To the Editor:
I always look forward to reading your publication each month. 
Thank you for including Ethel Ausink's wonderful and truthful article in the latest issue.  What a great column!  Keep it up, Ethel!  We need more, no, many more people such as you, with eyes and ears open.  The agenda you describe can only continue if good people do nothing.
Not supporting the agenda of the National Education Association (NEA) with votes and dollars, as well as electing a school board with outstanding character, morals, and integrity is a good beginning.
The Maple River Education Coalition is one place people can find more infor-mation about what is going on in the edu-cation system.  Among their supporters are former and current educators as well as State Senators.  They have a website for anyone interested:  www.edwatch.org.
If we are to expect our children to do their homework, then we as parents and grandparents must lead by example and do ours.
Charles Chase
Mound, Minnesota

To the Editor:
Sibling groups make up the majority of children in the foster care system wait-ing for adoptive homes.  Currently, more than 690 children in Minnesota are wait-ing for families to adopt them; 59% are siblings.
To highlight the need for adoptive parents for children in the state's foster care system, please consider this guest editorial by Minnesota Department of Human Services Assistant Commissioner Maria R. Gomez. 
If you have questions please contact me at 651-297-7717 or beth.voigt@state.mn.us.
Beth L. Voigt
MN Dept. of Human Services
St. Paul, Minnesota

To the Editor:
I want to thank each of you who supported me in the recent school board election.  Your words of encouragement, the flattering letters to the editor, the time and financial contributions, and, of course, your votes were all very much appreciated.  I am very encouraged by the level of support I received considering I was basically an unknown.  I plan to build on this support and be back in two years.
For now, though, please join me in congratulating Mr. Leone, Mr. Gallego, Mr. Franks, and Mr. Tirk.  Pray for their wisdom and guidance over the next four years.  Thanks again.
Floyd Calhoun, District112 School Board Candidate
Chaska, Minnesota

To the Editor:
Hi, Sue.  Read the whole Gazette when I received it.  Thanks so much.  I saw the notice about the Chamber of Commerce Christmas Party; unfortunate-ly, Victoria's Park & Recreation Board meets that night, so I don't think I can come.  It sounds like a wonderful time.  Please extend my regrets, unless I let you know otherwise.
As you know, my dad passed away so you can take his name off your mailing list. 
Take care and have a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I will be going to New Zealand on November10th and returning on December3rd.  I am joining my niece, who is studying abroad, to do some travel-ing before she returns to the U.S.  It will be a good break for me at this time.  See you in December.
Mary Thun, Victoria, Minnesota

To the Editor:
Christmas already?  Just recently we were chasing bugs, both the Asian and American kinds.  Now it's spider season, and also the season for boots, hats. gloves, coats, and snowball fights. 
I remember those fighting days of the after school snowball tournament.  I slugged a few boys myself and never got caught.  Look twice, then toss.  No nuns looking?  Bombs away!  Sometime I'd catch them like a baseball and toss them right back to the opponent and clobber him with the same snowball he'd made.  Not once did I get stuck with a 50-cent fine for a snowball.
I was Bart Simpson long before he existed.  What I didn't think of, my little brother did.  Of course, Ma would say, "You dassen't do that!  Santa's coming!"  Oh, to be a kid!. 
Your fishhook is on page 36 around the bread basket.  It must be the story of loaves and fishes.
Kay Meuwissen, Chaska, Minnesota

To the Editor:
On behalf of all of us on the District 112 School Board, thank you for your support of local schools in the recent successful referendum.  We are grateful that our citizens took the time to become informed and go to the polls.
Your level of support was among the highest in the metro area.  This communi-ty's children are fortunate to live in a place where citizens believe in the value of good schools and are willing to invest in them.
The Board looks forward, as well, to working with those elected by the com-munity to serve on the Board.  We send our congratulations to our new and return-ing colleagues.  And we look forward to continued community involvement as we wrestle with the challenges facing public education today.
Your schools need your attention in order to fulfill the promise of each of our young students.  The Board remains com-mitted to working with you to that end.
Mary Welch, Chair, District 112 School Board
Victoria, Minnesota

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