Dear editor,
Memorial Day has traditionally been one of the most solemn and patriotic days for Americans. The significance of this day is sometimes confused or distorted. The true meaning of Memorial Day becomes at times distant or vague, lost to commercialism, or drowned in forgetful indulgence. Memorial Day should be a day of opportunity to give thanks for all that we are blessed with. And to remember the loved ones and soldiers we have lost along the way.
My family gathered this past weekend to enjoy the wonderful weather and the “kickoff to summer.” The pool was full of grandkids, family and friends were laughing and talking about old times. The guys were throwing bean bags and boasting who might be best and what’s at stake for the loser.
In the middle of all this commotion, my little girl sat teary-eyed and upset.
You see, just one year ago my wife passed away and my daughter had made up a large arrangement of flowers in a very heavy planter for the cemetery. She placed them Friday afternoon at the Gas Cemetery so any family members that visited over the long weekend would be able to enjoy them. However that wasn’t the case. My oldest daughter arrived Saturday and as we chatted about the cemetery she told us that the flowers were gone. The planter was much too heavy to have blown away. It was obviously stolen.
The complete disregard for the meaning of Memorial Day by whoever has taken these flowers is nauseating. The act of stealing flowers from a grave is shameful and because they obviously wouldn’t spend money to buy their own flowers, I doubt they can afford to buy this newspaper so I can tell them what I truly think.
Larry Riley,
Gas, Kan.
Dear editor,
To try and solve the declining population within the city limits of Iola, the city council is considering the expansion of said limits. Even though the problem that is creating this decline in the population is within the current city limits.
The problem being the city budget. Bringing more people into the problem to pay for their spending is not going to fix it, it will only allow them to continue. The city council needs to face this fact, and cut the budget.
One other thing. It seems strange to me that the people at the meeting welcoming the idea as to taking them into the city, chose to live outside the city in the first place.
Don Erbert
Iola, Kan.
