To the Editor:
A couple of weeks ago I sent you information regarding our printing ser-vices.  I just wanted to follow up with you to see if you have any upcoming publica-tions, inserts, or calendars that we can quote.  We would enjoy the opportunity to partner with your paper for all your print-ing needs.
Janet Middlebrooks
Ringgold, Georgia

To the Editor:
On behalf of the Victoria City Coun-cil and the City of Victoria, I wrote the following letter to Carol Molnau, MN Lieutenant Governor and MN Commis-sioner of Transportation, calling attention to the Hwy 5 Bridge located in Victoria ...
It is our understanding that the bridge has a rating of 49.1, which we understand to mean that it can just tolerate the current traffic level which averages 16,000 trips per day.  Any rating under 50% means the bridge is considered structurally deficient and needs monitoring and might need to be replaced.  This bridge was built in 1954.
While it appears that we do not need to be necessarily concerned with the bridge, in light of the continuing increas-ing traffic load on Hwy 5, we want to call your attention to the eventual need to re-construct this bridge.
The reconstruction of this bridge ties closely to the eventual plans to widen Hwy 5, which runs directly through the City of Victoria.  First, however, a corri-dor study must be done to plot the exact location of the future Hwy 5.
Your staff is fully aware of the num-ber of communities and groups that de-pend on Hwy 5 and who have budgeted and raised over $150,000 to conduct the Hwy 5 Corridor Study from Hwy 41 through Norwood Young America.  In fact, your staff is providing some in-kind consulting services.
However, we are still trying to raise just $100,000 to make the corridor study a reality.  In early June, 2007, and in my role as Mayor of Victoria, I visited with our U.S. Representatives and Senators in their offices in Washington, D.C., seeking the $100,000 necessary to complete a Hwy 5 corridor study, which is estimated to cost approximately $250,000.
In at least two cases, I was told by our elected U.S. officials that "finding $100,000 should not be a problem."  To date, I have not seen or heard anything from our elected officials that the $100,000 has been found.  I have also written and talked to Victoria's State Senator and Representative about the need to complete the Hwy 5 corridor study.
The condition of the Hwy 5 bridge in Victoria once again highlights the necessi-ty for the corridor study to be completed promptly.  It is my assumption that the corridor study will define, among many other things, how this bridge can be fixed or perhaps relocated.
I am asking for your support, as well as our elected officials' support, to allo-cate $100,000 to specifically conduct the Hwy 5 corridor study.  And by this letter we are calling to your attention, as well as other elected individuals, the condition of the Hwy 5 bridge located in Victoria.
This bridge falls under your respon-sibility and we sincerely hope that you first will ensure that the bridge remains safe for our citizens and, second, help the communities of Chanhassen, Waconia, Young America, and Victoria, as well as Carver County, secure what is, in the scheme of things, a relatively modest amount of money -- $100,000 -- to complete the Hwy 5 corridor study.
Thank you for your attention to these matters.  I look forward to hearing from you and others.
Mary Hershberger Thun, Mayor City of Victoria, Minnesota

To the Editor:
Joan Simons is my mother and Meg Smith is my sister and I am writing on behalf of my mom.  She really liked the photo you took of the Hootenanny group at St. Victoria's 150^th celebration - the same one you printed in the September 2007 issue of the Gazette.  She would love to get prints of that picture to give to our relatives who were in the picture.  (There were at least seven!)  Would it be possible to get a high resolution file from you for that purpose? 
I am from Chaska but I have lived all my adult life near the University of Minnesota where I went to college, met my husband, and settled down 35 years ago!  I graduated from Chaska High in 1972.
Katie Simons Beery
Chaska, Minnesota

To the Editor:
May the cool breath of fall waft across your life, may the good fall cooking be yours to sample, and may the attached columns be a hit with your readers.  Have a great fall.
Slim Randles
Home Country Magazine

To the Editor:
Congratulations on your son's up-coming wedding.  It will surely be exciting.  I graduated from Bemidji and remember my college days there very fondly.  Was wondering if you are going to have anyone taking photos at the Volksfest on September 22^nd while you are gone?
Mary Hadaway
Victoria Chamber of Commerce

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