Published in the Hood River News letters to the editor, Nov 6, 2002, as 'Dignity' Thanks

I'm writing to say how pleased and surprised we of Dignity Village were at the great welcome we received from the people of Hood River when we attended the opening night performance of Les Miserables there last Friday night. We had no idea when we left our village out here by the Portland airport what to expect when we got to Hood River, much less that the students of HRVHS were performing in part for our benefit.

We'd like to give special thanks to Reverend Susan Princehouse and the members of the Riverside Community Church for the warm and beautiful place they provided for us and the supper they prepared for us and to Leslie Hoover Lauble for her apple crisp dessert and the baskets of Hood River apples. We thank Lee and Kathy Larson of the Larson Legacy who provided the transportation and made our trip to Hood River possible. We thank the members of the Hood River News who shared supper with us on Friday night and also for the space they shared with Dignity in their paper reporting the visit of the Les Mis cast to our village. We thank Mark Steigner who reserved the VIP seats for us and who draws such amazing musical gifts from the students he directs.

We'd also and especially like to thank the students of the cast of Les Mis who we understand voted to give the Friday performance incomes to the Oregon Food Bank and to Dignity Village. We were awed by their performance and by the power of the music and the play and we took something home with us that night that many of us will never forget. It was truly an incredible experience.

We thank you Hood River for your kindness and wonderful hospitality.

Yours truly,
Jack Tafari, chairman.
Dignity Village.