Letters to the editor

Help seven-year-old

Make-A-Wish come

Dear Friends:

The Make-A-Wish-Foundation has asked us to participate in a request that a business card from your company be sent to craig Sheppard at the following address:

Craig Sheppard

C/o Make-A-Wish-Foundation

300 East Perimeter Center

Atlanta, GA 30346

Craig is a seven-year-old boy that has a brain tumor. He has very little time to live. He contacted Make-A-Wish expressing his desire to have an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records for the collection of the most business cards.

We are proud to be a part of Craig's wish. Please submit only one card from your company, then retype this letter on your company's letterhead and send to 20 businesses of your choice. Time is of the essence. Please join us and together we can make Craig's wish come true.

Hungry Horse News Staff

Mom asks for help to send daughter

to Costa Rica

Want to help a help send my daughter to Costa Rica with her eighth grade Spanish class? Yes? Well great, here is how: We are collecting items to sell at a garage sale. We are willing to go to you to pick up items, all you have to do is call 261-6676.

We are also accepting cash donations; those should be sent to P.O. Box 1752 in Whitefish.

A selection of new items will also be sold at the garage sale: hemp jewelry, home made soaps, blankets, scarves, cookie orders, and more.

If anyone has craft items that can be added to the inventory to be sold, or wants to donate thread, beads, hemp yarn, etc., please call the above number. The fully covered garage sale will be held in Whitefish the weekend of Nov. 20 and 21. We will be accepting items from now til then. Mark you calendars.

Thank you to a great community that always supports each other.

Michele Howard

Whitefish

Thanks from

Mike Jopek

A heart felt thank you for your confidence and trust. I will work for one

Whitefish, urban and a rural, new and an old. Our families deserve for us to work together to find solutions for our local businesses, families and retirees.

Public involvement is crucial in assuring that Whitefish remains a progressive community.

I will soon be stepping down as Chairman of the Whitefish City County Planning Board. Local voices are needed to assure that Whitefish grows with community vision.

There was a massive voter turn-out for local elections. In the City of Whitefish Democrats won your approval by a 2-1 margin.

Counting the rural areas we won with a 10 point margin. I believe that these large margins are a desire for the community to come together and cultivate common ground. I see this as a desire to assure opportunity for all.

Many thanks for the 400 Republicans, Independents and Democrats who fueled

our campaign and assure it would be free of policy-peddling PAC dollars.

Thanks also to the countless volunteers who worked extremely hard. We could not have won without your countless hours of dedication.

After the holidays, I will head to Helena to work. If anytime during the session, you would like to talk, please call me on my cell at 250-1184. I will also keep www.mikejopek.com updated.

I am humbled by your confidence and will work to retain your trust. I am

grateful for the support you have given to me and my family during the campaign. I have faith that our government can be as decent as our community.

Thank you all,

Mike Jopek (D)

Representative-elect Whitefish House District 4

"Fire Next Time" doesn't tell the truth

I was very skeptical about being filmed for the documentary "The Fire Next Time." Many people could have expressed our views better than myself. I hoped I could get some facts to the public concerning forest issues.

J.B. Stone and I not only presented the film crew with the truth, but we then took them to the woods and showed it to them. They themselves couldn't understand why environmentalists pushed some of their garbage.

Producer, Patrice O'Neil commented, "But they seem so sincere." I told her that Hitler was sincere while killing millions of Jews. Sadaam Husein was sincere while gassing and murdering thousands of his own people. I asked her if being sincere made it right.

I told her that their sincerity was P.R. (Public Relations). Without their P.R., people would realize the truth. Environmentalist funding would dry up and their phony movement would become just a bad memory.

The film make issues of things that don't exist. It focused on Brenda Kitterman who came to the Flathead and brought existing problems with her. They tried to pin these problems on John Stokes. We were fighting environmentalist lies long before John showed up. We picked up the pace because we were losing, not because of John.

The film did not paint an accurate picture of what's really going on in the Flathead, or how the majority of the people feel.

The meetings afterward talked of compromise and civility. I wish that would happen, but we've played that game for too many years and it doesn't work

The Flathead's problems won't be settled until we base land use decisions on facts and unbiased science. Until then, don't expect those effected to sit back and be "nice," while our lives and lively hoods are destroyed by environmentalist lies and misconceptions.

Scott Daumiller

Kalispell

To give is to receive

I have planned to get this editorial in the paper before the holidays or just after, and never have, so… now is the time!

I am writing to encourage everyone who has any time between Thanksgiving and Christmas to call the Salvation Army and sign up to be a bell ringer. When you volunteer to ring the bell, you receive much more than you give.

Why do I ring? During my childhood I remember dropping coins into a pot covered with chicken wire, A woman in a uniform stood behind it ringing a bell. I knew I was making someone's Christmas better with my pennies.

Now, my heart soars when I watch parents give their children coins and send them to me. Sometimes they are shy. I let them ring the bell and explain how their money will be used. EVERYONE goes away smiling! I also have been treated to conversations with WW II veterans applauding the Salvation Army's work while they were serving our country.

Ringing the bell provides a WONDERFUL opportunity for adults to be a role model. I volunteer for Big Brothers Big Sisters and I know how powerful one's example can be.

Please consider ringing the bell this year, it will be a gift to yourself to see the "true" meaning of Christmas.

By the way, I know there are many pots all over the Valley and some of you sometimes feel guilty not putting in money when you pass me.

Some have even shared they've given at another store. Please don't allow the cheerful sound of a bell make you sad - just think of the song "Silver Bells," smile and donate whenever you are able.

Let your heart be your guide. May God Bless You as you consider helping others this Christmas.

Jean Ambrose

Kalispell

Thanks from Dan Weinberg

I would like to express my gratitude to the people who are sending me to Helena to represent Senate District 2. I appreciate the many volunteers who helped in the office and walked the district with me. Many folks had candidate parties for me and many more contributed financially to my campaign.

Most of all I would like to thank the people of District 2 who opened their doors to talk with me about the real challenges facing all Montanans. Most of you didn't know me when I appeared at your homes, but you spoke thoughtfully and clearly about our community and our state. Those conversations will now enable me to represent you well in the fast-approaching legislative session.

Thank you.

Dan Weinberg

State Representative, District 2

Whitefish