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 Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned.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:

In Mexico, possessions left unattended are considered fair game for anyone to pick up and claim ownership thereafter.

Now in our very own Sisters Middle School, personal items, especially clothing, have come to be considered fair game for reallocation of ownership. Make no mistake, parents, this is stealing. And stealing begets more stealing and worse.

On September 24, Chelsea Addison, took off her new-for-her-birthday Roxy sweatshirt at gym class to avoid overheating. In one hour it was apparently picked up by a student and disappeared. It never showed up at lost and found or through intensive inquiry.

The thieves of Sisters Middle School know to not wear their war-bounty back to school where it can be claimed by the real owner. They keep it at home for wearing elsewhere.

We ask the parent(s) of a student that recently has noticed their child unexplainably wearing a Roxy light blue sweatshirt, size Medium, to return it to the administration at Sisters Middle School. No action by the school or anyone else will be asked for, nor would it be appropriate.

The only confrontation needed will be from that parent to their child. We parents need to take responsibility in teaching our kids that "scoring" a "find" is plainly stealing and is disdained by reasonable, civilized people.

Not only does this sort of thievery injure the perpetrator, it also creates in the victim a sense of loss, victimization by a phantom thief, and the suggestion to their brain that such dastardly behavior is okay and part of the game of "scoring," to which they in turn may be lured into participating.

This isn't a third world nation where severe poverty cloaks thievery by necessity. This isn't stealing food to survive. This is thievery perpetrated by mindless young persons who have been misled by what has become shrugged-off behavior.

This stealing has been allowed to fester by we the parents, that choose to not take back to school things that our kids bring home which we know was not paid for. It is up to the parents, not the school, to stop it, for the sake of all the kids.

Jack Addison

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To the Editor:

In regards to the article in the September 25 edition of your newspaper: My concern is that even though members of your soccer team had twice allegedly been subjected to racial harassment within my community, that my department had no record of such incidents occurring.

I checked our records and could not find any reports or calls to the 9-1-1 center regarding either incident.

I am very concerned that your coach felt that his students were so threatened that he would leave the field, but did not call 9-1-1 or the police department business number to report the perceived danger.

I am sure that amongst the staff, parents and spectators from Sisters that at least one person had a cell phone and could have called 9-1-1.

There were officers on duty, and available to respond, on September 16 to the game.

Please understand that the officers of the Molalla Police Department will not, and would not have tolerated ANY instances of racial harassment, and if parents were involved and refusing to leave, we would have removed them, and if the circumstances warranted, made arrests for racial intimidation.

The Molalla Police Department wants to ensure the safety of both our community members and visitors, but we need to be notified of any incidents or potential problems.

For future reference, you can call 9-1-1 (No charge on a cell phone) or 503-655-8211 to contact dispatch when in Molalla.

Nick Kelsey

Chief of Police

Molalla Police Department

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To the Editor:

I was sad to hear of the harassment that took place at a Sisters sports event in Molalla a few weeks ago.

I am truly shocked that such an episode could happen in Oregon or any place in the United States.

The coach is to be commended for protecting his players and withdrawing from the game. Such an episode should be reported to the State Board of Education.

I hope that Sisters ceases competing with Molalla until this kind of situation is corrected. That community should be embarrassed for tolerating such behavior from adults. And where were the police?

Sisters parents are great sports fans and I hope they continue to support good sportsmanship among team members regardless of the kind of situation our players are exposed to. The team and its coach are owed an apology from Molalla.

Yours truly,

Ruth G. Ingham

* * *

To the Editor:

We would like to extend a great big "Thank You" to Coach Keel for standing up to injustice at the Molalla soccer game (The Nugget, September 25, p. 1; October 2, p. 1).

We admire him for removing his team from the field despite the personal repercussions that could follow. Bravely ignoring the racial slurs was the right thing to do. Ending the game as he did brought focus on those involved and silently said they were wrong.

At the same time, a mentality that can shout a racial slur might also be one that can do physical harm to the children. The protection of the team by Coach Keel was more than warranted.

Thank you, Coach Keel, for handling the situation that the opposing side wished to ignore.

Susan Sailor

Mike Caputo

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To the Editor:

The Kiwanis Club of Sisters would like to thank Pastor Tim Kizziar, Lori Flanders and the members of the Sisters Community Church for their ongoing support of the Sisters Food Bank. The church conducts quarterly food drives and purchases needed food to help feed the hungry of our area. They have donated an estimated 3-to-4 tons of food this year.

Because of efforts like this, Kiwanis is able to provide food boxes to 45 to 55 families each month. The support of the Food Bank provided by the Sisters Community Church is much appreciated.

The Food Bank, which is located on the corner of Main Avenue and Oak Street, is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Any needy individual or family is welcome to apply for assistance.

For more information call 549-4112.

Bob Walter

Kiwanis Food Bank

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To the Editor:

The just-completed eighth grade retreat had many components. The various activities offered to the students ranged from community service to hiking to rock climbing to wilderness survival to caving, to name a few!

This kind of experience could only have happened with the help of volunteer parents and adults who participated, transported, and encouraged.

We, the staff of the middle school, want you to know how grateful we are for your efforts.

Sincerely,

Kim Dunaway and the SMS staff