Much more than the landfill

Dear Editors,

Re: “The Gift”

Why I’ve never been so insulted in all my life! Your veiled insults hurled our way are veiled thinly indeed! Sir, I’ll have you know that Bondad is home to so much more than the discarded toys and other refuse of La Plata County, Colorado. Yes, there is the inaptly named Bondad landfill, which is hardly in Bondad proper at all. But our community provides some of the finest alfalfa/grass hay fields in the county. We sport a first-class asphalt strip on which bikers, roller-skaters and cross-country trainers can be seen recreating during the weekends. Bondad is home to a fine herd of genuine Texas longhorns, a vintage roadhouse saloon, and a major natural gas compressor station delivering vital energy to the higher-consciousness citizens of California (for, astoundingly, the same price you get it here, I might add).

Bondad means “goodness,” and in that vein, I will soften my tone and extend an invitation to you and your family to visit our fair community and perhaps consider taking that spring vacation in our beautiful valley. Please leave the purple horses and assorted plastic action figures at home. Coming from Durango, you will find our offices on the right, just past the Dairy Queen and the second stoplight. We will be happy to provide you with some lovely brochures. The good people of Bondad welcome you.

– Sincerely, Roofus Hayseed secretary, Greater Bondad Chamber of Commerce

Memories of a skate-punk youth

Righteous Telegraph Editors,

I’m writing to acknowledge the cleverness and subtlety of Shan Wells’ cartoon depicting councilor Howley running down a Durango skateboarder with his pick-up

truck. Most people will simply take a cartoon like this at face value, but I am compelled to expose the deeper implications.

Clearly this cartoon shows Mr. Wells reverting back to his stoned, skate-punk youth when hicks and hillbillies were the oppressors leading him and his gang of

boys into vandalism, drugs and other petty crimes as a disillusioned form of rebellion because the liberals of his suburban home town were not righteous enough to pacify his gang and him from the path of crime with a tax-funded skate park. Further, the cartoon suggests that by concentrating the angst and hormone filled4 

boys together, the non-GOP elected counselors intend to combat the loneliness and isolation of youth by providing an arena for these boys to work out their issues with their peers (other boys) in an unsupervised, and drug- and crime-free setting.

Shan, since you truly are one of the most righteous of Durango liberals, perhaps you should draw a cartoon about Durango City Council’s million-dollar subsidy towards teen-age girls’ recreation.

– Paul Iverson, Durango

Leave no skid mark

Dear Editors,

I am responding to Connie Robb’s letter published in the Jan. 19 issue of The Telegraph. I, too, applaud dog owners who responsibly pick up their dog’s poop. However, I take issue with people leaving the poop bags as odorous ornaments along trails. On a recent hike up Animas City Mountain, I counted eight bags of dog poop. When I descended the trail, several hours later, the poop bags were still festering in the middle of the trail and the parking lot was empty. This is an unhygienic eyesore that ruins the wilderness experience of others. Thank you to The Telegraph for providing a forum for discussion in our community. Everyone who enjoys our wonderful trail system should work hard to “Leave No Trace.”

– Rachael Antonio, via e-mail

‘The Mesa Motel Give-Away’

Dear Editors,

I have the Mesa Motel sign from Elmore’s Corner! I was stunned by Marie McCallum’s award-winning, preservation-inspired painting of the sign, and Jules Masterjohn’s masterful reporting in “Arting Around” (Telegraph, Jan. 19). Calling Jules to report on my sequestered treasure, I can attest to her exemplary expressive skills both in speaking and writing. I was planning on waiting to notify the community about the opportunity to acquire the sign after the Oil & Gas 101 course I am instructing through Fort Lewis College’s Extended Studies finished at the end of April As a result of the efforts of McCallum and Masterjohn and the Telegraph, “The Mesa Motel Give Away.” will commence now. Please e-mail (franzheim@gmail.com) or write to Franzheim/Sign – P.O. Box 172, Ignacio, CO 81137 in 90 words or less the who-what-where-when-why you or your organization should be selected as new owner of a piece of county history. Transportation is the only cost involved for the 5-foot-by-10-foot sign with an 8-foot pole. The response deadline is June 12.

How did I get into this esoteric activity? It was an extension of my oil and gas-related efforts. Last March, I noticed construction beginning at Elmore’s Corner for what had been rumored to be a new gas station. Entering the site, I asked the construction supervisor if the station would have a biodiesel pump, as my ranch vehicles use it. When he told me there wasn’t going to be a gas station there, I looked around, seeing the Mesa Motel sign. I asked him what it would take to remove the sign for historical-preservation purposes. He quickly responded that due to liability considerations, it had to be taken to the landfill. I asked him how I could coordinate his removal of the sign with my ranch manager going to the landfill to retrieve it as soon as it was dumped.

In summary, after a slew of phone-calls and my quiet determination, the sign was removed by my friends directly from where it stood for many years. There’s one more thing … who will rescue the Rocket Drive-In sign?

– Susan Franzheim, Ignacio