maybe you think that it was an eye-sore LivinUpriver but for some who have lived in Concrete their whole lives and have had family who went to school there and worked there it was nice to be able to see it and show it to the generations of family it was a part of history.

I do agree with you that the kids do need help but I also think that the parents also need help to as they are obviously not GOOD parents at all.

FYI mlstanek:  I grew up in Concrete, once again live in Concrete, currently work in Concrete, and was educated at the old elementary school.

Everytime I went by it, my heart broke to see what that building had become - and I’m not the only former student who felt that way.  The truth is that those of us who remember Concrete 50, 40, 30, and even 20 years back know that the current town isn’t even a show of the former.  The old school buildings are currently an eyesore and embarassment (in comparison to their former glory), and, in my opinion, if anyone who has been around here longer than 20 years can’t admit that, they are living in denial.

Darn it!  “show” should read “shadow”.  Grrr....

Try typing in Word, then copy/paste your ideas to the comment section. It doesn’t catch all mistakes, but will alleviate the obvious ones.

My two cents, a community center nor counseling will do much for kids without responsible parents. Learning really does start at home. Schools and villages cannot raise children unless the parents are either on-board or gone. Young Life is a great program, but it will only help if parents are supportive and involved.

I say hang ‘em.

kim:  yes and no. Plenty of kids, when pointed in the right direction and with good adult role models end up making good life choices because of the positive influences in their lives outside the home. Boys and Girls Club is a good example of this, Big Brothers/Big Sisters is another. Church youth programs and youth pastors can also work wonders in the life of a neglected child. On a day-to-day basis, good teachers, school counselors and parapros can be some of the best influences in a troubled child’s life on a regular, consistent basis. Minus the Boys/Girls Club and Big Bros/Sis programs, Concrete has all of these things available.

The parents may be absent in a child’s life in a number of ways, but even in a community as small as Concrete, there are ways out for these kids.

I agree with ya ML- I dont think that the school was that much of an eyesore and yes LivinUpriver I have been around for over 20 years and no I am not living in denial. Look at some of the houses now that is an embarassment. I agree with you LivinUpriver the town is not what it used to be and it never will be what it was. We need to stop dwelling on what it used to be and start looking at the future of the town.

Exactly how do you expect to look to the future of the Concrete if you have the defeatist attitude that “it never will be what it was”, sassy? Dwelling on what it used to be, because it *was* a productive, viable town, would be more proactive than believing falsely that the old school is anything *but* an eyesore. How do you think our town looks to visitors (who, BTW, could be our bread-and-butter if we had something attractive to attract them)? The first thing they see when they turn the corner to go up Main Street is those broken-down, buildings. What kind of first impression do you think *that* leaves? Those buildings are a joke to those who do not live here.

Proactive rather than reactive thinking will help rebuild our community and attract those tourist dollars we desperately need.

I am really disturbed that some of you all seem to think that sad old building is more important than the future of these 3 boys. These boys were just being boys! Yes, troubled boys perhaps, but this single event should be seen as a sign that they need help not persecution!! The town of Concrete should have made sure to leave this tempting building firmly boarded up!! Why on earth was there a mattress in there anyway? The person most at fault here is the owner of that building, who has neglected it for some 20 years. And- speaking of the future of Concrete, it surely lies in tourism and outdoor recreation. Having eyesores around like this old building will not encourage the travelers to stop and have a meal and do a bit of shopping or maybe even stay in the motel!

Amen, Kerri.

Kerri, You can’t seriously think that this incident is the fault of the city or the property owner.(?) The boys were trespassing. They set the property on fire. Yes, the future of the boys is at stake.  There is a lesson to be learned, “If you play with fire, you’re going to get burned.” My guess is that their teachers already taught this same lesson, but they didn’t choose to learn it. Now, they’ll have to learn it the hard way. If they’re not punished now, when do you think they should be? Would you rather wait until the next crime? If they’re not punished, what message are you sending to other kids?

Does anybody know where the parents were when the boys were hanging out in the abandoned building? Has a CPS report been made? Let’s help the boys by helping the parents.

Thanks Kim, I hear you. I’m all for a fair punishment, keeping in mind the boys’ age. CPS involvement to check out their home environment and supervision is a must! They are very young, not even teens and yet some contributors on this stream had suggested the boys be tried as adults! I do seriously think the town and the owner are partially to blame as are the kids and their parents. That building should have been securely boarded up and there should not have been flammable materials lying around. There are processes to condemn and demolish unsafe buildings. The owner has had plenty of time to fix the place up.If the boys had been injured or killed I wonder if the owner might have been sued. Stranger things have happened!

Kerri, I do believe you have landed upon something here.  If the boys had been killed in the fire, then yes, I believe the parents could have successfully sued the building owner for wrongful death and/or negligence.  If a firefighter or someone else had died due to the fire, then the owner and/or the boys could have been sued for their deaths.  It’s likely this kind of scenario would never have landed in criminal court, rather civil.

As for flammables being present - I don’t think that a mattress or even the purported 5000 books still present in that building can be considered flammable, since such items are found in inhabited buildings.  Gasoline, propane, etc. would be considered flammable in a case such as this (IMO).

Out of just pure curiosity, does anyone know why those 5000 books were still there? It is just so odd, so many years after the school closed that books would still be there. I am assuming they were library books and textbooks? I would have thought the school district would have removed them prior to selling the building, using what could be used, donating what could be donated...? Surely they must have had some value? I would have loved to have seen them!

Yeah, I would have loved to have seen them and even to have had an opportunity to get some of them.  It’s possible that when the district sold the buildings the books came with them.  Although, as poor as CSD has always been, it does seem odd to me that they would just let so many books go and have to replace them.  Then again, they could have been old, obsolete textbooks kept from many years past that were stored there when the buildings were vacated by the district.

Personally, I’ve always considered it a shame and nearly a sin when books are thrown away.

oh, so sad! The older the books, the greater the historic and sentimental value. I hope now the schools are donating older textbooks to other countries that can’t afford the latest editions.

In the case of outdated history books (where history has been appropriately and correctly rewritten) it would not be such a good idea to donate them other countries, lest they read incorrect and/or outdated documentation.  I think that obsolete science books would also fall into the same category.  But English books, math books, art books, and the like would have been perfect to donate.

And I agree about the sentimental value - I love to look at and read old books.  If the books there were not just text books, I wonder how many were first edition library books?

Pity.

Kerri I dont believe that anyone said that the building was more important than the boys future but you seem to be caring an awful lot about the books that were in the building so does that mean that you care more about the books than the boys since you are talking about them just as some have about the building??

If that building was boarded up do you honestly think that the boys would have stayed out? come on they would have found a way in.

sassy, too many people in this posting thread have expressed more compassion regarding their nostalgia over the loss of the building than the lives of those boys, and that’s a fact.  Kerri and I were talking about the books in a totally different light - your attempt at analogy regarding our discussion over the books is ridiculous at best.

The building’s gone, the boys have confessed.  It’s time to move on and stop waxing nostalgic over something that hasn’t been attractive or beneficial to the town for years.  No one was hurt, nothing of real value was damaged.  Looking ahead, something of value can possibly be salvaged as a result of this whole thing - the lives of those boys.

Proper perspective and less accusation, please.

Could you help me out? We will spend our weekends in Concrete this summer and I need to find a good church to go to. You all who basically wanted the boys and their families unreasonably punished and humiliated (or didn’t bother to speak up against those who did) be sure to let me know what church you go to so I can NOT go there! LivinUpriver you can pick me up for church anytime! How about we cook a dinner for those boys and their families after! They will need the support.

You’re using humor here, Kerri, but I would bet dollars-to-donuts that several of those who wanted to tar and feather the boys are regular church-goers.  Me?  I wouldn’t step foot in the Community Bible Church, and the Assembly of God certainly has it’s share of the self-righteous among them (the pastor is a good man, though).  The Lutheran church in Concrete is pretty much reserved for the town’s elitists and snobs.  Probably the least judgemental and most friendly church is Mount Baker Presbyterian.

Indeed, those kids and their families need support, love, outreach, and prayers.

Well, call me a Presbyterian, at least for the summer. I will be praying for these boys and I will be thinking about what I can do for the kids in Concrete. Thanks

Excellent.  They will be happy to have a new face join them even if just for the summer.  They are a small congregation but very, very nice people.  The church itself has a great history: the outer, original structure is made from logs harvested from the surrounding hills.  They were transported down the hills into town by the church’s original pastor by dragging them behind his mule.

Enjoy your summer up here - despite the current problems with the town itself (low economy, little to no real tourism), it’s a beautiful place - especially during the summer months.

why dont you just exchange email so that you can quit posting stupid crap on here?? Apparantly you have nothing better to do. This is not the place for making some plans for dinner and romance??? affairs???? whatever the heck you are doing.

The boys did what they did and no one can take that back. No one ever said that the boys are not important so dont put words in peoples mouths.

And you cant just call yourself a Presbyterian just for a summer religion is not just a joke and shame on you. You cant pick your religion based on the people that go to the church.

Get on with your lives!

Gee whiz, sassy, did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed or what?  You sound kinda jealous - what’s up with that?

The fact remains that since you probably don’t work for the paper and since this is an unmoderated forum, I don’t think you have the right to make the rules about who should post what, when.

And yes, too many others in this topic *did*, with their attitudes, say that the delapidated building was more important than the boys and their obviously horrible families.

And yes, one *can* choose which denomination they become a part of based on those who attend.  After all, Jesus did say that we would know other believers based on their fruit and their love.

So, now, I will get on with my life (for a while anyway) - thanks for the “suggestion”, sassy.

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