Opinion
A4
Tuesday, March 15, 2022
OUR VIEW
Liberty Theatre
project deserves
residents’ help
F
ew projects in recent memory carry
the kind of feel-good sentiments as the
eff ort to restore the Liberty Theatre in La
Grande and that is why area residents should sup-
port a campaign to raise funds to fi nish the reno-
vation work.
The new campaign’s objectives are simple:
raise $350,000 in private donations to supplement
an eff ort to garner $250,000 in grants. The goal is
to raise the money by July 1.
If that amount of money is collected, the venue
— which was built around 1910 — could be open
again this year.
It is an ambitious goal, no doubt about it, but
a lot of work has already been completed, such
as the restoration of the facility’s 100-year-old
chandelier.
Plumbing, electrical and heating work is still
being completed.
The beauty of the theater renovation project
rests in its historical signifi cance and eco-
nomic importance. The facility will be more
than another building in La Grande’s downtown.
The theater, once restored, could very well be
the linchpin in economic development in terms
of attracting tourists. The theater will also be
another one of those intangible elements that
make a small city more attractive to its residents.
Plans to fi nish the restoration eff ort were sty-
mied when the pandemic hit. The pandemic
pushed back construction completion dates and,
with a subsequent rise in prices in materials, the
goal of fi nishing the restoration is in a holding
pattern.
That is why the fundraising eff ort is so
important. The money needed isn’t going to go
into a black hole where area residents never see it
again. The benefi ts of a cash infusion will be evi-
dent once the theater renovation is done for all to
see, and, hopefully, enjoy.
Donating money for this eff ort is very much
about giving back to the community in a real
way. The theater work is important and any help
from the public will be welcome. The work is
important because any time a community can do
something to enhance the livability of a town,
everyone wins. We support this new campaign to
get cash to fi nish this project and we hope resi-
dents feel the same way.
EDITORIALS
Unsigned editorials are the
opinion of The Observer editorial
board. Other columns, letters and
cartoons on this page express the
opinions of the authors and not
necessarily that of The Observer.
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YOUR VIEWS
Musical production a
welcomed return of quality
on-campus performance
The EOU Chamber Choir and
Music Department’s song and dance
performance, “We’ve Got Your
Number,” was so much fun and
extremely well done. I had a hard time
staying seated, and behind my mask
was a perpetual grin spanning from
ear to ear. The show was a welcomed
return to the quality musical entertain-
ment so often performed on campus,
and it was much needed after months
of COVID cancellations and current
events.
Bravo to Dr. Peter Wordelman,
Chamber Choir conductor. The success
of this show hinged on the direction of
EOU’s premier professor of music. His
stamp of excellence prevailed. I know
from experience he’s a calming pres-
ence amongst a fl utter of nerves. Bravo
to EOU’s music department staff Mio
Aoike, pianist extraordinaire, and Luke
McKern, guitar afi cionado, who, along
with fellow band members, played
during and in between each number
on an elevated stage, and, like “The
Big Lebowski’s” rug, “tied the room
together.” Bravo to the Los Angeles
choreography team of Billy Rugh and
Michelle Benton, whose numerous
accolades many of us might not fully
realize, but whose work masterfully
paced original scores with clever dance
routines and delivered a visual sensation
far surpassing my expectations for this
community. Come back, again, please.
Finally, bravo to the EOU students
involved, the Chamber Choir. This was
your show and you brought your “A”
game, performing a trove of popular
tunes. Your hours of practice showed
with convincing achievements. Your
soloists rose to each occasion and your
dancing was a joy. All performers,
support staff and theater technicians
should be super proud.
And while I’m at it, kudos to those
who made the recent upgrades at
McKenzie Theatre a reality. Those
upgrades were on full display and
included new seats, stage fl oor and cur-
tain, lighting, sound and a drop-down
big screen and projector. On the new
screen we viewed a video introduction
from the show’s sponsor, Red Cross
Drug Store — a faithful EOU sponsor
for years.
Well done, all. Your hard work is
appreciated immensely by this com-
munity of art and music lovers.
Mike Brouwer
La Grande
Move to Idaho and leave
the rest of us alone
We want to stay in Oregon. We
have lived here all our lives. Every-
thing is established here, our homes
are here.
If people want to be part of
Idaho, then move there and leave the
rest of us alone. And it shouldn’t be
up to the commissioners to sell us
out. They have no right to.
Linda Page
La Grande
We should be as concerned
about our borders as we
are about Ukraine’s
On Jan. 25 of this year, news jour-
nalist Tucker Carlson reported a story
about Nancy Pelosi that had to do with
national borders. Carlson said that
“national borders are central to national
security because without borders you
can’t have a country.” Carlson quoted
Pelosi as saying borders should “be
impossible to breach, walled up and
buttoned-down.”
When I heard this I was shocked
because the Biden administra-
tion has done little to secure our
southern border and have been
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responsible for much of the chaos.
As the news story continued,
I thought Pelosi must have had
an awakening about the nature of
national sovereignty, but then I real-
ized she wasn’t talking about our
borders — she was talking about
Ukraine’s borders, and the broad-
cast showed her introducing to the
House of Representatives an act called
“Defending Ukraine’s Sovereignty
Act.” She said this act was “developed
to insure Ukraine’s sovereignty, inde-
pendence and territorial integrity.”
Now granted, an armed confl ict
between Russia and Ukraine is an inter-
national crisis, but the mess we are
experiencing on our southern border has
already created a humanitarian crisis
here at home.
Immigrants are crossing the border
and vetting has been pretty much non-
existent and/or ineff ective. Progressives
and liberals suppose that conservatives
are appalled at this infl ux due to lack of
compassion for poverty-stricken people
from south of the border and others
from around the world.
Also, there is a concern about reports
that there has been little or no screen-
ings for COVID, that government
agencies have given services that are
unavailable to needy American citizens
and some of these “illegals” are shipped
to all parts of the U.S. Added to all that
is the crisis of traffi cking people and
huge amounts of drugs by the cartels.
But the truth is, compassion is not
lacking. The result of all this is anarchy,
and those seeking political amnesty,
or work, would be much better served
if the border was administered in an
ordered and reasonable way.
It’s hard not to question Nancy Pelo-
si’s veracity — she is, after all, Speaker
of the House of Representatives of the
United States of America — but under
the circumstances, it’s hard not to.
Vicki Correll
Summerville
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