Thank you, Children of Eden.

I have only lived in Hood River for six years, and have attended the performances of the Hood River High School Music Department for only the last three or four years.

But I have never been so impressed with any theatrical performance as I was with “Children Of Eden.”

The play itself has beautiful music and a powerful message for all of us, religious or not. But the performances by the actors in this production were of a professional caliber. It wasn’t just the singing, or the portrayal of their characters. It was the passion they shared from the stage. I felt their excitement, fear, joy, pain, anger, forgiveness, and love. I laughed and wanted to dance. I felt sorrow and cried, and at the end I had hope for the future. Mark Steighner has every right to be extremely proud of this production, the actors and actresses, orchestra, and all of the production staff. And Hood River is very blessed to have Mark Steighner here in this area bringing such wonderful entertainment to all of us. I was only able to attend two of the performances of this production, but I wish I could have attended them all. I want to thank everyone involved for bringing this quality of musical theatre to our community. Applause, standing ovation, bravo!

Fight wind projects

As Gorge residents we all live with the wind as an influence in our lives. Some of us moved here primarily for that wind but almost all of us were influenced to live here because of the scenic beauty of the Gorge. Now, the wind has brought a potential destruction to a beauty that was heretofore protected by being in the National Scenic Area, a designation that has been both controversial and a tremendous asset to the preservation of this amazing place.

When the National Scenic Area Act passed in 1986, it was not envisioned that 400-foot lighted wind towers could run on the ridges just outside the scenic boundaries, thereby nullifying the purpose of the act, that of protecting values that are not only scenic, but also due to tourism and property values, combine to make a huge economic impact as well. Instead, these towers will dominate the landscape and as such is a slap in the face to all the Gorge residents who have had to comply with the myriad of requirements and processes to build here and blend in with the landscape.

SDS has for decades made a great living and provided jobs for our community by harvesting trees from the lands around the Gorge. I was amazed, however, to read Jason Spadero’s comment that they, SDS, “ ... don’t make decisions based on whether it’s popular or unpopular.” In other words, it is the bottom line that influences their decision process without regard to the “neighborhood” or others’ livelihoods or apparently, others’ property values.

I also find it laughable that they tout environmentalism as one of their staple influences given the battles they have fought against that concept. We all like clean efficient energy, but recent research shows that these industrial wind towers provide an unreliable source of power, and so cause major fluctuations in the conventional power plants that still must be kept online.

These revvings up and down of those plants actually may serve to nullify any gain in the effort to combat global warming. So, it is likely not to be the answer to this complex issue and at any rate should not be placed near residential and national scenic corridors.

We are at a crossroads with these wind towers. Given the proposals to put these monsters on Underwood Mountain, in the Hood River Valley and on Seven Mile Hill, we are looking at changing the face of the Gorge potentially for the rest of our lives. The impact will be huge with the construction itself lasting years and doing enormous environmental and scenic damage to the landscape. Imagine the traffic jams when these towers and cement trucks and associated contractors crawl up and down the hills to put these industrial sites where we live and recreate.

If you wish to make a difference, it is important to make your views known to your fellow citizens and to the county commissioners as well as to the companies that are looking to impact our lives so severely.

On Bush veto

I want to thank Greg Walden for being one of the few Republicans in Congress who stood up to President Bush last week.

Bush vetoed a spending bill that funds education, health care and medical research. He vetoed it because Congress wants to spend more on education, health care and medical research than he wants to spend.

The House of Representatives tried and failed to over-ride Bush’s veto. As a result of Bush’s veto, we will see less federal money for cancer research, Head Start, vocational training, community health care and our schools. I am proud that Greg Walden voted against Bush, and voted for the people in our community.

Musical gift

Denise McCravey and the Oak Street Hotel continue to bring highly talented musicians to Hood River. This past Wednesday evening Hanneke Cassel played some of the finest violin I have heard in a long time. Accompanied by an amazing cello player and guitarist, she had the crowd tapping and clapping, taking us on trips to Scotland, China and beyond. I think all of us in the audience walked out of the Arts Center stunned!

It was remarkable to see such talent on a Wednesday night, right here in Hood River. Thank you, Denise, and thank you, Hanneke and friends.