To the Editor:
In my opinion, two-thirds of Keith M. Johnson's recent letter to the editor is a bit off. In the first paragraph, he gives credit to three named groups, plus others, for being the only contributors towards having a 4th of July fireworks display. Fine! Give credit where credit is due. This constitutes the okay one-third.
In the next paragraph, he goes on about how the Fond du Lac Reservation Business Committee (RBC) didn't give any money to Cloquet to help out with the cost of the city's fireworks display, although acknowledging in past years that the RBC has donated around $7,000 each year. How many years? In 2003-2008 (and other years?) the RBC generously paid for most, if not all, of the entire cost of the fireworks displays for these years.
In 2008, RBC informed the city that due to the economic downturn, the RBC would in all probability be unable to fund the 2009 fireworks display as before and, therefore, the city should seek monies elsewhere. Fair notice, I'd say. How Mr. Johnson arrived at a figure of $30,000 for "their own, private fireworks display this past Sunday" (June 28, annual tribal enrollee event) is beyond me. That's about four to five times what the costs were before. Didn't Moose Lake state that their fireworks display was around $4,000 (from a previous issue of Pine Journal)?
As for funding a "private" fireworks display, how can a display of exploding fireworks several hundred feet up in the air be private? I've heard that the roads and parking lots were jammed full of viewers. If it were really a "private" display, then should the non-tribal members turn around and not look? And if a tribal member was half Native American and half something else, was he/she supposed to only watch half of the show?
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I suspect that Mr. Johnson may have an intolerant attitude or perhaps an ax to grind.
Harvey Danielson
Bloomington, Minn.
