Letters to the Editor 3-20-14

In response
Editor:   
I can’t believe your lack of sophistication! Any support that you could have rallied has been lost by making derogatory remarks about our community. I am not sure if you are disgusted because you think we are so ignorant or you have a problem with a local business. Let me try to educate you a little. I like this quote from the late Bob Sciaini, “We live here because we like it, not because we are stupid.” If you were in touch with our community, you would have known that other communities don’t view us as “hicks.” A branding firm hired by the city studied our surrounding communities and found that they viewed us as “genuine.” That is where the slogan “Genuinely Cloverdale” comes from. They also found Cloverdale to be above the national average for education.
Now, on to the plane! You went so far south on that one that I can only comment on the noise issue. When my community has a problem come up, I try to educate myself on the problem. I, too, live up on a hill in the flight path of the said airplane so I set up my iPhone decibel meter app and started recording noise levels outside my bedroom window. The decibel reading was between 80 and 90 decibels, quite high. The problem I am having is when the plane starts flying, my decibel meter still reads the same. It appears that the plane and the freeway have about the same decibel readings. So, maybe you can come over, bang your spoon, whine and help me get the freeway shut down so I can get an accurate decibel reading on the plane. Then we could have some science back up our noise claims.
One nice thing about the plane, it doesn’t generate noise 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This is how I am going to handle my noise problem. When the freeway noise bothers me, I will close my bedroom window and I will wait until said plane owner gets a quieter plane.
Bruce Reuser,
“Genuinely” Cloverdale native
Annual Book Swap at Jefferson School
Editor:   
This is a personal invitation to the families of the students who attend Jefferson Elementary School to attend the PTA hosted Annual Book Swap. Join us for an evening of fun! The night begins at 5 p.m. on Thursday, March 27 with a hot dog dinner.  The cost of this awesome meal — $1! All money taken in that night will go directly to the Oakland Children’s Hospital, (which is a Children’s Miracle Network hospital). The food is being donated by the Lions Club, the Kiwanis Club, the Key Club, and the Jefferson School PTA, insuring that all proceeds will be used for this worthy cause.
These hospitals are dedicated to providing medical care to children ages 0-18. Children come into their facilities with any condition from asthma to cancer, and are treated by doctors trained to work with children, and staff trained in dealing with childhood emergencies and illnesses.
As for what is happening on March 27  … starting at 5:45, (right after the meal), the children will make their way into classrooms assigned by grade level, where they will do fun reading activities. Ray’s Food Place has donated some books for use that evening, and they will be given away as prizes for some of the activities. The classroom fun will be led by Kiwanis and Key Clubbers from CHS. While the children are preoccupied, the parents will attend a PTA meeting in the Jefferson Library. During this meeting, the officers for next year’s PTA team will be elected. Then, after the meeting and reading session is concluded, a book swap and Ice Cream Social will be held in the Jefferson Cafeteria. We sincerely hope that you’ll be there to support the PTA and various clubs in our community.
Maggie Duran, President
Cloverdale High School Key Club
Any benefit to come from recent survey?
Editor:   
I have been anxiously awaiting since November of last year to hear the results of the City Council’s spending 30,000 of our dollars for a telephone survey. What did we get for that cost? Are we seeing any of the benefit yet? Is there any benefit yet to come?
My wife received 4 calls from the survey, to which she did not answer. I received 1 call on my cell phone. I was asked something about the “police dept.” and “which way the city was headed” and something about “the streets in good order.” The queries were so poorly worded that there could be no valuable answer.
When I tried to ask for a clarification they hung up on me.Thirty thousand of your’s and my dollars.
Ron Cooper,
Cloverdale
Kiwanis One Day project
Editor:   
The Kiwanis Club of Cloverdale is getting ready for its next big project, Kiwanis One Day, set for Saturday, April 5. They will be collecting items for Goodwill Industries of the Redwood Empire. A truck will be parked at the Ace Hardware Shopping Center and will collect unwanted items and the club will receive a payment from Goodwill based on the amount of items collected.
Please go through your drawers, cupboards, closets and garages and bring everything down to Goodwill on April 5.
Goodwill will also be collecting e-waste materials at the same time and the Kiwanis Club will be receiving a payment for those items as well. It is a great opportunity to clean out your homes and businesses and at the same time contribute to the projects that Kiwanis does all year long in Cloverdale.
Free pick-up is available, if needed. Call Laurie Kneeland at 894-3222 or 328-2147 for pick-up or additional information.
Laurie Kneeland,
Kiwanis Club of Cloverdale