Letters to the Editor: Friday, March 30, 2018

Thank you on behalf of Avalon Rotary

Just in time for Spring Break visitors to enjoy, the Avalon Rotary Club and city of Avalon have completed their second community planting project in about a year. The 500 new plants installed March 20, 2018, are non-invasive, drought tolerant, non-poisonous, salt tolerant, deer resistant and beautiful year-round. More than 40 volunteers helped in the one day, seven and a half hour project that beautified the planters along Cabrillo Mole, Knabe Park, Crescent Street and near Casino Arch. The new plants are valued at $6,000. Among those who worked to make this possible and are thus deserving of special thanks are: Avalon city staff for labor and coordination, Avalon Freight Services for transportation of materials, Catalina Island Conservancy staff for labor and consultation, Catalina Island Medical Center staff and residents for labor, Los Angeles County Fire Department for labor and tools, Rotary Club of Avalon members for coordination and labor, University of Central Oklahoma students for labor, and Wichita State students for labor.

Thank you all for the hard work and donation of goods and services.

Jim Luttjohann

Rotary Club of Avalon, Board of Directors

 

Take a walk to the park on Catalina

Today, Friday, March 30, is the annual National Take a Walk in a Park Day. On Catalina it might be more appropriate to call it National Walk to a Park Day. There are so many wonderful places to take a walk on the island that sometimes the city parks get overlooked. You can start at the Mole and walk to Knabe Park where you will find swings and slides. You could sit at a picnic table to take in the sights of the bay and hear the laughter of children. You could then walk a few steps to the Veterans Park. Walk leisurely. Reading the bricks is a history lesson for all of us and a salute to our extraordinary veterans. It might be nice to be familiar with it before Memorial Day next month. Walk a bit further to reach Old Ben Park. There you have a place to sit to enjoy Avalon views, and you can also see some terrific artwork on the tiles. Take a left from Old Ben Park to find the next park. City Park has tape up and you cannot walk on the grass until April 15th, but take time to leisurely walk the steps and read snapshots of Catalina history from Islanders and tourists alike. The next park takes a bit more walking to reach. Walk up Sumner to the Kid’s Park. Adults are allowed! This park provides a nice respite from a busy, stressful day.

Walking is good for mental and physical health. Doctors tell us if we walk at least 30 minutes a day we will reap a huge health benefit by lowering our risk of type 2 diabetes and obesity as well as lowering blood pressure. A walk also boost our moods, clears our mind of stress, and allows us to enjoy nature and fresh air. The weather forecast for today is in the high 60s and partly cloudy, so leave your cell phone at home and grab a friend or family member or even go alone today for a walk to and in one or all of Avalon parks.

Adele Crow

Avalon

 

Consider hospital tax impact on the poor

Has anyone considered about the poor residents that buy commuter books that will have to pay $10/book extra? Some people that barely can afford the current abmount.

One man I met last week on the boat has to go over for dialysis three times/week. He has to buy three or four books a month. I don’t think people with commuter books should be charged $10 extra per book. They are not going to offer dialysis at the new hospital. Can we really support a $50 billion hosptial with only approximately 5,000 residents and a few visitors during summer months?

J. Njoes

Avalon

 

A visitor’s view of Measure T

I am a tourist who came to visit you earlier this March. I loved Avalon. It was beautiful and the people were caring and wonderful.

I want to let you all know how important it is to get out and VOTE IN FAVOR OF MEASURE T, the tiny tax that will help support rebuilding your hospital. If you don’t open a new hospital facility by Jan. 1, 2030, the State of California will red tag the hospital you have. If they shut your hospital down, you won’t have a safe place to go if you have a medical emergency. So don’t leave your future health up to other people. Get out there and vote!

As a tourist, I would gladly pay an extra dollar to arrive by Catalina Express and another extra dollar to leave town, just to know you have doctors from UC Irvine there to keep me alive if I run into medical troubles when I come to visit you. Call it a medical insurance policy that costs $2.00! How cheap is that?

You need that hospital for your own health too. You live too far from the mainland to get emergency help quickly if you can’t get it locally. And even if they send you out by helicopter, they have to stabilize you on the island first to increase your chances of a safe recovery.

I live in Mariposa, a little, isolated town in the foothills of the Sierra, where we have a small hospital district that covers Yosemite Valley. We depend on tourists too. We also have to rebuild our hospital or the State will shut ours down. Our hospital will cost more than yours, but it is just as necessary. So we know how important this decision is for your future. We are watching what happens in Avalon, and hoping you all make a safe and healthy decision!

Candy O’Donel-Browne

Midpines, California