Give Ramona Its Due

In the April 17 edition, Hilliard Harper wrote an article titled “Tutus and 4-H.” I would suggest that Hilliard Harper do his homework more carefully before he develops foot-in-mouth disease. He has used quotes quite liberally in his article, obviously without checking on their authenticity. That is a real no-no in reporting.

I am not at all sure who appointed Louis and Dana Montes de Oca as the cup bearers of culture for Ramona. It is true that they do not do the buck and wing, or the Virginia reel, or the schottisch, but I assure Mr. Harper that no one I know has even seen these dances, much less participated in them. I would think that the Virginia reel is not the latest dance fad anywhere. I truly have not seen a buck and wing since Shirley Temple danced with Bill Robinson.

Such comments as “teaching ballet in Marlboro country (Ramona) is slightly less difficult than roller skating in a buffalo herd” will hardly endear the Montes de Ocas to the community. (And shame on you for plagiarism! That line is right out of a Roger Miller song!) To imply that the people of Ramona consider the ballet as “arts and crafts” is not only untrue, it is sarcastic. We have a series of community concerts and a series of chamber music concerts, and no one has suggested that they fall under that category.

I would like to point out to Mr. Harper that Mrs. Joyce O’Steen’s comment that “it’s difficult to take people who have been raised here and put them with metropolitan-thinking people” is not only in poor taste, but is condescending and arrogant. Not being interested in the ballet does not predispose the residents of Ramona to illiteracy and an intellectual vacuum. Ramona is a small, rural town, but its demography is many-faceted and it might have been more professional for Mr. Harper to have investigated his sources.

Mr. Harper owes an apology to the entire community of Ramona and especially to the doctors, attorneys, artists and craftsmen and other professionals who dedicate their time and energy to bettering Ramona, but whose talents do not lie in the field of dance.

There is an old adage that says “if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” I would suggest that the Montes de Ocas consider why they came to Ramona in the first place.

MADELEINE MEGGITT

Ramona