Letters from April 28, 2007

Your Pets

The excuses

for abandonment are many

Please take the time to train your pet and have him/her altered as soon as he/she is old enough. Plan ahead so you won’t have to say:

I can’t keep her, my landlord won’t allow it.

She keeps having litters.

I don’t have enough time.

My dog is just too big. We don’t have enough room.

Our daughter is allergic to cats.

We’re moving, and we can’t take her with us.

He’s too active.

He runs, digs, chews, barks, jumps and steals.

We can’t afford to keep her.

She doesn’t get along with our other pets.

He’s not housebroken.

Too many pets.

Plan ahead for your pet’s life. It’s precious.

BJ ALCORN

Bremerton

Library Levy

So many people

use this resource

I got my first library card when I was 6. You had to be able to write your name to get the card. On the first try I got confused over how many C’s were in Cappuccino. The second time I got it right. I felt empowered with that library card. So many books and I could check out any one I wanted. Today I love the library for the same reason; it empowers us with information.

I moved to Kitsap County right after the last levy lid lift almost 30 years ago. Over the many years since then I raised four children and we all went to the library; now their children are going.

The Cappuccino’s have a lot of company at the library. Fully 73 percent of Kitsap County residents are also active library users. In fact, since 2001, Kitsap Regional Library has had a 67 percent increase in the number of residents using the library.

The library has taken prudent measures to extend their resources, but the reality is that revenues are not keeping pace with the increased demand. Please vote yes to support our libraries.

For more information visit www.yes4libraries.org

PIERRE CAPPUCCINO

Chairman, Kitsap Library Advocates

Vote Yes

Public libraries have existed for about 2,500 years. They probably were important then; they certainly are now. Kitsap Regional Library is important to all residents of the county. You can go there every day they are open; you don’t need to buy a ticket for admission or pay a toll to cruise along all the book-filled shelves.

There are courteous, helpful staff at the libraries; you can ask for information in person if there, or by phone or through the Web site. There are many other things for you at libraries: books, magazines, special programs, DVD’s, CD’s — and the computers! I don’t want to see these things decline or be frozen in place. That is why I hope you will vote “YES” for an increase in funds.

For over 25 years the voters have not been asked to increase the percentage of the property tax they pay that goes to the libraries. you expect good value for the dollar you spend for food, clothes and anything else you buy. This increase requested is 18 cents for every 1,000 dollars of the value of property.

That is a fair request because it is enough to prevent changes in what the library can do, looks ahead for the expanded services in an increasing population and is at least a five year plan.

You will get good value for the dollars you can provide Kitsap Regional Library. Please vote “YES” for the library.

Frances M. Frazier

Bremerton

OC Mosaic

No beer bottles

in the mix

It may be chasing dust in a windstorm at this point, but readers of the Bremerton Patriot may like to know that the large, outside mosaic (Progress of Man) at Olympic College does not contain any beer bottle glass--despite statements repeated in other newspapers.

There are still local people who are very familiar with the mosaic’s construction who can attest to this fact. The only kind of glass that purchased for this mosaic was imported Venetian glass?similar in color?not bottle glass. Current recycling myths notwithstanding.

Yes, there were collection drives in the community for tesserae (ceramic material) to augment texture and color for the design. A common source was high-fired dishware. Broken or not, was no problem as each piece of tesserae was individually cut by hand. More material was collected than could be used. Several Olympic College art students hauled off that which was unsuitable. What was used extensively in this mosaic was Carerra plate, a strong and attractive heavy glass used primarily for the facings of commercial buildings. I am basing these statements on a letter written by Brad Kauzlaric, my late husband and former OC art student, to this effect. He thought it rather tacky to perpetuate the beer bottle glass theme.

While it may have been 50 years ago, the idea by Olympic College at that time, through the efforts of art professor, the late Hank Blass and so many others, was to present a significant work of public art to the community. Made of waterproof concrete and poured with steel reinforced mesh inside each tile, it was designed, built and installed to last. Like any monument, it wasn?t designed for portability.

DEANNA KAUZLARIC

Seabeck

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