To our friends in the Jewish community
Once again we find ourselves dealing with the unthinkable after the incident at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. An act of pure evil shattered the peace and took the lives of nine men and two women. Once again we find ourselves mourning because of a senseless and evil act of racially and religiously targeted violence. Our hearts are broken.
To our friends in the Jewish community in Denver, we join you in grieving this tragic loss. We join you in denouncing the racist lies that have been voiced against you for generations. And we join you in the battle to address the scourge of racial division and hatred that plagues our society. In our hearts we will ask the hard questions that force us to face whatever might inhibit our pursuit of reconciliation and healing.
We weep with you. We pray with you. We stand with you.
Mark Young, Littleton
Mark Young is the president of the Denver Seminary
Tribute to White Fence Farm
Re: “White Fence Farm restaurant will call it quits,” Oct. 27 news story
It was with sadness for the community and for our family that we read of the impending closure of White Fence Farm. As a young girl of 12, I vividly remember going to the small former army barracks (now part of the main restaurant building) with my younger brother and my father, Duane Newlin, who was consulting with Mr. Wilson about their family’s plans for a restaurant. My father was a commercial kitchen consultant and designer. Our family was at the grand opening of Wilson’s restaurant in 1973, complete with a colonial theme. That was even before their famous chicken dinners.
As our family grew, so did Wilson’s, and it became White Fence Farm. It was the site for birthday dinners and rehearsal dinners, and then grandchildren were welcomed into the fun of a meal at White Fence Farm. The beautiful grounds made for strolling and play with the gentle animals waiting for a pat or a small hand offering a snack. Always something to do or see.
It was part of our family as we grew, and a part of so many families. It also holds dear memories of my father, now gone, and of times past. A cherished piece of Lakewood history.
Martha Kirkpatrick, Englewood
Birthright citizenship
Letap get specific about fake news, which our president blames for many things. I think “fake” in this context means inaccurate and/or misleading. In a television interview with Axios, Trump said, “We’re the only country in the world where a person comes in and has a baby, and the baby is essentially a citizen of the United States for 85 years with all of those benefits. And it has to end.” His statement suggests that the United States is an outlier in terms of the ease with which it grants citizenship. In fact, at least 30 countries grant automatic citizenship to individuals born within their boundaries. So Trump’s statement is both false (the U.S. is not the only country with this policy) and misleading (this is not a policy that sets us apart from the rest of the world). Now thatap what I call fake news.
Merrill Leavitt, Denver
One voter’s determination
My mother was displaced by fire last week after her downtown Littleton apartment was evacuated then evaluated as uninhabitable.
That didn’t stop her from voting.
This week, I took her to that apartment complex to claim a vital item.
The company in charge of retrieving items from the condemned building swiftly got to work. Within minutes, they brought down my mother’s voting ballot.
We went to a local restaurant and with help from the Blue Book I educated my mother on the ballot issues’ pros and cons.
She completed her ballot with little enthusiasm — being displaced from one’s home is no picnic.
I then drove my mother to the Arapahoe County building, where she dropped off her ballot.
She was unhappy that I took a photograph of the process.
To me, it was a historic image of a proud citizen who has lost her belongings but not her civic duty.
There are no excuses for not voting, especially in a state like Colorado where you can vote so easily.
Vote. Vote. Vote.
Simon Maghakyan, Denver
