In response to Al Majher’s letter of Oct. 19, “Mayor should practice what he preaches,” which asks where the money from Thunder in the Valley goes: The region’s businesses derive the greatest benefit.

Revenue from official merchandise, vendor space and beer sales at the outdoor pubs is used by the Johnstown/Cambria County Convention & Visitors Bureau to cover rally expenses, which total nearly a half-million dollars. The notion that the city, or the visitors bureau, is awash in cash from Thunder is a serious misperception.

Johnny Hiland was scheduled more than six months in advance to play at the rally. A national award-winning guitarist, Hiland made his second appearance at Thunder and his third in Johnstown.

Hiland has developed a special fondness for Johnstown and he decided to record his live CD/video here, an excellent PR opportunity for Johnstown. Mayor Tom Trigona was asked to issue a special proclamation of “Johnny Hiland Day” on June 26, and the mayor agreed.

Majher notes that Hiland’s performance was scheduled the same time as the Donnie Iris concert at Point Stadium. “How could that happen?” he asked. The answer is that the Iris concert was booked by the promoter only two weeks in advance of the show, and after Thunder’s entertainment schedule had long been finalized.

The visitors bureau works year-round to plan and promote Thunder, and now it is one of America’s top motorcycle rallies.

Any event, whether large or small, has little chance of success without proper planning and promotion.

Lisa M. Rager

Executive Director

Greater Johnstown/Cambria County

Convention & Visitors Bureau



Racism continues across the country

There is a conspiratorial “conservative” campaign committed completely to the demonization of President Obama under way in this country. The wheels of this Caucasian-inspired campaign have been greased by Bible-thumping, born-again bigots and frenzied fascist fools, who spread their manipulative, mindless messages over the airwaves and get paid well for doing this.

And apparently many believe this nonsense. In the recent Robert Parker novel, “The Professional,” one character states that people believe what they need to believe, and I think that there is some truth here. Personally, I think that those who believe that Obama is some sort of Marxist, or that he is destroying the country, or that communism is well on the way believe this stuff because they need to believe it.

Obama is the commander in chief of American capitalism. He is not a radical reformer or a progressive. He is, politically speaking, a centrist, and some of his policies are no different from those of the Bush regime.

Then there is the question of skin color.

I think many people view Obama as the other, as someone who is not a genuine American, due to his skin color. This is not a color-blind society, and good old-fashioned racism continues all across the country.

The point of this racism is to divide the workers and prevent a unified mass movement to turn things around.

I think that the main threat to this democracy lies in the fact that much of the criticism of Obama sounds like stuff from the National Socialist White People’s Party Web site.

Nick Brisini

Hastings



Thank you for the historical articles

Thank you, Tribune-Democrat, for the articles about the presidents and the 50 states that were in the paper. We looked forward to getting the paper each day. My granddaughter, Katy, was very interested in the history of each item. I got sheet protectors and put them in a binder.

The books turned out very nice.

The information was great and we learned a lot of things we didn’t know.

Gwendolyn Montgomery

Gray



Send holiday cheer to our nation’s troops

The holidays are a special time of year when people around the world gather with family and loved ones. But it is also a great time of year to remember the many men and women, their families and veterans who may be separated or far from home.

Between Nov. 2 and Dec. 7 you are invited to send holiday cards with messages of thanks and support. Red Cross volunteers and Pitney Bowes will screen, sort and deliver your card to military bases and veteran and military hospitals across the United States and around the world.

Visit www.redcross.org/holidaymail for details on how you can send a card. Once you’ve read the guidelines, mail your card by Dec. 7 to: Holiday mail for heroes, P.O. Box 5456, Capitol Heights, Md. 20791-5456. Cards postmarked after Dec. 7 cannot be guaranteed delivery.

Spread the word to your friends, family and neighbors, and let’s send a bit of holiday cheer to our servicemen and women, veterans and their families around the world in gratitude for their service.

Colleen Sherman

Executive director of American Red Cross, Keystone Chapter



Texting is horrible communication habit

When talking in a group of friends, it is not uncommon for one or more of them to pull out their cell phones, check their text messages and respond to them. The texter acts as if the people they are conversing with face to face are far less important than the text they just received seconds earlier. Not only is this situation built on horrible communication habits, but it also shows a lack of respect to the people around them. By dialing letters and symbols into cell phones, people are losing the basis of our English language.

Respect for the language that we speak is being degraded and simplified to a point that is unnecessary.

Texting has been taken to an extreme and is a bad advancement when considering the danger it creates while driving. Not only are drivers putting themselves at risk for an accident, but by continually glancing at their cell phones to dial a text message, they are diverting their attention from the road.

If people could see these negative and dangerous aspects of texting, our way of communication by talking to others, writing and driving safety would be preserved and safeguarded. Texters need to realize how disrespectful it is to carry on a text conversation and a live conversation at the same time. Only when people notice the harmful effects that excessive texting has will they limit their texts and regret abusing this way of communication.

Rosalie Sossong

Mineral Point