D-H should mention Flag Day

I was extremely disappointed in the Democrat-Herald on Saturday, Flag Day. As I placed my American flag in its holder, I picked up my morning paper with the expectation that the headlines would be: Fly your Flag, it's Flag Day! But, not one word was mentioned about flying the flag of our country. Not even in the ads from other businesses.

Since when did it become unpopular to mention our national flag in your paper. This is still America, and some of us are proud to proclaim it.

Marilyn Taggart, Sweet Home

That tricky freeway onramp

I read Ian Rollins' letter about that onramp on Highway 20 and am compelled to write. My husband and I were heading to Portland about two months ago. He doesn't get on the freeway very often and he made that very same mistake! I recognized right away what was happening and told him immediately that he was going the wrong way. He drove over the curb and back to were he needed to be. It scared the heck out of all of us!

I've thought about this many times since following the story about the accident. Clearly she should not have been behind the wheel. But after reading Ian's letter about how he did the same thing, I'm thinking that there really is a problem with the way this is marked. My husband has been driving for 60 years without an accident and he was sober as a judge, but it could have ended badly for us as well.

Perhaps ODOT should look into this.

Shelly Garrett, Lebanon

Flying fairy was our mistake

We would like to apologize to the parade watchers and to the Strawberry Festival board for our terrible mistake.The strawberry fair and parade are a favorite part of our summer. Every year we either watch or participate in the parade and would never want to do anything to harm its image, or our children.

Dani and us dumb adults thought a flying fairy was a cute idea and would be fun. The cable was brand new with a 3,200-pound weight limit; she had a full body harness on and we had checked it all out. Never would we endanger her or anyone else on purpose.

All of the fun things we do with our kids - like snowboarding, dirt biking, water skiing, racing, softball, we even have a backyard pool - all of these are dangerous sports but we strive to keep our kids safe. We use all safety equipment available to participate in these activities and absolutely thought Dani was safe or we would never have let her fly. We love Dani and all of our children.

Contrary to the letter from the family from out of state, she was not pulled up and made to stand on her own. She wanted to get in the truck where people could not stare at her and take pictures.

We would like to thank everyone for their prayers and well-wishes. A big thank you to the doctor who checked her out on site, and also to the paramedics for their quick response, we're glad we didn't need you. She was bruised and scared but OK.

Please do not blame the Strawberry Festival board or the Lebanon Elks. It was not their idea or their fault, just us dumb adults with what we thought was a fun idea.

Sara Kimball, Janet Evans, Lebanon

Against the Lebanon recall

As members of the Lebanon community, we are encouraging the citizens of Lebanon to not support the recall effort of Rick Alexander, Debi Shimmin and Josh Wineteer. We support moving this school district in a different direction! We do not support the recall of these board members, and we will not support a petition to do so. We have two children enrolled in this school district and two more soon to be enrolled, and this is not what is best for our children, or for Lebanon.

Those who are sponsoring this effort are in the minority, not the majority!

Bryan and Wendy Eilers, Lebanon

Why I favor Lebanon recall

Recalling the three Lebanon School Board members is being totally taken out of context. I became involved in the recall effort because it is apparent that these folks want to control the district. They have animosity toward Mr. Robinson. They want to be rid of him. They seem to feel it is unnecessary to follow the policies and procedures of good boardmanship. They don't respect the rules of being a board member and as such they have put the district at financial risk.

There are policies and procedures for the board to follow when conducting board matters in the district that I doubt they have read. If they have read them they have chosen to ignore them and decided they are going to do things their way no matter the cost. These three have made the district look foolish in the eyes of many in surrounding districts.

This recall has nothing, and I mean nothing, to do with Mr. Robinson. This recall has to do with the inappropriate behavior of these three members. This recall has to do with their inability to perform their elected duties.

The final straw for me was when Josh Wineteer wrote the contract for Sand Ridge with Jay Jackson and then sprung it on the district without discussion and without legal advice from the district's attorneys.

The financial cost to the district is great but the cost to our students is greater! The fact that Debi Shimmin and Rick Alexander supported Josh's maneuver tells me that they also need to be recalled. We as a community can't afford to keep them on the board.

Joyce Weatherly, Lebanon

The petitioners now say they won't try to recall Debi Shimmin.

Lebanon hospital: a treasure

The Frank Sinatra song "That's Life" with lyrics, "Ridin' high in April, shot down in May" describes our family.

We were a normal, average family until May 2, when my husband, Don, had emergency exploratory surgery at Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital. The surgeon found a life-threatening condition. The patient was gravely ill, and after a successful surgery, complications occurred, which were very serious for an 81-year-old man.

A week before, a seemingly healthy, active man who looked 70 instead of 81 was felling trees and chopping firewood. Our family is forever grateful for the skill and constant care of Dr. James Haeberlin. We lived at the hospital, staying day and night, with family members taking shifts for a month while Don was in critical care most of the time.

Having lived in Lebanon for over 50 years, we had surgeries at Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital before, always with great care; but this time was truly amazing. Everyone, including the doctors, nurses, student nurses, technicians, staff, social workers and cleaning ladies treated us like family, with hugs, smiles and comforting words.

Our community has a priceless treasure. It's called Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital.

Maryland M. Johnson, Lebanon