Letters

Parks

What are your park priorities?

Surveys conducted on the island earlier this year indicated strong support for continued efforts to protect land and water resources, build the facilities needed to allow the public to safely access and enjoy both existing and newly acquired park lands, and develop off-road trail access between major parks and island population centers.

On Thursday, July 24, at 6 p.m., in the Strawberry Hill Park Mini Gym, the BIMPRD Board of Commissioners will be discussing ways to turn these priorities into reality. We welcome your involvement and will open up the first part of the meeting for public comments and input into our decision-making process. Please stop by and let us know what you think.

KEN DeWITT, Chair, Board of Commissioners

Bainbridge Island Metropolitan Park & Recreation District

Community

Be content with enough

The indoctrination of our society of more, tends to mislead many from the contentment of enough.

At nature’s pace, and without trying to dominate, humanity could tag along as one strand in the Web of Life indefinitely.

DAVE ULLIN

Eagle Harbor

More voices,

and all right!

After reading all of the colloquies and editorials over the past few weeks, I could not help but remember one of the funniest scenes in the musical hit “Fiddler on the Roof.” In this scene, the village leader, a milkman no less, named Tevye, is approached by a businessperson who complains about his competitor. Tevye assures the complainer he is correct. But the competitor, target of the complaint, screams about the complaint and again is assured by Tevye he is also correct.

Finally, a bystander hearing all of this says: “Tevye, he’s right; he’s right; how can they both be right?”

In his simple wisdom, Tevye the Milkman, responds: “And you are also right!”

What we have read in these pages is the collective wisdom of everyone who is totally convinced of his or her commentary, something that tells us the democracy lives. If all this were occurring in a schoolyard, the principal would doubtless call for an assembly to address all the grievances because no one could be heard or understood otherwise and because no one is apparently listening to anyone else.

And, frankly, the reality is that hardly anyone is listening to anyone else, but we’re all sure who is wrong: the other guy!

I’m not smart enough to know which of the verbal combatants in all of this is correct or what combination of opinions makes the most sense. But a nice, bright young man named Bob Scales touched on an important point but regrettably had to color his vital idea with some more of the why the other guy is wrong. He called for greater community involvement.

But the part of the community almost never seen at City Council meetings or other similar venues are the generation of parents and younger folks who are omnipresent only at the all-comers racing contests, leaving most of the vocal and written commentary to the wonderful but mostly retired folks of the community.

So, I would hope those younger folks, parents and single men and women, who toil daily for a living and also pay the taxes on this island – and are often business people as well – will enter the “assembly” to be heard and to contribute to the dialogue so that the old-time insiders and aspiring politicians will not monopolize the debate, well intended and passionate as these “more mature” folks may be. If all those fine people would become part of the discussion, perhaps then we could all eventually raise a toast “To Life!”

JOSEPH J. HONICK

Olympus Beach Road

Theater

‘Woods’ takes the BHS stage

Ovation Musical Theatre does it again! The opening this weekend of “Into the Woods” was brilliant. The delightful fairy tale romp is lavishly costumed and simply staged. The cast is excellent with some fine young actors in lead roles. Take the time, take the kids and go see this excellent show. This beats the recent production at the 5th Avenue Theatre... and it’s right here on Bainbridge Island on the little old high school stage!

LINDA OWENS

Arrow Point Drive

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