4A | THURSDAY, JANUARY 23, 2020 | COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
Cottage Grove Sentinel
116 N. Sixth St.
Cottage Grove, Ore. 97424
NED HICKSON , MANAGING EDITOR |
Opinion
541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ CGSENTINEL . COM
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“I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.” —Thomas Jefferson (1800)
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Political/Election Letters:
LETTERS
Let us continue to be
inspired by Rosies’ spirit
It is with sorrow that I inform
[the community] of the passing of
another of our beautiful “Rosies,”
Opal Nelson, on Jan. 15.
Opal founded our McKenzie
Chapter of ARRA and two other
chapters here in Oregon. She spear-
headed countless events, presenta-
tions and parades with our chapter
and the others here in Oregon.
Opal participated in several
ARRA National Conventions and
served as Oregon State Director
and national Vice-President.
Let us continue to be inspired by
Opal’s independent “We Can Do
It” spirit as we continue working to
keep the legacy of the Rosies alive.
With sorrow for her death, but
with joy for knowing her,
—Yvonne Fasold
Cottage Grove
Shoplifting from
The Bookmine? Really?
The Bookmine and owner Gail
Hoezle have been community in-
stitutions for the past 44 years.
No argument there.
Just a fact.
On Christmas Eve at 1 a.m., two
women dressed in Santa Claus
hats stole the Bookmine’ s wooden
bench on Seventh Street.
How do I know this? It was
caught on surveillance tape.
Now, somewhere between Fri-
day, Jan. 17 and Monday, Jan. 20,
a person or persons unknown en-
tered The Bookmine and shoplift-
ed a number of items.
In the children’s toy section eight
toys were taken out of their boxes
then taken out of their plastic clam-
shell packaging and removed from
the store without payment.
This is a severe personal insult
to Gail. She has done nothing but
good for this community through
her shop and various organizations
for many decades.
And this is how she has been re-
paid.
If it interests anyone, the toys
were soft plastic balls featuring
“hatching” dinosaurs and unicorns.
What boggles the mind, besides
this very classless and illegal act,
was the fact that not just one item
was taken but eight.
Our town owes a debt of grat-
itude to Gail Hoezle for her
near-limitless work done by keep-
ing The Bookmine open and her
efforts, in various organizations,
for the betterment of all the people
of Cottage Grove.
This event dovetails neatly with
the epidemic of petty theft in Cot-
tage Grove.
Boy, that sure will draw in pro-
spective tourists, renters and
homebuyers.
—Steve Thoemmes
Cottage Grove
What a great ‘birthday’
present for BMD
Bohemia Mining Days received
the 2019 Nonprofit of the Year
Award at last Saturday’s Chamber
of Commerce annual awards ban-
quet.
We thank chamber members
for bestowing this award upon us
and we appreciate and applaud the
efforts of our fellow nominee, the
Opal Center for Arts & Education,
for bringing a vibrant cultural vibe
to The Grove for many years.
We thank Carmen Dowell and
her Creative Chaos actors for
showing us anything is possible
when you dare to dream, you give
everything you’ve got to make that
dream a reality, and you find ways
to have fun along the way.
Those characteristics also form
the foundation of Bohemia Mining
Days, which is an annual gift our
community gives itself. It’s noth-
ing short of miraculous that for
60 consecutive years our beloved
summer celebration has endured
on a perennial shoestring budget in
the hands of committed volunteer
organizers and funded by our gen-
erous and faithful sponsors.
BMD celebrated its “Diamond
Jubilee” anniversary last year be-
cause of the grit and generosity of
those who have personally invested
their time and treasures to make
this event happen on the third
weekend of July for six decades.
A wonderful birthday gift, the
Chamber’s 2019 Nonprofit of the
Year Award is the cherry on the top
of the biggest and best celebration
we’ve had in a decade.
It was a pleasure to serve on a
team that skillfully balanced our
collective strengths and weakness-
es to produce the festival with ex-
cellence for everyone’s enjoyment.
Several of our valuable team-
mates have now stepped down to
pursue other passions and we want
to publicly thank these exception-
al individuals for giving their best
to our organization. The contribu-
tions made by Cathy and Bill Sim-
mons, Joelie Saunders and Penny
Bierly, Misty and Sean Burris, Lisa
Spears, and Ken and Helen Lile
have strengthened BMD’s organi-
zational foundation for the future.
As we move into this newest era
of BMD history, we invite those
who love the festival as much as we
do, who are hard workers and good
team players, and who are willing
to trade their time and talents to
generate thousands of smiles and
happy memories for people of all
ages, to please consider joining our
2020 Production Team.
Call 541-942-5964 for more in-
formation.
—Cindy Weeldreyer
BMD Festival Coordinator
Election-related letters must address pertinent or timely
issues of interest to our readers at-large.
Letters must: 1) Not be a part of letter-writing campaigns
on behalf of (or by) candidates; 2) Ensure any information
about a candidate is accurate, fair and not from second-hand
knowledge or hearsay; and 3) explain the reasons to support
candidates based on personal experience and perspective
rather than partisanship and campaign-style rhetoric.
Candidates themselves may not use the letters to the editor
column to outline their views and platforms or to ask for votes;
this constitutes paid political advertising.
As with all letters and advertising content, the newspaper,
at the sole discretion of the publisher, general manager and
editor, reserves the right to reject any letter that doesn’t follow
the above criteria.
Send letters to:
nhickson@cgsentinel.com
HOW TO CONTACT YOUR REPS
Oregon state
representatives
Oregon federal
representatives
• Sen. Floyd Prozanski
• Rep. Peter DeFazio
District 4 State Senator
PO Box 11511
Eugene, Ore. 97440
Phone: 541-342-2447
Email : sen.fl oydprozanski@
state.or.us
(House of Representatives)
405 East 8th Ave.
#2030
Eugene, Ore. 97401
Email: defazio.house.gov/
contact/email-peter
Phone: 541-465-6732
• Rep. Cedric Hayden
Republican District 7 State
Representative
900 Court St. NE
Salem, Ore. 97301
Phone: 503-986-1407
Website: www.leg.state.or.
us/hayden
Email: rep.cedrichayden@
state.or.us
• Sen. Ron Wyden
405 East 8th Ave., Suite
2020
Eugene, Ore. 97401
Email: wyden.senate.gov
Phone: (541) 431-0229
• Sen. Jeff Merkley
Email: merkley.senate.gov
Phone: 541-465-6750
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