BrandonInfo.com

What is your pet peeve of the day? Mine is television commercials whose volume makes my ears bleed. I’m not going to go to the kitchen for a sandwich every single time a commercial comes on. And if I do, I can turn up the volume myself to make sure I can hear the advertising while I’m in the next room.

The Brandon Valley School District recently conducted a general satisfaction survey. The results will be released soon, and I am writing a story about the survey for the May 5 Brandon Valley Challenger.

Did you take the survey? If so, would you be willing to comment about your answers to the satisfaction questions? For example, for “I believe that students are safe at school,” did you put “strongly agree,” “agree,” “disagree” or “strongly disagree”? And why?

I would have to be able to use your name in my story. No matter what your answers are, you have a right to your opinion and your reasons behind it. My story could appear to be one sided if no parents comment for it. Won’t you please contact me at 331-2376 or apthiele@argusleader.com?

Thank you.

Alica P. Thiele

Brandon Valley Challenger reporter

I didn’t make it to the middle school wax museum, but after seeing the pictures and reading the story, I wish I could have been there. Did you go? What did you think of it?

Students portrayed a wide variety historical figures such as cartoonist Charles Schultz, movie star Marilyn Monroe, conquerer Alexander the Great, Hawaiian royalty Queen Liliuokalani and basketball legen Wilt Chamberlain. I think if I had to portray a historical figure, I might choose gospel singer Mahalia Jackson. She was known as the Queen of Gospel and sang at Martin Luther King Jr.’s funeral. What a great, powerful voice she had. Or I might portray Whistler’s Mother, mostly because I’d get to sit down the whole evening. It’d be hard to remain motionless standing as a wax museum statue, waiting for someone to drop coins into my bucket to activate me. Hard on the knees, I’d think.

What historical figure would you portray?

Do you plan to attend the band supper this Saturday? I do. Will take some photos for the paper and this Web site.

For six years, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, I played in the band during the band supper, which was called the turkey supper back then. I played clarinet all through school. Many, many years later, my brother turned my clarinet into a lamp. I use it every day.

Do you have memories of band suppers past?

A group of people on east Redwood Boulevard have asked the city to pave their gravel road.

They don’t want to be annexed into the city, though.

Do you think the city should do it? Assuming, of course, that it’s legal. The city doesn’t own the road in question. The county and township do.

The residents have asked the county and township to pave the road and have been told the county and the township doesn’t have enough money to do so. It costs about $1 million per mile to pave a road, city officials have said.

If you think the city should pave the road, do you think the properties should come into the city limits?

Do you use that portion of road? What do you think of it?

A couple of prom events will raise money to give to others.

Ticket sales to Dancing With The Staff, on Thursday, will go to Brandon Valley teachers Diane and Troy Sturgeon, who are adopting a baby boy from China. The money will help defray their travel expenses to China.

Celebration United Methodist Church is holding a dinner for students on Saturday before prom. Ticket sales from that event will go toward youth activities at the church.

Another activity, the after-prom party, isn’t being held this year.
Some people might think that these activities help students help others as they celebrate themselves. Others might think that prom should be all about the students who attend. In which camp are you, or do you have some other take on the whole prom thing?

The victim of a murder Tuesday lived in Harrisburg, but he worked in Brandon. Clint Vanderpoel worked at Crimson Fire. Did you know him? What kind of a person was he?

If you know anything about his suspected killer, Kari Jo McFarlane that might help police make sense of Vanderpoel’s murder, please contact your local law enforcement.

I got my packet yesterday from a worthy charitable cause, asking me to stuff, sign and mail a bunch of donation requests to my neighbors. Do you ever get asked to do this? Do you say yes?

In this case, I said yes because I have the condition in question. Other times, I have tried to beg off, saying I never get any response. But the people from the charitable organization say it’s important to get the word out, even if they don’t get back donations.

Do you think these campaigns where a neighbor sends out the literature are a good idea? Why or why not?

What a crowd at Saturday’s Easter egg hunt at Aspen Park. Cars were parked all the way down the drive, clear to the entrance at Nicholas Avenue. Did you go?

Was it all you expected it to be? Did you children have fun? I never went to a big public Easter egg hunt like that when I was growing up. I’m not sure they even had them. My brother, sister and I did hunt for M&Ms at our house, though. (I didn’t like jelly beans. Still don’t.) We called it “I Spy.”

If you went to Aspen Park Saturday, and if you got one of the plastic eggs with a note in it saying you won a prize, what was the prize? I’m curious.