Letter: Father’s Day reminder to stand against MidStates Corridor

This past Sunday was Father’s Day. Although it’s not as emotionally charged as Mother’s Day, it should be. My father, Bob Arvin, was a career soldier (33 years in the Army), a war hero (awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for action on Corregidor and was a Japanese POW for 3 1/2 years) and a lifelong Democrat. However, he was a conservative Democrat, and as a Martin County Councilman in the early 1970s, he fought against the federal food stamps program. He fought the food stamps program because he believed, rightly so, that people would make the wrong decisions about what food to buy for their families. He felt the commodities program gave the families better, healthier food. After he passed away in 1974, Martin County, one of the last counties in the state to oppose the food stamps program, was forced onto the federal program.

It is people like my father who are willing to put partisan politics aside and do what they are elected to to do. Our Martin County representatives, for the most part, are opposed to the MidStates Corridor because it is not in the best interest of their constituents or the community. The MidStates Corridor, as currently proposed, will bypass Loogootee and all of Martin and Daviess County. This will not bode well for either counties’ economies.

As I said in the beginning, Father’s Day should be celebrated with as much emotion as Mother’s Day because without our fathers, most of us would not have had male role models. It was our fathers, grandfathers and Founding Fathers that brought us this great country. It was through their sacrifices that we have been blessed with a country rich in heritage and opportunity. Without their foresight and guidance, we would be in a much different country. Let’s not forget them and continue to say “No” to the MidStates Corridor.

Jim Arvin
Rutherford Township
Martin County