 by Cheryl Haven May 06, 2005
Since Easter, the residents of Bear Valley have been lulled into believing ("whew") it's over! Or finalllly! Or thank God we can have our peace and quiet back again! But nooooooooooo! They are definitely back, and non-stop through lunch and dinner breaks from 7:30 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. they plow through our air-space disrupting our lives. I love coming home from work in the Spring and Summer and sitting in my yard listening to the birds that I put bird feeders out for (they're gone while helicopters are in the neighborhood), but this is no longer a time where anyone from Bear Valley can enjoy the fruits of their labors. I personally have shoveled and spread 8 -10 yard dump trucks full of D1 gravel not to mention the ton of rock I've had to haul and move and mortar, just so I would be able to sit outdoors in beauty and serenity and meditate. I wonder now why I worked so hard, not to mention the cost of everthing from fertilizer to soil. Maybe the residents of Bear Valley should rally up and demand that our property taxes come down since this has affected our quality of life so much. My father, Mervin Haven, has owned and run a construction business since I was a little girl and when he saw what was being done he couldn't believe the total disregard for the residents of Bear Valley not to mention that he was told by another construction friend that these types of helicopters are called 'Widow Makers" because they tend to drop suddenly. My father comes from the old school way of thinking, like when they plow snow they don't leave a huge burm in the road or driveway, in Metlakatla, they clear out your driveway for you. It's called respect and caring about your neighbors - about fellow residents of Ketchikan. I have neighbors that work nights and one of them told me she had only gotten 2 hours of sleep before she was off to work again! Residents of Ketchikan, you need to demand that a better way of life be returned to us, we are entitled to a lifestyle in which elders aren't outside shoveling snow that is piled high from snow plows and that city and borough officials aren't allowed to make decisions that affect our quality of life. I wish I knew who made the decisions for the helicopter logging albeit less invasive to the forest, sure wouldn't be voting for them again. How about compromising - like start at 8 and end at 4:30? I have a family barbeque planned this weekend that we've been planning for 2 weeks with 8 people coming to my house. I'm going to be so embarrassed when we try to sit outside in my fancy garden furniture and can't hear each other talk. Cheryl Haven
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