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North Fork is rich in culture

Letter to the Editor for July 9, 2009 edition

(Updated: Thursday, July 09, 2009, 6:20 PM)

Dear Editor,

This is in response to an article published on May 28, 2009, titled, "Grandiose realities" by Angelica Cano, Community Correspondent. The article was about Mary Lou Finley, an Oakhurst resident.

I am very disappointed in Mary Lou's comment about her birthplace North Fork, "Which is the exact center of the state of California and there's nothing there. It looks exactly the same as it did 50 years ago. No wonder I left."

Ms. Finley's comment is not only disrespectful to our residents of North Fork, but also unwarranted. If she had such grandiose realities, then why did she return to Oakhurst, in which, years ago was a quiet little mountain community like North Fork. Why did she not live in Las Vegas, Hollywood or New York where she could continue her "grandiose realities."

I was born and raised in North Fork as were my parents Ted Davis and the late Dorothy Haggard Davis. The community of North Fork loves the way we are. We are very rich in culture and tradition.

I personally know Ms. Finley, as she grew up and went to school with my father at Sierra High School and was a friend of my mother. Some close friends and I were reading this article recently and we all were taken aback by Ms. Finley's comments. North Fork decided years ago to remain the quiet little mountain community it was and is today.

Ms. Finley also stated that she loves Oakhurst because of the people and the fresh air. North Fork also has people, great people, and we also have fresh air. Our air is probably fresher because we do not have a major highway racing through our community where automobiles are polluting the air and traffic most of the time is ridiculous.

Because we do not have four or five stop lights, just a few stop signs, or because we do not have a Long's Drug Store, McDonalds or Starbucks, this makes us less adequate? Ms. Finley surely did not actually intend to disrespect my community, but hopefully in the future she will think twice before making such a statement about the beautiful community of North Fork and the Sierra Star will also think twice about including such a negative statement in an article.

Jacquie Davis-Van Huss, North Fork