Letters, letters, letters

The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer's name, address and phone number. Letters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor. The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is noon Monday.

To the Editor:

Who is Erhard Dortman who was touting the book, "Arming America: The Origins of a Natural Gun Culture" by Michael Bellesiles in your last issue?

Since no attribution was given, I suspect a little investigation would find out that he is allied with Handgun Control Incorporated or some other gun-banning advocacy group.

His opinion that this book is a remarkable, well-researched book, supposedly showing that gun ownership was not a part of Revolutionary America is not supported by a reading of the book and checking on various data sources.

In fact, it appears to be a poorly researched book designed to support the HCI viewpoint that the Second Amendment is a states' right, not an individual right. HCI's aim is to ban all gun ownership. The entire book is filled with low-level spurious information composed partly of artificially selected comparisons, partly of simplistic assumptions, and partly of outright fabrications, not scholarship.

Bellesiles is an Emory University Historian who is well-known to be in the pocket of HCI. Although the book is filled with factual errors, too many to refute here, one should merely think about the alleged Bellesiles-fact that only 14 percent of men in frontier America owned firearms.

Did the Native Americans just give up since only one in seven men were armed? Did the other six men and their families go to the Safeway to get the meat to feed their families? Were outlaws so few that only one in seven families needed to be armed? Better one should look at the data sources Bellesiles uses and, more importantly, those data sources he does not use.

A few more columns like this one, along with the drivel by Molly Ivins, and someone might think The Nugget is as liberal as the Oregonian or The New York Times.

Carl S. Yee, Ph.D.

Editor's note: Erhard Dortmund is a Camp Sherman resident. He has enjoyed a long career in journalism and academia. His column appears twice monthly, addressing the issues of the day from a Sisters- area vantage point.

For another look at the issue, see the editorial on page 2.

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To the Editor:

Frank Getty's letter (The Nugget, February 21) regarding horses in Tollgate expressed our feelings exactly.

We, too, chose not to bring our horses to Tollgate when we moved here 10 years ago from five acres in the Willamette Valley.

Our concern was -- and still is -- the lack of space for these wonderful creatures. We would rather see horses run freely in large areas where self-exercise is part of their natural lifestyle.

This does not mean we expect current horse owners to get rid of their animals.

It does mean we support the gradual phase-out of horses in Tollgate, in recognition of the transition of the subdivision from weekend visitation to full-time residency by most of its owners.

We believe the Tollgate board has offered a proper compromise to a knotty problem, one which recognizes the rights of all Tollgate owners.

That said, we salute the responsible horse owners in Tollgate who exercise their animals regularly and clean up the confined space in which their horses live.

You are good neighbors.

Tom and Lois Worcester

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To the Editor:

There has been a lot of inaccurate information and defamatory accusations made regarding what some consider cruel horse care practices in Tollgate.

The issue of horses in Tollgate has never really been about horse abuse. It has always been about people, power, and neighbors who do not get along. The attempt to wrongly accuse Tollgate horse owners of abuse is simply a ruse to try to convince the uninformed to vote for reduced horse rights.

For the rodeo writer who believes the only way to keep horses is on acreage. If you rodeo, you know rodeo rider's horses are on the road, traveling in horse trailers and staying in stalls. They are not out in pasture every day.

Pasturing is not always a good choice. Horses in pasture risk injury. My horse founders on pasture. Many people do not realize that pastured horses must be inspected twice a day for injuries and general health.

Adequate water consumption is a must for good horse health, and is harder to monitor with pastured horses.

For the individual who believes horses need to be out galloping on acreage: Yes, it is a pretty picture. But what you are seeing are spooked or excited horses running around for a few minutes. If they run around all day you risk an overheated horse, colic or leg injuries.

Usually horses stand around snoozing or eating and do not need acreage for this.

Anyone who states that the horses kept in Tollgate are being abused because of the size of the lots, simply is not educated in horse care. Good horse care is a complex system that includes providing a safe environment, proper feeding, hoof and dental care, parasite control, and caring for the horse's mental well-being. This can be accomplished in a stall, a corral or a pasture.

Nancy Buffinton-Kelm

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To the Editor:

Tollgate is a wonderful place to live, and residents do have different opinions.

We've been property owners here for over 20 years, so it's hard for us to see, as those of you who've been here for four years do, that we're now a city subdivision!

As horse owners, our local vet comes out once a year, for shots and an exam. Our girls are healthy and in no way abused, nor does he think "imprisoned." Which by the way, were very offensive public statements.

The "bottom line" on the horse issue...."to phase them out over a period of time," is why the Tailgaiters fought this ballot, because that is the goal: total elimination.

We don't all have the money to buy acreage in Sisters and boarding our horses would mean more travel and less time spent with them.

So we feel Tollgate with it's accessibility to all the trails and National Forest land is perfect for us and our horses. The matter will be decided, it's just too bad we haven't been given the chance to address or work on issues as part of our community before being steamrolled with a ballot.

Sincerely,

Sue Durbin

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To the Editor:

Just a thought in regards to our high school basketball season: The season didn't go the way we thought it would from the start, but if you made any of the games you know the record in no way tells you how our teams played.

We played every game with determination and poise; we never gave up and all the other teams knew they were in a battle.

Our younger teams fared better than the varsity teams but they didn't play any harder.

I'm just as proud of our varsity girls and boys for their play and their season as if they had won every game.

I know that I'm not the only one that feels this way, so I want you all to know and thank you for giving it everything you had.

Hank Fegette

Sisters High School booster

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To the Editor:

The SOAR Foundation would like to express our sincere appreciation to Bonnie Malone, Jan Reed and Ronda Sneva of the Community Chest for their work in supporting SOAR.

The Valentine's Dinner Dance was the second fund-raising event produced by this awesome threesome and the money raised for SOAR is an important part of our annual funding.

With only about a quarter of the annual budget covered by the tax district, fundraising becomes essential to our organization. During the Valentine's event many participants came forward to pledge their financial support. We truly appreciate their generosity.

The SOAR Foundation serves to coordinate all non-tax district funds received by SOAR.

There are currently several positions open on the Foundation Board of Directors. For information contact Tom Coffield, the SOAR Program Director at 549-4177.

The SOAR Foundation Board of Directors;

Ginger Durdan-Shaw, President

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To the Editor:

This past week, I returned from five weeks in third-world Haiti, where I lived and volunteered in an orphanage in the capital city of Port Au Prince.

As a Sisters High School graduate of 1999 and now attending Rhode Island School of Design, a shortened winter semester gave me the opportunity to take a break from the busy swirl of college life and regain perspective by reaching out.

Needless to say, I had a wonderful time working in the orphanage, teaching art lessons, and photographing children for the adoption website.

But very importantly, I wanted to thank the community I am so proud to be from. The week before I left, I held a toy and clothing drive with drop boxes at the high school, post office, and Target in Bend . . . and I was overwhelmed with the amount of participation!

Expecting to fill a box, I had 10 boxes within just a few days; everything I could not bring, I am happy to say, was able to be distributed to children's hospitals and some items where even shipped on a freight to Rawanda!

I was lucky to witness the joy your kindness brought; the children jumped with delight for new toys, the women cried out "H-A-L-E-L-U-I-A!" for plastic diaper covers, and everyone got a new toothbrush (the children love to brush their teeth!).

But beyond the fun of new things, I could see that they were most touched simply by the fact that they had American friends who cared.

So I thank you, Sisters, beyond the thoughtfulness of your gifts; the generosity, kindness, and relentless service of so many in this community never fails to awe and inspire me.

Sincerely,

Leyah Jensen

To see the children in the orphanage Leyah visited and others available for adoption, visit the ministries web site at http://www.hgm.org.