Chiming in

To the editor:

I enjoyed the article about Mike Hurst and his dedication to keeping the clock running in the clock tower of the Marion County Courthouse.

This made me think of a time when the clock needed repairs back in the late ’90s. My wife, sweet Linda Peterson, who passed away Sept. 22 of last year, was on the county commission at that time. After she came home from a commission meeting, she asked if I would help her with a project cleaning pigeon dropping from an area below the bell tower.

The clock repair company would not work on the clock until this mess was cleaned up. The louvers and screens were in disrepair and needed to be replaced to prevent this problem in the future.

The county had received an estimate from a hazmat crew in the amount of $10,000 to do the work. Linda thought that was too high and wanted to save the county money. She helped with our hog farm and was not afraid of getting dirty.

Of course, I said I would help her. We wore gloves and masks and also updated our tetanus shots. Some volunteers came to help. I remember that Dennis Maggard was one of them.

I think we filled about 20 large trash bags with the pigeon poop, feathers, and dead birds. It did get loud when the bell rang so close to us.

I have many good memories of sweet Linda making a difference in this world.

Dan R. Peterson, Burdick