Migrant message

I have enjoyed the articles you've run recently about the migrant workers who pick cherries in the Flathead Valley.

We visit Bigfork each summer (my aunt and uncle have a summer home in Yellow Bay) and have come to love the area. I keep up with the local news by reading your online edition.

As a native Southern Californian it seems natural to live side-by-side with several ethnicities, hear Spanish spoken daily (as well as Asian, African, South American, and Middle Eastern languages), and to be as likely to make a batch of enchiladas as mashed potatoes. My visits to Montana, however, have shown me how different that is from your region. I applaud your efforts to help the locals better understand the migrant workers, both their differences and similarities to our culture.

In my area we know our economy is largely dependent on immigrant (both legal and illegal) labor and I wish my own neighbors were more willing to look at these workers in the same depth your writers and editors have.

Thanks again for an informative series of articles.

Kelli Moors

California