Dear Editor:
Since the Jan. 11 letter to the editor, City's Concert Budget Excessive, was an "open letter to the City of North Vancouver mayor and council" and I am a resident of North Vancouver and mentioned in the letter I feel obliged to respond.
Dear Sue Lakes Cook:
I'm not sure what point you are trying to make here. You certainly don't have all your facts straight. All the performers you mentioned in your letter have donated their services at some point or another for great causes, but that wasn't the case for this series of shows. I was paid.
What I got from reading this letter is that you care more about the sidewalks in North Vancouver than you do about it's artists. I would have to say that the sidewalk infrastructure in North Vancouver is pretty darn good relative to about 95 per cent of the world's street curbs. There's no proof to that statistic, it's just a rough guess, but you know what I mean.
Vince Vacarro, John Mann, Jim Byrnes, Kendel Carson and myself are all natives of the Lower Mainland or at least have spent a good part of their lives residing here, and I think it's great that the City of North Vancouver put on a series of outdoor free concerts. Free meaning at no charge for the public to enjoy, a gift from the city. North Vancouver, especially Lower Lonsdale is growing at a very rapid pace and community building is extremely important for the future. Bringing your friends/kids/ parents/grandparents out to a free music concert where local artists are displaying their work for a face to face encounter with all walks of your community does wonders for the community and has lasting benefits in the future.
Furthermore, it is so hard for musicians to make money doing what we do so that when I hear someone go to the press to voice their displeasure with their city council putting a few bucks into its local artists' pockets, I take it a bit personal.
Dustin Bentall North Vancouver
