BENTON COUNTY LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Honoring all veterans

To all men and women who are serving and who have served in the Armed Forces and to all of those who gave their lives for our country, the United States of America: THANKS!

Two of my brothers and I are World War II combat veterans. We served in the European Theatre in Germany and Italy. My eldest sister had seven sons and they all served in the armed forces in combat. So again, thank you for serving our country.

May God bless all of you and the “Good Ol’ United States of America!” TECH 5 CPL. ROLLO VAUN SCHELL LIGHT MACHINE GUNNER, 2ND INFANTRY DIVISION, WORLD WAR II COMBAT VETERAN (1944-1946), 90 Bentonville, Ark.

Gratitude expressed

I would like to say thank you to all those who helped and supported me during the recent election. I consider it an honor and a privilege to serve you as mayor. We have a great community and I know we will work together for the betterment of all who live here.

Not only do we have a great community, but we have some very special people who live here, they are our veterans. Those who have served or are currently serving and their families; without your service we would not enjoy the freedom we have today.

Next Thursday is Veterans Day, the one day a year set aside for us to honor and remember them and rightfully so. I want to personally say “Thank you for my freedom” but I would also like to take this one step further. As a community, I would like for us to take every chance we get to tell a veteran or member of our armed forces that we appreciate them and “Thank you.” Let’s not forget their families for they also have served our country as well. Let’s make every day a day to honor those who have and continue to serve.

JACKIE CRABTREE, MAYOR Pea Ridge, Ark.

Thanks for support

Dear Editor,

The youth and congregation of the Freedom Free Will Baptist Church wish to express our thanks to everyone who participated and supported our recent chili cook off. We also wish to thank the Greasy Creek and Shady Grove bluegrass groups for their performances. Many thanks to everyone that donated in any way and may God richly bless you all.

STEVE ASH, ON BEHALF OF FREEDOM FREE WILL BAPTIST CHURCH Pea Ridge, Ark.

Parents, think

To all the past and present Pee Wee coaches,

Even though my children are all grown, I would like to thank all the past and present “volunteer” Pee Wee coaches. Thank you for taking your free time to spend with my children.

Thank you for teaching my children how to be part of a team and making them feel important. Thank you for all the times you had to wait for me to pick up my child because I was running late.

To all the parents of these children who feel they need to coach from the sidelines, mouth the coaches and cause a scene in front of your children, shame on you. You need to stop and remember “volunteer” is the key word. (Vol-un-teer - one who offers himself for a service of his own free will.)

These men and women use their free time without compensation to baby-sit your children. Children live by example. So the next time you feel the urge to shout at the coach or cause a scene in front of your children, you might want to stop and think what kind of sportsmanship you are teaching your child.

Sincerely, ANGELA NUNO Pea Ridge, Ark.

Thank you for supporting a good cause

On behalf of Epsilon Sigma Alpha International’s (ESA) Beta Alpha and the “kids” at St. Jude, I would like to thank you for being a part of our Mule Jump road block held at the intersection of Curtis and Slack streets on Oct. 9, 2010. It was exciting to see so many people donate their hardearned money for a good cause. Beta Alpha thanks the entire community and the guests who were in town for donating $1,926 that went directly to St. Jude.

It is because of people like you that we are able to continue raising the monies that we donate to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Since 1972, ESA has raised more than $130 million in cash and donations for the hospital.

Thank you again for helping the “kids” at St. Jude.

KAREN KITTERMAN & SANDY FLETCHER, EVENT CO-CHAIRS Pea Ridge, Ark.

Citizens of Pea Ridge and Mr. Jackie Crabtree,

My wife Charlotte told me that I was not a politician. Toby Keith and Willie Nelson sang a song which was titled, “Beer for my horses.” There is a line in that song that goes as follows, “You have to draw a hard line.” Most of the time, when I am speaking to someone, I usually say just what is on my mind. That is because that is how I want others to speak to me. Now, that is not generally how a politician would speak to someone.

Charlotte is always telling me to tone it down because she says that I am too offensive with my straight forward statements. Well, as you can see, Charlotte was right. I am not a politician.

I want to congratulate Mr. Jackie Crabtree on his win of the mayoral seat again. I am just happy that Mr.

Rick Webb did not win the election.

(Oh, wasn’t I supposed to say that.)

I still believe that we need to do something on the local level about the illegal aliens taking the work away from the American citizens.

This issue with the city lawyer saying that an abstention is equal to a yes vote just goes to show that they need to fire a lawyer and hire one that interprets the law in the way that the average citizen would interpret it.

I want to reiterate the idea that we need to have more than two citywide cleanups per year. Yes, it costs money, but so do all those sidewalks that the citizens have paid for that most of us have not walked on. It is just one of the best ways to help to keep the city clean.

I still believe the bullet proof glass needs to come down at the police station and that we should have our own dispatcher on staff (during the day) to answer the phone.

I found out that some of our Fire Department members still qualify for state assistance. Maybe we should take the money that the city is now going to save on the mayor’s salary and help buy them health insurance for a start.

Mr. Hart had a good point about raising the speed limit on Weston Street from 25 mph to 30 or 35 mph.

I agree with him, I hate speed traps also. Maybe we should have signs put up that say something like “Warning, cop sitting in car, with nothing better to do but give you a ticket.”

Shouldn’t we go ahead and open the court house for the assumed guilty residents so they don’t have to stand in the elements?

One more thing, did any rent money get collected for the use of the emergency service building during the mayoral forum?

By the way, does anyone know where a former mayoral candidate can get a job with paid health insurance that pays at least $26,500 to start?

For those who voted for me, thank you.

BOYD B. MCNIEL Pea Ridge, Ark.

Opinion, Pages 4 on 11/10/2010