Letters to the Editor 2-13-14

Ignorance and The Green Lady
Editor:   
It has been rather obvious for some time now that the sculpture that stands on Cloverdale Blvd. known as The Green Lady, has been raising more than a few eyebrows around the town of Cloverdale. There is an invisible line drawn in the sand here that clearly separates the local population into two very different schools of thought over this piece of art. Articles appear regularly in the local newspaper expressing a variety of opinions about this sculpture.
I have never bothered to throw in my two cents on this issue because the sculpture itself never really ignited anything passionate within me.  However, the moment that a very ignorant member of our local population carrying a hammer in one hand, took it upon themselves to approach this sculpture and attempt to destroy it in broad daylight, my opinions on the matter changed dramatically. The intentional destruction of another human being’s art is a different story altogether, so I think it is time that I speak up here.
I am not a fan of those who would go out of their way to destroy art of any kind, no matter what shape or form that this art may take.  People like this are ignorant and ignorance, especially for the arts, cannot be tolerated. What will this individual do next for an encore, burn books perhaps; maybe light a Bible on fire to prove some worthless, self-centered point of theirs?
I imagine that taking art out of our schools is partially to blame. It discourages forward thinking, creative people from pursuing their dreams after all; young minds in particular.  Sure, this sculpture, titled “The Listener” has inspired many pranks and jokes in its short time here, the most memorable of them being the toilet paper and horse manure gags but these were most likely the acts of teenagers playing at humor while their parents turned a blind eye to these actions. But this has just escalated to the attempted destruction of this piece of art by some shallow and ignorant soul living among us in our community. People, this is not a good thing. Trust me when I tell you this. The implications of this action are very bad and they directly reflect on the rest of us living here. This was most likely done by one of those parents that have been egging their children on with the vandalizing of this sculpture in the first place.
If you are not a forward thinker or a dreamer then please do not take it out on the rest of us creative souls living here with you.  It is not our fault that this happened to you. It is yours and you should remember this. Even Adolf Hitler, one of the greatest villains of our time, knew better than to destroy other people’s art. He just sent his Nazi’s out to go steal it all for himself. We all know how that turned out for him in the end.
Michael Seelau,
Cloverdale
Automated controls
Editor:   
As an automation and controls professional with over forty years experience, twenty two with a major local municipality I found it shocking to read of a water plant shutdown that went undetected for hours. It is further perplexing that the city PW director / engineer should declare that it had no effect on the health and safety of the city population. Any disruption to water treatment and delivery or wastewater treatment and disposal, no matter how slight, puts the public in jeopardy. Alarms in these systems need to be robust, independent and addressed in minutes not in hours! There are no excuses, at all, for anything less. To cavalierly announce that hours of shutdown could not affect the health or safety of this community speaks volumes to the competence, dedication and professionalism of those administrating public works.
Leonard Von Hoogenstyn,
Cloverdale
Historical Society in need of docents
Editor:   
Have you visited the Cloverdale History Center recently?  Wait until you see the new exhibit on Transportation. It’s a wonderful look back at our local history. We hope you will join us at the opening reception on March 7 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Members and the general public are welcome.
In 1984 when Jim and I moved to Cloverdale, we joined the Historical Society to learn about this small town that we’d moved to.  Now, 30 years later, we are still active members, showing off the Gould-Shaw House and the new History Center as docent/volunteers. We give guided tours, “show and tell” visitors around the exhibits, talk about the research library and much more. We are there on Fridays from noon to 2 pm every week. We look forward to it and we have committed this time so we can keep the History Center open for visitors.
Why am I writing this? Because we need more docent/volunteer to help us stay open. Can you find two hours each week to be at the History Center? True, it can be boring on days when we don’t have many visitors. Bring a book or other project, or learn what projects the History Center might have for you to do. Bring a book to read (or write one). When visitors do come in — they are so excited to be here!  We hope you will be interested in helping us stay open. Our hours are Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm and Sunday from noon to 4 pm. For more information, contact Elissa Morrash at the  History Center at 894-2067 or you can call me at 894-5225.  
We can give you what you need to know to be a wonderful docent/volunteer. Stop by and see me on Fridays from noon to 2.
Marge Gray,
Cloverdale