “statistically
obsessed,” “control-freak,” “presumptuous[ly],” “fanatical,” “rant,” “outrageous
drivel,” “zealot[s],” “political correctness,” “temerity,” “expounding
[his] theories and opinions,” “meddle [in U.S. Regulations],” etc.
Ah yes, to be dismissed, just like those early “pontificating” explorers
who set out to prove that the earth is round, rather than flat
or those “whining and belly-aching” people who have
worked tirelessly to eliminate slavery and discrimination and
all those “zealots” who have fought so long and hard
against drinking and driving. Yup, just dismiss everybody who
wants to, in some small way, make the world a better, more civilized
place especially if it interferes with your personal addiction.
To Ms. Vopnford: Don’t tell me to “stay home in Delta.” Requesting/demanding
smoke-free air in all (indoor) public places and workplaces,
everywhere, has nothing whatsoever to do with “self-righteousness.” I’ll
go wherever in the world I damn well please and “pontificate” for
smoke-free places thank you very much. Still insist on sharing
the residue of your habit/addiction with me? Well, let me tell
you about my habit/addiction, Patti. I like to drink once in
a while. Milk, beer, water, juice whatever. Know what the residue
of my habit is, Patti? Hey, a little urine never hurt anybody!
Think about it: The analogy is very sound, with a couple of notable
differences: 1) Breathing is not ‘optional,’ whereas
you would, presumably, choose not to drink your urine-flavored
beer; and 2) As alluded to earlier, urine is really quite harmless,
whereas Second Hand Indoor Tobacco smoke (ya gotta love that
acronym) kills.
P. Rowlands: Ah yes, the old, worn-out, broken record and did
I mention severely-flawed and invalid “freedom of choice” argument.
Yup, if that drunken driver “freely chooses” to get
behind the wheel of her/his car, then no problem!?! With every
freedom comes responsibility and responsible smokers do not smoke
in any public place or workplace or around other people (especially
asthmatics, etc.) period! To use the words freedom and choice
in connection with the use of nicotine, the most addictive drug
known, is absolutely ludicrous.
I appreciate both Vopnford and Rowland reminding me that tobacco
is legal; I almost forgot. That said, look at how it became legal
(it’s only legal because for any single country to suddenly
declare it illegal is simply not a realistic option). Being legal,
however, does not mean that it can be used anywhere and everywhere,
with no restrictions. That would be like a chronic drunk driver
arguing, in court, that cars are legal. Of course they’re
legal, but that’s not a license to kill!
Oh, and speaking of flying fully-loaded jumbo jets into buildings
(re: the first paragraph of my letter) every three days, tobacco
prematurely kills more Americans than were killed in the 9/11
terrorist attacks! Do the math, folks! On one tragic, unforgettable
day in September of 2001, almost 3,000 Americans died in terrorist
attacks. Since then, well over 1,000,000 Americans have died
as a direct result of smoking. Apparently, Ms. Vopnford never
knew any of them so, in her mind, they don’t exist - just
more of my “self righteous pontificating.”
Errol E. Povah
President, Airspace
Action on Smoking & Health
Delta, B.C.
The Editor, and Point Roberts and Canadian Neighbors:
In September 2002, the contents of a storage facility was placed
curbside in the 1300 block of Gulf Road with a ‘free’ sign
posted. We are making a last plea to locate any of the items
that were removed from this site as they have great value to
our family. If you have any knowledge of these items, please
contact us at 945-3001. No questions asked. Your help is greatly
appreciated. Thank you very much.
Lesley and Jessy St. Nicholas
Point Roberts
The Editor:
I feel sympathy that Patti Vopnford can be “baffled” that
Canadians display their patriotism on July 1 when they come to
the US. She adds that she doesn’t know anyone in Washington
state who travels to Canada to celebrate July Fourth, and thinks
the idea is “ludicrous.”
Personally, I don’t see anything wrong with it, and I actually
practice this same ritual myself.
I live in Paris, France, and I celebrated July Fourth this year
on the Sorrento coast near Naples, Italy. Yes, I made it a point
to travel on July Fourth to Italy, instead of my home country
(I’m American and I only had a weekend free - not that
I would have chosen to celebrate any differently).
Not only that, people from all countries around the world come
to the Champs-Elysees in Paris on a regular basis waving their
flags in flurries of patriotism for one reason or another – most
people think that it’s rather amusing. But I suppose when
one lives amongst many different national cultures like we do
in Europe, people tend to be more tolerant of this kind of behavior.
I think that Patti Vopnford should get out and see the world,
and then she’ll realize that many people have different
ways of celebrating their national culture, and sometimes they
do it outside of their own country. She might think it’s
unacceptable - but hey, if Canadians want to spend July 1 in
the U.S., let ‘em. Why not? I might join the party.
I wish I had 100 bucks every time I’ve seen an American
tourist outside the country exhibit their fanatic nationalism
on foreign soil, either on July Fourth - or on any of the other
remaining 364 days! I’d be rich and retired living in Point
Roberts, arguing with Patti Vopnford in person about such interesting
topics as the American tradition of imposing double-standards
throughout the world.
We Americans can be so defensive. We sometimes hate to see other
cultures performing better than us, we can get really jealous
when they do, and we sometimes feel the need to win all of the
time (judged of course by our own standards and criteria). And,
really, we hate it if “foreigners” criticize us -
and our natural reaction can sometimes be to forgo any kind of
rational logical debate, and instead we enjoy physical violence,
beating you up - so that you’ll stop hurting our feelings
(because we’re the best and God loves us more than you
all) - and because sometimes our brains are just not developed
enough to make peaceful conflict resolution our first choice
of defense! But evidently God blesses us regularly, so I guess
we’re OK.
Chris DiPiazza
Paris, France
Letters
Policy
The All Point Bulletin welcomes letters to the editor; however,
the opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the editor.
Letters must include name, address and daytime telephone number
for verification. Letters must not exceed 450 words and may be
edited or rejected for reasons of legality and good taste.
 A
fresh viewpoint on matters of general interest to local readers
will increase the likelihood of publication. Writers should avoid
personal invective. Unsigned letters will not be accepted for
publication. Requests for withholding names will be considered
on an individual basis.
Thank
You letters should be limited to ten names.
Only
one letter per month from an individual correspondent will be
published.
Please send
your letter to: P.O. Box 1451, Point Roberts, WA 98281
or fax (360) 945-1613.
E-mail:editor@allpointbulletin.com
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