Letters to the editor Aug. 7
Customer satisfaction
The Best of the Flathead publication that showed up with my morning paper shook my cage to write a long overdue public thank you. Though I live in Libby, I’d like to throw my two cents in.
About 20 years ago, I took my son to the teeth wizard, Dr. Windauer. On the way home, a bolt fell out of the alternator in my 300,000 mile Ford diesel pickup. It wasn’t that big a deal but I had no tools or bolt to fix it. We crossed our fingers and limped into Loren’s Auto Repair.
Though busy, and late in the day, the service manager knew we were screwed and slipped us right in and had a mechanic fix it. I don’t remember if they even charged me, and if they did, it wasn’t very much.
Every time I drive by since then, I think how much I appreciated them getting me out of Kalispell that day and want to let them know they would get my vote as the number one repair shop in the Flathead.
Done.
—Tom Horelick, Libby
Ranger to the rescue
On June 22 in Glacier National Park, my companions and I returned from our hike to discover that we were unable to start one of our two cars. We were in a fairly remote area on North Lake McDonald Road with no cellphone service.
We drove the one functioning car to the nearby ranger station hoping to find cell service as well as water to refill our bottles. Nearby private homeowners showed us the one spot on their property where there was limited cell service so we were able to phone the car dealership.
And we filled our water bottles from the spigot at the ranger station we got advice from the car dealer about getting the other car started and we headed back to our stranded car and hiking comrades, but not alone. Two rangers, who were by then off duty, insisted on coming along to help out.
By offering their assistance, Rangers Omar and Aubrey went well beyond what we expected. Following the dealer’s advice, we were able to start the car without further difficulty, but having backup in case we needed it was very reassuring.
Thank you again and again, Rangers Omar and Aubrey! We would like your supervisor to know that we consider you two young men to represent the Park Service’s best.
—Sandy Smith, Somers
Follow Rankin’s example
“I want to stand by my country,” she said, “but I cannot vote for war.”
These words were spoken by Jeannette Rankin, April 6, 1917, the very first woman to hold federal office. Rankin was elected in November 1916, four years before women were “given” the right to vote.
Think about that, Sen. Daines. Jeannette Rankin was also a Republican, and look what honor she brought to our state throughout her service.
She was a suffragette, who was even in Congress at the time to vote for the passage of the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote. Rankin also joined with 49 others in vetoing the U.S. entrance into World War I. Her strong pacifist views led her to be the only no vote for World War II, a vote that her brother, Wellington Rankin, said killed her politically.
The Jeannette Rankin Brigade found inspiration again in 1968, and she led 5,000 women in a march where they presented a peace petition to the Speaker of the House, John McCormack. Suffering from longstanding throat and heart ailments was the only thing that forced her from her final project, which was to run again for office to bring attention against the Vietnam War. She was in her 90s.
Sen. Steve Daines, other than similar party affiliation, did you make Jeannette Rankin proud? What can you say about your own congressional performance? Have you stood up for the Constitution, against all intruders, foreign and domestic?
Montanan’s deserve a truth-telling, hard-fighting, zealot, like Rankin was for her causes. What they don’t need is a Trump sycophant who does nothing more than propagate his Big Lie. A fact that the courts have resoundingly held to be false. Biden won fair and square!
—Brenda J. Rasmussen, Kalispell
Frantic frequencies
This is an open letter to the radio advertisers in Montana.
I really like listening to the radio programming while I travel our Montana roads. I enjoy the music, news, talk shows, weather reports and even some of the advertising. If your ad is informational, to the point, tells me how to get your product or services, and above all is respectful then I will listen to it gladly.
However, when the ad has loud obnoxious noises or music, super fast talkers, announcers that yell at me, or are otherwise disrespectful, then I turn off the radio for quite some time until I feel it is OK to listen again. When this happens it deprives myself and all the rest of the folks that are trying to get information about their product or services out to the public.
—Gerry Hurst, Marion