Letters to the editor

Helping others

Last summer, I volunteered at the Flathead Lake Migrant School Program. The migrant school program is held every summer at Polson Middle School. It is a place where the children of cherry pickers can come daily to play, eat and learn while their parents are working in the cherry orchards. The program is held during the cherry picking time in the summer and it lasts for two weeks.

I worked at the migrant school program as part of Polson High School’s Students Energized by Real Voluntary Engagement (SERVE) project. I had to get a community mentor and a faculty mentor to support and approve my participation in this program. I wanted to volunteer at the migrant school because I thought it would look good on my resume and I thought it would be a good way to practice my Spanish.

My duties at the migrant school included watching the students swim and play, playing games with them, supervising them on the playground and keeping them under control in the classroom by helping the teacher. I also watched over the students at lunch in the cafeteria. The ages of the students I supervised ranged from kindergarten through fourth grade. I thought that it would be hard to talk to them because I don’t speak Spanish very well, but all of them spoke English and most of them spoke only English.

I enjoyed my time at the migrant school. It was fun to hang out with the kids and they were really funny. I worked 32 hours last summer but will work more hours this coming summer. The job is very rewarding and I would highly recommend volunteering at the migrant school program to anybody looking for a SERVE project to do. Helping others is good and you will benefit from it also.

Sean Laimbeer

Polson

Horse expo

The Lake County Fairgrounds in Ronan will be the site of a horse exposition and an auction on May 5. These events are being presented by Friends of the Fairgrounds (FOG) and are intended to introduce the community to the renovated arena and grandstand area and to raise funds to help retire the remaining $18,000 debt that was incurred in completing this project. The arena will be a better venue for varied community and agricultural events, while the public will not be put at risk by sitting on bleachers that might collapse under their weight.

Ken Snyder, owner of the Valley Club, generously volunteered to organize the auction event and has solicited donations from local businesses and individuals. If you have new or serviceable used equipment or items that you have thought of getting rid of, but have never able to bring yourself to part with, then please consider donating the items to the auction. Receipts for the estimated value of the donated item(s) will be provided for tax purposes and all donations will be picked up by Ken, his representatives, or Friends of the Fairgrounds. All monies made during this event will go toward retiring the debt, after expenses for the auction and exposition have been paid. Please contact Ken at 261-1759 or 676-9441 if you would like to donate an item to be auctioned.

Friends of the Fairgrounds was organized in an effort to promote the use of the fairgrounds to improve the physical environment of the fairgrounds, and to bring entertainment and business to our community. Friends of the Fairgrounds are all volunteers and we welcome suggestions or ideas for the fairgrounds. We hope to see you on May 5 and be sure to bring the whole family.

David Koger

Ronan

“It Isn’t Over Yet!”

Sorry folks, just when it looked as though there might be little further damage to be visited upon the Polson School District, we now have an additional example of the ‘anonymous criticism’ that led to the recent loss of three more administrators. I’ve spoken out against the unethical behavior of some trustees over the past year. E.g., ignoring the comments of people who have identified themselves and stood up in support of our youngest principals, but happily citing the (many?) negative comments they have received from unidentified sources, and acting on those. Of course, the negative comments come from people who will not be named, or by others who ask that their comments remain confidential.

I, for one, will honor wishes to remain confidential, but I must say that those inputs do not carry any weight with me. If you will not speak publicly about what you believe in, keep it to yourself! Other board members will use those types of remarks as ammunition — but I will not!

I said, above, that we now have an additional example of this cowardly behavior. I received in the mail, on Friday, April 13, a plain white envelope displaying the same tactic as described earlier. There was, of course, no return address or other identifying marks. It contained an unsigned, two-sentence typewritten note claiming that “most people feel the appointment of Scott Wilson as transportation director is total job redundancy and a complete misappropriation of school funds. Why is this situation not being corrected?”

Be assured that I, for one, will give this ‘all due consideration’ until such time as the author(s) choose to step forward and behave like adults.

Bob Hanson

Dayton

Brake problems

According to local brake experts, the de-icing agent sprayed on our roads ruins vehicle brake components. Not so, says the dealer that I purchase my car from.

Last summer, due to a noise from the rear wheel, I took my car to the dealer service department. They found the rear brake rotors were so rusted that they needed replaced. The rust was caused by the chemical currently used on the highways during winter conditions. Mixed with an adhesive, it is difficult to remove from the undercarriage and continues to corrode. This, he explained, had resulted in “a lot of brake repairs” that they had been doing. I agreed to the brake repair along with a “free” multi-point inspection. That inspection of over 20 items showed everything “good.”

Afterward, noticing a progressive drop in miles per gallon, I inquired with the dealer service rep who suggested installing new spark plugs and cleaning the fuel injectors. When that didn’t work, they suggested a valve adjustment. When that didn’t work, they told me to burn premium fuel. Well that didn’t work either.

Last month, when hearing more brake noises, a local brake shop very quickly found that the brake calipers had been corroded and plugged with the de-icing solution. This caused them to lock up, destroying the brake pads, cutting into the rotors and restricting the wheels. Because the dealership had not replaced the calipers, it was determined to have not only contributed to a potentially hazardous condition, but also to the excess fuel consumption. Checking with two other local brake experts, they all agree that the calipers should have been replaced.

After trusting the professionalism and adding a lot to the cash register of the dealer, they denied that the calipers needed to be replaced and refused to correct it without my paying for it. They offered to give me a “good deal” on buying another car from them instead. I don’t think so.

Jim Sisler

Big Arm

Beware of GMO’s

I know that all of us are overloaded and overwhelmed by warnings given by our fellow citizens, but the truth is that we must be vigilant about the dangers that threaten us, our children and grandchildren.

As consumers, we need to constantly remember the phrase “Let the buyer beware.” I used to think that I could depend on the governmental authorities to safeguard my health, but now I know that I must accept the responsibility for being the caretaker and protector of my well being. My purpose in writing this is to make you aware of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) which is an organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques.

The reason that I want you to be interested in this subject is that GMOs are the constituents of genetically-modified foods that we find in our supermarkets more and more every day. At this time of the year when the farmers are preparing their fields for planting crops, and commercial and home gardens are being tilled, the time in drawing near when crops will be planted. The question is what kinds of seed will be used by farmers, commercials operations and home gardeners?

After two years of planting replacement crops in our hay field, it is time to replant our alfalfa and Timothy grass crop that we feed to our cattle. We know that we have the option of using Roundup Ready Alfalfa and definitely decided against this because of our concerns related to genetically modified seeds. We know that our cattle will eat the crop and eventually that the public may eat beef produced on our small ranch. We are not willing to take the risk.

As I prepare to plant my two vegetable gardens, I am using the same cautions with the seeds used in planting these gardens that I am with my alfalfa field. No GMOs for me and mine. If you are interested in the history, problems and lawsuits related to the GMOs and a company called Monsanto, Google “Monsanto,” “Poland,” “Argentina,” “human birth defects,” “cattle infertility,” “cross pollination of non GMO crops” and “the development of super strains of weeds.”

Please also be vigilant when shopping for your family’s food supply. You might find a sense of false security in the fact that the USDA has approved of these products and deemed them safe, but why take the risk? Study up on this topic and then instead of counting on the government to make sure that you and your family are safe, take responsibility for yourself.

“The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.” - Albert Einstein

Milla Koger

Ronan

Farm kids and wolves

Representative Janna Taylor makes some good points about the Labor Department’s overreach on young people working on their family farms and ranches.

I think it should be left to the individual families as to what the kids are capable of and when. As Rep. Taylor pointed out, a totally risk-averse life is impossible to achieve for anyone, urban or rural, and when young people many times are likely to inherit the family farm or ranch, the more they can learn growing up about the myriad of responsibilities involved with such, the better prepared they will be.

While I hope Rep. Taylor and other Republicans will get more realistic about climate change, a more equitable tax system, true Wall Street reform and quality, affordable health care that leaves no one out, on the aforementioned issue, I think she is absolutely right.

Also, Leader publisher Dan Drewry stated it well — if the wolf population in the Yellowstone region is not greatly reduced, and quickly, there will be very few elk left down there. Now, it could be live trap-and-transfer, selective sterilization, professional hunters or a combination, but something needs to be done.

Virgil Hess

Polson