Letters to the editor: 09/27/01

More recycling needed

To the Editor:

As a member of the Jackson County Solid Waste Advisory Board, I would like to address the issue of a garbage disposal fee.

The "pay-as-you-throw" addendum to the county's proposed solid waste ordinance could replace the current tax addendum that comes on your property taxes. Jackson County is showing a horrible trend in the area of recycling. Simply put, a lot of people here just throw everything away.

We have a problem with landfill space. This problem doesn't necessarily come from any action that the current board has taken. They have inherited a lousy solid waste program, and it is costing us a fortune. Not only does the addendum tax not come close to covering the price tag of solid waste, we pay a huge chunk of change each year out of the general fund, second only to cost of the school system.

As people keep throwing everything away, our shared landfill in Macon County is filling up fast. We get the next landfill. I ask one question: In light of the argument against cell towers and billboards, where are we going to find enough suitable land in Jackson County to support a 20-year landfill? The proper handling of "garbage" begins within our homes.

We must find a way to reduce what is going into the landfill. Also, what do we do about out-of-state and out-of-county garbage coming to our SRCs? This is especially a problem in the Cashiers area.

I would encourage every citizen of Jackson County to consider these things the next time you throw something away. Ask yourself: What am I doing or could I be doing that would help in this matter? If we don't reduce our solid waste stream, the cost will surely rise. We must take these matters into our own hands or have a mandatory recycling law shoved down our throat. Which would you choose?

Thank you for you time.

Tom Vokes

Dillsboro

'America will never be the same'

To the Editor:

The incident in the U.S. on Sept. 11 was caused by foreigners who hijacked U.S. planes. I wish I could kill every one of them. When this stops, America will never be the same.

This may lead to war. This would be the first attack on America. We just need to pray for America. Once I grow up, I will join the Army and none of this will go on again. I just pray that it would stop.

I hope we win the war if there is one. We need to pray for Bin Laden to give himself up. I wish I could join the Army to kill Bin Laden. I hope rescue workers will find more people alive. We just need to trust God at this time.

God bless America.

Jared Jones

Age 11

Victory Christian School

Bring back Sunday mail service

To the Editor:

Last Sunday I had some important mail, including some pictures that needed to be on their way. But we have not had Sunday pickup in Sylva, Cullowhee or anywhere else in our county for quite some time. We have learned to live with that.

I took this mail to Waynesville and found the box at their post office no longer has a Sunday pickup. I do not believe most people know this.

I then continued to the Asheville Mail Facility by the Farmer's Market. Much to my surprise, even though there were probably 20 automobiles parked in the employees parking, both the large pickup box on the outside and the smaller box under the roof shelter on the outside of this Mail Facility do not list a Sunday pickup from either box.

This is the worst service to the public I have ever witnessed. Taking the mail out of these boxes at the Mail Facility surely would not overload the people already at work on Sundays.

During the five minutes I was parked in disbelief, at least seven autos came through this circle and mail boxes and deposited mail for Sunday handling. These seven cars made miles of driving for nothing.

My total mileage wasted amounted to 156 miles for the round trip. Evidently, thousands of miles are driven by postal patrons to utilize service that is not provided as we wouid expect to have.

I feel this is something not connected to our present difficulty and can be corrected easily.

Thanks much,

Frank Young

Cullowhee

Latest sewage spill causes concern

To the Editor:

Does anybody besides me have a concern for the health of those who live on the Tuckaseigee River or for the tourists and locals who use the river to play and fish in?

After 500,000 gallons of raw sewage spilled over the Labor Day weeknd, when more people than usual were using the river, doesn't anyone else feel the public should have been notified immediately following the incident?

My son and husband just happened to be fishing on Labor Day. Thank God they did not catch anything big enough to eat. We live on the river in Whittier, and it seems criminal to me that the Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority is not completely shut down pending further investigation and inspection since this is the second spill in a four-month period.

I'd ask where the trout came from that is served in local restaurants before I ordered it.

Sincerely,

Sharon Schneider

Whittier

School benefit was a hugh success

To the Editor:

A big thank you goes out to all those who made the second annual taco salad dinner at Smoky Mountain High School a hugh success. We could not provide help for teachers and our students without this support.

Many businesses, parents and teachers helped us make chili, serve our guests and clean up after the event. We are very proud to live in a community where everyone pulls together to help our schools, teachers and students.

Sincerely,

Lyn Johnson

President

SMHS PTO

Surprised at call for more alcohol

To the Editor:

I was saddened recently to read about the car crash and death of the two women from Asheville. Several injures were also reported. The crash was allegedly due to alcohol.

The following week I was surprised to read that someone had petitioned for even more alcohol to be distributed.

Now another alcohol-by-the-drink vote will be held just a few years after the citizens of Sylva said we have enough alcohol. I hope they will make the same decision this time.

Sincerely,

John Reid

Sylva

Something positive from tragedy

To the Editor:

As a student at Western Carolina University originally from New York City, I was terrified when I watched the attack of one of our nation's symbols of democratic freedom under siege.

It is clear that this catastrophe has affected everyone. Here in rural North Carolina people are fearful of what they have witnessed and of what is to come. I understand their fear and share it.

However, at this time I want to speak of something positive - the selfless caring and giving of time, supplies and funds by our local residents.

Our solidarity in this time of pain and chaos is something we should embrace. The pride we all share in a desire to protect our country and one another is the true nature of America. May God keep us safe and united always.

Respectfully,

Debbie Hennessy

Cullowhee

Symbol of national pride

To the Editor:

The American flag in our classroom - the stars remind us of your eyes, bright sparkles, as you hold hands wide to pull us up beside you.

And the stripes are for your courage, for when we felt most burdened a strong shoulder was there to lean on. The wrinkles are for the years you have fought for our freedom and the struggle that will always exist.

Colors represent national pride: Red for the blood sometimes shed; white for our purity of life; blue for the vast ocean of hope you display for the world to see.

When someone sets you on fire, you never falter but resolve to fly again in this child's future goal of peace on earth, continued worth, fulfilling a nation's rebirth.

Kathy Hall's

sixth-graders

Cullowhee Valley School

'Pictures... still haunt me'

Editor's note: The following letter was written by Cullowhee Valley School eighth-grader Elliot Coward to her future grandchildren.

Dear Grandchildren,

Though you may know all of the facts about Sept. 11, 2001, you probably cannot begin to imagine the agonizing horror that swept like a tidal wave across America that day. What happened seemed totally surreal and impossible.

Here we were sitting in the best country in the world, feeling safe as if we were protected by armor, but in only an hour a deep gash of terrorism had ripped through our ignorance. We now know it is very possible and amazingly real.

I was at school when I first heard about the attack. I got home that afternoon and rushed to turn on the TV. The grizzly scene I saw turned my disbelief into sorrow... sorrow for the families of those lost in the attack, sorrow for the country, and sorrow for the loss of that innocent safety we had felt hours before that event.

That night when I went to bed the sights of screaming forms plummeting from buildings and the 767's crashing through the steel buildings haunted me. I was scared to sleep. I didn't want to have bad dreams and most of all I was terrified of what could happen. I prayed a whole lot at night with all of my heart and ask that a huge war will not result. I was scared for the future.

In the following days more pictures turned up in the papers. One I will never forget is a man... he was calmly falling with his toes by his knees and his arms by his side. Pictures like these still haunt me. Scenes like this broke my trust, as well as the idea that we had trained our destruction, and that our airports would let that happen. Ideas like those killed my safe innocence.

It has not taken long for me to worry about the future. Next month I am due to fly into the very airport that two of the planes left from. I wonder if I will get there safely. Also I worry that the attacks are not over. It has happened once and my new-found paranoia makes me afraid that it will happen again.

I know though before all else that I need to trust our president, and I need to trust God. Whatever happens I will be O.K. I wonder if Bush will call for war. My rage for those who committed the atrocity almost makes me wish we would just blow those people away.

In the end though, I firmly believe that Bush is right: Terrorism can not break our country. We will hold on, stay strong and move on with life and for now we should let the silent void where the towers once stood stand as a memorial to those dead and a reminder that we cannot allow such horrific acts of cowardice to tear us apart. In fact we must unite together to help avenge our countrymen's deaths and prevent such acts in the future.

With love,

Your Gramma Elliot

'I fear for my country, my safety'

Editor's note: The following letter was written by Cullowhee Valley School eighth-grader Kaitlyn Kluge to her future grandchildren.

Dear Grandchildren,

At the time I am writing this I am 14 years old and in the eighth grade at Cullowhee Valley School.

Two days ago there was a terrorist attack on America. Two big airplanes took out the World Trade Center, another plane flew into the Pentagon, and another crashed in Pennsylvania. I first found out about these attacks when I was running an errand for my teacher to the office. At first I did not think much about it, but later when I understood what was going on I was terrified.

All of the airports in the USA were shut down. I thought that we were going to be in a war. I felt horrified that all that tragedy was happening to other people while I and my friends shuffled around school.

When my mother picked me up from school, we went home and watched the news. Right there, before my eyes I watched as this huge aircraft smashed into a skyscraper. I couldn't stop thinking of what it would have been like for the people on those four planes.

As I kept watching, not being able to tear my eyes away from the screen, I couldn't stop thinking of people who were making light of the situation. How could they? Thousands of people might be dead, which meant thousands of families would be missing someone. I also felt heartless sitting there watching the images flick past; it all seemed surreal, like a movie.

Now I fear for my country and my safety. Everyone, no matter how sad, is also feeling revengeful. I'm scared that our government will want to just lash out so bad that they won't stop to make sure that they get the right person. I feel powerless. I can't just shout, "Stop! Wait a second!" and make people listen.

Tomorrow is the National Day of Mourning. I want to know how such a small group of people could cause so much damage and heartache. How could they just rip apart so many dreams and hopes? Our president, George W. Bush, says that the terrorists just wanted to disrupt our lives and make us less stable, but we aren't going to let them.

My throat is drying up and getting hard as I write this. They haven't found or really been able to start looking for survivors yet. They first need to clean the rubble away, but that task is certainly a hard one because more buildings keep collapsing and adding more and more concrete to dig through.

One extremely haunting fact about this whole episode is that some of the passengers that were on hijacked flights called 911 or their family members from cell phones. They told them things like they loved them and confirmed that they had been hijacked. It must have been so sad for those families that got those calls.

I thought this morning when I got up how I had always wanted a defining moment in history to happen during my lifetime, and now it has. You might read about this in your history books and think, "Well that's not so bad," but it really was.

Even now, I still feel like there is a big empty space inside of me... that I am not whole. I know that l am extremely lucky that no one in my family was hurt, that none of my friends might be buried under a layer of concrete, and I don't know if they are alive or dead.

Some people on the radio were complaining about how they felt violated. This bothered me because they still knew where their family and friends are, they aren't under some pile of rubble all alone, and they still had a place to work. They aren't lying in some hospital bed waiting for blood they need to arrive. Those people don't know what is really important in life.

I wake up in the mornings and am very grateful to know where my mother is. It is very scary to think that she could be taken from me so easily. So you should always be thankful for everything you have. It's sad it took such a big catastrophe for me to finally realize this.

Love always,

Your grandmother,

Kaitlyn KIuge

Don't put Southern Loop in Webster

To the Editor:

What is better than a drive along the Tuckaseigee River, with beautiful trees on both sides of you and the wildlife that lives there. There is no replacement for nature. It's the reason most people come to this area to begin with.

I am concerned that the proposed Southern Loop would run along the river to Jack the Dipper Ice Cream Shop. That route would be a terrible choice.

The river is so pleasant, and a new road's size, traffic and trash would destroy it. The fishermen who use that stretch of the river would be gone, as well as the tourist dollars they bring. Also, that stretch of road is along hatchery-supported waters and is a refuge for the remaining wildlife.

Today it is peaceful and calming to drive down South River Road. It is a short stretch of tranquility and should be preserved as such.

I believe Conrad Burrell wants the Southern Loop so badly because he is supporting Cashiers, a community populated mostly by those from Florida and Georgia. The Southern Loop would enable the folks going to Cashiers to totally bypass Sylva and the businesses there.

A new bypass would not help congestion or slow growth in this otherwise booming county. It will only increase the growth, and all that goes with it.

I urge the people of Jackson County to go down to the river and see what you would loose. If you think losing Historic Webster would be a bad thing, then losing something older and more pristine would be a real tragedy.

Kelly Timco

Sylva

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