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Letters to the Editor

Disappointed at Oakland Cemetery

To the editor: When I visited Oakland Cemetery where some of my relatives in the five Haviland families that settled here decades ago and planted the huge apple orchard south of North Lawn are buried, I was saddened to find the flag I had left in the ground (because there was no flag holder for my World War I great-uncle) with six cuts by a weed trimmer and one complete piece gone. I would have appreciated your removing the remnants of the flag rather than leave it in shreds. At least Memorial Park was spared this. Susan Erickson Eagle Grove

Volunteers work at Memorial Park

To the editor: I would like to give a shout out to the good people of Fort Dodge. On May 23, my wife and I went to Memorial Park Cemetery to decorate family graves. I was very upset that the grass was 8 to 10 inches tall and a lot of headstones were covered with grass. I vented on Facebook. On May 24, someone posted that the owner was having a health problem. On May 25, Bradley Edgerton asked for people to come out with their mowers and help out. I showed up at 10:30 Monday morning and saw one young man mowing the north end of the park. I found out later that it was Ryan Vanderpool ...

Here’s a way to show we care for our youth

To the editor: On Sunday, April 28, Youth Empowerment Association Inc. held its sixth annual Kids Choice Awards banquet. This event gives our community youth opportunity to nominate individuals that have made their lives more positive and beneficial. This year we had teachers, coaches, band instructors, lunch ladies, pastors from surrounding communities, and individuals who give of themselves for the kids to escort them down the red carpet to be honored. A special tribute to the Jeff Paulson family to honor his wonderful love of supporting youth as he drove bus for Manson Northwest ...

Honoring Nancy Stanek’s memory

Who was Nancy Stanek? A devoted wife to Gilbert, a loving mother to Marshall, Keith and Sarah, a caring grandmother to her grand children. And, a humanitarian with a golden heart to help the downtrodden and oppressed people in America and the whole world. She indeed practiced what Jesus Christ and Christianity had taught her. She was compassionate but had an intense passion to seek and work for peace — the inner personal peace and that between tribes and nations. I will proudly call her a Great Woman. I first met Nancy in the winter of 1968 months after I had arrived in Fort Dodge ...

Master Matrix needs to be revised

To the editor: Unless you already know the Master Matrix is a set of 44 criteria. It’s used for the determination of approval for the construction application of a CAFO, a confined animal feeding operation. Imagine you’re still in school and the teacher gives you a test where you need only 50 percent to pass. Where you don’t have to answer even half the questions and you get to pick the questions. Sound sweet? Well that is the Master Matrix. Before the 2018 election, Representative Mike Sexton had a quote in the Fort Dodge Messenger, “I will work to put together a working ...

Thankful for all the help with MAGWED

To the editor: The MAGWED foundation would like to thank everyone for making this year another great success. What we consider a “great success” is when we see all the youth that signed up. The youth winning bass was almost as big as the winner. It was another beautiful weekend with lots of fish weighed in. Some of our original foundation members are looking to retire and just go to the tournament and fish. They have been involved for going on 20 years. What that means is we are turning the reins over to a younger group of fishing enthusiast. As always, the foundation is looking ...