Opinion
A4
Thursday, December 23, 2021
GUEST EDITORIAL
Yes, Virginia,
there is a
Santa Claus
T
he following is perhaps the most famous
example of a child wanting to know if Santa is
real.
Letter to the editor
The New York Sun, 1897
Dear Editor:
I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say
there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, ‘If you see it in
The Sun it’s so.’ Please tell me the truth; is there a
Santa Claus?
— Virginia O’Hanlon
Virginia,
Your little friends are wrong. They have been
aff ected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do
not believe except they see. They think that nothing
can be which is not comprehensible by their little
minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or
children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours man
is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared
with the boundless world about him, as measured by
the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth
and knowledge.
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as
certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist,
and you know that they abound and give to your life
its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be
the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as
dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be
no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make
tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment,
except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which
childhood fi lls the world would be extinguished.
Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not
believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men
to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch
Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus
coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees
Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa
Claus. The most real things in the world are those that
neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see
fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s
no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive
or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and
unseeable in the world.
You may tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what
makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the
unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even
the united strength of all the strongest men that ever
lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love,
romance, can push aside that curtain and view and
picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all
real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing
else real and abiding.
No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives
forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, 10
times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make
glad the heart of childhood.
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Action needed to stop MERA logging
KATE
PFISTER-MINOGUE
OTHER VIEWS
I
mmediate action is needed.
In spite of strong community
objections, the county has put
out a bid to log the Red Apple area
of the Mount Emily Recreation
Area with a decision to be fi nalized
before Christmas.
My family and I have lived on
Mount Emily above the MERA
for more than 40 years, hiking and
biking there when the property
belonged to Boise Cascade. It was
exciting when the county, through
use of various grants, purchased
this property 10 years ago and cre-
ated MERA for the enjoyment of all
the people of our county.
More than 40 miles of trails have
been built with the sweat equity
of many local residents. Using the
actual costs of $36,296 per mile,
based on costs of building similar
trails at Anthony Lakes, the value
of MERA trails can be estimated
at $1,451,840. On summer week-
ends there are typically 30-plus cars
at all times of day in the MERA
non-motorized parking area, often
including several from out of
state, as MERA is responsible for
bringing tourists (and the signifi cant
dollars they spend) to our county.
There is widespread agreement
about the need for forest manage-
ment and fi re prevention in MERA.
However, there is signifi cant dis-
agreement about how to accomplish
this.
I am part of a growing group
of local individuals, now known
as Friends of MERA, concerned
about the major logging project. In
August 2020, many users of MERA
were alerted to a plan to log by blue
markings on large diameter trees
identifi ed for harvest along main
trails. We fi nagled a walk-through
with Sean Chambers (MERA man-
ager) and Chuck Sarret (Union
county forester), attended by 38
people.
We expressed our concern for
removal of large healthy trees, pre-
sumably for their economic value,
using processes that would damage
the trail system and the beauty of
the area. Our group thought we had
reached some understanding of spe-
cifi cs related to protecting the area.
Fast forward, we learned that the
county was not going to honor dis-
cussions of August 2020 and they
plan to close MERA this winter
into early summer for a major log-
ging operation, using equipment
that will damage trails and promote
undergrowth that will increase fi re
risk. The plan includes removal of
30-inch-in-diameter trees that are
fi re resistant — trees wider than
many people’s outstretched arm
span.
The county intended to send out
a request for logging bid on Nov. 15,
2021, closing Nov. 22, and to award
the contract by Dec. 10. The county
posted a notice on the bulletin board
at MERA that there would be a
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meeting on Nov. 10 to announce the
plan. If the Friends of MERA had
not alerted the newspaper and social
media, the sale would have occurred
without further public input. The
fact that the parking lot was packed
on such short notice is testimony to
the level of public concern.
Subsequently, many MERA
users testifi ed at a commissioner
meeting Dec. 1 to object to this
plan. Despite our concerns and
requests to postpone the current
logging plan, the county commis-
sioners, responsible for this deci-
sion, have delegated the decision to
Sean Chambers and Chuck Sarret.
They have reposted an RFP to log
the most popular trail section in
MERA with a decision about the
bid before Christmas.
Act now if you too care about
protecting the Mount Emily Recre-
ation Area. Although logging bids
have been requested, no proposal
has been accepted (as of the writing
of this letter on Dec. 12). Contact:
• Paul Anderes, panderes@
unioncounty.org
• Matt Scarfo, mscarfo@union-
county.org
• Donna Beverage, dbeverage@
unioncounty.org
• Sean Chambers, schambers@
unioncounty.org
• Chuck Sarrett, linkedin.com/in/
chuck-sarrett-ab9
———
Kate Pfi ster-Minogue is a health
care provider and long-time local
resident who feels MERA is important
to the health of the community.
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