Raising taxes at this time to give the fire district the new equipment and training it needs is really going to be painful for us. Not that we are opposed to new equipment and good EMT training, it's just that the timing of taking more taxes from homeowners in these tough times is enough to send some of us to the brink. This is something we should all carry the load for, not just homeowners who have had their homes valued up to 3 times more than what they paid themselves without doing any upgrades. We need some creativity here in funding these projects, the burden is too great for just some to carry. We have skipped many necessities in our own household to make ends meet in tight times, let alone upgrades. We need a break from the levy loads....

Sally Liechti, Phillips Lake

Jerry and I logged tens of thousands of miles crisscrossing this State. As a leader in the State as a Freemason he made a difference. Right Worshipful Jerry Lingle, was always urged to speak at meetings. Okay it did not take much urging. In public speaking across the State and across the Sound sometimes he would repeat the same story. You should repeat the really good ones. I have taken the liberty of rewriting and retelling that story here.

The Starfish Story
There was a young man walking down a deserted beach just before dawn. In thedistance he saw wide shouldered man.
As he young man got closer, he saw the vacationer picking up stranded starfish and throwing them back into the sea.
The young man gazed in wonder as the tattooed man again and again threw the small starfish from the sand to the water.
He asked, "Hey Mister, why do you spend so much energy doing what seems to be an impossibility and a waste of time."
The baldheaded man explained that the stranded starfish would die if left in the morning sun.
"But there must be thousands of beaches and millions of starfish!" exclaimed the young man. "How can you make any difference?"
Jerry looked at the small starfish in his hand and as he threw it to the safety of the sea, he said, "It sure makes a difference to this one!".
There are a lot of us “starfish” that Jerry threw back to safety.

Thank you my Brother, a pleasure knowing you, and I am better off for knowing and loving you.
Fraternally; W.B. Fred W. Corbett.
 

The early passing of Jerry Lingle, who I will forever remember as “Commissioner Lingle,” marks one of the saddest days in Mason County history. From humble beginnings he rose to achieve one of the most powerful positions in our county, and did it all with honor and dignity.

Jerry Lingle was, in every respect, “a man’s man,” not because of his formidable physical bearing, but because he had the strength and character to be sensitive, kind and caring without relinquishing authority. In this era of cynicism and indulgence, it may be some time before they make another Jerry Lingle, and we should all feel honored to have known a man who possessed those qualities to which so many aspire yet so few achieve.
 

Tom Davis, Shelton