L E T T E R S
ONCE IN A LIFETIME EXPERIENCE

To the editor:

After reading Al Peterson's letter to the editor regarding the Nantucket Air Show, and reminiscing my experience watching the Blue Angels on Thursday (practice, practice, practice) and on Saturday, the only exception to Al's comments I might have is the attendance numbers, but if there weren't 20,000, it was certainly the most people I have ever seen in one place on Nantucket.

I may be prejudiced as a former flyboy, but this was the finest show I have seen in 40 years. Not just the excellent weather and great performances by flying's elite, but the absolutely perfect and professional staging and crowd management provided by the airport commissioner, staff, volunteers and the private and corporate financial support.

We owe them all a debt of gratitude for what might be a once in a lifetime island experience, at which we were richly blessed.

Well done, and thank you all.

- D. Neil Parent

TO CLARIFY . . .

To the editor:

I would like to take this opportunity to publicly apologize to Mike Kopko for two errors on my part in objecting to some of his political positions.

Firstly, I apologize for misreading The Independent's published interview "Kopko proposes Town Meeting Day" suggesting closing the schools for two days, having everyone take two days off work without pay and making Town Meeting a two-day holiday. In error I referred to Mike's remarks as a foolish proposal and I should have said they were a series of foolish ideas. For that I am deeply sorry.

Secondly, it is true that Mike cannot take credit for changing the noise bylaw from 7 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. For that I apologize as well. Mike's original proposal, or idea, was for the bylaw to be extended until 8 a.m. so that anyone in the trades working outdoors could not start work prior to 8 a.m. yearround and island wide.

At Mike's request I did pull out my dictionary and found the following definitions of elite and elitism. I have also put them in sentences that I hope aren't too screed for Mike to grasp.

Elite: A small group of people who believe they are inherently superior to others and deserve preeminence, preferential treatment, or higher rewards because of their superiority. . . . The small handful of privileged elite who stay at the inn where Mike Kopko works should be able to sleep late and the middle class workers in the trades on Nantucket should sacrifice an hour of their work day for that purpose.

Elitism: belief in control by small group: the belief that government or control should be in the hands of a small group of privileged, wealthy people, or the active promotion of such a system. . . . Mike Kopko's promotion of the "idea" of holding Town Meeting during the work day, creating a system where most people in attendance would be citizens who are wealthy enough to not have to work, eliminating most blue collar workers from attending is a perfect example of elitism.

In closing, I would suggest that at $265 a month Mike Kopko is an overpaid member of the Board of Selectmen.

- Jim Lydon

STAND BY YOUR SUPPORT OF SBPF

The following letter was originally sent to the Nantucket Board of Selectmen and is reprinted here at the author's request.

Dear board members;

On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Siasconset Civic Association, I would encourage all of you to stand by your recent letter in support of the 'Sconset Beach Preservation Fund pursuing the required permits in their endeavor to stave off erosion in'Sconset.

It is important to note that the permitting process, on each and every governmental level, is rigorous and detailed. While some individuals may have reservations about all or particular elements of the project, the desired outcome certainly has considerable public merit. Not only would valuable taxable property be saved or less threatened, but also, and not insignificantly, town owned beaches and beaches accessible to the public, as well as Land Bank properties, town owned infrastructure and federal property could be protected if this privately funded effort is successful even in part.

The current organized effort to undermine this extensive permitting process seems to us to be counter-productive to the island's best interests on many levels. We urge you to let your letter in support of the pursuit of required permits, August 3, 2006 to Secretary Pritchard, Environmental Affairs, stand . We feel that SBPF should, at the very least, have a fair shot at permitting. Very Truly Yours,

- Susan R. Whitlock, President

Siasconset Civic Association