Poole thanks

We are writing this letter as a heart-filled thank you to all who helped with the Don Poole fundraiser Saturday, June 6, at the Gorge White House. As you may know Don Poole, a local farmer and neighbor of ours, was severely injured in a farming accident. Although he lost both legs and continues to battle infection, Don and his family remain in high spirits.

Thank you to all who attended the auction and purchased items, raffle tickets and donated cash. Thank you to C.M.W.O. Sheppard’s for donating the “Gator” that was won by Tina Dye and so generously donated back to the Poole family. To the Hood River Eagles Lodge and Linda Carter for taking care of all the food, to Rosauers, Juanita’s, Safeway, Subway sandwiches, and everyone who brought food trays for the evening.

To all the local businesses and friends who donated gift certificates and fabulous items for the auction. To everyone for all the hours of help so freely given to put it all together and make it such a success.

To Rob Norton for being our auctioneer and making it a fun night, and a very special thank to Don’s son-in-law, Ben Krahn, for coming and representing the Poole family. To Kari, Kathy, Jodie, Joyce, Shannon and Tina for their countless hours of helping us get it all running smoothly.

Through the generosity of the Hood River and surrounding communities, the family has received more than $64,000 in donations.

We were born and raised in this community and have been so humbled and overwhelmed by your generosity. Hood River has proven that when there is a need for assistance, there is no shortage of people to help. You can still donate to the Don Poole Fund at CenterPointe Community Bank.

Thank you again for all your support, not only financially, but in thoughts and prayers.

Sheryl Graves
and Sandra Porter
Hood River

God and country revisited

We are so fortunate to have a number of quality schools in the Gorge, including Horizon.

Like Ernie De Rocher and Rita Swyers (Our Readers Write, June 17), we, too, are filled with hope and confidence in our young people.

However, we disagree that only Horizon students are receiving a “real” education and that government is restrained by “phony politically correct mania.”

Horizon has every right as a private school to focus on Christian values and teachings and we have the free exercise clause of the First Amendment to our Constitution to thank for that. Public schools, however, cannot constitutionally promote religious affiliation.

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects religious freedom. When Supreme Court considered prayer in public schools, it noted that the matter of prayer isn’t the business of government, and that forced adherence to government-imposed religious services in England drove the early colonists to seek religious freedom in America.

In other words, the First Amendment (made applicable to state functions via the 14th Amendment) advanced religious freedom by prohibiting government establishment of any one religion. By remaining free from religious affiliation, our public schools and government uphold the supreme law of the United States. That’s not “phony politically correct mania.”

Students enrolled in the public schools in Hood River find excellent teachers, high-quality curriculum — including AP classes, special education, foreign languages, fine arts and engineering, to name a few — and an abundance of clubs, sports, music, theater, and volunteering opportunities. Their education is very “real.” Someday they will work together with graduates from schools like Horizon and we hope they will all embrace our forefathers’ vision of religious tolerance.

It isn’t necessary to denigrate public schools and government in order to celebrate Horizon’s accomplishments.

Ken and Nicki Woodrich
Hood River

Turbines no trouble

Those who oppose the Whistling Ridge Energy project are opposing the wrong thing — they should be more interested in the health of those of us living in and around the orchards and vineyards and the hazards they create.

We watch, several times a year, as the orchards and vineyards within our scope (several acres) are sprayed by workers wearing Hazmat suits and full protective face gear.

We close our windows, bring in our pets and wait for the pesticide smell to go away. Oregon and southwest Washington have the highest breast cancer rates in the nation (check several sites on Internet, including the Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer organization). This is all within the NSA!

I cannot believe that SOSA or the “Friends” group would consider concrete, steel and fiberglass hazardous to the health of those miles away, or even next door.

As for the view, we have lived on Underwood Mountain for 17 years. The view has changed dramatically, which we knew we must accept.

The “new” vineyard in front of our house is not a pretty thing, especially in these first few years. The destruction of the orchards dramatically altered the attractiveness of our view, which now looks more like a national cemetery with white grow tubes all in a row.

The view across the river to Hood River has been vastly changed with new housing developments, red and yellow condominiums, Walmart, etc.; all allowed under the NSA as an exempt area. The areas of the proposed wind farm is not even in the NSA.

The objections regarding vibration, noise, wildlife kills, etc., are invalid and proven not problematic. Vibration would mean equipment malfunction and an expense the owners would correct immediately.

Last weekend we carried out a very normal conversation right under one of the wind turbines in operation near Rufus without raising our voices.

Regarding property values, in the 17 years we have lived here, our home and land value has increased 165 percent while our taxes increased 206 percent. East Skamania County has neither industry nor tax-relief allowable sites to date.

The only group benefiting from the growing recreational uses in the NSA are the businesses in Hood River. We, here in Underwood, have been allowed no taxpaying businesses; yet we must pay for the cleanup of those thousands who recreate on our side of the river.

Maybe a drop in property values and rise in farm taxation would make retirement in this area a viable option. Or maybe a voice of reason?

Arlene E. Bradford
Underwood, Wash.

Diet motivation

Weight loss motivation from Perth, Western Australia:

There is a great commercial here that says heaps about the American stereotype. It opens with a woman reporter flying on a military transport plane yelling into the microphone, “We just took one-third of the calories out of our beer and decided to give them to somebody who really wants them —Americans.”

Then crates of “calories” with parachutes get pushed out the bay door. They crash land in a heap in some small American town, startling overweight Americans who turn in surprise.

That’s our image. So if you are on a diet or thinking about one, perhaps you can use this as additional motivation.

Lee Fairchild
Parkdale