Published: September 11, 2009 01:24 am      

LETTERS: Sept. 11, 2009

Organizers say thanks for festival help



We would like to thank all the committee members, volunteers and the contributors of Sellersburg Celebrates!

Without these contributions of time and financial support, the work of the festival could not be accomplished. It takes a lot of planning and effort to make Sellersburg Celebrates! a success and we count on people in our community to help the committee do this.

We were concerned that our usual contributors would not be able to support us in the same manner this year due to the slow economy. However, the great people of Sellersburg showed their tremendous community pride and graciously contributed at their usual level — making this 20th-annual festival one of the best that we have had in a long time.

We also would like to thank Indiana basketball coach Tom Crean for speaking at the community luncheon. His enthusiasm for Indiana basketball and understanding of what makes Southern Indiana special made the luncheon a total success. We also would like to thank the former IU basketball players who came to support Crean. Our own Steve Green introduced the coach and eloquently shared with the crowd why he felt that he could again support IU basketball after nine long years. Floyd Central’s Pat Graham and Clarksville’s Chuck Franz were also in attendance.

These four gentlemen graciously signed autographs and mingled with the crowd, both before and after the event, making it even more special to the 600 attendees.

We would like to give our heartfelt thanks to our contributors: The town of Sellersburg, Haas Cabinet Co., Silver Creek Township Trustee Bill Ramser, Spear Electric, KFC/Alice J. Schleicher, Sellersburg Stone Co., Jim O’Neal Ford, Lotus Sign & Design, New Washington State Bank, Ramada Inn, John Jones GM City, Sellersburg Moose Lodge, PNC Bank, Speed Employees Country Club, BFI, Carmerica, Clark Memorial Hospital, Fireside Bar & Grill, Sellersburg First Baptist Church, Hidden Creek Golf Club, IN9/Indiana 1570AM, Ray’s Lawn and Garden, REMC, Voluforms/SuperiorPrint, Community Bank, A&B Pool, Abersold Florist, Advanced Auto Service, A Nicer Reflection, The Cabinet Barn, Care Pet’s Animal Hospital, Celebrating Home/Diana Cooper, Circle K, Crum’s Heating and Cooling, Dairy Queen, Earth First of Kentuckiana, Mark Fraley Produce, J. L. Gilbert & Company, ISU Insurance & Investments, Ivy Tech Community College, Jackson Physical Therapy & Associates, Jacobi Sales, JayC Store, Kentuckiana Insurance Centre, MC Sales, M&M Office Products, Mary Kay Cosmetics/Trudy Richardson, MaZerella’s Pizza, McKinley Cleaners, Nursery Liquidators, Renaissance Design Build, River City Financial Bank, Sellersburg Fire Department, Sellersburg Health & Rehab, Sellersburg Internal Medicine & Pediatrics, Sellersburg Liquors, Shepherd’s Motor Mart & Auction Service, Silgas, Sounds of Water, Sweetie Peas/Cindy & Her Scissors and The Evening News and The Tribune.

Once again, we would like to thank everyone who helped in any way with the 20th-annual Sellersburg Celebrates! We appreciate the entire Southern Indiana community for their strong support of our festival and joining us in celebrating Sellersburg.

— The Sellersburg Celebrates! planning committee



Reader shocked by letter



Last week, there was letter to the editor from Ken Easterday about the Town Hall at Indiana University Southeast with Baron Hill.

I’m shocked you printed this letter, as it was full of flat-out lies and crazy contradictions. I went to the town hall and here are some of the lies that Easterday wrote (and you printed):

1. It was not an “invitation-only” event. I stood in line over an hour to get in — so did 400 others. Easterday, who is hostile to Hill, got in. How did that happen if it was “invitation-only?”

2. Easterday claims a friendly crowd was present, yet there were boos and catcalls. Hardly the “friendly” crowd he describes! In addition to being disrespectful to Hill, many in the room were openly hostile to those who told tales of dealing with cancer, diabetes and multiple sclerosis. I was truly shocked at how cold-hearted they were to these victims.

3. Easterday argues Hill “stood in the shadows” and in the next sentence writes that Hill stood “in front of” a group of 400 people. Easterday’s lie is exposed in his own letter.

4. He calls the town hall a “complete waste of taxpayer money,” but chastises Hill for “not taking time out of his busy schedule” to meet with people. If it was such a big waste of time and money, why did Easterday go?

5. At the end of this confused, nasty note, Easterday requests that Hill “slow down and get this right.” If indeed Easterday and I were at the same meeting, he surely had to understand that Hill was taking time to hear from people.

I’m glad to report that Easterday did not lie about the police being at IUS. However, unlike Easterday, I was glad there were peace officers on hand. I thanked one of them as I left, because after seeing all the crazy protesters on the Internet and TV, I was scared that this whole thing might get out of control.

Running this kind of letter puts you in the tabloid “Aliens abducted my baby” category. (Indeed I’m prompted to ask Mr. Easterday, “On what planet do you spend most of your time?”)

People like Easterday don’t have any solutions, so when giving us their “opinion” they offer myths, half-truths, distortions and lies. Please stop printing this drivel in your paper.

— Nancy N. Palmquist, Jeffersonville