Editor, Times-Union: In the midst of my 20s and indwelled with a full-time job away from all that is known as home, it strikes me how, under a contemplative and seemingly competent young adult, is this uncertain young boy pushing ahead for a Saturday marching band contest. Hoping for a cool and sunny afternoon without too much wind, to be able to put on a navy blue uniform with Whitko spelled in white lettering seen a mile away, thin black gloves that never really did fit, black shoes (and very important black socks), and to pick up the school's old dented and tarnished Yamaha mellophone for a 7-minute performance that was five months in the making. All for a musical and marching performance to show a relatively small-size crowd that a group of simple country kids can put together a quality performance without the lessons, funding or support of the public and private schools in large cities as Fort Wayne and South Bend.
From eighth grade to senior year, I was blessed to participate in a wonderful small band program, the Whitko Marching Pride. Our group was never the largest band to compete, even in our class of similar-sized schools, but we never felt imitated. Our group was never the most trained or perhaps talented, but we never felt incapable. What we had in those years was some of the most supported band directors and parents, whose hearts and passion drove the rest of us to do what maybe should have not been possible: to put together a competitive marching show and have something to look back on and be proud of.
I can't begin to list all of the life lessons I learned because of the Whitko Marching Pride. Of course, the value of hard work, team work and dedication to a goal are the first that come to mind, but along with those surface lessons are deeper true lifelong lessons of loving and caring one another. I will never forget the tears of director Bob Myers with his pride of our group walking on to the field at regional contest in our 1999 show, or the youthful jump and shout of director Jason Bennett at the end of our regional performance one year later. Yes they were "just marching shows," but more importantly it was being cared for, having something to drive toward (instead of the trouble we could have seen ourselves in) and to see the pride of parental figures that so many of us did not have. It meant the world to us then and remains in our hearts today.
This year, the marching pride is not competing at the ISMAA district and regional contests, but instead going to a non-competitive festival contest. Instead of the high expectations placed on me and my peers to work hard to obtain excellence and greatness, the current expectation is much, much less. The passion and dedication to the marching pride that we alumni have taken off into our own families and careers, including several alumni who are now band directors such as Tammy Keirn and Joel Roman, has been replaced with a lack of passion and only minimal dedication. It breaks my heart to see such changes as I know that the current members of the band are plenty talented and capable enough to do what we did not so many years ago, and to learn for themselves life lessons for their futures.
I do not know all the reasons of the Whitko Marching Pride not being in ISMAA competitive contests this season, but I hope that this is merely temporary, and that the same band that so many of us have come and know to love can return back to its once status of excellence.
Eric Michael Bradley Whitko High School Class of 2001
Henderson, Neb.
Ethanol Concerns
Editor, Times-Union: We are concerned parents and citizens of Milford, about the proposal - with written/signed land purchase agreements for intent to build - of an ethanol fuel refinery in Milford right across the street from where we and other residents live.
We have two children with respiratory problems, and if the refinery comes to Milford, it would greatly reduce their quality of life. Our youngest has seizures from low immune system, but she is getting healthier through a natural diet and through an air purification system in our home. She is 3 years old and her body rejects even the smell of a fast food restaurant's air, which induces mini seizures within 48 hours of breathing the allergic inhalant in the air. As parents, we have to protect our children. To inform you how sensitive our children are to impurities in the air, the day after we installed a home air purifier, our 3-year-old (2 at the time) did not wake up with a fever as she had several days in a row. We are pleading that the refinery will not come near Milford to save our children's quality of life.
We moved to Milford in the country to provide our children a good/clean environment and community to learn good values. We wanted our children to grow up respecting their environment and taking care of nature that would build upon their good ethics. Our children are the foundation of our lives.
We believe there should be restrictions where a refinery should be located - at least 10 miles away from any town, residential areas and lakes, etc. The proposed Milford ethanol refinery site is only a few feet away from a residential area, the town limits, within one mile of a public school, a daycare, preschool, nursing home, retirement community, recreational business/homes (e.g. children's camp, lake homes, public lake park, a golf course, etc.) and within five miles of three other neighboring towns which includes two other public schools and other lakes that would be affected as well. There are other businesses that would be negatively affected by this refinery also nearby.
If this refinery comes to the proposed site, our communities will be in constant threat 24 hours a day/seven days a week/365 days a year of emissions that corrode the filters, so the EPA is increasing the amount of pollution allowed into the air to grant companies more time before a fine is imposed upon them to clean up their act and still do nothing but pay the fines. Other concerns include wells going dry, lake levels dropping, water contamination, more train and truck traffic, which could increase the number of accidents, higher health insurance and property insurance, property values dropping more than 20 percent for miles around, indefinite period of days/years of evacuation due to an incident and the possibility of losing everything, illnesses (according to reports the refineries have no liability if someone becomes ill from it), and other devastating effects. In pushing us to have these refineries so close to our communities by corporations, our freedom is being stripped away.
We are asking and praying that the state government take responsibility and protect our communities from local disasters that could be prevented with the proper guidelines and ethical decision-making to keep refineries to a minimum of 10 miles away from these locations described above. This is not just a Milford or Kosciusko County problem, this is a state and national problem that needs to be addressed very quickly before more damage is done. Our family and our community cannot withstand this type of harm to our quality of life or our community's environment and safety. We want to thank you in advance for your prompt response to this letter.
Joel and Teresa Brito Milford
Katrina Response
Editor, Times-Union: In response to Travis Adams' "Katrina" letter to the editor:
Over the summer I had the opportunity to travel to the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina with a local church. Not New Orleans, but Pass Christian, Miss., one of the most affected areas of this natural disaster.
I'll agree with you, not a lot is being done to rebuild residential neighborhoods in any of these areas. However, it's hardly the fault of the citizens living there. These people have lost everything.
One family my team worked with were fairly fortunate compared to some of their shoreline neighbors. The structure of the house was mostly unharmed, with the exception of a few windows and most of their shingles. Yet the water damage was so incredible they had to completely restore the entire house before it was safe to live in. Having only bought the house a month before Katrina, the family had little money to renovate the house. FEMA provided them with a trailer in January, five months after Katrina hit.
Insurance companies are telling their customers that the damage from the hurricane was not caused by the hurricane, nor was it caused by a flood. In fact, these insurance companies tell them this was caused by a "wind blown wave." Therefore, the residents of Katrina-hit areas are getting little or no compensation. Not only are they not being compensated, there are very few opportunities for jobs. Monday, the Associated Press reported that Louisiana alone is down more than 175,000 jobs compared to before the storm hit.
In one week, about 30 people from my church tiled a few floors, replaced a few windows, installed some cabinets, insulated an attic, shingled an entire roof, and changed a lot of lives. Instead of making suggestions about what the citizens of New Orleans should do, perhaps you and others should make an effort to travel to a Katrina-hit area to volunteer to rebuild the thousands and thousands of homes that were severely damaged or destroyed. I promise you, most of these people are not "waiting on the government to do all the work for them." Maybe then you'll begin to understand how it is nearly impossible to rebuild quickly in an area damaged as severely as the Katrina-hit areas without help from people who care, whether it be a church group or the government.
