I want to express my support for Officer Mason who I consider a friend and excellent officer.

Two years in the mountains and jungles of Vietnam qualify me to say there is nobody I would rather have protecting me and my family than Officer Mason.

This incident was caused by alcohol. I was a chief pilot for Delta Airlines and we too had men and women who were in the public fishbowl and stress. If they made either a personal or professional mistake my job was to counsel, rehabilitate, re-qualify and return him to the job.

There isn’t a single person out there who hasn’t made a mistake during their early years and not given a second chance. Officer Mason is a good friend to many of us and has always been there for us.

I think the MINT issue is separate and is nothing more than the usual whining of persons who got passed over for a position.

I believe Officer Mason realizes he has to be accountable for his actions and is ready to face this like the man he is. I believe alcohol is the cause of this incident, and this is easily corrected by counseling. Please give him the second chance he deserves.

Mason should leave

I was not at all surprised by the news of Officer Erin Mason’s suspension from the police department. I am not trying to discredit Officer Mason. I understand the hard work and dedication it takes to be a police officer these days.

I really tried to give Mason the benefit of the doubt that he had possibly changed his old ways and had become more culturally sensitive and the drinking and partying had stopped, especially after taking an oath to become an officer for the city of Hood River.

I strongly believe that all officers should be held accountable for their actions on and off duty. Erin Mason is a representative of the Hood River Police Department and if he is allowed to keep his job it will make the honest hard working police officers look just as bad as he does. I have no sympathy for Officer Mason I strongly believe that he should resign or be discharged.

Thanks, Alleys

I had no intention of writing again so soon, but the sale of Mid Valley Market and the retirement of the Alleys (July 4, page A1) requires this exception.

A proper salute to John and Kathy would take more space than available in this section. Suffice it to say that they are the nicest people that I — and many others — have ever known. Those others include my son, Bill, who worked for them starting over 20 years ago.

I was glad to read that they plan to stay actively involved in the Hood River community. However, I do hope that they will also get the R&R they so richly deserve.

Owing it to Odell

John and I want to thank the Hood River News for their kind words in the article in Wednesday‘s paper. But we also need to say that we have not just given 26 years of our lives in Odell. Odell has given us much more in those 26 years.

Our daughter, Katie, was in first grade when we moved here. At the start of her second grade year, she was very ill with Kawasaki’s Disease.

We hadn’t been in Odell a full year yet, but the community gathered around us. She missed most of second grade and was tutored by my cousin, Vicki Merz Reed, who was on maternity leave that year.

She started third grade with her class and our son, Matt, started kindergarten (it was the first year that we had kindergarten in the school district).

In 1989 our house burned down and again the community of Odell was there for us.

The Odell United Methodist Church was so helpful, we had a great housewarming party when our new house was done and the church members were there in numbers along with family, friends and neighbors.

That short time between 1981 and 1989 we had been touched by so many people. And over the years those numbers of friends just kept growing.

There are great people in and around Odell. Good, hard-working, salt of the earth people.

We are so proud to have been a part of those people’s lives. Kids who were just babies in the shopping cart with their parents are now parents, too. That is so great to be able to follow their lives and see them become contributors to keeping Odell a great place to live and do business.

So drive out to Odell and see that it’s truly a great place. Thanks.

‘Best ever’

Every year people write in to say “Thanks, Lions! Best-ever fireworks.”

But this year, at least in my 15 years of watching, was, indeed, the best ever! The pacing was faster and the effects of launching multiple displays so that they overlayed in a profusion of color and seemed to be coming forward to you in a succession of advancing patterns was spectacular!

Thanks, Lions! Best-ever fireworks.