Letters to the Editor 4-21-16

Changing lanes
EDITOR: What’s wrong with picture of closing lanes of traffic on the busiest roads in the area? Who gave permission to alert the lanes of traffic? Did the Sebastopol Police Department know this in advance? It’s just hard to imagine that any one with common sense would make these changes without some public input.
Gary Boehmer
Sebastopol
Chamber thanks community for weekend
EDITOR: The Sebastopol Chamber and Visitor Center thanks the community for attending the 70th Apple Blossom Festival and Parade, “Vintage Blossoms.” We appreciate the hard work and volunteerism that goes into this effort, not to mention the many sponsors who support this event with their dollars and in kind contributions.  We recognize the community has other options for activities that are offered up in the county and appreciate the support they extend to sustain this long-standing tradition. Once again, on behalf of all of us here at the Chamber, thank you all for a wonderful weekend. Please let us know your thoughts in keeping the Apple Blossom Festival and Parade a part of your tradition and what you enjoy the most about it and we’ll work hard to keep it alive and well and fresh.  Send your constructive thoughts to

ww********@se********.org











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The Chamber Board, Staff and Festival Committee
Sebastopol
Thank you, Gene
EDITOR: It was with sadness that I read Gene Nelson’s column on your editorial page last week, which he stated would be his last. I know that he is much loved as the retiring pastor at the Community Church of Sebastopol and it is also true that he is deeply appreciated by many others in our community. While I grieve his loss to our larger conversation, I wish to publicly express my deep thanks for his weekly sacrifice of time and energy and for his eloquence in quickening our moral imagination with is excellent writing.
He was always gracious in gently chiding our selfishness and propensity in this town to expend great energy on small personal issues. He kept his eye on the deeper wounds in our society. He never fell into the habit of mean speech and personal criticisms that characterize much of our public discourse.
While I served as the Rector at neighboring St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church for nine years (nothing compared to his thirty-eight), I was occasionally asked why I didn’t also write a piece for our weekly newspaper. I thought, Gene has already said what I would say and said it very well. I shared his faith in a loving God and in a tradition that is all embracing and attentive to those on the margins, the poor, immigrant, LGBT, or mentally or physically challenged. I shared his frustration with a culture where often the most voluble “Christians” are filled with anger, judgment and agendas of exclusion. And I shared his frustration with the “I am spiritual but not religious” do-it-yourself folks who populate this side of our fair county. Transcendence is very difficult, if not impossible, when our spiritual “discipline” is merely a creation of our ego: whenever it’s not convenient, one can simply ignore it.
I will miss Gene’s presence through his column, but I will imagine him, dropping a dry fly on the surface of the Walker River, breathing the sharp mountain air and giving thanks for God’s gift of a beautiful world. Thank you, Gene!
Rev. Roderick McAulay
Sebastopol
One friend at a time
EDITOR: Sebastopol World Friends would like to thank the Analy Theatre Arts Department and Starr Hergenrather from the bottom of our organizational heart for their generous willingness to donate the proceeds of the April 14 benefit performance of Fiddler on the Roof to us, for the purpose of raising funds for the hospital in Chyhyryn, Ukraine.
The benefit show was an enormous success by every measure. The quality of the performance was breathtaking and testified to the incredible skill and talent of the entire cast and crew. The community turned out in large numbers, nearly filling the house to support Analy High School as well as the Sebastopol World Friends.  
Over $5,000 was raised that will go toward sending much needed medical supplies and equipment to our sister city in Ukraine, by means of a partnership we have forged with Project C.U.R.E.  Please visit our website at www.sebastopolwf.org if you would like to learn more about this program.
We also thank the community for their enthusiastic attendance. We are so grateful for your support and involvement and it is what makes our programs possible and strong. Together we truly engage in the work of building World Peace, One friend at a time.   
Abigail Evans
Chair, Sebastopol World Friends Board of Directors
Sebastopol
Before you vote
EDITOR: The recent 20 page insert in the Press Democrat promoting Lynda Hopkins for 5th District supervisor was more revealing for what it didn’t say than for what it did. The laundry list of goals is standard fare for most candidates.
What the piece didn’t list are her major donors and supporters including the conservative leaning Farm Bureau, Sonoma County Alliance, and the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce. The professional operatives running the well financed Hopkins campaign are the same people who gave us Efren Carrillo. There is an old barn dance saying: “you gotta dance with the one who brung ya,” and that applies to the political dance as well. Look closely at the endorsements before you vote.
Richard and Brenda Nichols
Sebastopol