Worthwhile cause

Published 1:10 am Friday, October 3, 2008

I read with dismay the letter of the lady who begrudged the $50,000 grant Mr. Holden had received for the Friends of the Trail non-profit organization.

I’d like to say that several years ago when I moved to this wonderful Valley, I read an article in your newspaper about Mr. Holden having started to clean up the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River single-handedly. I went out to see the river myself. Having been new to the area, I could not comprehend how people can be so careless of nature and their environment and dump garbage, debris and old car bodies in the river, among many other items.

Then, and now, I am grateful to Mr. Holden and his volunteers, whom he has recruited over time. It takes people like him who say enough is enough. It is a parent’s responsibility to teach their children to respect nature and others. Unfortunately, we live in times were this teaching has been lost in many instances.

So the money, in my opinion, is going to a worthwhile cause. Namely to clean up our trails and rivers for everyone’s enjoyment, and to try and teach children at the most impressionable age to become good stewards of our environment. Thank you Friends, and Mr. Holden.

Thea Tiryakioglu

North Bend