Letters to the Editor: ‘Awakening’ concerts a community effort
‘Awakening’ concerts a community effort
“Many hands make light work” rings true for the creation and deliverance of “The Awakening” Mission Valley Choral Society concerts held on Palm Sunday weekend. The following hands made a successful re-awakening weekend happen.
Mission Valley Choral Society: Director Christian Bumgarner; accompanist Karla Gallatin; choral leadership Susan Fortner, Sophia Donovan, Karen McCullough and Rachel Lonnevik; New Life Church/practice facility; St. Ignatius Mission Church/Saturday venue; Immaculate Conception Catholic Church/Sunday venue and Father Kevin Christofferson; Meal prep, room set-up, serving food and clean-up: Bill Brownell, Toni and Jerry Whealon; Stephanie Clement, Dorothy Ashcraft; general helpers Linda Greenwood, Tillie Marshall, Jennifer Rolfsness and Koda King.
Food donations were crucial to create a tasty ham, potatoes, salad and dessert meal. A special thank you to Julie Conrad, Blooming Joy Farms in Ronan, for donating hams. And an all encompassing thank you to those who provided salads and desserts.
National Honor Society adviser Katrina Venters organized Polson High School students to hang posters: Tia Mercer, Clara Todd, Jazlyn Dalbey, Piper Hoxie and Aspen McKee.
Donations for Mission Valley Choral Society taken at the Saturday concert totaled $464 to be used for music. Mission Valley Choral Society’s mailing address: MVCS, P.O. Box 1165, Polson, MT 59860. Donations for Helping Hands of Mission Valley taken at the Sunday concert and meal totaled $2,705. The Helping Hands mailing address is P.O. Box 1094, Polson, MT 59860.
Thank you to the folks of Lake County for supporting “The Awakening” of music in the valley.
— Valerie Lindstrom, Polson
Health insurance at risk
Many people switch health insurance companies, most commonly because of a new job. What if you apply for new health insurance and they say, “Yes, you can enroll in our insurance, but if you need treatment for anything that you already have, we won’t cover it. We’ll only cover new conditions. We won’t cover any pre-existing condition.”
When the Affordable Care Act was signed into law in 2010, it ensured that you can’t be denied health care coverage because of pre-existing conditions. That provision is at risk. Despite its enormous popularity, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) recently said Republicans’ goal is to obstruct Biden until they retake power, then make good on promises such as repealing the Affordable Care Act. Montana’s Sen. Steve Daines and Rep. Matt Rosendale support repealing the Affordable Care Act.
This is the worst possible time for that protection to no longer exist. It could mean that if you have asthma, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, etc., your new insurance company wouldn’t cover treatment for them. In addition, there are now more people with pre-existing conditions. When the pandemic began two years ago, doctors predicted many who got COVID-19would have long-lasting health problems from it due to kidney, heart or lung damage from the infection. Two years down the road, that prediction has proved true; an estimated 7 million to 23 million Americans have long-lasting complications from COVID-19.
If pre-existing conditions are no longer covered, where will that put you if you change to a new health insurance plan and it isn’t required to cover health conditions you already have? Can you afford it? How we vote is vital. Do the candidates you support want to support your continued health care coverage?
— Stephanie Brancati, Big Arm
Re-elect Sheriff Bell
Sheriff Don Bell has been an honest, caring straight shooter, with fairness to everyone in Lake County. Let's keep Lake County safe into the future. We need him to be sheriff again. Please vote for him this election. I have no ax to grind, just have common sense.
— Dick Wunderlich, Big Arm