It was with absolute pleasure that I read Greg Penderg

Published 2:12 pm Tuesday, May 13, 2008

The joy of music is infectious

It was with absolute pleasure that I read Greg Pendergast’s column in last week’s Beachcomber about his drumming, his studies with Todd Zimberg and accompanying Todd and his wife Maggie with the Vashon High School choir.

For more of that absolute pleasure, I want to take my own-age contemporaries into the drum world and help them find a little of that joy and happiness. I’m 83, or is it 38? As the years move along, we old-timers sometimes get confused, but with my drums, I drop a few years every time I play.

Within the last couple of years, I got my first bongos, and I was carried away by the music of it, the fun of it. And yes, by the spiritual joy of it. Now with a conga alongside my bongos, I’m on my way, and I won’t look back.

What kind of music? Any kind. Mozart enjoys my drumming, he really does, and so does Beethoven. They tell me so all the time. So do those boys from Liverpool. But for real drumming, you ought to hear me get going with Three Dog Night:

“Jeremiah was a bullfrog, he was a good friend of mine. I never understood a single word he said …”

— Gordon Fisk

Price hikes will not happen

Steve Graham’s opinion column in last week’s Beachcomber regarding the pending Puget Sound Energy merger implies that the proposed new owners of the company are going to run away with the store. They can’t, and they won’t.

The investors — primarily pension funds — are looking for a long-term place to invest their money. Puget Sound Energy is looking for committed investment partners to carry forth PSE’s vision to serve the region now and in the future. Rates are not going to be affected one way or another.

Having worked in the utility world for over 40 years, I feel it is extremely important for Island residents to understand the highly regulated nature that PSE works in every day. An assertion that the change in ownership would result in “enormous increases in utility rates” is not based in fact. The reality is that the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) will still regulate PSE, just like it does today.

Interestingly, the UTC has no say over rates that a government-run utility would charge Islanders. I suspect a major reason voters said “no” by such a wide margin in 2006 was that the proponents of a new government-run utility on Vashon and Maury Island had no credible business plan to clearly delineate how it would be paid for, who would run it and how much it would cost Islanders.

As the Washington Research Council noted, “It creates a new government, with regulatory and taxing authority. That’s not something to accept lightly. And not without demanding the accountability, financial plan, and long-term outlook supporters have yet to provide.”

The reason behind the proposed ownership change of PSE’s parent is simple — access to capital.

PSE has served the Vashon community for decades, and I look forward to PSE serving my community for decades to come.

— W. Michael Tracy

It’s ‘not cool’

I applaud and support the recent column by Sam Collins regarding our Island’s permissive attitude towards teen drug and alcohol use.

We must send a no-mixed-signal message to our youth that experimentation with drugs and alcohol is not only “not cool” but is potentially disastrous and won’t be tolerated at the school or social level here on Vashon.

I’m not trying to be holier than thou, but I have been wondering if the next time we have a school related auction or fundraiser that perhaps we not serve alcohol. I think it sends the wrong message to our kids. How about having Seattle’s Best come in and do a coffee tasting instead? Maybe people would end up staying longer, and no designated drivers would be required!

— Eric Heffelfinger

Share tax rebate with HouseHold

Housing has been in the news lately, but for some people it’s news every day.

Many lower-income Island job-holders are unable to afford housing in our community and face the escalating transportation costs of getting to work. Through home ownership and rental opportunities, Vashon HouseHold is helping provide affordable housing on the Island.

Please consider donating a portion of your tax rebate money to Vashon HouseHold. Call 463-6454 for more information.

— Sue Gardner

Vashon HouseHold board member