Heritage Center extends sympathy to family

The board and personnel of the High Plains Western Heritage Center of Spearfish wish to extend their sympathy to the family of Mark "Bub" Bradley. His long-time dedication to the preservation of area history is sincerely acknowledged by his friends at the Heritage Center. Bradley had been a member of the Board of Directors since 1999 and was currently serving as vice president. His contribution was extraordinary. He will be greatly missed.

HIGH PLAINS WESTERN HERITAGE CENTER

Spearfish

Proposal to build near Braeburn is disturbing

I strongly oppose the proposal to build apartments for human occupation in or near the Braeburn Addition, having lost my wife's parents in the 1972 flood. They lived in the Starner Tract, just above Braeburn.

In addition to losing beloved parents, two of my partners in medical practice, Dr. W. Geib and Dr. R. Bloemendaal, lost their homes in Braeburn but fortunately survived.

Today, it may be tempting to view Braeburn as safe because the nearby home of John Knecht survived the flood. But it survived because it lay at a higher level and was protected by the elevated south bank of Rapid Creek. Braeburn is a very low, flat field which does not have any protection, and lies between the creek and the highway. Upon visiting the area immediately after the flood, we saw that the total destruction from above had carried through Braeburn.

I served as Pennington County health officer at that time, and still painfully recall the rows of bodies awaiting identification on the floor of the temporary morgue. In the hospital, we saw many survivors in shock from the previous night's terrors.

The thought of re-entering the "established flood zone" is, to me, very disturbing and should be denied.

DR. JOHN T. ELSTON

Rapid City

Falwell legacy doesn't

rely on the facts

Michael Coats was more right than wrong with his recent letter on the legacy of Jerry Falwell. (Ironic, when like Falwell, Coats seems to care more about making headlines as a loud-mouthed activist with outrageous letters to the editor and blog postings, than reaching across the political table to bring people into his cause.)

Falwell was indeed a racist/segregationist who campaigned against "the civil wrongs movement" - "When God has drawn a line of distinction, we should not attempt to cross that line. … Integration will destroy our race eventually. … A pastor friend of mine tells me that a couple of opposite race live next door to his church as man and wife!"

Falwell was caught more than a few times lying about his calculating statements, routinely denying that he made them until proof was reliably provided, then claiming he was "trapped" by the media.

The true Falwell legacy may just be that of not relying on the facts to sway public opinion while your defenders attack your critics with blind faith in your infallibility - a legacy that thrives on both sides of the aisle in Coats, Bill Napoli and Bob Ellis, among others.

TIM DREW

Rapid City

Marathon organizers deserve thanks for their work

Thanks for your articles about the 2007 Deadwood-Mickelson Trail Marathon. I was happy to take part and finish the half marathon on June 3. This is a great weekend event on a beautiful course with great community and volunteer support. I would like to thank race coordinator Jerry Dunn and all the folks that made this a rich day of memories for me.

Events such as the marathon/half-marathon are good for our tourist economy! I'm looking forward to taking part again next year.

This race was great for me in that it both has many, many runners and is also walker friendly (the course is open for seven hours). I'd also like to thank all the doctors, nurses and others (especially the wound care clinic) at Spearfish Hospital who helped me so much with my surgeries and long stay in the hospital last year. They made it possible for me to be in the half-marathon.

DAVID NICKEL

Spearfish