Letters to the Editor

Grayce & truth
Thank you Grayce Ray for your many articles concerning the problems in the city of Watson. Your words were always truthful and detailed as to what was happening with the residents of Watson.

Grayce was subjected to much abuse during and after the city council meetings. She handled it with dignity and the attitude of a true professional reporter.

Some meetings lasted in excess of four hours when they should have taken no more than two hours. It is tough to sit and listen to deceit and barnyard language with no consideration for what is best for the city and its residents, to the point of taking three meetings just to sign a contract for fire protection.

Those who choose to criticize, perhaps should instead try attending one of Watson’s council meetings and get the facts as they happen. Stop listening to those who choose to tell falsehoods, prevaricate and rationalize. Discover how much of our tax money they continue to spend for lawyer fees. How much more can we afford to pay with our high tax rates?
—Marian Roffelson
Watson

Hats off to Hein and students
Hats off to Bonnie Hein and her students from Putting on the Ritz dance studio! What a great show they put on.

Hats off also to the parents of these children for realizing the importance of dance to help achieve a complete physical body workout, and also give their children confidence in front of a crowd. What a great asset you folks have with this program being local.

Congratulations kids!
—Janel Mitchell
Minnetrista
—Kathy Munsch
Renville

Good kids, proud heritage
During the week of May 25 through 28, the Chippewa County Historical Society hosted our 31st annual Heritage Week. During the four day period, almost 1,000 school children and adults attended this popular annual event with approximately 57 school children from Sanford Elementary in attendance.

Our community has much to be proud of. The children who participated in Heritage Week were polite and considerate to the other students and adults in attendance, attentive to the instructors and “village residents” and were well prepared for their visit.

Montevideo area school teachers have done a wonderful job in teaching our children about their heritage.
Our school and community can indeed be proud of our students.
—June Lynne
Executive Director, Chippewa County Historical Society

Montevideo music program
I am writing this letter to the friends of the Montevideo school music program which has been cut drastically in this year’s school budget. There has been a quiet fund drive to raise enough money to save the music programs in our school system and unfortunately we have a large, serious problem that has just developed.

Geoff Hathaway was leading the charge of this cause and on Sunday evening or early on Monday morning, Geoff suffered a very severe stroke and at this writing we don’t know the outcome or what the future holds for Geoff. Let’s all pray for him and his family, as they go through this ordeal. Geoff was airlifted to North Memorial Hospital in the Cities.

What we do know is that Geoff was very dedicated to this project, and gave much of his time and personal money to get this fund­raiser off the ground, and he would be devastated if we quit now because of his health. The Montevideo Music Boosters, a group of concerned parents, teachers, and people who just enjoy the music that is produced by our kids, has been working on this since the cuts were made.

If you have attended any of the musical events that feature our local students, you can’t help be impressed by the quality of instruction they have had. Many say they would be comparable to college programs. For us it is the Flood of Jazz, with a sold-out theater and amazing talent.

We need to raise a lot of money, approximately $50,000 for this year and the same amount each year over a 5-year period. That will reinstate the music programs that have been cut in the grade schools, the jr. high programs and return a full-time band instructor at the high school.

It is a lot of money to raise, but when I talked to Mr. Hatha­way Friday evening, it appeared we were at the halfway mark.

We are looking for donors who are willing to make a 5-year commitment with the contribution of a set amount each year. Maybe it is $500 or $1,000 or more if you can, each year for 5 years. It appears at this time we may be able to make that a tax deductible gift, but even if it can’t be, your contribution would be important to the kids and the program.

If you have any interest in helping save the music program you can call Ellen Moore, president of the Music Boosters at 269-3181; contact Rick Stermer at: rstermer@montelaw.com or me, at: jtilden@charter.net, and we will put you in touch with the proper person.

A few years back, our community got together to build a playground for the kids, and now we have another opportunity to do something for our kids and the community. In Geoff’s own words, “it really is a dire situation that needs to be fixed — right now — before it is too late.”

Geoff, get well soon. We will carry on until we meet your goals.
—Jerry & Dixie Tilden
Montevideo