Letters to the Editor

The Editor:
First, relevant to Blaine’s official theme, “Promoting Peace,” unanimously adopted by the city council February 9, 1998, I am pleased to report encouraging signs of progress:
About 20 persons interested in the Pugwash sister city concept met with Gary Tomsic twice last month, formulating plans to approach our city council with a proposal officially to move toward accepting Pugwash as our community’s sister city. We encourage interested citizens to sign petitions toward that end, but we are looking only for those willing to be sincere participants. You are welcome to sign my copy. I’m at 332-5175.
Jack Kintner’s report in the March 23 issue of The Northern Light covered important highlights of the Pugwash story that, I believe, should motivate readers to gain greater insight into all that the sister city concept entails.
For updates of Pugwash activities, I encourage you to open www.pugwash.org and review its peace-promoting activities. Our proposal presents a two-fold opportunity (1) to acquaint ourselves with the Pugwash community; (2) to understand the Pugwash conferences with centers in London, Rome, Geneva and Washington, D.C. and newsletters reaching 1,500 subscribers in more than 50 countries.
Secondly, relevant to Blaine’s turn-of-the-century theme, I wish to report the following items:
I have documented “One Hundred Concerts and Recitals in Ten Years: March 18, 1990 to October 8, 2000 at Blaine, Washington.” One copy may be located at the Blaine Public Library. Another is in Western Washington University’s music library. Another is ready to be sent to the Whatcom County Historical Society.
You may review “The Last Diary of Andrew Jackson Loomis” at our local library, and there you may see the original diary itself. Inquire at the desk. And now I’m pleased to say you may download the entire diary at no cost. Open www.whatcomhistory.net and to the left, scroll down, and you will find the diary.
Finally, there’s a copy of the Boblett diary in Wenatchee, but I don’t know how much the owner is asking for it. The diary would look nice in our library. I’ll try to fetch it for us.
Richard Clark
Blaine

The Editor:
My mother, Elizabeth Brown (later married Robert A. McHugh, married name Elizabeth McHugh), attended Blaine high school during the late 1930s (along with her older brother David Brown). She graduated in the class of 1939. I am looking for information to enable me to contact the rest of the class of 1939, since mother died on March 21, 2006, at the age of 85 (almost 86) after a long struggle with many health problems, and I wanted to tell them she is gone.
I took mother to her 60th (yes, 60th) Blaine high school class reunion on August 7, 1999, in Blaine, at a restaurant out on the docks (you could see the Peace Arch just across the waters of the bay/inlet). There were a number of people there from her class, and they greeted her as “Brains.” I had never heard this name used for mother before and they explained to me her nickname was given to her because she helped teach at the school in her later years there, instructing informally in German, French and calculus (it was a small town, and money and teachers were scarce in the last years of the Great Depression).
She also appears to have been the valedictorian for her class, although I am less sure about that.
Mother moved through several assisted living homes in the last years of her life and at some point her life long address book disappeared. Mother was the family repository of names, addresses and history, and I have not been able to find her copy of the Blaine high school yearbook or its equivalent (they had a yearbook or similar book at the reunion) for her graduation year (poor mother had several floods, of all things, where she lived years ago, and many things were destroyed, perhaps including her high school year’s possessions), so I have not been able to contact her high school classmates.
Her brother David died years ago, and her sister Ella Marie is still alive (she turned 91 on February 11) but doesn’t remember much from those days. The only person’s name I remember from the class reunion in 1999 was Freddie, who knew our family back then not just from high school but because he apparently helped out on the family farm outside of Blaine, and who stayed on in Blaine all those years, working, I think, for a while in the newspaper business, but I no longer remember his last name.
Any information your readers could provide about the class members of 1939 would be a great help. Any information about Blaine high school alumni associations, historical associations, that kind of thing, would be helpful. Mother always tried to keep in touch with everyone she ever knew all her life and she would expect me to make every effort to notify her old high school friends of her death. Thank you.
Robert (Bob) B. McHugh
Portland, OR
Kokopeli@worldnet.att.net

The Editor:
I would like to thank the Blaine Food Bank,
All the volunteers for helping me over hard times,
A year ago my son took sick and was hospitalized
Four times in serious condition.
It has been hard to make ends meet. Three months
Ago my stove went out and the microwave.
I have tried to cook in the fire pit
My small pension would not take care of
Expenses, much less a stove.
Along came one Angel today with a
Toaster oven and a hot plate the other
Angels are looking for a stove for me.
God bless you all
There are Angels in my heart.
Patricia L. Bays
Birch Bay

The Editor:
The Washington state legislature just doesn’t get it. Voters overwhelmingly told them “no” to new taxes with the defeat of I-884. They are either deaf or blatantly undermining their constituents.
The following bills passed by the slimmest of margins: HB 2314 “Sin tax;” SB 6096 “Death Tax”; HB 2622 “Transportation Budget/Gas Tax Increase;” State General Fund Operating Budget (12 percent increase relying on new taxes); and SB 6078 “State Expenditure Limit” (eliminates the two-third majority to raise taxes and changed to a simple majority). It’s outrageous when we said “no new taxes” and they vote to raise our taxes anyway!
However, “thank you” to representative Doug Ericksen who listens and voted “no” across the board. His record proves he supports the kind of responsible budgeting that we have in our household. But who else is going to stand up to the present leadership, cut all the pork and stop the limitless spending?
Not representative Kelli Linville, that’s for certain. Unfortunately, her record shows she doesn’t respect the wishes of her constituents – as she has consistently voted party line for spending increases. We need leaders in Olympia who truly represent the 42nd district and do not simply say they are “for” agriculture and small business yet repeatedly vote the very way that will be most damaging.
I believe Craig Mayberry is the kind of person our district needs to send to Olympia this fall. He’s strong enough to stand with his beliefs and make the hard choices necessary, and he will not undermine the wishes of this district. I encourage my neighbors and friends to stand with our family and support Craig Mayberry in his election bid for the 42nd district!
Christina Boyd
Custer

Correction:
In our last issue of The Northern Light, we incorrectly listed the web site of Ellen Shea’s new day spa in Birch Bay. The correct address is www.whisperonthebay.com.

Letters Policy
The Northern Light welcomes letters to the editor; however, the opinions expressed are not those of the editor. Letters must include name, address and daytime telephone number for verification. Letters must not exceed 350 words and may be edited or rejected for reasons of legality, length and good taste. Thank-you letters should be limited to 10 names. A fresh viewpoint on matters of general interest to local readers will increase the likelihood of publication. Writers should avoid personal invective. Unsigned letters will not be accepted for publication. Requests for withholding names will be considered on an individual basis. Only one letter per month from an individual correspondent will be published.

Please send your letter to:
225 Marine Drive, Blaine, WA 98230 or fax 360/332-2777.
E-mail:editor@thenorthernlight.com

Letters Policy

The Northern Light welcomes letters to the editor; however, the opinions expressed are not those of the editor. Letters must include name, address and daytime telephone number for verification. Letters must not exceed 350 words and may be edited or rejected for reasons of legality, length and good taste. Thank you letters are limited to five individuals or groups. A fresh viewpoint on matters of general interest to local readers will increase the likelihood of publication. Writers should avoid personal invective. Unsigned letters will not be accepted for publication. Requests for withholding names will be considered on an individual basis. Only one letter per month from an individual correspondent will be published.

Please email letters to letters@thenorthernlight.com