One parent’s opinion of editorial, student response

To The Editor:

Regarding Susan Marshall’s editorial entitled, “Tell me why you do it?” I felt compelled to write to you as an outsider looking in.

I am sure Susan did not know what kind of hornet’s nest would be rocked when her editorial came out. However, by the response from the PBHS students, it certainly opened some eyes and minds. If nothing more, these young citizens are now more likely to step in when they see disrespect to the community and defend their reputation, as they did in their response to the editorial.

I visit Peabody five to six times a year and am always taken back by the sense of community your town has. At every football, volleyball, and basketball game I have attended I see people there who don’t even have kids in school. From the games, parades, the HUB, and the Fourth of July to employment of the youth by local businesses, it shows that Peabody truly embraces the youth.

If my town had the kind of community involvement that Peabody does, maybe I wouldn’t read in my paper about kids bringing guns to school, defacing the local skate park with feces, or schools closing because of threats equal to Columbine.

I was happy to read the students’ response to the editorial as it shows they care. They realize they have a voice, they understand that they can make a difference. Susan’s article spurred something greater than we will ever know. And thank you to Dorothy Rucker for introducing this with your students. This again shows another act of community involvement with your youth.

When my daughter decided to move and attend Peabody-Burns High School as a freshman, she said, “I just want to try it and see what it’s like.” I said, “You will love it back there because people there are nice.”

I am thankful that she got the experience to be part of such a wonderful community. I am proud that she will graduate from the same high school that my mother and grandmother graduated from.

P.S. To my daughter: You will come to appreciate the 1880s Main Street.

Peggy Lalouette
Parker, Colorado

Enjoyable evening spent at Santa Fe Park

To The Editor:

Kudos and congrats to POPPs and the many volunteers who worked relentlessly to get the “Sleepy Creek Concert Series” off the ground.

The food was delicious and the entertainment, The Medicine River Boys, was excellent. Even the weather cooperated. Except for those pesky mosquitoes, the evening was perfect. Yes, there was an occasional train, but even that wasn’t a huge problem.

To those who worked hard to make it happen, thank you.

To those of you who complain that there is never anything to do in this town, stop it and get outside your house and your own little world!

Come down and offer your services, and then stay and enjoy yourself. You missed a great opportunity to get to know some of your neighbors.

The concert series will continue. To those who missed it, check it out next time. You won’t be sorry.

Brenda Riggs