Letters

Big thanks to all for success of fall festival

Thank you all!

We wish to express our heartfelt appreciation to all who were involved in making the 2007 Rathdrum Fall Heritage Festival a resounding success despite a change in venue and “wonkie” weather.

Everyone who attended appeared to be enjoying themselves!

Special gratitude is extended to the following who contributed to the success of the event:

“The Rathdrum Lions Club which offered the use of its facilities and helped make it all possible.

“The Dutch oven cooks from the Inland Empire Dutch Oven Society who traveled from far and wide to cook for us on Saturday.

“The Dutch oven cooks from the Northern Idaho Dutch Oven Group who cooked on Sunday.

“The musicians, some of whom traveled from as far as Colville, to perform for us.

“The Little family who operated the sound system for us.

“The Log Cabin Spinners who spun for us.

“Steve Harper, who acted as Master of Ceremonies.

“The Kootenai County Genealogy Society which conducted tours of the Pinewood Cemetery.

“The people who operated the Children’s garden and Children’s Field Games.

“The crew, headed by Cody Simpson from the Lions Club, who operated the Mineral Panning.

“Sincere gratefulness to the mining companies who supplied the garnets and especially the Rick Hurt Mining operation, which supplied the gold ore and an uncommonly valuable amount of gold so that those panning for gold would find some color.

“A very special thank you to the mountain men from the Coeur d’Alene Muzzleloaders Club for their mountain man lore and encampment, their valuable help in preparing the site, and for the Mountain Man Breakfasts.

“Individuals who helped us out running the show like Janice Wilcox (especially), Elaine Chaney, Audrey White and Shari Harris.

“The Rathdrum/Westwood Historical Society, which prepared the Old Jail and conducted tours of the Old Original Kootenai County Jail.

“The many vendors who offered Northwest-made products, and Al Sturgeon with his one-cycle motor.

“And, of course, the city of Rathdrum for its support and encouragement and allowing the use of city personnel and resources in the preparation and conduct of the Fall Heritage Festival.

If any of you have input as to improvement of the event, please write us!

Respectfully,

Ellen Larsen and George A. Holcomb

Co-coordinators of the 2007 Rathdrum Fall Heritage Festival

Important side of story left out

Regarding Sheep Springs Road in Athol, the article by Ms. Davenport really only tells Mr. Drake’s part of the story. Obviously, he received his court papers and then called the paper to complain as only he and Mr. Wuest from the highway district were even talked to.

First of all, to complain about dust when you are surrounded on two sides by a dirt road is absurd. You have two options: pay to oil the road yearly or move onto a paved road.

Second, the “stuff” he claims to have occurred on the road were more than likely caused by juvenile responses to his own rude and crude behavior. He will admit that he is hotheaded and we all know that bad situations are only made worse by hotheads.

Third, public road or private road, I have a quit claim deed specifically naming out the road that is known as Sheep Springs Road and Rose Mont Drives as our access to our properties. By the way, there are such things as privately maintained, public roads in Idaho.

Fourth, the mischief was caused by meth runners who are long gone from the area.

Finally, all the property owners that I have had contact with since this article came out are trying to figure out where the heck this “paved access” to our houses is. The roads are all barely graveled dirt and the only “paved” roads are Highway 54 or Clagstone.

Most people were ignoring Mr. Drake and his stupid roadblock until the people on Rose Mont began destroying the road and trying to completely block 20-plus families from their parcels. Our greatest concern, though, is public safety and access to and from our area for emergency vehicles come this winter. One person has already died in the past because of these road wars. Must others die, too? How about propane delivery? No propane means no heat and that is dangerous in the winter. Getting all sides of a story before writing it is very important and was not done in this case.

Linda K. Littlejohn

Athol

Story needed balanced approach

(Regarding “Residents want this road less traveled by”), I thought this article was unbalanced, Paula Davenport did not do her homework and present the facts.

The issue regarding the status of Sheep Springs Road and Rose Mont Drive (aka Athol Road) is one of public safety. Yes there is contention about the status of the road, is it a public right of way or is it a private road. When one resident completely blocked the road with granite boulders and wire fence and others encroached on the road with soil and rock debris, the residents went to Lakes Highway District board members and asked for help.

The residents, which include about 14, were concerned that fire protection, EMS and law enforcement, would not be able to traverse the blockages and encroachments during snow or heavy rain or further action by the offenders. With the historic documents in hand, Lakes Highway District asked their attorney, Susan Weeks, of James Vernon and Weeks, to pursue a petition for declaratory judgment regarding the status of the road.

This petition requests the court to enter a declaratory ruling determining the status of the right of way of Sheep Springs Road and Rose Mont Drive based on the evidence presented in the petition. If the injunction is entered then the offenders will be required to remove the blockages and encroachments under Idaho Code I.C. 40-2319 where the district has the duty to remove obstructions that inhibit travel upon public right of way.

So as you can see the lawsuit is a tool by which residents of the greater Sheep Springs Road and Rose Mont Dive area would like to ensure their public safety with access by fire protection, EMS, and law enforcement.

Scott A. Marshall

Athol