A friend recently sent me an article written in some publication (it didn’t say which one) about the mail delivery to the most remote community in the United States. The author was Sarah Yager and again, I don’t know where she wrote the article. It told about the mail delivery to the town of Supai, AZ in the depths of the Grand Canyon. A man named Chamberlain has been taking the mail down to the village by means of six mules. Once upon a time, the people of Supai were pretty selfsufficient, but some legislation restricted their village to a small number of acres and they could not support themselves any longer. Then tourism began and when people started coming down to the village and wanting to stay, the economy of the Supai people became totally dependent on the business. Five days a week, Mr. Chamberlain, and now his nephew, lead six mules down a several thousand mile zig-zagging trail to Supai, delivers their mail and sometimes goods, and takes outgoing mail back up. Helicopters can take tourists down at times when the weather is ok, but mules are the most dependable. The author of the article mentioned at the end that the people of Supai are a bit worried now when they hear the President talking about streamlining the postal service. The possibility looms that this mail delivery by mule train may be stopped. Anyway, it was a really interesting story.
If you haven’t heard already, Bingo for Seniors is no more. The main problem which led to the announcement by one of the couple who have been hosting the games was that 24/7 access to the Belle River Community Center was wanted requested that the board members to publicly say why they did not feel this was necessary. A very, very lengthy, detailed speech was given at the July 28 recreation board meeting, citing all the details from months and years back about unfair treatment.
All who attended the meeting, including Bingo participants, listened to this long, long diatribe and the board patiently listened and then voted not give 24/7 access to the building as they did not feel it was needed. Truthfully, and this I doubt people knew, the board had already given an access code for every Bingo day but the host had refused to use it, as a protest I guess.
Anyway, at the Aug. 5 Bingo, another manifesto was read saying the couple would not be hosting Bingo for Seniors anymore citing disrespect as the reason. An invitation for anyone else to take over was presented, but no one volunteered. At least not yet.
The whole episode is so sad. A whole lot of people are now deprived of a fun day out because this one person didn’t get what they wanted. I personally think the board has been more than generous and patient for years. They have always supported the Bingo games, going out of their way to be accommodating. Not to mention they have not charged the couple a penny for using the BR building for 10 years. And they just added more handicapped parking spots at the site. I just wanted you to know that the recreation board is totally in favor of the Bingo games—always have been. So, no matter what you hear, just know that the recreation board is not the cause of this No Bingo.
Teche News’ Lower St. Martin correspondent, Linda Cooke, can be emailed at lindacooke1939@gmail. com.
