Strawberry Days music is selected by a committee

In Response to Louis (Louie) Girardot's letter of July 8 regarding using local entertainment at Strawberry Days, The Glenwood Springs Chamber Resort Association is committed to making Strawberry Days a great experience for locals and visitors alike.

Strawberry Days has certainly evolved since 1867 when it was simply a neighborly gathering to celebrate the harvest and the warm summer days. Over the years, as our community and our valley have grown, so has Strawberry Days. The chamber strives to preserve as much of the local tradition as possible, but we also welcome new ideas and traditions.

To address the disappointment regarding the lineup of entertainment, it should be known that the acts were chosen by the Strawberry Days Entertainment Committee comprising interested local residents under the professional leadership of Krista DeHererra of Valley Events Inc. The chamber is thankful to the Entertainment Committee and Valley Events for putting together a diverse entertainment lineup, including both local and regional dance performances, demonstrations and music. Interested artists are always invited to contact us and send CDs and/or videos. The committee considers every submission, and selections are based on the quality of music and performances, not where the performers reside.

That said, it should be noted that there were several local performers featured at 2009 Strawberry Days, including: The Sirens, the Glenwood Springs High School Jazz Ensemble, the Glenwood Percussion Ensemble, Earthbeat Children's Choir, Glenwood Springs Dance Academy and the Glenwood Springs Center for the Arts.

We thank Mr. Girardot for his comments and the opportunity to openly invite him as well as other artists to contact the committee for next year's consideration.

Musicians and other performers who would like to be juried for next year's festival should send a performance sample to: GSCRA, Attn: Strawberry Days Entertainment Committee, 1102 Grand Ave., Glenwood Springs, CO 81601.

The chamber would also like to invite anyone who has a passion for music and entertainment to serve on the Entertainment Committee for the 113th annual Strawberry Days. Just e-mail angie@glenwoodchamber.com.

Angie Anderson

V/P Operations & Communications

Glenwood Springs Chamber Resort Association

We must take to task the self-serving politicians

Even of more concern than the condition our nation is in, is the message we are giving to future generations. By us, as a nation, doing nothing to correct the corruption on both sides of government and their total disregard of the Constitution, we are setting a standard that will create American citizens with no real sense of freedom. How can we expect them to fight and maybe die for something they have no concept of?

The time has never been more urgent than right now to put aside our political affiliations and take to task the corrupt, self-serving, soul-selling politicians we have put in charge of one of the most precious gifts on earth: our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Maybe we should start by asking any politician who voted in favor of the “stimulus bill” without reading it first to step down after their term is over and requiring the same of any politician who voted no but managed to get funding for a pet project anyway.

The wolf is at our door, America! We must do something while we still have the right!

Henry Hendrickson

Apple Tree Park

New paper layout gives reader puzzling problem

I would like to express my opinion about the recent changes to the Post Independent. For the most part, the content is good — no complaints there. I am grateful to have a local paper and understand that ads are necessary and that changes had to be made to keep the paper alive. However, like other writers, I too am annoyed and overwhelmed with the onslaught of all of the additional ads that have nothing to do with Glenwood Springs. I have discovered that I am now tuning out all of the ads, which can't be good for your advertisers. I simply don't look at any of the ads anymore — especially the real estate ads.

Here's what really gets me about the ads, though. As a crossword puzzler, I politely remove the puzzle so others can read the paper while I take my time to do the puzzle. In the old paper, there was almost always an ad behind the puzzle so all articles remained intact when I cut the puzzle out. Now, there seems to always be an article behind the puzzle so I can't cut it out anymore. Since there are so many ads … how hard could it be to place an ad behind the puzzle instead of an article? Thanks for your consideration.

Carol Turtle

Glenwood Springs