Sign of the times

A week ago, a letter to the editor expressed distaste over some of the signs in the Ferndale area concerning a protest against the Milhous Group's proposal to pump sewage from the historical Kootenai property condo development to somewhere else away from their proposed houses. In essence, the sign implores the Milhous Group to "poop in their own back yard," rather than to ship the sewage to another location which places the development's waste in the vicinity of other people's homes situated some distance away. The language was alleged to be unseemly and unflattering to our community.

This reminded me of a wonderful story told about Harry Truman. Someone once complained to his wife, Bess, about the president's use of the word "manure" to characterize the comments of a political rival and Mrs. Truman supposedly replied, "My dear you have no idea how long it took me to teach him to use the word manure."

With all due respect to those bothered by these signs, remember some of us, who actually live in this area, have a different point of view. While a few, or maybe many, may find the signs unsavory, we are more concerned with what we believe is an obliteration of our neighborhood, the compromising of a pristine environment, and because of such excessive development proposed, the endangerment of the health and safety of those who live in our part of Ferndale or travel here from all over the valley just to enjoy Swan Lake and the Swan River or walking and jogging on the roads in Swan Sites.

This project has been touted as a very high quality project which will cater to those who appreciate this style of living. Yet even "affluent effluent" is hardly something that people thousands of feet away should be expected to welcome into their proximity just to make the Milhous Group's endeavor financially successful. Hence, the signs.

Sincerely yours,

The Reverend Canon Bradley S. Wirth