This is an article about this article, other articles like it and opportunities for Sun City residents to present personal
Comments AT BOARD MEETINGS about whatever is on their minds. Articles like this, and comments at Board Meetings, are all about “personal commentary.” They are not about news reports, feature stories, the weather, sports, market results, and certainly not to make personal attacks.
Newspapers use various headlines to tell the reader that they are about to read “personal opinions” under the heading of Letters to the Editor; People‘s Perspective, and others. This newspaper has titled the personal commentary articles “Hang Your Hat.”
Sun Day readers recently had an opportunity to read a feature article touching on politics. That article was followed by columns supporting and detracting the writer’s opinion.
It was like Lazarus rising from the dead. The personal comments were a joy to read.
There are residents with comments to be made.
Over time, reactions to personal Hang Your Hat commentaries have been encouraging. Readers have stopped to comment about an article; an occasional email, and even a few phone calls. There has also been the isolated “anonymous” note in the mail castigating the writer for causing “trouble.” Oh well. Some fish don’t like the way people smell.
In a similar way, but in a lot more direct approach, consider the “resident comment” portion of monthly Board Meetings.
For the most part, the resident comment portion of the meeting includes one, two, and maybe three “commentators.”
On occasion, none.
The lack of commentators out of 9000 residents, reflects a level of satisfaction by residents with the status quo. So be it.
In the meantime, your comments, in the newspaper and during Board Meetings, are encouraged.
Jim Darow
Sun City resident
I would like to thank Mr. Jim Darow for his recent letters in the Sun Day informing Sun City residents of Northwestern Medicine’s move into the Prairie Lodge Fitness Center. I, too, share many of the same concerns (which I expressed in a Talk to Staff form) about a business being given space in our facility and the precedent it sets for the future. If this is a trend for Sun City to reconfigure resident designated space to accommodate private businesses, or perhaps a move to provide more health care services in our facilities, that might be a discussion for more than a few residents and management to have. We should have some voice as to which businesses that might be, or how much health care needs to be provided at Sun City facilities. An onsite physical therapy center may be a desirable “convenience” to some residents, but others may wish to have their preferred physical therapy provider onsite or perhaps have a coffee shop, hair salon, minimart, etc. Although this move into the Prairie Lodge Fitness Center maybe a “done deal,” I would hope future decisions about the use of space at Sun City could be made in a more open manner.
Roberta Langham
Neighborhood 33
As the growing season got under way in Sun City’s large community garden last May and June, we were impressed with the energy and ingenuity which went into setting up the 10 by 30 foot plots reserved for garden enthusiasts. Elaborate stakes and fencing and other contraptions were put in place to support various vines and keep out the critters who like to feast on treasured vegetables.
The main attraction in virtually every plot is the tomato plants. Some plots had as many as 50 plants. Varieties included cherry tomatoes; Big Boys and Beefsteaks; Romas and heirlooms. As summer ended, these plants have become overloaded with red beauties.
The problem is that with all of the work done and the tomatoes ripe and ready for picking, they have been woefully neglected. In out plot, we have just seven tomato plants and we have gobbled up the fruit as fast as it has ripened on the vine. Frankly there have been way more tomatoes than we could use and we have given the extras to family members.
In a recent visit to the garden, we were impressed with the output, but dismayed by the neglect and disregard for the tomatoes everywhere we looked. Hundreds, maybe thousands, were simply allowed to ripen on the vine and then fall to earth where they rotted away and became infested by hungry worms or chewed on by critters. Maybe it is the overabundance. But whatever the reason, if the gardener cannot make use of his crop, why not post a sign inviting visitors and/or fellow gardeners to help themselves to the tomatoes rather than let them pile up on the ground. Better yet, why not pick them and donate them to a local food pantry?
My wife, Christine and I will be back again next year to acquire a plot and have a garden. Growing vegetables can be a lot of fun, but it is a bit distressing to see great tomatoes allowed to rot away when we know how much work went into producing them.
Christine and Bill Juneau
Sun City residents
I would like to express my support for TR Kerth in speaking out about gun violence in his column in the August 22 edition of the Sun Day. I have no doubt that there will be readers who condemn his voicing his opinion about this controversial topic. Since the publication on 8/22, there has been an additional mass shooting. There are so few words left to say about the gun violence that has besieged this country. I doubt that my words, or Kerth’s will change the situation. Nothing will change until we vote out all politicians who are taking money from the NRA. We MUST speak at the ballot box.
Bonnie Scherkenbach
Sun City resident
I am a Sun City resident and a law abiding gun owner. I enjoy shooting sports and hunting.
I respect your right to publish your opinions regarding gun violence and a need to find a reasonable remedy. I suggest that we all need to better understand the root cause of this problem before we institute meaningful change. Illinois already has many laws regulating guns. One such law is a background check requirement called FOID Card. Every Illinois gun owner is required to have this background check based FOID Card in order to buy/sell/own a firearm and/or ammunition. That FOID background check is updated daily. This is just one of many Illinois laws governing gun ownership. Almost daily I read about another Illinois shooting and never a comment about whether that shooter had a valid FOID Card. Remember you cannot legally buy ammunition much less a gun without a FOID Card. It would seem prudent to analyze the effectiveness of our current laws prior to adding more laws. You can’t keep doing the same thing and expect a different result.
I can’t help but theorize that a large segment of our population is devoid of a moral compass and without same human life has little importance. Do you truly believe that the elimination of assault rifles would eliminate the 42 Chicago shootings over Labor Day weekend or any other weekend? Will the mass murders be reduced with an assault weapons ban? Just once I would like to see a detailed analysis of mass murders over the past ten years including type of weapon, how weapon and ammo acquired, shooter profile, etc. published by a news outlet.
I don’t disagree that our mass murder issue must be addressed but I don’t believe the remedy is as simplistic as banning certain guns. This is an extremely complex problem and requires a fact-based solution on a National level. In the meantime how about focusing on Illinois and the enforcement of laws already on the books. I suspect the results of investigative reporting on this subject would be shocking and lead to better enforcement of our existing laws. If you choose to focus on gun related issues; please start on an Illinois level.
Respectfully,
Bill Hector
Sun City resident
Once again, TR Kerth presents himself as Sun City’s conscience. This time it is gun control. His lecture begins with an idyllic description of his band playing and a girl caught up in her own hula hoop world. Kerth then awkwardly ponders a flag at half-mast, for reasons unknown, to fearfully contrast the oblivious girl with contrived children sitting distressed by their guardians. Sandwiched between his beginning and conclusion is an aggressive oversimplification of a complex subject.
Before expressing an opinion on gun control, let me say that I do not, and never have owned a gun. The last one I touched was in Vietnam. Deer hunting was a rite of passage in my family. At 16, I shot one shortly after the season opened and asked myself why I did that. I never went again. Many of my friends and family are avid gun owners, but they do not discuss their activities with me. I’m the Bambi lover. Even so, I do not share Kerth’s simplistic thinking.
The problem with Kerth’s rant is that he does mention what should be the heart of the conversation. “Decide for yourself which limits on guns are fair while still allowing responsible citizens to enjoy their guns safely.” Unfortunately, he buries this in a mindless, insulting, and bombastic tirade. The first two paragraphs in the third column merit discussion. Discussion, however, does not occur when fear and control tactics are used.
In 2016 I took my grandson into the city for the 4th of July. The Boston Marathon and Paris bombings were fresh memories. He and I openly discussed that we were going into an environment ideal for an attention seeker. At one point we started down a sidewalk with fences on both sides. I told him we would go around. We would be aware, but we would not be afraid.
At the beginning of weapons training in the Army, the instructor told us that we were there, “To learn to kill and acquire the desire to kill.” In his congressional Vietnam Veterans Against the War testimony, John Kerry said, “The country doesn’t know it yet, but it has created a monster, a monster in the form of millions of men who have been taught to deal and to trade in violence…” While Kerry’s comments insult me, Kerth’s logic leads to the conclusion that veterans qualify as the most feared group in America. Kerth loses context when he ignores that disturbed minds, whether momentary or permanent, perform or lead others to perform atrocities. Qualifying individuals or groups as hatefully deranged is part of the conversation.
If guns were outlawed, my life would only be affected by the degree of fear and distraction the pro-gun Kerth’s would instill. Somewhere, one of them is using their own hula hooping equivalent child to fearfully justify minimal regulation. Gun proliferation precludes elimination. With this in mind, removing fear and intimidation propagated by Kerth, et. al would help create a society that is aware but not afraid.
Doug Jenks
Sun City resident
