Letters

Too Many Hugs
My husband and I just returned from a yearly trip that we treasure. We spend 18 days around Memorial Day and three days on Labor Day weekend in Kerrville attending the folk festival. It is the safest, most peaceful 21 days we experience each year. Last Saturday, I picked up the Houston Press and read the article by Jim Sherman [News, “Bad Trip to Kerrville,” June 15] concerning Chris Williamson and his buddies. I was appalled that you would print an article about the festival from Mr. Williamson’s point of view.

The festival, in its 24th year, has never had more than volunteer security because it has never been necessary. There are qualified nurses and EMS personnel on duty 24 hours a day in the campground. The biggest complaint is usually chiggers. The festival is growing. Maybe it’s time to have more security. I’m not sure. I’m not convinced that one incident in a gathering that includes ten days of crowds averaging 6,000 people, constitutes a problem. In years of attending the festival, I have never witnessed any altercation such as the one Mr. Williamson was involved in.

Locally, Sheriff Kaiser is known to create problems to get what she wants. Locals told me she has been unhappy that her deputies are making no money doing off-duty security at the festival. So, she set out this year to show the festival is out of control. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Where is the article that should have been printed? Where is the history of the festival? It has been a joy to hundreds of people for 24 years. More than 200 people give up their vacations each year to volunteer at the festival. They love it enough to want to help make sure it operates smoothly. It’s a place to share genuine feelings and a genuine experience. I’ve heard festivalgoers spend more than $1.3 million in Kerrville each year. So many aspects of the festival — it’s hard to understand why your article about the festival was written from Chris Williamson’s perspective.

I’m sorry Mr. Williamson had a bad experience at Kerrville. I wish everyone could come to the festival and experience it the way my friends and I have for so many years. Unfortunately, coming to the festival can’t change everyone into peaceful, loving individuals. I’ve heard Mr. Williamson may sue the festival. I guess there’s still no way of controlling lawsuit abuse.

I will still recommend the festival to friends. Our children grew up attending the festival, as did many of our friends’ children. The biggest problem with children having free roam of the festival is that other camps are always feeding them. The biggest “problem” I’ve ever had is too many hugs! What problems!!!

Kaye Brillian
Houston

No Surprise in Kerrville
I read with interest your article about the incident at the Kerrville Folk Festival [News, “Bad Trip to Kerrville,” by Jim Sherman, June 15]. My wife and I have been attending the festival for 19 years running. There is no better place to go if you love music, and there’s no denying what Rod Kennedy has done for Texas music and musicians. Our kids love it, too, and we look forward every year to seeing the friends we’ve made along the way.

Having said that, I’d like to also say that the Kerrville regulars have been complaining about the staff and facilities for years. We half jokingly refer to the “security” as the KERRSTAPO. They’ve gotten big heads enforcing Rod’s petty rules. Let them catch you listening to a Rockets game on the radio and it’s, “No radios in the campgrounds!” They spot you taking a whiz behind the tent (rather than walking down to the filthy holes they call restrooms) and it’s, “You need to find a restroom, buddy.” All the while they are entirely unable to handle any real security matter. The descriptions in your article of their unprofessional handling of the incident does not surprise me at all. It was bound to happen sooner or later.

Name Withheld
Houston

Go Rockets!Go Kombucha!
Your article “God, Guns & Kombucha” [News, by Jim Simmon, June 22] says a lot about the sorry state of our national government and how the fringe elements of society as a whole are beginning to “wag the dog.” Mr. Stockman hopefully will be gone at the next election, if the silent majority finally gets out to vote.

Recently, in my decadelong fight against cancer, I’ve turned to all manner of pills, potions and prescriptions to try and find my elusive curing key. Kombucha is only the latest strange concoction now brewing in the kitchen. If it cures me, then a wonder restoration it will be and you’ll have my second letter — if it doesn’t, then it’s on to the next bacterial mix, as this keeps the spirits from failing, despite your opinions!!

But in all honesty it really isn’t Stockman or kombucha that prompts this letter. How in heavens name did someone manage to place such a putdown on your front page? “Guaranteed: You won’t find ONE WORD on the Houston Rockets in this issue.” Are all your readers so anti-Houston that the success of some isn’t worth the congratulations of all? I think not. Is the Press — Houston’s best newspaper — going to deny the existence of success in your own back yard? Shame on you if you are. When society achieves a notable success, the media should hail the cause. Isn’t a noisy crowd of 300,000 to 500,000 fans flailing drunkenly around Richmond without a riot proof that there’s a speck of hope for the next generation? Isn’t 500,000 cheering, chanting fans in downtown some measure of civic pride? Where is the Press amongst this obvious happiness — cowering behind a pitiful little disclaimer. Grow up HP!!

Patrick Wheeler-Holohan
Houston

Editor’s note: No, we got drunk and bought a bunch of T-shirts with what we had left over after the pay-per-view bill. Then we were too hungover and broke to add to the glut of words on the Rockets. That’s all.