LETTERS TO THE EDGE I One quiet Tuesday in February. I sal reading in my shop, Sometimes a Great Lotion Three teenage girls came in and started trying on some of our most eipensive lingerie It was obvious they were trying to hide what was going in and out of the dressing room One girl left, but I confronted the other two There were five empty hangers in the dressing room and one on the rack I told them to give (the goods) back and I wouldn't call the police They ran I called the police and (Xficer Hatch arrived in less than five minutes Before long he discovered that the girls were in town w ith a group from their private ski academy They were packing up their vans outside of The Waves Motel but the girls were nowhere in sight Soon they showed up and (Xficer Hatch called me to come and identify them 1 have trouble standing up to people, but he backed me up 100%. and after a half hour of trying to break them down, we got back the $150 worth «X merchancise from my shop In the process, one <X their instructors also found a bag fu ll (X icwelry A couple (X days later, the girls returned stolen merchandise to El Mundo for Women. Maggies. I believe the Criterion, and who knows where else* * Since that time, 1 have told many people what happened 1 always mentioned that I was grateful to (Xficer Hatch for holding his ground even when it seemed like the girls w'ould never quit lying What I discovered is that (Xficer Hatch is well liked by the citizens <X Cannon Beach He seems to have a g<x>d sense <X when to go for a bust or when being fel, as a presence is more appropriate People also seem to see him as a member tX the community rather than a separated Big Brother figure Like many people in Cannon Beach. I have had my frustrations with o u r p o lice H o w e v e r, th is in c id e n t has r e m in d e d me that they are also here to protect us and I am grateful Jennifer Myers business owner Dear Beloved Rev Billy & The Upper Left Edge For a while now. we've been trying to think <X an event or circumstance that has been truly out (X the ordinary, off the wall fun. inspirational socially and politically meaningful and counter culturish Sounds nearly improbable But what we came up w ith was the Oregon Country Fair, a yearly gathering <X people into a variety <X art. dance, theatre, crafts, music, social and environmental concerns We love going to the FAIR It is original, has a social conscience and is void (X crass, mass commercialism But the rest <X the year it s back to (semi) normalicy (Salons also put us to sleep ) We think the idea is loo good to occur in a single event only once a year, (unless there are other smaller local festivals or gatherings we re unaware <X) It would be nice to carry on this spirit locally and in to oth er times of the year We don I have grand ideas (X organizing on a big scale or throwing a maior event, but we would like to form a network!s) of people w ith creative ideas of smaller gatherings We re located in the forested foothills of the Coast Range, halfway between the coast and Portland We could imagine a network of networks (X people between these areas Upper Left Edge readers who are interested in this idea can w rite to Carol Jean and Don HCR 61. Boi 75 X BANKS, OR 9 7 1 0 6 Thanks. Don and C J. Dear Policy Makers I am w riting this letter in response to a disheartening eiperience I had while visiting the Oregon Coast in Gearhart, Oregon Although the incident described in this letter is but a part of the environmental degradation we are lacing on a global scale there are several important differences II is happening right here at home, and it is easily remedied My w ile and I recently traveled to the fabled Oregon Coast anxious to see and hear its beauty and to refresh out spirits in its vastness We carried with us that wonderful anticipation that soon we would be walking along a clean sandy beach with the great Pacific Ocean spread out before us We began our trek through the beach grass and over the dunes to the beach As we neared the top (X the last dune. I could hear the roar of the ocean and feel its dampness We hastened our pace to arrive at the spectacular ocean view we knew awaited us What we saw instead were cars And car tracks Everywhere It was as X somebody had turned the beach into a parking lot All that was missing was the supermarket I was devastated (X all (he places I was certain would be unmarred by the noise and pollution and ugliness of cars it was a beach on the Oregon coast But there they were Cars full of people looking for a place to picnic, pickups towing horse trailers looking for a place to ride and four wheelers tearing up the dunes all apparently mindless <X the irony (X their very presence How can this be? Cars are bad enough on the highway, where they drip oil and belch out the pollutants that are darkening and destroying our atmosphere Why are they allowed here in this beautiful but fragile place where they can do much greater harm and are so utterly unnecessary? For those members (X the Oregon Coast tourist industry who read this letter, until the cars are banned from the beach you can forget about my dollars I w ill be spending them on postage for more letters like this one which I hope w ill in turn keep more people away from Gearhart s automobile befouled beaches For those policy makers reading this letter, please lake immediate action to correct this unfortunate situation Oregon should not have to suffer cars on its beautiful sand dunes and beaches Sincerely. Jaaes L Olmsted OSBORNE STUDIO & GALLERY IMAGI S FOR I HI. AI S I III ITCALLY STRONG O R IG IN A I I I « AKT S M A ll H H I l i . S IH 1 N T V i.M A W tK S O i M M U U T A l AMT. A K O n t t e n MAI H h M K MINGS * C V M n M IM A M I NG » U M A N /A N IT A AST N l » IN) MO* S i M A N /A N IT A i « I I AIN » 7 1 MI »V ATTI ANIMT-NT k J lA M M K M iG M T M< M M COMING «^POWELL'S . ks * 1009W HumsiJc • • ! B m i lg .('N • • I ir e • Coming to P o w e ll's Purple Room ttancay May I Oth •# 7 50pm John Fronm oger w ill read from his new book Leaving Town A liv e C o nfession s of on A rt W a rrio r lUurrcK itrr toct may to 3 W t P v Okay. 1 ve got this idea how> we can save the world, no reailyl is anyone still reading? well. 1 don t know if I would be I ve heard it before and so have you If we don t save the whales or the Ozone o r stop the Nukes o r recycle the garbage we are going to be history and if we do do all those things it still won t he loo good I ve done my share (X in the street and ,n your face and in the system and the only person who made total sense was Denis Hayes (the guy w ho founded Earth Day. was in the Carter Administration and has impeccable Environmental Credentials) He said until we solve the population problem, all the other problems w ill just m ultiply Grim huh? There are just too many of us (There isn t really a them ) And if we can t make a rational decision to control our population then Nature, human and physical, w ill bring our numbers down Our old favorites War. Pestilence. Famine, and Disease w ill make up our future Still Grim But I really do have a small idea And since it is my idea, I would like to start it on my Birthday. June 2 To wit m snail ne LINBIRTHDAY* iwe re still working on the name, okay?) And on this day throughout the world, no one shall conceive a child Through whatever means each shall decide, abstinence, sale sex, beastiality, I don t care, (really I don t), that is your own business but no conception* Okay, so around March 2. 1994 or so the World Population takes a dip A small one true, but 1 can imagine the planet taking in a quick gulp (X breath a momentary pause The normal deaths occur and our headlong mathematical rush to destruction hiccups, and moves on But we would notice, and maybe |une 2 1994 we could go for a week (X not making more of us? A month in 95, the Summer fX 96? If we could take a whole year and do something else other than reproduce -- Wow* I'm not saying don t have sex* But if your religious beliefs prohibit you from having sex for any purpose other than reproduction, and prohibits birth control metht>ds, well, you might have to consider it a spiritual quest, a sacrifice for the betterment of all Just think, no conception, no abortions The w’hole planet working on a problem in all the different ways possible And things beginning to get better for everybody, more space, less pollution, more aw areness So what do you say. World, for my Birthday either do it carefully, or keep it in your pants Thanks And tell a friend soon, we don t have much nme to get this started i n a i ju n e z i