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Goodbyes are hard

This letter is to the employees of Peters-Revington Furniture:

I would like to take this opportunity to say THANK YOU for a job well done. At no point in time has it ever been your fault that Peters-Revington Furniture decided to close its doors as a manufacturing facility and become a distribution center. It is with much sadness that I had to tell all of you goodbye on May 30. My heart and prayers go out to each of you as you begin this new chapter in your lives.

For those of you who are staying on I would like to offer you my prayers and continued support as you strive to make this a success. I, too, will be leaving Peters-Revington Furniture on June 27 after 28 1.2 years of service and will be opening a new chapter in my life as most of you have. It is very hard to say goodbye since most of you I may never see again, and most of you I have formed a family bond with over the years.

I would like to say a special thank you to the management of Peters-Revington Furniture for your continued support and all the time, effort and sleepless nights that you have put into this transition as the doors became closed on a landmark of Carroll County.

Peters-Revington Furniture was a great place to work. They cared about their employees just like they were their own family members. Bruce Hankins Delphi

Opposes variance

We are writing on behalf of Camden residents and other members of the Deer Creek Coalition, citizens of Carroll County and neighboring counties interested in safeguarding the integrity of our watershed and its historical heritage. While we are not against the development of the hog industry in Carroll County per se, we are strongly opposed to a proposal to locate a 4000-hog CAFO in extremely close proximity to a sensitive environmental area on Deer Creek.

The site being proposed on Deer Creek is approximately 1 and 1/2 miles upstream of downtown Camden. It is clearly inappropriate for both environmental and historical reasons. It is not only very close to the creek but immediately adjacent to the floodplain. We believe it represents an unacceptable environmental risk and even the possibility of a public health issue since, unfortunately, Deer Creek is well known to overflow its banks all to often onto adjacent properties and homes downstream.

The proposed CAFO site also directly adjoins two historically significant properties on Deer Creek just outside Camden. Immediately to the west of the proposed site, the Martin's Hoosier Homestead Farm has been in the family since 1834 - for fully six generations. Immediately to the east of the proposed CAFO site is another historically significant property: the Musselman homestead settled in 1841, a stately brick dwelling with its old-time brick summer kitchen and spring house. In addition, the nearby Lower Deer Creek Church of the Brethren was established in 1828. Such properties are an important part of our community's historical legacy and clearly represent a heritage worth preserving.

We encourage everyone concerned with safeguarding the integrity of Deer Creek and the historical heritage of Carroll County to attend next week's meeting of the Board of Zoning Appeals. The meeting will be held in the Carroll County Courthouse in Delphi at 7 p.m. on June 24. Please help us to speak out against the developer's request for a variance that would excuse this ill-advised project from existing zoning ordinances that are meant to protect neighboring property owners. We encourage everyone concerned with protecting Deer Creek - as well as preserving historically significant properties such as the Martin and Musselman homesteads of 1834 and 1841 - to attend the meeting and oppose the CAFO being proposed on this site. Christian & Julie Knoeller Camden