Letters to the Editor

Don't let the dogs slip

Our Bigfork Post Office and the U.S. Postal Service need your support on a very important issue – helping to prevent and stamp out dog bites.

Please keep your dogs safely restrained on your property, or leashed and under proper control, especially around your letter carrier. This will help prevent dog bite attacks and injuries to our postal letter carriers and others.

With the warmer weather and the summer months, now is the busiest time of the year for dog bite injuries to letter carriers and others. This reminder comes as the Postal Service, and other agencies including the Humane Society of the U.S. and the American Veterinary Medical Society, promote "National Dog Bite Prevention Awareness Week," May 17-23, 2009.

A total of 3,100 postal letter carriers nationwide were bitten or received OSHA recordable dog bite attack-related injuries in 2008 – an average of 10 dog bites per day. Montana Post Offices recorded 14 dog bite related injuries last year and eight dog bites so far in 2009.

These figures do not take into account the many times and situations where letter carriers encounter loose dogs and threatening dog attack situations but fortunately escape injury.

Most dog bite injuries or incidents are caused by loose or unrestrained dogs. The U.S. Postal Service treats loose dog situations very seriously. Because of the safety danger to your letter carrier, failure to restrain your dog on a regular basis can result in a temporary stoppage of mail delivery to your home and mailbox, or worse yet, to your whole neighborhood, block or street, depending on how serious the problem is.

Dog bites are a major public safety and health issue for everyone, not just the Postal Service. More than 4.5 million people in the United States are bitten by dogs each year with children, the elderly and letter carriers the biggest victims. Others such as newspaper carriers, delivery workers, utility meter readers and construction workers are also more frequent victims of dog bites.

We ask for the public's cooperation in keeping your dogs safely restrained for the protection of your letter carrier, neighborhood and the community.

The Bigfork Post Office and your letter carrier greatly appreciate your support.

Ken Ross

Postmaster

Bigfork Post Office

Plenty to do around here

A May 14 article by Jacob Doran, in the Bigfork Summer Playhouse supplement, describes Bigfork, before the arrival of Bo Brown and his "Theatre by the Bay," as a "little fishing village [that] held four churches, three gas stations, three bars and little else… There were no tourists, because there were no attractions…in fact…the reason most people hit their brakes when passing the Village was to either have a beer or gas up their car."

I beg to differ. I am a Bigfork native who grew up in Bigfork in the 1950s and 1960s. My parents owned one of those three bars. Actually, there were four at one time. During those years, downtown Bigfork had a lot more than he describes. Perhaps most important were the private residences along Electric, Osborne, and Bridge Street, including 11 homes along the two blocks of Electric Avenue, alone. All were occupied, with families and retired couples who spent their dollars in the community.

In addition to the churches, service stations and bars, two retail stores anchored the village at opposite ends: Houston's Grocery & Meat Locker (later became Bigfork Drug), and Bigfork Mercantile. I worked at the Merc during my teen years. It was a thriving business that met the year-round needs of the community, including groceries, hardware, lumber, clothing, shoes, sundries, housewares, and sporting goods.

Also a hotel, beauty shop, barber shop, doctor's office, real estate office, fishing tackle shop, three cafes, post office, and liquor store that also sold gifts and jewelry. Just across the old bridge were two family-oriented fishing resorts; and Flathead Lake Lodge less than a mile down the road.

Our community hall served us through all seasons, as lodge and dance hall, meeting place, movie and community theatre. The public dock offered a protected swimming area complete with diving board platform. And let's not forget our school!

Bigfork was the commercial heart of its surrounding agricultural community (as it had been for over 50 years prior to my arrival), and just happened to attract fisherman and tourists who came for the recreation. It didn't need big-ticket tourist attractions to cause people to "hit their brakes;" it had families and individuals who were invested in the life and commerce of their home town.

It was this lively community, and not just it's beautiful setting, that attracted the Browns in the first place. I know, because my parents were early supporters of the theatre concept, and championed the motto: "Stay Three Days, See Three Plays."

Catherine Haug

Bigfork