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Protesters’ vulgar lyrics disgusting
Although I now live in Bellingham, I have always loved my home town of Anacortes where I was raised and went to school. I often come back and visit friends and family.

Attending the Anacortes Waterfront Festival on Sunday afternoon, we walked to the corner of 12th Street and Commercial Avenue to cross at the street light. While waiting on the southwest corner for the light to change, we found ourselves among war protesters.

To see some of the protesters stepping on the American flag, which was displayed upside down was bad enough, but we were subject to extremely loud music with vulgar lyrics singing. We were repulsed, shocked and angry.

A woman waiting to cross with three children was trying to cover their ears to keep them from hearing the disgusting lyrics. Shame is on fellow war protesters, who endorse these lewd lyrics that accompany their messages. This is a direct reflection on the other protesters — “Show me your friends and it will show me who your are.”

When we arrived on the opposite corner, it was a pleasure to pass by the troop supporters who carried their American flags with dignity and respect. However, we could still hear this filth in other songs for blocks away. No one should ever walk the streets of Anacortes and be assaulted by sordid lyrics to music.

Shame also on Anacortes for allowing public obscenities. Anacortes Arts Festival visitors beware!
Gayle Babcock
Bellingham

Court decision on enemy combatants raises questions
The recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that grants enemy combatants constitutional privileges is very disturbing. Especially since our own U.S. military men and women don’t enjoy such a privilege.

The Uniform Code of Military Justice exists for a reason. If our own military men and women must live by such a justice code, then surely those who would work to kill them should at least be subject to the same code.
Gary Brown
Anacortes

People helped woman who fell walking her dog
Would the two men and the lady who came to my aid on Friday, May 9 when I flipped, sliding on my tummy and face while I was walking my dog on 29th Street and M Avenue please call me.

I appreciate your kindness in taking me to the emergency room at the hospital and also seeing that Tanny got home. Thus, I would personally like to thank you. You were such a blessing to me. What nice people we have in Anacortes!
Shirley La Vine
Anacortes

Pool festival was a fun and a great fund raiser
The first annual Fidalgo Pool Festival was a resounding success.

With only three months to put it together, a reluctance of people to volunteer to help until the last minute, and the weatherman being quite contrary, we managed to pull it off, and then some!

Cindy Timms, co-chair of the Friends of Fidalgo Pool & Fitness Center, wrote a very nicely detailed letter to the editor the week after the festival, listing the majority of businesses and vendors who donated funds and/or brought their booths to display their wares. Therefore I’ll conserve space and not list all of them again; but we certainly can thank them again for helping make the festival a success.

Now that the financials have been finalized, we are overwhelmed by the outpouring of monetary support by the community; our hopes and expectations didn’t even come close! Gross receipts reached $20,000. The Thunderbird Aquatic Club raised $4,682 with the Swim-a-Thon; these funds will help meet some of TAC expenses during the coming year. Dancing with the Dolphins, organized by the Friends, raised a bit more than $13,500; the remainder came from vendor participation, donations at large, the silent auction and sale of dolphin totes. Expenses were keep to a minimum.

Our community has shown its solid support of the Fidalgo Pool and Fitness Center District’s intention to renovate and remodel our unique and extraordinary facility. We look forward to you joining us again next year at our second annual Fidalgo Pool Festival on Saturday, May 2, 2009.

Again, thank you for your support.
Heather Burke
Chairperson of the Festival
and Co-Chair of the Friends
Cindy Timms
Co-Chair of the Friends
Marilyn Stadler
Festival Project Manager and Director of FPFC

Motorcycles have proven to be menaces in forest
It certainly appears that Rosie Jennsen needs a reality check on what’s really happening, concerning her favorable opinion of retaining motorcycles in our Anacortes Community Forest Lands.

She stated that there are miles and miles of trails that are motorcycle free. Actually, there are only several trails in the entire ACFL that can be labeled as motorcycle free.

During my 10 years as a daily volunteer I have been forced off, driven off and scared off by speeding motorcycles at least a dozen times. Throughout the years, many, many other trail users have voiced similar opinions with written and verbal communications to our advisory board.

So, after decades of having it your way, you young adventuresome motorcycle riders should seriously consider shaping up and shipping out to another riding area an hour’s drive from our local ACFL.
Hershel Janz
Anacortes

Bark in the Park even better this time around
Bark in the Park 2008 Dog Festival was a wonderful success again this year. We had a gorgeous day (finally!) and lots of folks from near and far turned out with their dogs to participate in our fourth annual dog festival.

As with any event, there’s always a long list of folks to thank. We really want to say a big thank you to our sponsors for their support: Nutro Products, PetCo, ZiwiPeak, Soapy Dog Wash & Shoppe, Brown Lantern Alehouse, Blue Cow Car & Dog Wash, Walker’s Healthy Pet, Cap Sante Inn, Whidbey Island Bank, Canidae, The Placid Pet, Canine Clips, Pampered Pets & Grooming and Pam’s Bubble Mobile Grooming.

Many thanks also go to all of our vendors as well as Kiwanis Sunrisers, American Dream Real Estate Services, Wizards of Ooze, the Anacortes School District, the city of Anacortes and Marie Padovan for their community support on behalf of the dog park. And a very special thanks to Sunnyhill Kennel for all they provided, and to KWLE’s terrific radio personality emcee.

And we can’t forget a huge thank you with lots of doggie kisses to all the volunteers, whose time, talent and dedication helped make this event happen. The dog festival truly was a community effort, and I can’t say thanks enough to everyone involved.

We are really looking forward to the completion of our permanent dog park at the Ace of Hearts Creek Rotary Park at 38th Street and H Avenue. All the funds raised at this year’s Bark in the Park, as well as the three previous years, will go to building a gazebo, a dog watering trough, a dog wash-off station, trees, plants and other dog-friendly fun things for our dog park.

We live in such a wonderful dog-loving community, and we are grateful that our pups will soon have a permanent place to romp and play in our very own offleash dog park here in Anacortes.

Thanks again! We hope to see you next year!

Amy Terhune
Bark in the Park Coordinator
For F.I.D.O./Fidalgo Islanders for Dogs Off-leash

Visitors note some streets need paving, repairs
We have come to that time of the year when visitors start to come to Anacortes. We have had one such visit from friends from Portland, Ore.

The first thing they all want to do is go to the channel where the big ships come in, so we take them down to Curtis Wharf via Second Street. Their comments are all the same: “Doesn’t your city ever repair their streets?”

We have lived in Anacortes since 1999 and have yet to see Second Street and the entrance to Curtis Wharf repaired. But that is still the best view of the channel. Now we have some more friends coming from Colorado, so I would guess I will get much the same comments.
Dean R. Kempf
Anacortes

Liberal emphasis has dumbed down public education
“Our Failing Schools” were twice mentioned in the president’s “State of the Nation” address in January this year. America started on the road to national suicide with the adoption of John Dewey’s progressive education theories in our teachers colleges. Beginning in the 1940s his nostrums emphasizing children’s happiness as a necessary condition for successful learning has produced the predictable result now evident in our dumbed down electorate: American schools at 23rd in a recent international rating of 57 nations.

Professor John Dewey’s radical socialism is clearly revealed in John Goldberg’s recently published “Liberal Fascism” by Doubleday in 2007; 29 citations give a vivid picture of an educator determined to influence this country’s future where he states, “the purpose of education is to change society.”

We are within one generation of the death of America as a free nation if Liberal-Socialist-Democrats continue their monopoly of U.S. education. This nation’s obituary may be written on the second Wednesday morning of November, 2008.
Robert Morgan Emerson
Anacortes

Too many flag poles downtown stand empty
Within one city block there are six flag poles, for the purpose of flying the U.S. flag. Only one pole currently flies that flag — The U.S. post office.

The Anacortes American seems to be less than its great title, without a flag flying.

Is the City Hall easy to locate? Yes! But where are the flags to assure us this is a government building? The poles in front and back have no flag flying.

The Majestic Hotel is flag-less and not quite the same as pictures seen in brochures. One of the highest locations in town needs its flag.

The Steelworkers Union on Fifth Street and Q Avenue has not flown a flag in several months.

Perhaps volunteers or service organizations could help in this area by donating time, flags, spotlights or line and hardware if needed to get downtown looking like it should again.

A proud veteran,
David Demoor
Oak Harbor