Speak out about shootings

This week’s mass shooting at Nashville’s Covenant School is disturbing on many fronts (“Kids, adults killed in Nashville,” Page A5, March 28).

One clearly is the hypocrisy of the Republican congressman who represents the district where the tragedy happened. Rep. Andrew Ogles sent out a Christmas card one year with him and his family all holding assault rifles and claiming that being armed keeps away evil. Mr. Ogles’ “thoughts and prayers” ring hollow now.

If Rep. Ogles was right — that the presence of firearms holds back evil — then how does he explain the plethora of mass shootings in Texas, where gun ownership is high, yet Sutherland Springs, El Paso and Uvalde all happened, to name just a few? It’s baloney.

Our nation had 647 mass shootings last year and so far this year 129, and we have more than 20 million assault weapons in civilian circulation. To start, we need to ban or restrict all assault weapons as we do fully automatic machine guns. The Nashville shooter had two such firearms. Thoughts and prayers don’t work. God isn’t listening. It’s a manmade problem. It’s time to man up to fix it.

Moreover, Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn was yet another craven Republican in Congress who voted against the gun reform law that passed in the wake of Uvalde. She’s received more than $1 million from the NRA.

The status quo isn’t working. Tell your federal and state lawmakers how you feel. Silence enables the next tragedy with firearms.

Bob Williamson

Gun Sense VT board member
South Woodstock

Shaker Bridge Theatre’s move to White River Junction

We are thrilled to announce that starting in August, the Briggs Opera House in White River Junction will be the new home of Shaker Bridge Theatre. It is our main purpose/goal to continue our 15-year mission of producing powerful, intimate, contemporary theater for the greater Upper Valley.

We’d like to assure everyone that Shaker Bridge will continue to work with the mission of both the opera house and JAM (Junction Arts & Media) in helping to foster community arts in the Upper Valley. The doors of BOH will be kept wide open to all arts venues wishing to share our home. As a theater with a five-play season (25 weeks), the remaining 27 weeks interspersed throughout the year will be available to everyone looking for performance space. If you’ve used this space before or are looking for new performance space, nothing will change other than the calendar. Performers and arts groups will continue to work with JAM in White River Junction to reserve and request time and space.

Without this continuous support, help, talent and wisdom of JAM as the venue management organization supervising all creative and performing arts activities coming in and out of the theater, Shaker Bridge could not have taken this huge step. We are grateful to be working together hand in hand. So find your dates, reserve them through JAM and let’s fill the calendar and the opera house with performances you won’t want to miss.

We truly are thrilled to be here.

Joan Ecker

on behalf of Shaker Bridge Theatre

Seeking clarity on WOKE warning

I would like to sincerely thank Mr. Szelowski for alerting us all to the incipient dangers of a WOKE society (“The WOKE religion,” March 27). It would be a great help if he could define the dangers that we are facing, so we know what to look out for. We look forward very much to his pointed and factual reply, that will constitute a great public service.

Thank you.

Paul Cooker

Chelsea

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