Rough Christmas
To the editor:
It’s that time of year when we should be spreading goodwill and relaxing by the Christmas tree. But it’s not so for everyone. Last Friday, Dec. 17, my next-door neighbors, Margie and George Stordahl, came home from work to find their home had been burglarized.
The presents under the Christmas tree were gone. Gone, too, was all the cash in the house and much of their jewelry, including Margie’s wedding rings – gold band and diamond ring, each from different sides of the family with 100-plus years of history and generations past. No insurance payout or new ring can replace those. The house had been turned upside down, drawers ripped open and personal belongings and effects thrown about. Every Christmas will evoke the painful and angry memories of one of the cruelest of violations.
Margie is usually one of the most festive people I know. You know the type – a Christmas outfit for every day, the perfectly decorated house. She’s now completely deflated. Rather than planning parties and get-togethers, they spent this past Saturday (Dec. 18) driving along U.S. Highway 192 checking all local area pawn shops looking for Margie’s rings and anything else they could find.
Margie is devastated, George feels helpless and I’m angry. Margie and George are my best friends and the hardest working couple I know. They leave their home each day around daybreak and usually return between 7 and 8 p.m. each night. They’re good people and they didn’t deserve this.
I’m asking you to share with your audience that even though the holidays are filled with fun and laughter, everyone should still be careful to keep their homes, cars, purses and personal belongings secured and safe. There are too many people who are desperate and taking desperate measures to satisfy their own needs at the cost of others. And in some cases, they’ll force their way into your home to take what you’ve worked hard for and earned.
I’d be grateful if people could simply send along a note of encouragement and well wishes in hope of restoring a measure of the holiday spirit for Margie and George. Better still, any contribution or donation to help them rebuild some kind of Christmas would reaffirm the spirit of Christmas. Cards and donations may be sent to Margie and George directly: 3158 Pinto Drive, Kissimmee, FL 34746.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter and to remind friends and neighbors to be alert and safe this holiday season and to share the spirit of the holidays with best friends.
Jo Ann Ferrari
Kissimmee

Who should go?
To the editor:
It seems to me that the two Osceola County commissioners who terminated the two county employees, for economic reasons, had personal problems with them.
The county attorney and the county auditor, who had a combined amount of service of over 20 years, deserved better than what they got. Not that $300,000 each in severance pay is bad, but to sit there and say that the termination of the two was to save money is unheard of, especially when the only two commissioners trying to save money get an extra $100,000 a year for expenses. This is on top of the $70,000-plus that they get for being commissioners. Maybe they should be terminated from the position that they hold.
There again lies the problem — they do what they want, to whom they want to do it to, when they want to.
Richard Appleton
Kissimmee