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 Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned.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:

I'd like to elaborate on the circumstances and outcome surrounding last week's article, "Sisters man hurt in horse accident." (Another story may be found this week on page 1).

Bill Mintiens was holding the lead rope of his horse, Tonto, with my six-year-old daughter, Mackenzie, sitting in the saddle. As I attempted to climb on behind her, Tonto spooked, throwing me off.

With Mackenzie still on, Bill instinctively held fast to the rope, as Tonto broke into a gallop. Being dragged face down in the dirt, the rope slipped slowly through his fingers until Bill swung fully behind the horse, eventually taking the full blow of a hoof square in the face.

As the rope left his hands, my wife, Michelle, and I watched in horror as Mackenzie came off the back of the horse, doing a complete backwards somersault, missing the rear hoofs, and landing on the front of her helmet and chest. Mackenzie bounded up right away, with a terrified cry, that let us know she was basically all right.

Bill wasn't as fortunate. His selfless act had cost him dearly. As the emergency room physician was to later say, it was the most devastating facial trauma he had ever seen. Incredibly, through it all, Bill held on to his sense of humor, cracking jokes in the ER, even as the blood continued to flow, and the swelling revealed the full extent of the damages.

It took three maxillo-facial surgeons, and a team of nurses, over nine hours, to install eight titanium plates to repair a broken chin, jaw bones, split upper palate, crushed sinuses and sub orbital bones holding the eyes. All of this transpired as his wife, Jan, anxiously flew back from her parents' home, a half a continent away.

In the midst of this great tragedy, an even greater good was appearing. Hundreds of friends, co-workers, and people Bill has never met began to hold him up in prayer. Bill emerged from surgery with his face badly swollen and a tracheotomy tube in place, yet his spirit and sense of humor remained intact, eventually asking if he now looked more like movie star Antonio Banderas.

Bill put his life on the line to save my little girl, which in itself was remarkable.

Many others came immediately forward to offer true compassion to the Mintiens and our family, displaying the true love of Christ through their actions. In a society that prides itself on independence and self-sufficiency, this turned out to be one of the greatest blessings of all.

This isn't the part of life you can get off the shelf or order online. Unfortunately, it seemingly only comes when tragedy strikes. Then if we choose, a genuineness emerges from our lives that drops the walls of superficiality around us and allows us to connect with each other at a level that leaves us vulnerable, yet very real.

In this town of Sisters, we have many people with heroic hearts that willingly take what life has to offer and build their lives and character on it.

Despite the pain, the severity of his injuries, and the long road of recovery ahead, Bill Mintiens is one of those who looks for the good in all this and asks, "What does God want to accomplish in my life through this?"

He will assuredly get those answers. Yet much has been accomplished and will be accomplished in the many lives touched by this tragedy. We would never ask for it, but now that it is here, we gladly reach out to receive it.

Thanks Bill. (John 15:13)

Gratefully,

The Ehr Family

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To the Editor:

I experienced the awesome power of a praying community this week. On Father's Day I was accidentally kicked in the head by one of my horses.

The response from the community overwhelmed me both physically and spiritually.

On the physical side, John Pagano's immediate reassuring appearance on the scene and Dr. Mark Francis' four-day vigil over me while I was in the hospital (and 9-1/2 hours in surgery) quite frankly saved my life.

So many friends brought food for my family and took care of our daily needs while I was in the hospital for four days! But the real point of this letter, the real heart warming part of this tale, is the immediate prayers that went up for me as soon as my accident happened.

Sisters has a very large and very active chain of "prayer warriors" that immediately went into action on my behalf.

From the moment I hit the ground (when Michelle and Stu Ehr started praying) I had an immediate sense of comfort that truly surpasses all human understanding. Thanks to all those who were praying on my behalf!

Bill Mintiens

* * *

To the Editor:

Timothy McVeigh killed 168 men, women and children because he believed they were guilty of a crime so evil they had forfeited their right to live: they were the employees and children of employees of the federal government.

McVeigh was certain these people deserved to die because they were a part of the organization he believed caused the deaths of people at Waco, Texas and Ruby Ridge, Idaho -- men, women and children he believed were innocent of any crimes.

In the end he believed that people are not salvageable.

He was convinced that individuals and their actions are fixed and, essentially, immutable.

McVeigh killed, not because of a philosophy of government, but because of a philosophy of human nature.

Many decent people in our country have similar, if not identical, opinions of the federal government. Many agree with McVeigh that the actions of the agents of United States government at Waco and Ruby Ridge were wrong. Virtually all of us believe that the government, our government, must be changed in some profound and fundamental way.

We don't kill people because of those beliefs.

The desire for transformation, revolution even, does not inevitably result in murder.

Timothy McVeigh didn't see it that way. He gave in to the despair that convinces a person the only way to achieve their goals is destruction. He believed ultimately that the end justified the means.

The reasons McVeigh killed are uncomfortably close to the reasons the government, in our name, executed him.

We believed he committed a crime so horrible he no longer deserved to live; we executed McVeigh as a public example of how we treat murderers; we killed him because we were angry; and he died for the murder of innocent people.

I am not writing to argue either for or against the death penalty. Instead I am writing to defend a philosophy of human nature.

Did we send Timothy McVeigh to his death for all the same reasons he murdered 168 men, women and children in Oklahoma?

Can we afford to execute anyone with a sneer and a cheer?

The only definition of patriotism that seems right to me these days comes from G. K. Chesterton:

"One must hate one's country enough to want to change it, and love it enough to think it worth changing."

McVeigh had the hate, but not the love.

Micheal Partridge

* * *

To the Editor:

Congratulations to Habitat for Humanity on its 10th anniversary in Sisters. The organization has contributed immensely to our community. The construction of 14 homes is an outstanding accomplishment. The Sisters Habitat volunteers have a fine record of local service. In addition, they have assisted families in many other parts of the world.

It was my pleasure to be a member of the Sisters Habitat team that traveled to San Andreas Tuxtla in Mexico this past March. The group was ably led by Gale and Molly Larson. With their leadership and the many contributions from the people of Sisters, the team was able to accomplish its goal of constructing a home.

Many community donations were received. Members of the local Lutheran church contributed tools that were used during construction. John Krumvieda purchased a gift certificate from Hoyt's Hardware that was also used to purchase tools. These tools were used at the building site and then given to the Mexican project workers for use in building their next home. Ron Williams of the Cascade Fitness Center helped many of us get in shape for the physical work of the project. As you can see, it was a real community effort.

Habitat for Humanity and the Sisters community have helped many people, locally and worldwide. I'd encourage you to become involved with the organization. You'll have the opportunity to give a lot, but you'll receive a great deal more in return.

Bill Moore

* * *

To the Editor:

On behalf of myself, and the rest of the Sisters Rodeo Board of Directors, I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved in making the Sisters Rodeo a successful event.

Without all of the member and non-member volunteers the rodeo would be impossible to provide for the community. A special thanks goes out to CRM Contracting, Inc. of Salem and Casey Kendall, project manager, for their donation of their grader, water truck and the many yards of gravel they donated to the rodeo grounds.

A special thanks also to the City of Sisters for their donation towards the national advertisement that will be aired on ESPN-2 along with the rodeo on July 1, at 10:30 EST (7:30 PST) and again on July 5.

Glenn Miller

President, Sisters Rodeo Association

* * *

To the Editor:

I want to express our appreciation to Marsha Marr for helping our Brownie Girl Scout Troop #711.

She took brown yardage donated to us by Jackie Erickson and made Brownie vests for our new girls. She did not charge us for her time and talents!

The first and second grade girls in our troop look wonderful! Marsha is a great asset to our community!

Evelyn Brush

Brownie Troop 711

* * *

To the Editor:

I would just like to say that I used to live in Sisters, spent half of my life there, and thought it was the most gorgeous town in the world.

As a resident of Florida now, I miss the scenery, snow, friends, and most of all my family. Well, I know that I will return one day and be in heaven once again.

So to the town, and residents of the town, I hope you are thankful for what you have. Florida has none of the benefits of the most beautiful mountains I have ever seen in my life.

Sincerely,

Nikie Warfield