The Courier
News Veteran’s Day 2013
On Monday of this week, the lead story on a website called Salon.com, written by freelance writer Justin Doolittle, was entitled “Stop thanking the troops for me: No, they don’t ‘protect our freedoms”. In it he questioned why the media and professional sports are “constantly jamming military fervor down our throats.” Mr. Doolittle went on to say that our freedoms are, “...in no way dependent on the size, scope or even the existence of the U.S. military,” meaning that, if someone disbanded the entire military, America’s freedoms would not suddenly vanish. Salon.com received a great deal of criticism for publishing this article on, of all days, Veteran’s Day. Mr. Doolittle received flack as well for his “asinine” ideas. His response was that people missed the point. “When we reduce our entire existence as free people to something that only exists at the whim of the U.S. military, we suffocate critical
Members of the American Legion Post #14 along with members of Boy Scout Troop #143 pay their respects to Veterans at Mountain View Cemetery in Fairfield. thought about the military and what it’s actually doing in the world.” If there is any validity to Mr. Doolittle’s thoughts, it is this - too many of us equate Veteran’s Day with celebrating the military, and that is wrong. It is about remembering the sacrifices our soldiers have made throughout our nation’s history, and giving them honor. It only takes an hour or so
to attend a memorial, and yet, too many of us can’t seem to find the time to spare. Most people view it as just an extra day to sleep in, do a little yard work before winter sets in, go shopping, or a multitude of ‘other’ things. Many of us might be angry at this man and the website that published his article, but that would be ignoring a much bigger problem - apathy.
State Football Semi-Finals This Saturday, November 16th, area football teams will compete for a chance to play in the Milk Bowl Championships. Dietrich will host Salmon River in Dietrich at 1:00 p.m. Hagerman will face off against Raft River in the Holt Arena at 12 noon. Also at the Holt Arena, Wendell will take on Declo at 5:00 p.m. and at 7:30 p.m. Gooding will challenge Shelly. (Holt Arena is located in Pocatello, on the campus of Idaho State University)
November 13 Volume 37 ~ Number 46 News from the Heart of Idaho Camas • Lincoln • Gooding
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Soldier Mountain Ready for Another Season
Soldier Mountain Ski Area held their annual meeting in Fairfield on Wednesday, November 6, with a new Board of Directors. Last year, the ski resort located about 12 miles north of Fairfield, became a non-profit recreation area thanks to the generous gift by actor Bruce Willis. As part of the commitment to making the resort a locally controlled community organization, the by-laws were written so that the original Board of Directors (Will Varin, William Wardwell, Robert Thomas, Jamon Frostenson, and Russell Schiermeier) would step down after one year. The new board consists of Kristi Schiermeier (President), Winston Ellis (VicePresident), and Nancy Hallowell (Treasurer), and they are currently looking for two more individuals to fill out the five member board. The main presentation was made by Lacey Heward, who won two bronze medals at the 2002 Paralympic Games and competed in the 2006 Winter Olympics. As the new Director of Marketing & Public Relations at Soldier Mountain, she said she was excited to continued on page 6.....