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I would like to say “thank you” to the nice man who hit my dog with his car last Tuesday evening. I know it seems odd to thank someone for hitting your dog, but it’s his kindness after-the-fact that really touched my family. When the accident occurred, this man immediately stopped to see if the dog was OK. Seeing how he had taken off after the injury, he drove around the area for hours helping us look for our dog. When driving around didn’t work, this gentleman went home to get a flashlight and looked on foot for our dog. We ended up giving up the search about 11 p.m. My children and I went to bed hoping that our dog did not go off to die and that she would return when she was over the shock. A am happy to report that she came home around 4 a.m. that morning and she only has minor scrapes and scratches. Sir, I hope that you are reading this article and that you know how much your kindness has meant to me and my family.
Debbie Gorman
Oakwood
I am writing in response/reaction to the letter in last week’s paper from Heather Kalbfleisch detailing her bout with underage drinking and its results. My family and I have been residents of Oakwood for exactly one year. After a long search, we chose Oakwood as our next home for a variety of reasons. We could have gotten more house with more land (and lower taxes) for our money elsewhere in the Dayton area…but we chose Oakwood for its impeccable school district and its great neighborhood feel.
I found it very easy to meet people here, and we have jumped into lots of activities with our five-year-old daughter, many of them through the MOMs Group of Oakwood (another wonderful community asset). The only drawbacks I saw to living here were the apparent lack of cultural diversity and the horrible mosquito population (our daughter is eaten alive in five minutes or so without bug spray) – and I actually read a couple of letters to the editor on both these subjects while looking for our home.
Had I read Heather’s letter back then – perhaps we would have thought twice about moving here. I first learned about the underage drinking problem (and now, from what I’m hearing – epidemic) at a MOMs group meeting last winter. The speaker was taking questions from the audience and someone asked his opinion on this subject. I
was stunned – I had NO idea this was such a problem here – my idyllic view of my new Oakwood home was shattered.
I began asking some of the MOMs that grew up here – and sure enough, some had been underage drinkers as well and informed me it was pretty rampant. “Kids get bored, there’s nothing to do on Friday night…” Of course you think – well, if I am a good parent then MY kids won’t be the ones drinking…but the speaker even reluctantly admitted perhaps his kids had been involved to some extent as well.
Heather said in her letter “I don’t how you are going to stop it…” Well, I have a suggestion for starters. Make a copy of Heather’s letter, blow it up to poster size and hang it in the hallways and locker rooms at the high school – and unfortunately, from what I understand, the middle school as well. Make copies and give it to every child – and send a copy home to the parents too. Perhaps if this message is coming from a peer – Heather just graduated last year – it will be taken more seriously. I suppose I am being naïve – but we’ve got to start somewhere – do SOMETHING – we can’t just continue to turn a blind eye and hope it will go away.
My daughter is only five – so luckily I still have a while before I really need to worry about this. But if things don’t improve – we may seriously have to consider moving somewhere else. Now, I’m sure many will say – “Oh, it’s just as bad everywhere else.” Well, it wasn’t where I grew up, and I have talked to parents and kids in other school districts in the area – and they all seem to agree that Oakwood is the worst. That’s not an honor we should be proud of. We’ve got to figure out how to clear our name.
I applaud Heather for writing what must have been a very difficult letter to write. I am glad she has seen the error of her ways and is turning her life around. I just hope her letter will touch the minds of some kids who may be engaging in what is such an unnecessary – and YES, even dangerous, pastime – and get them to STOP. I hope it will touch the minds of some parents that are allowing their kids to have underage drinking parties in their homes – so they can “control” their kids drinking. I hope it will give strength to the administrators trying to cope with this issue. Lastly, I hope it will help those of us with younger children in the system to have some incentive to figure out a way to stamp out this problem.
Let’s stop spinning in circles and get rid of this ugly reputation for Oakwood! Thank you Heather, and good luck.
Vicki Auditore
Concerned Mom
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