View From The Bridge 2/13/13

“VIEW from the BRIDGE”
By Muncie
2/13/13

ALERT-PLEASE READ
I know that Bethany Monroe (our new Reporter for the River Press,) will be writing the results of the Recycling Meeting last Thursday at the High School.  However, I would like to ask you readers to cooperate in this Recycling Program.  It is extremely important that more than 20 people show up at the Fairgrounds with their newspapers, magazines, and cardboard.  THIS IS A PILOT PROGRAM.  The Committee needs to know how much recycling can be generated in Fort Benton.

The last two drop-off Saturdays did not yield enough material to satisfy Broadwater Cooperative’s interest in collecting in Fort Benton.  The Committee would like to show that our town could generate enough recyclables to make it worthwhile.  Plan B is being worked on.

Talk about recycling has been going on for years and any kind of negotiations have gone no-where.  At this time, the Committee is working with the B.L.M., who will be a contributor.  Grants have been obtained from a two other organizations that will be a tremendous help in purchasing equipment the Committee may need.  However, none of this can get Fort Benton a Recycle Program if there is not cooperation from the community.  Fort Benton has over 750 households and more than 20 persons need to bring recyclables to the Fair Grounds.  There were many questions asked last Thursday.  As a result, a decision was made today (Monday February 11) that the Pilot Program will extend to the following dates.  The Committee invites you to the Fairgrounds on 2/16, 3/2, 3/16, 3/30, 4/13, and 4/27.  The 27th of April will also be Dump Day conducted by the City of Fort Benton.  More information about Dump Day to follow in the coming weeks.  Please save your recyclable items now instead of throwing them in the trash.

The Committee would be extremely enthusiastic if 750 households would make a trail from one end of town to the other headed to the Fairground next Saturday, February 16 from 12:30pm to 1:30pm.  They invite you to join in this Pilot Program because it is the “right thing to do.”  That phrase was coined for recycling at the meeting because it is what we must do for the environment.  It is not difficult to recycle and once you get started, it becomes a habit.  Spread the word, call one other person to remind them, ask them to call one other person, and on and on.  Please tie your recyclables in bundles and let us make this program workable.  JUST DO IT.

“WHAT LOVE MEANS”
9.     “If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate.”  Nikka – age 6 (We need a few million more Nikka’s on this planet.)
10. “Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.”  Noelle – age 7

SALUTE TO VETERANS
By the time you read this, “Salute to Veterans Week” will be half over.  A National program goes from February 11 to 16.  The Veterans Administration invited the public to visit the VA Hospital in Helena to visit the hospitalized Veterans.  A visit would “brighten their day,” when you show them the appreciation they deserve.  If you are in Helena in the next few days, (or actually any time you are there,) visit the VA Hospital.  It is quite a revelation and what you see will remain in your memory forever.  If you cannot visit, then I would like to suggest that you send a card and perhaps begin a “Pen Pal” correspondence with a Veteran.  Please let me know if you do that, because I know there are people in Fort Benton who write letters and do not do e-mail.
  
I have visited the VA Hospital in Helena and know many Veterans (from the Marine Corps League) who have been treated there or had extended stays.  However, most vivid in my memory is when I belonged to the Ford Motor Company Girls Club.  I was about 19 years old and employed for about a year, when The Club supplied a large bus to take us to Kalamazoo, Michigan.  We visited the VA hospital and we distributed candy, magazines, and cigarettes (God forgive us because we knew not what did.) and we visited with the very young men who were wounded from WWII.  I have never forgotten any detail of that day and I cried for weeks after that.  They were so lonely and trying to be brave.  Many of them were from out-of-state and did not have any visitors.  I believe all of you readers know how I feel about Veterans.  The Veterans Photo Project is my pride and joy.  Those pictures and bios will be there for a very long time as a reminder of what Chouteau County men and women did for their country.  You can keep that spirit alive by, “WEAR RED ON FRIDAYS.”
GOD BLESS AMERICA AND OUR TROOPS