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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Love you, Robert
Editor, the Journal,
In an article in the Nov. 5'editi0n
of the Shelton-Mason
I was thrilled to see Bill Barker had
written an article about a charming
friend of mine, Robert “Bob” Gilroy.
As as I saw those sparkling
eyes and contagious smile, I recog-
nized this dear man. I had no idea he
had been a sailor, I have only known
him as a very funny guy. He was al-
most always present at local music
venues around town, causing smiles
and delightful belly laughs from the
crowds that gathered.
Oh, how we could use his funny
stories and (mostly) P.G.-rated wit—
ticisms right now. I’m sure he could
entertain us, get us to chuckle and V
laugh and probably downright crack
up — a much-needed dose of the best
medicine we could all use right now.
I think I can speak for many us
in saying we miss you Robert and
look forward to the day when things
are safe again, the music gatherings
are back and you, dear friend, can do
something you do so well — make us
laugh until our bellies hurt.
Love you, Robert. Hope to see you
again soon!
Deb Hart
Shelton
Reykdal’and R-90
Editor, the Journal,
The unofficial results of the recent
election provided enough information
to make an analysis of Mason County
choices. The county went mostly Re-
publican, but in a few races the voters
chose Democrats. This shows the lime:
pendent streak in Mason County.
The Office of Superintendent of
Public Instruction (OSPI) race shows
Democrat Chris Reykdal received just
under 51% of Mason County votes and
Republican Maia Espinoza got just
over 43% of votes with 6% not voting
for either candidate. In contrast, Ref-
erendum 90 was approved by 46% of
Mason County voters and rejected by
53% with 1% not voting.
R—90 was designed by Reykdal. It’s
‘ a bad education law because of the way
it was forced upon us. The law requires
sex education for children starting in
preschool. It was controversial for some
parents. Some felt it was a parental
duty, not an educator’s job, to teach sex
to their kids. ’
R-90 required parents to opt out
for their kids to avoid this class. The
criteria should have been for parents
to opt in, but Democrats believe they
have a right and a duty to run our
lives and raise our children. What the
law should do is require schools to sell
the importance of this class to parents
Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020 Shelton-Mason County Journal Page A-5
Journal Letter Policy
The Journal encourages original letters to the editor of local interest.
Diverse
and varied opinions are welcomed. We will not publish letters that are
deemed
libelous or scurrilous in nature. All letters must be signed and include
the
writer’s name, address and daytime phone number, which will be used for
verification purposes only. All letters are subject to editing for length,
grammar
and clarity. To submit a letter, email editor@masoncounty.com, drop it off
at
227 W. Cota St, or mail it to P0. Box 430, Shelton, WA 98584.
and require the parents to sign their
kids up for this class rather than the
reverse.
Decades ago it was required for
students to recite the Pledge of Al—
legiance at the start of the school day.
Some religions believe you should only
pledge allegiance to God, not topoli-
tics. The kids whose parents objected
had to stand in the hallway while the
pledge was being recited. Later those
kids were teased by bullies and others
for being “different.” This could happen
again. The simple solution is to have
parents choose the class (opt in) rather
than have parents take their kids out
of the class (opt out). With the approval
of R—90, this is no longer an option.
Unfortunately, Reykdal is more
interested in forcing a sex-ed class on
students and parents than in selling
the program. He thinks he knows bet-
ter. While Mason County rejected R—90,
they re-elected Reykdal. Now R90 is
law and Reykdal is still SPI. Pity!
Ardean Anvik
Shelton
Canines might have
nose for COVID
Editor, the Journal,
Back in‘the first part of May, essen—
tially six months ago, I wrote a bevy of
letters to various leaders/folks/organi-
zations about using dogs to detect the
coronavirus. Well, my efforts were like
whistling in the wind. However, there
is encouragement. The Kitsap Sun on
Nov. 2 had a front-page story about
using dogs, i.e., their noses, to detect
COVID-19.
So I have an idea. While I was
briefly a politician for a few months
before the primary election in August,
I would stand by my truck with my
campaign signs and wave at thousands
and thousands of vehicles. I noticed
that you folks really, really like your
dogs. So to you dog-loving folks, why
don’t you train up your dogs and you
to detect the Virus? Once you and your
dogs are trained, think of the differ-
ent venues you and your four-legged
companion could be hired to monitor.
A cash flow stream coming your way
instead of going in the other direction.
That would be a novel concept.In vari-
ous articles that I have read, the noses
on the'mutts have a very high success
rate of detecting the virus in the vicin-
ity of about a 94% success rate. This
high detection rate is awesome and it
is nonevasive and it is fast. So what do
you folks need to do? Well, organize,
get dead virus samples that are in
some type of container that your dog
won’t eat, train up you and the mutt,
test you and the mutt and then put up
your shingle for business. You see, you
folks are in the driver seat. There are
no rules or regulations or oversight
about COVID-sniffing dogs. Everything
you would do and claim would be based
on your integrity. I will be watching
for your motivation and success in this
endeavor. Remember, in this pandemic
stay smart, better yet stay alive.
Earl W. Burt
Bremerton
C02 fees a nd
0 O O .
drIVIng miles
Editor, the Journal,
For his Oct. 22 letter to the editor, I
wanted to thank Phil Wolf for bringing
up the factor of “miles traveled” for ru-
ral vs. urban drivers and its financial
impact on Mason County residents for
a proposed CO2 fee and dividend bill.
As facts are indeed very important, fol—
lowing several weeks of more research,
I provide some new information for
our continuing community discus-
sion. Although wealthy folks making
$204,975 per year in 2014 do consume
2.1 times more fuel than lower- income
residents making $31,237, Phil is right
that rural county residents do own
more vehicles than city dwellers (2.7
vs. 1.7 in 2014 according to a January
2015 Washington road use assessment
study),and Mason County residents
do drive 22.8% more miles than King
County residents (4,922 vs. 4,007 miles
per capita for light-duty vehicles in
2019, according to the state Depart-
ment of Transportation. So, if you have
a good job and commute a long dis-
tance, you might indeed end up paying
slightly more in C02 fees versus what
you would receive in a yearly dividend
check. I know all my less-fortunate-
neighbors would receive more back
than they would pay. Almost everyone
would receive more money in their
pocket for this C02 fee and dividend
plan versus a C02 tax where the rev-
enue would go into the state’s coffers to
fund various environmental projects.
However, instead of looking so closely
at how many cents per gallon each of
us would make or lose under various
C02 reduction scenarios, why can’t we
focus on the most equitable approaches
for reducing C02? I realize most of us
older newspaper readers will not live
to see the very dire impacts of global
warming, but can’t we make some sac—
rifices for our kids’ future? I continue
to call on our state representatives to
reveal their climate change plans so we
can all be good renters and not trash
our planet.
Dave Daggett
Shelton
The Tree
Editor, the Journal,
I remember when I discovered the
name of the tree that grew in back of
the porch of the “cold water flat” we
rented when I was a child. We called
the area of Chicago that we lived in
“Southside Irish Poor.” The tree is
called The Tree of Heaven, “Ailanthus
Altissimo,” but also called, “The Tree of
the Poor.”
I didn’t know then nor do I know
now why this ugly tree has that name.
It seemed to be the only tree that grew
in the area where I lived, and very in—
vasive, and I have learned it is consid-
ered a noxious weed. All the kids knew
this tree, and some were allergic to the
leaves that grew on the long stems. We
would break off these stems and pull
the leaves off (you could then smell the
bad odor) and they would become limp
swords that we would use to chase
each other, trying to hit one another’s
legs with. Don’t ask me why.
A movie came out called “A Tree
Grows in Brooklyn.” The movie made
it very clear that this was a tree of the
poor. ,
After that, I tried to ignore it, be-
cause I realized that we were poor, and
even though my father worked very
hard, we had a difficult time making
ends meet, which was a nicer way of
saying it. And then when Dad died,
things got worse, but that is another
story. L
The tree didn’t seem to be found in
any other yards in the neighborhood,
but we lived in a rented flat, and had
no choice.
It is strange that something so
simple, like a tree, can define your sta-
tus in an area. But everyone was nice
to me and didn’t treat me any differ—
ently, and made me feel accepted, and
I learned to make the best of it.
Patricia Vandehey
Shelton
‘de LETTERS, page A—e
Timcsi Iustchange Trump flag from 2020 to 2024
7 continued from page A-4
I felt that, too. On election
night, I stopped watching
returns around 8:30 when
the Florida Panhandle sealed
the state for Trump. I didn’t
want to watch this 4-year—
old movie again, so I went
to bed, bearing that weight
James mentioned, and I arose
around 7 the next morning. I
schlumped barefoot into our
darkened living room, where I
stepped into a tawny-colored
pile of cat vomit.
Stepping in cat vomit felt
like the icing on Trump’s
victory, and I marveled at
my naivete, all over again. I
had been bewitched and be-
dazzled, once again, by poll-
ing and I had forgotten, once
again, that Trump is a necro-
mancer. He’s Nosferatu.
I avoided election returns
all of Wednesday, relying only
on Mrs. Ericson to dribble
out news she thought I could
handle. By Thursday after-
noon, she said, “Pennsylvania
and Georgia are looking fa-
vorable.” And I was back in
the game.
James, who said he origi-
nally supported Sens. Bernie
Sanders and Elizabeth War-
ren for president and vice
president, is out of step with
most voters in his voting pre-
cinct, where Trump received
some of the highest percent—
age of votes in Mason County
414 for Biden and 617 for
Trump. Biden’s best precinct,
incidentally, appears to have
been Skokomish, home of
the Skokomish Indian Tribe,
where the president-elect re-
ceived 222 votes to Trump’s
46 votes.
As for Trump, “He’s just
too abrasive,” James said.
“I’ve never been able to un-
derstand how these conserva-
tive Christians could support
him through all of this. It just
doesn’t make sense.”
For those grieving Trump’s
loss, I know it hurts. Per—
haps it feels as though you’ve
just stepped into a mound of
cat vomit. But take comfort
in this: You can keep your
Trump flags and signs be-
cause you’ll be able to display
them again in 2024. Just use
a Sharpie to cross out the 0
and replace it with a 4.
I wrapped up my conversa-
tion with the 88-year-old lib-
eral living in the woods near
Matlock by asking what he
was planning for the rest of
Saturday.
“My daughter and son-in-
law are coming over,” he said.
“They’re both great help. I’m
making a big kettle of pea
soup'and we’ll just spend
time discussing the happen-
ings of the day.” ‘
' I Contact Kirk Ericson at
kirk@masoncounty.com.