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July 3, 2008 Opinions |
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—Editorial—
Community Loses Valuable Member And Friend With Passing Of Ron Perkins
A valuable member of the community and a friend to many was lost this week with the passing of Ron Perkins. It’s hard to have a conversation about Haines without mentioning Ron, a person who obviously loved this little community and its people. I visited with a few of Ron’s friends and neighbors this morning and one thing that was repeated several times is that “he was so giving of his time.”
Ron was very involved in the community contributing his time and labor, and often times his wagon and horse team, for community events.
Ron participated on several civic boards including the Haines Cemetery District, Powder Valley Water District, Haines Fire Protection District and the now defunct, Old Hands committee.
As a rancher and farmer, Ron also loved and respected the land. He was very involved in the creation of Pilcher Creek Reservoir and was instrumental in bringing the North Powder Rock Creek pipeline from concept to reality. Both of these systems are important to a great number of property owners who irrigate from them.
Gerald Maxwell of Haines said Ron was also a great promoter in protecting instream water rights. “He was well respected for his opinions in this area,” said Gerald.
Pete and Donna Schoeningh, former Haines residents, said, “Ron was an excellent neighbor who was always willing to help out.”
They said he was very generous with his time, and years ago Ron helped them pack into the Wallowa Mountains, a trip they will never forget. “He was so good to us, we will really miss him,” they said.
Chet Smith of Baker City who had elk hunted with Ron for years, packing into the Eagle Cap wilderness said, “Ron and I have explored the Minam River from Minam Lake to Minam town. We’ve been drowned by mountain rain and found ourselves in snow fanny deep to a tall Indian. Ron and I have packed and hunted together for 25 years. He was the best kind of a partner a fellow could have.”
Elwyn Justus of Haines, a friend and neighbor of Ron’s said, “We grew up together, went to school together at the old Muddy Creek School and worked and played and hunted and went to the mountains together. We’ve even gone our separate ways at times, but we’ve always been lifelong friends.”
Ron was selected as this year’s Grand Marshal of the 4th of July parade in Haines. Sadly, that is an appointment he will miss, but his spirit, as always, will be in the midst of the Haines activities.
Our hearts go out to Shelly, Ron’s wife, and the rest of his family. I wish I could say something that would help ease their pain, but I know only time will help. However, I can say with certainty that our community is far better off from having had Ron be a part of it for the time he was here.
I once heard that it’s not the length of time you spend here on earth, it’s what you do with the time you have. And Ron was one of those rare individuals who spent most of his time helping others, and being an all around good guy, good friend and good neighbor. (DS)
—Letters—
Chamber Apologizes For Omitting 4th Of July Activities In Newsletter
To The Record-Courier:
I want to apologize to the Baker County communities who are having 4th of July celebrations that were not included in the calendar of events in the July Chamber Charge. When I proof-read the chamber newsletter, I missed the omission of many of the great events that will be happening during our nation's birthday celebration.
The Baker County Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau strives to partner with communities throughout Baker County to make their events a success.
The Chamber has placed an ad in the Baker City Herald for Wednesday and Thursday and an ad in The Record-Courier today, to list all events that have been submitted to the Chamber Calendar of Events. The Chamber also encourages communities to submit articles for publication in the Chamber Charge each month to tell us about what is happening in their communities. Again, please accept my sincere apology for the omission and have a great 4th of July holiday weekend.
Debi Bainter
Executive Director
Baker County Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau
McCain Stands For Hope
To The Record-Courier:
Another Presidential election looms. And we have the opportunity to use our electoral voices for change.
We can get change by electing someone who will bring integrity and honesty to the White House, or we can elect someone who has campaigned on the idea that all we have to do is hope for change.
John McCain is a man who spent his formative years in a family devoted to the motto, “Duty, Honor, Country.” He spent his late teen and early adult years at an institution where a new motto became part of his life. “We will not lie, steal, or cheat, nor tolerate among us anyone who does.” The next 15 years were spent practicing those mottos as a naval flying officer including residency at the Hanoi Hilton.
Electing John McCain will bring the mottos he has lived his life by to the forefront of United States Government. He will fight for no more lies, no more disinformation, no more misinformation, no more earmarks. He is the abler of the two candidates to bring an honorable end to a war that is dividing our people and wasting our resources. During his four years at Annapolis he studied war, a major part of a Service Academy curriculum. For 10 years, he fought for this country, and for five, he experienced a situation which called upon his patriotism, ethics, adaptability, knowledge, and leadership in a time of war. This does not mean that he wants war, but has the knowledge that can extricate us honorably.
He has shown that he can elicit cooperation from both sides of the aisle in the legislature; however, we have to realize that a president can suggest actions, but getting things done is totally in the power of that legislature. There is a definitive probability that John McCain will start a “trickle down effect,” which will increase the patriotism, honesty, and integrity of those we elect to office.
Barack Obama, on the other hand, says that the people can get change primarily through a change of leadership. Lots of hope and little substance. My father would have had something to say about a plan that had a lot of hope and not much planning to assure it. As he often told me in my younger years when I wanted to implement one of my ill-conceived plans, “Wish in one hand. !@# in the other. See which one gets full fastest.”
Vote for John McCain: patriotism, honesty, integrity, leadership, and change.
Robert L. Heriza
Baker City
Missing Dalmatian Found!
To The Record-Courier:
We would like to send a huge thank you out to everyone who helped us look for our missing Dalmatian named "Mae." We are from western oregon, but have a place near Sumpter and have been coming over here several times a year for more than 25 years. We were impressed with the kindness and caring we received from strangers (and friends) in this area. People are sure a lot more friendlier over here!
The Stage Stop and The Gold Post people in Sumpter worked hard to help us find our Dog. Thanks!
Both the Baker City Herald and The Record-Courier printed free lost dog ads for us. THANK YOU! The Record-Courier even posted a photo of Mae!
A very kind woman named Bev found Mae wandering in her pasture and took her in! She has been caring for her for a week until we can get there!
THANK YOU!
The Gass Family
Reasonable Restrictions
To The Record-Courier:
So you think that the Supreme Court affirmed your right to keep and bear and arms and the fight with the banning bunnies is over. Dream on. Time will show that this ruling was a disaster. What the court did was say that you have the right to keep and bear arms for personal protection and for hunting. All through the gun wars gun owners were often heard to say that “it isn’t about duck hunting” whenever Dianne Feinstein and her ilk assured us they were not after our hunting rights.
What the court didn’t say was that the founding fathers enshrined the armed populace was as a check on governmental power, a barrier to tyranny. A Jefferson quote, “those who would beat their guns into plow shears will plow for those who don’t” is one example of why they wanted the populace armed. The court just told us that no part of the bill of rights is absolute, that nine black clad politicians can alter the bill of rights any time they feel like it. The people can do that by repealing an amendment and there are provisions for amending the constitution, but the founders never intended for the court to have that power. What we have now is a situation where one man, Justice Kennedy, a swing vote, has the power of a dictator. Luckily he sided with the Constitution on this partial victory this time. But the court opened the door for the Looney left with it’s decision when it said that there can be “reasonable restrictions”.
There are no restrictions that are not reasonable to the gun hating left. Al Gore thought that hand guns should be outright banned and that all gun owners should be required to obtain a federal license. One can only imagine the hoops you would have to jump through to get a license. Bill Clinton wanted to ban assault weapons but couldn’t describe one if he was asked to do so. What he was after was a ban on semi automatics. Barack Obama was backing legislation to ban any gun store within five miles of a school. Have you thought about what that would have done to rural America? Gun stores would have disappeared in most of rural America. Obama is now using the Clinton era talking points mantra of “reasonable common sense gun control.” But he is in favor of the second amendment. Sure I believe it.
The left is going nuts right now accusing the court of “legislating from the bench” and “creating a right out of whole cloth where none existed before.” It shows the mirror image in perceptions between the rural right and urban left. The right will rightly say that the court created a right to an abortion with Roe vs. Wade. That there was no mention of it in the bill of rights, but the right to keep and bear arms was explicitly mentioned and consistent with the checks and balances of the rest of the constitution. The ultimate check on an over reaching government. The left thinks only a potential dictatorial state has the right to own firearms. The militia if you will.
What happens now? The fight will shift to the states and local governments and it will get intense. Oregon is going blue and you can bet there will be gun legislation out of Salem as there will be in all the states. The urban rural divide will get wider regardless of what Barack Obama says about bringing us together. If he becomes president and packs the court with more nut cases like John Paul Stevens and Stephen Breyer you will have to eventually form a “well regulated militia” and fight.
In the meantime you should be starting to think about how to protect yourself from the urban left besides buying more ammo. Provisions for separating rural parts of states form the big metro areas need to be put in place. We need to revisit the secession issue of the 1860’s that was settled militarily but not legally. It will be hard. There was a recent effort to get Oregon’s 16 rural counties to break off from the rest of the state, but our sleeping lazy media decided it wasn’t news worthy. It’s an uphill climb to keep the freedom the founders gave you.
Steve Culley
Baker City
Letter to Courier Columnist
To The Record-Courier:
Dear Ms. Ragsdale,
I wanted to let you know that I have thoroughly enjoyed your column over the last few months. It is one part of the paper I look for first when I sit down to read.
Your writing style is so much better than mine was when I was your age. That was a long time ago. I have said I should write to you before now, but I always seem to get distracted before I sit down to write. So today I decided that this was the day.
Please continue to write about the message you are delivering. You can never say it enough. One of the things about writing in general is that the writer never knows how far the writing will travel or who it may touch. You never know how long it will last either. Someday someone might begin to unwrap a dish from a box and stop to look at a young lady's picture beside her column. The paper might be yellow with age, but the story is never old. And perhaps you might once again touch someone with your words.
I suspect that you have a very promising career ahead of you should you wish to continue to write. You have talent and drive, which will carry you far. It is not easy making a deadline. Things happen every day that distract you. You seem to have achieved a measure of control over at least some of the distractions of life. Enough so that you can accomplish a goal and serve the Lord at the same time.
I will continue to look forward to your column. You never know how far your words will travel or what effect they will have on people. I will continue to ask the Lord to bless you and keep you safe for the future he has in store for you.
Sincerely yours,
Rick Markle
Bremerton, Wash.
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