Published: July 04, 2008 09:36 pm            

Readers' Forum for 7/6

A few questions

about city’s

trash service

To the citizens of Terre Haute: I have a question. How many of us have been forced to start taking our trash containers to the street when for so long our trash was picked up in the alley?

It seems that Republic services has taken it upon itself to have us wheel our containers to the street or the other side of the alley. I have some more questions. Why? So that they can reduce their labor force? So that they can make use of the new truck? There are collection services that have trucks that hook up containers just like the ones we have been given in the rear of the truck. Then the trash could be picked up on both sides of the alley.

One more. Why can they pick up on both sides of the street and not the alley? Is it because of the new truck? What about elderly people who can’t handle these containers, and people who have steps in the front of their house. Is this not a safety issue?

What about winter months when ice and snow are an issue. How will we get these things wheeled out there then? Please, if you feel the same as I do about these issues, let’s make a effort to let the mayor’s office know how. Let’s get these eyesores off the streets and back in the alley where they belong before our city is known as Trash Can Haute instead of Terre Haute.

Please call the mayor’s office at 232-9467 or e- mail his office at (mayor@terrehaute.in.gov) and let him know how you feel. If Terre Haute is going to be “a level above” then let’s get these trash containers off the streets. They are an eyesore.

— Thomas Helms

Terre Haute



Recycling Center

a credit to ISU

I wish to commend the workers at ISU’s Recycling Center. I visit the center at least once a week, and the gentlemen there have always been courteous, kind and helpful to me.

They keep me updated when changes occur and advise me about what can and cannot be recycled. Thank you for a job well done.

— Eileen Mann

Terre Haute





Fayette school a

great contributor

I have been a resident of the Fayette community for 15 years. I am glad my husband and I moved into the Fayette community. As a whole, the people in and around New Goshen, Shepardsville and Sanford are very caring. This is a great area to raise children. The community pulls together to support each other through organizations like the Lions Club and the volunteer fire service.

One of the greatest contributors to the Fayette community is Fayette Elementary School. I have learned of quiet contributions from school staff to the community, which are unknown to most of us. Mrs. Cassell, her entire staff, and the school bus drivers have shown care and concern for the Fayette community. They have given to those with needs beyond the expectations of a school.

What is learned at Fayette goes beyond reading, writing, and the ISTEP. Not only is a great group of teachers educating our students in the basics, pupils at Fayette are also learning to be ladies and gentlemen. They are learning to work with each other, just as will be required when they are adults.

These children have wonderful attitudes and receive compliments from many organizations they visit.

Thanks to Mrs. Cassell, all of the teachers, the custodians, the cafeteria staff, and the school bus drivers for being a part of the caring Fayette community.

— Julie Cuffle

New Goshen



Many helpers lead

to event’s success

On June 13 and 14, we hosted a our third annual Lady Viking Shootout at West Vigo High School and Middle School that consisted of 16 high school girls basketball teams from nine different counties. Hundreds of players, coaches, family members and referees walked through the door. It was a good time by all. Each team was able to play five games, have dinner and listen to our guest speaker this year, Coach Jon Prevo of Rose-Hulman. Thank you, coach!

There is no way this could have gone without the help of so many people. I would like to thank our sponsors: Shadow Screen Printing, Little Cee’s Pizza, Fitzpatrick Funeral Home, Sugar Creek Scrap, Mike Maher-State Farm Insurance, The Bug Man, Lang’s Body Shop, Cadillac Products, A to Z Muffler, Grizzly Inc., Pepsi and Huxford Farms for the popcorn.

John and Mary Barton did a great job of organizing and collecting items from local businesses, which included: Terre Haute Action Track, Kessler’s Sports, Hair Express, Hollywood Video, Pacesetter Sports, Mix FM, HI 99/The River, Texas Roadhouse, Papa John’s, Red Lobster, Mike’s Express Car Wash, Bogey’s, X-Treme Laser Tag, Blockbuster, Southwest Hare Salon, Antique Dairy Queen, Grand Traverse Pie Company, Arby’s, Fore Seasons Golf Complex, Pizza Hut, Quiznos, West Vigo IGA, Best Western, Z-Tech, Big O Tires, Sony/DADC, Beef O’Brady’s, AAA, Studio 177 and Rose-Hulman basketball. Thanks to all of you who donated.

Also, thank you to all the coaches, players, and parents of the participating teams: Mike Stauffers for organizing and getting all the referees arranged; the Riverton Parke trainer Kelly Withem and Greg MacDonald and Kelly (our West Vigo trainers) for their help with the injured; the high school and middle school secretaries and administration for all of their help and support.

Thanks also to Chris Covert, Jared Garman, Jennifer Hall, Shelley Buske, Bob, Patty, Elizabeth and Mary Curley, Mike, Kylee and Shelly Cardinal, Cheryl Funk, Maddie Ward, Lizzy and Hannah Barton, Jamie Neidlinger, Randy and Myrna Easton (Mom and Dad) and Flint Larson for taking their own time to keep clock, scoreboard, sell raffle tickets or to do whatever was needed at the time.

A huge help and huge thank you go to Frank Prouse, Danny Harris, Stan Geisert, Marshall Fields, Brian Branch, Jerry Haas, and Betty Yocum of the high school and Melvin Striegel, Dennis Shaffer and Andy Herrick of the middle school for set up and tear down of all the gyms. Betty came in Saturday on her own time just to be here for the kids. What a lady! In addition, a big thank you to my coaching staff, Alyssa Douglas and Tracy Feltner, for all of their help and long hours.

Last but not least, I want to thank each of our parents, brothers, sisters, grandmas, boyfriends, etc. They are fantastic! All parents, including both high school and elementary school, spent many hours working the concession, scoreboard, tickets, etc., to make this thing run smoothly. Thank you to each and every one of you.

As you can tell, there was extreme help in what took place. Without each and every one of them, the Third Annual Lady Viking Shootout could not have been a success. Hey, just 350 days until we do it again!

— Ryan Easton

Lady Viking Basketball



West Terre Haute

Lend hand to help

those who need it

The recent floods are the worst natural tragedy I have ever witnessed in my life. My heart goes out to every person who has been affected by it. I see friends of mine worn out from trying to clean, trying to make some sense of it, trying to find a place to rest their tired bodies.

Some of them have lost everything — their family pictures, their cherished family memorabilia, their innocence, and control over their lives. They feel lost and displaced because their homes are uninhabitable. All of them have lost a lot.

As I watched them I realized again that the human spirit cannot be defeated. It is stronger than the terrible flood of 2008, and the human spirit will always triumph over human-made and natural tragedies.

Sadly, we cannot change what happened; all we can do is lend a hand to those who need it, encourage them with kind words, cook a meal for them, be a friend, give them a shoulder to lean on, and tell them it will get better. As long as no one lost their lives, things will get better. I am sure of that.

I have experienced a lot of tragedy in my life, and as I thought back to my own life, I would have given everything we had to save just one more family member. I have replaced the things, but I could never replace my parents, sisters, grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins.

— Eva Kor

Terre Haute



Kindness, prayers

made difference

My family and I would like to thank everyone for their kindness and prayers since the night of my accident on April 14.

I am doing fine and am back home again but still have a long recovery ahead of me. The quick response and wonderful care that I received that night made all the difference. So, thank you to the Vigo County Sheriff Department, Lifeline, TransCare and the Honey Creek Volunteer Fire Department.

Thanks to the staff of Methodist Hospital ER and the Neurosurgical Unit. Thank you also to my friends, neighbors, and the congregation of the Prairieton United Methodist Church for all the cards, well-wishes and prayers. To the staff of the Rehabilitation Hospital of Indiana, you are the finest people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. The work you do is invaluable to patients in my situation. Thank you so much for all of your wonderful care and attention during my stay there. I will never forget you.

There is no doubt that all of you and my faith in God helped me through this difficult time and will help in my recovery over the next several months. Thank you all so much.

P.S. to Norma: The no bakes helped a lot too. Love you!

— Allen Oxendine and Family



Terre Haute

Area people rally

to provide relief

The citizens of this area are deserving a big thank you for their donations to the Red Cross. Their donations raised $17,300 with the Terre Haute Fire Department’s fill-the-boot-for-flood-relief campaign. Your generosity is overwhelming.

People that had lost so much of their possessions and had damage to their homes stopped by and donated. That is part of what makes the people in this area special. Once again, thank you to the people of this community for a job well done.

— Don Seprodi

Terre Haute Firefighters

Sec. IAFF local 758



Turn your trust

to a higher power

What a terrible thing that the flooding on June 6 and 7 has caused the state of Indiana, especially here in Terre Haute.

God never promised us a trouble-free world. In fact, he tells us that we will face times of trouble. That trouble has now come, so why don’t you lift your hands up and ask God to extend his hand to you and lift you above this trouble that the flood is causing you? Open your heart to God, and share the things that concern you and ask God to take away the fear and torment of the flood that it has caused you.

God will always be your help in times of trouble, so really you have nothing to fear. As he will be there for each of your challenges the flood has caused you. As the Scripture of Isaiah 41:13 tells us, “For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you’.”

— Charlie Barth



Terre Haute

Large trash bins

trouble for some

Well, today we received our very ugly, hideous blue trash bin — 96 gallon. And people throughout Terre Haute are not putting them away and it makes the city look really bad. Former Mayor Burke sure did not help any of us and to think this is a 20-year contract.

We do recycle and have for sometime at ISU — a great place to go and it’s kept clean and really quite nice. Give it some thought, Wabash Valley.

Many people we know are having serious problems due to the bin size and trying to get out to the tree row and then back to their garages. We keep things up and when the snow and ice comes this will cause a very serious problem for all of us, old and young alike.

Mayor Bennett, we think you are great and realize you have to abide by Burke’s miserable decisions he made while in office. Recycling is a good thing and LaPorte has been doing it for some time. But it is a fact that many older people cannot manage these huge bins.

Take care, senior citizens and all others, when placing your 96-gallon bin in the tree row. Maybe in the winter months you can find some young college students that can be of some help to you. We have a lot of good students at our high schools that might be willing to be of help also. Just be careful and know we are hoping something can be worked out for so many who cannot manage.

— Joy McCrisaken

Terre Haute



Hauling our trash

for world to see

Drive down the streets to see all the “beautiful” trash containers out in the front yards. Is this “a level above”?

Even rednecks care enough to keep their trash in the back yard. What’s wrong with putting them in the alley where they used to be? Where do the houses that have only on-street parking put theirs?

Maybe we can paint murals on them and add a hanging basket of flowers to make them look like they belong there.

Do they have skis for them so the older people can push them out to the tree row in the ice and snow? They don’t push that well empty and on good ground, let alone when they’re full of trash.

It must be very dark where the people who agreed on the trash contract have their heads.

— Jerry Morgan

Terre Haute

        

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