Take a moment this holiday for the troops

On the front page of today's Eagle you'll see a hard-to-misinterpret reminder of what we're celebrating this Friday. Somewhere amidst all the fireworks and boating and beer, we're celebrating these faces and the ones who came before them.

When Kim Jones brought in her binder of soldiers' pictures to talk with me last week, it took more than a little reassurance to convince her to leave it with me and my scanner. You see, she only has one copy of these pictures and to call them precious to her would be a great misuse of the word. The binder borders on sacred, and it should be so to all of us.

The story of Bigfork's adoption of these soldiers speaks volumes for this community and should be commended, as I hope we've done here.

Seeing all these faces should also serve as a stark reminder of who is out there defending what we enjoy. For all their bluster, politicians matter so little it's difficult to comprehend. These men and women — some of whom still look more like boys and girls — are the ones placing their lives on the line.

It seems so simple, then, to support them. An e-mail or a box full of $10 worth of silly items that somehow become priceless across the world. But I'll be the first to admit my negligence in that support. I walk by the magazine drop-off at Rosauer's in Kalispell and think each time, "I should really bring some up here to send." But I haven't.

I have a many friends, and a few dear ones, who are stationed in combat zones or sailing toward them right now, but I find I rarely return their e-mails promptly.

So on this, the 232nd anniversary of the signing of one of mankind's greatest documents, take a minute and make sure you do something. Bake some cookies, write a letter or pile up those (recent) magazines to take to a drop-off. These faces are sons and daughters and husbands and wives and friends, and we'd want them to do it for us too.

Take it slow

At the risk of sounding more like my mother than I already do, take heed, Bigfork, and drive slow this weekend. The Eagle's fax machine has been burning the last few weeks with reports of car accidents, ATV accidents and all manner of crashes around the valley that have resulted in injuries or worse.

With the village packed and, shall we say, lubricated, take extra care and time moving around on the roads. Remember, no one is so important that they can't be five minutes late.

—Alex Strickland