Letters to the Editor

8/9/18

Dear Editor,
I enjoyed seeing Mareitta THOMSEN'S picture in your 7-12-18 paper. There is one thing wonrg with the article. Her last name was spelled incorrectly, the correct spelling is THOMSEN. Both our husbands names are THOMSEN, not THOMPSON. The name is pronounced TOM-SEN. Our name is of Scandinavian origin, the England's version uses the “P” and “SON”.
The name THOMSEN has been in the area since 1921. Both of our husbands were here as children. They both attended high school here and continued to live in the area.
Both are military veterans and rest at Whispering Pines cemetery. One was in the Army Air Corps and the local timber industry. The other was in the Army Medical Corps and was an engineer on the Western Pacific Railroad.
Both Marietta and I spent years active in local organizations and businesses in the area.
We, my family and I, would like to see our name spelled and pronounced correctly.
I am 94 years old and proud of our family name.
Marian J. THOMSEN, recently of Bly, Oregon
(Ed's note: We do know better than that but sometimes a mistake gives an opportunity for additional information. We regret such an error but thank you for the history!)

Jan,
Just finished reading, “U.S.F.S. Firefighters Train Like Your Life Depends on it.”
Beckwourth Fire had an opportunity to “train” on the McCollum fire.
Could they have trained “out of district?” Using the fire as a training exercise, would have been a great experience for our citizen firefighters. Volunteers who seldom have an opportunity to work with a “live” fire.
“A valuable training opportunity.”
Feets

Jan,
Joe and I (and animals) are safe, home is intact and we are very slowly getting back to normal, even
though fire is still raging but all of the Redding area is contained! We were evacuated for four days and many homes just a half mile from us were destroyed. It's pretty scary when you see the mountain from your home burning up! Today is the first day that we are seeing just slight red from the sun - up until yesterday you had to wear a mask to go outside any length of time. It was thick smoke! Our house, yard, garden, spider webs are just covered with ash. We could sure use a good rain! Besides all of that, we were in the middle of a heat wave - highest at one point was 113 degrees! The next two weeks are suppose to be cooler - 102 degrees today (It's bad when you think that is cooler but for Redding it is!) and into the 90's so that should help!
Barbara Franco
Redding

SIERRA COUNTY WINS AGAIN!!!!!
Dear Editor and Community Members of Sierra County,
I am proud to announce that because of the efforts of many volunteers, Sierra County won a Silver Ribbon for judge's points at this year's California State Fair. Congratulations go to Greg Bostrom, for his creativity and expertise in designing this year's exhibit which won our county the Best Exhibit Design Award. We were also awarded the Best of Division for the best Community Built exhibit and a huge thank you goes to the following individuals who helped to build the exhibit: Greg Bostrom, Docia Bostrom, Bryan Davey, Mark Helms, Mark Panelli, Mike Gyorfi, Jessie Gyorfi, Bruce Palmer, Sandy Blake, Gus Donowho, Derek Beverly and David Crosby. As I was staffing the exhibit this year, I talked with many visitors and volunteers at Cal Expo and they expressed how much they appreciate Sierra County's participation in the Counties Exhibits program and how wonderful it is to see that our exhibit was staffed the whole time during the fair. I want to thank the following individuals who staffed the exhibit throughout the fair: Lee Adams, Stuart Lauters, Earl Withycombe, Derek Beverly, Richard Nourse, Mary Nourse, Mike Galan, Karen Galan, Mary Jungi, Dale Teubert, Nora Prince, Sandy Loving, Karen Somogye, Tony Tucker, Nina Tucker, Sandy Blake, Bruce Palmer, Stacey Estrada, Ann Hutchison, David Hutchison, Greg Bostrom, Docia Bostrom, Pat Lawrence, Sandi Kendall, Kaaren Smith, Sharon Dobija, Paul Dobija, Jan Koettel, Christie Brzyscz, Dave Marshall, Carol Marshall, Mary Davey, Bryan Davey, and Gus Donowho. Great team work went into organizing and breaking down the exhibit after the fair closing, so a huge thank you to these individuals for their help: Greg Bostrom, Docia Bostrom, Mike Gyorfi, Bruce Palmer, Bryan Davey, Mary Davey and Charles Ervin. Thank you, Mary Davey, for the beautiful photos you organized for the wonderful video slide show; to Darby Hayes for the use of his beautiful photograph of the Aspens for the exhibit, and to Tina Floyd, who hand made our adorable bears! We really do have so many creative and talented Sierra County community members! Everyone should be congratulated for all the hard work and effort put into this year's award winning exhibit. I am grateful to all of our volunteers, and to Tim Beals and the Board of Supervisors for their continued support of this important project.
Until next year……..
Mary Ervin

Dare I Say
LaMalfa and Vets

US Representative Doug LaMalfa, CA CD1, likes to present himself as a big supporter of America's veterans. Over the years, I've tracked his co-sponsorship record of key bills intended to support our military and personnel. His performance has been dismal to say the least.

The Military Officers' Association of America (MOAA) is an independent, nonprofit and politically nonpartisan organization, with focus on legislation affecting the military. Over the years, the MOAA website at www.moaa.org has proven to be a reliable source of information for tracking how well individual politicians support military-related legislation.

Of the ten bills tracked as of July 18, 2018, Rep. LaMalfa is co-sponsoring only two, H.R. 299 and H.R. 3897.

He has, however, chosen not to co-sponsor the remaining eight bills: H.R. 303, H.R. 333, H.R. 1384, H.R. 92, H.R. 93, H.R. 102, H.R. 846 and H.R. 5125. You can visit the MOAA website for details on each bill.

While I would not expect LaMalfa to support all ten bills, I believe he owes voters an explanation for his decision not to support them. Past requests to his office for an explanation have not received the courtesy of a reply.

Dare I say, you be the judge.

Pete Stiglich
Cottonwood


Submitted: 08/09/18
Article By: Sierra Booster