Go to Helen Waite right after driving through Paradise

You have to love Paradise. Well not everyone does I guess. In August there were two concerts in the lovely hamlet of Old Paradise (Avon). The first was held right across the meadow from me. It was loud and obnoxious. Not even close to being my cup of tea. A stream of young people drove in and out of this concert until the wee hours of the morning. It sounded like heavy metal or maybe just shouting, but I didn't move out to Avon to tell my neighbors what to do. It's one day--no biggie. The very next week there was another concert. This one was a music festival with professional bands. People again descended upon our hamlet. This one was held a little further away from me and definitely brought more people and a greater variety of types from neighbors to professionals from all walks of life. From what I heard--four bands were featured, saving the quieter venues for early morning. My husband and I were picking chokecherries right behind the concert and could hear it plainly, but as we finished and walked down our lane we were disappointed not to be able to hear the music anymore.

I was surprised the next morning when I opened my paper to see a very angry letter printed in the Logan newspaper about not the first concert, but the second concert. What's worse is that the Herald Journal had not adequately screened the writer of the letter and had inadvertently allowed a pseudonym "Helen Waite" from Avon. Now for some reason I didn't catch the joke right off. I mean it sounds like a real name only I was pretty sure no one existed with that name--here. We're a small town and know most folks. Then someone said, so do you go to Hell 'en Wait after you've been to Paradise and I along with most others caught the joke. Only jokes are supposed to be funny and clever and this letter was neither. It was mean-spirited. And mean-spiritedness isn't what most of us in this town are about. I hope the letter writer has since recovered from their temporary lack of decorum and won't repeat their vitriol next year when the concert is held again.

There was another pretty loud musical event held this last Saturday right next door to me. It was a barn dance, lots of fun and full of good will. This is what I love about my town. I love that we had a decent rock and roll band and a country western band play and all with local talent. I hope there won't be any letters to the editor. I hope we don't discourage diversity.