Letters to the editor

Sea to shining sea

Red, White and Blue, American History, a handful of proud veterans and 50-plus middle school students.

All of the above components created an emotional and delightful couple of evenings at the Ronan Performing Arts Center as the Ronan Middle School drama department presented “Sea to Shining Sea” for the community.

The production, written and directed by Rita Tingey with assistance from Cammy Maughan, included vignettes from the exploration of America to the inventors who made the United States the most powerful and industrial nation on earth to the tribute to the veterans of the military from the Ronan community.

The audience laughed with a rendition of Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s on First” and marveled at the voice of the young lady who sang “Shenandoah.” They were entertained by an enthusiastic group of immigrants, homesteaders, pioneers, pirates, inventors and patriots who sang and danced to familiar American songs. The audience was impressed by the two young ladies who recited the entire “Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” from memory.

Many of the young actors and actresses had never performed on stage before, but the audience would never have known as they did a fine job of staying in character and presenting the story.

Patriotic songs brought tears to the eyes of many in the audience and the tribute by the young students to their family members who had served in the armed forces was powerful. The student actors performed “America the Beautiful” in sign language as a slide show on the big screen showed how beautiful America really is.

In addition to the on-stage performers, the production included many backstage assistants who painted scenery, coordinated the change of scenes, did the accompaniment of the songs, helped with makeup and hair dos as well as feeding the performers and clearing the dressing rooms.

The next production coming to the RPAC will be “Beauty and the Beast” performed by the Ronan High School drama department. It will be presented in March.

Marilynn Tanner

Ronan

Amazing play

On Jan. 27 -28, 2012, an amazing play presented by a group of young middle school students entitled “From Sea to Shining Sea” was shared with an enthusiastic audience in the Ronan Performing Arts Center.

Many of these young people had never been in a play, never performed in front of an audience of any kind, didn’t know stage right from stage left, didn’t know a lot of American history. But they learned, under the tutelage of Director Rita Tingey, what it means to be an American, how we got to where we are now and why we should be proud to live in a free country and what a responsibility that entails. And they had fun doing it!

If you have never been to an event in the theatre in School District No. 30, you would be amazed at what this district has constructed for the people of this community. Come and see and be a part of what our young people and adults have here. The classes for middle school and high school students are something that haven’t been available previously. What they learn now will be invaluable in later life and they carry that confidence forward.

I was impressed with what those middle school students presented as I laughed and I cried at the many patriotic songs performed, the thanks given to veterans for their service. It was all amazing.

I thank Director Rita and her assistant Cammy Maughan for all their tireless work and sharing their talents teaching our young people new experiences and confidence in what they are capable of. It was indeed a wonderful week end of theatre for Ronan.

Nancy Williams

Ronan

Buy local

I’ve been hearing a lot about small farmers being held hostage by Monsanto through use of their seeds, and farmers who raise crops and animals for big agriculture and are forced to follow environmentally destructive and inhumane practices in order to continue making their living as farmers. A good documentary about the big agriculture industry and how food arrives to our supermarkets is “Food Inc.” My understanding is that big agriculture is subsidized by the government, which creates an artificially-low price for food in the average supermarket.

In order for consumers to know what we are eating, there is a movement to have genetically modified (GMO) food labeled, which is being opposed by Monsanto and other big agriculture businesses. GMO food produced by these huge companies is said to contribute to the generation of greenhouse gas pollution, pollute the soil and water with pesticides and chemical fertilizers and toxins. It also increases the cost of food, while reducing nutrition and biodiversity, creating pesticide resistant “superbugs” and weeds, and generating new and dangerous animal and human diseases.

I see lots of reasons to support the “little guy” — smaller farming operations. In Montana, we have a significant agriculture industry and there is a growing movement to promote a “buy local” and “farm to table” distribution structure. The more food we buy and consume that is produced locally, the better it is for our Montana economy. If we would increase the amount of local food we purchase from Montana producers by 20 percent, it would keep millions of dollars in the state, create and retain jobs, hopefully save transportation costs and fuel and would likely be a healthier way to eat… I don’t see a downside. (Unless you own stock in Monsanto.)

Buying locally grown food products is one way for us to help ourselves, and stop giving our financial power away to huge conglomerate businesses.

Judy Preston

Polson

Wild west

On Friday, Jan. 27, Mr. Bud Cheff Jr. and his wife appeared at the Big Arm Schoolhouse as our guest speaker. It was the first Big Arm Association pot luck social of the year.

With a packed crowd, after dining, Bud took center stage and the hearts of all in attendance. He mentioned that he didn’t follow his planned talk. He just seemed to go back in time, telling an appreciative audience of the personal experiences growing up when the West was still wild. He always loved listening to the stories of the elder Native folk and he related some of those stories too. There was seldom heard any sound made except when questions were asked.

Bud’s lovely wife brought to our attention, that as our Association are challenged in raising vital funds to continue on our work on the school, they also are desperately needing funds to save the Ninepipes Museum of Early Montana.

We would encourage everyone to visit the museum on U.S.Hwy. 93 in Charlo, for some wonderfully preserved history and hair-raising stories of the past, never to be repeated. For a visit to the Big Arm school, call (406) 871-2823.

Jim Sisler

Big Arm

Party politics

“One party is as bad as another!” Is it? The Republican Party is still the party of less government, stronger conservative values and free enterprise. The Democrat Party upholds its tradition of big government, liberal values, high taxes and regulations that strangle economic growth. Norman Thomas, who ran six times as the Socialist Party candidate for President, said in 1944, “I no longer need to run as a Presidential Candidate for the Socialist Party. The Democrat Party has adopted our platform.”

Perhaps the parties need to adopt names that better describe their philosophies: the Republican/Constitution Party and the Democrat/Socialist Party. Their platforms are very different! The Republican Party understands the necessity to protect the U.S. Constitution.

When elected officials arrive in Washington, their hands are tied. They are left at the mercy of the biggest contributors. Both parties are victims of this system. It cost over a billion dollars to elect the last president. Until organizational funding of elections is eliminated, we will not have integrity in government or the best interests of the people served. Big money from out-of-state sources is destroying the spirit of representative government. The candidate with the most money wins! Is this necessarily the best representative?

Senator Tester’s latest email states that he is supporting a constitutional amendment to undo the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision. That decision gave corporations the same power which unions have always had, i.e. to contribute to elections. Tester goes on to state that “corporate interests should not have the power to buy elections” and that there is “no transparency or accountability.”

One could substitute the word “union” where he has “corporate.” Is it fair for unions to take members’ dues to support candidates they might oppose? To level the playing field, the current double standard must cease. If corporations are denied this right, then unions, PACs and all other organizational forms of campaign funding must be obliterated, also.

Gentlemanly debates, focused on issues of concern to all, have turned into nasty exchanges of insults influenced by unlimited and uncontrolled PACs. This must be eliminated if we are to restore a government of the people. The system is broken! Hopefully Senator Tester will legislate to remove all monetary forms of influence that have flawed the system! We learn much more from debates focusing on the issues than from attack ads costing millions of dollars. Let debates be the venue for educating the public!

Mimi and Irv Milheim

Dayton

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