BUILDING SUPPORT FOR ART

Alas! The giant crane is gone from Cannery Row. For me it was a magnificent conceptual work of art. I was so hoping it would become the outdoor sculpture in front of the new hotel.

A grant from the Community Foundation For Monterey County could have paid for the crane. Rotating sub-sculptures could have been hung from the crane such as a garbage truck, 20-foot-by-20-foot seagulls, a giant cup of clam chowder, a 40-foot-high sculpture of former mayor of Monterey, Dan Albert, etc. Such a world-class art work would have brought us more tourists than sardines. But it can still happen. A big hotel is coming to Seaside. —Ed Leeper | Monterey

BROWN TURNS UP HEAT

Thanks for the article on Jerry Brown’s action against San Bernadino County and how it might happen here [“Feeling the Heat,” Aug. 2-8]. I hope so. It’s pathetic that it would take a lawsuit by the AG to force Monterey County to consider what effect its sprawl-beneficial planning has on the environment.

Considering the back-handed, sneaky way the county supervisors try to subvert the citizens’ wishes, it would be nice if he’d sue them for other things as well. But, we can at least hope that a climate change lawsuit could begin to get some sensible land use planning in this as yet relatively unspoiled area. —Derek Greenwood | Pacific Grove

PG FESTIVAL IS NOT RACIST

Lets get something clear now: The Feast of Lanterns story is a fairy tale and/or legend, your choice. It is not meant to honor nor dishonor the Chinese people, any more than going to an Italian restaurant is meant to instruct you on that culture, or going to see the play >>Brigadoon is meant as an accurate portrayal of the Scottish. We all should recognize the Chinese community as one of the original settlers of this area along with others. Were they treated unfairly? History has already made that judgment.

The Feast of Lanterns was begun by the Methodist inhabitants of PG. It was to celebrate the end of the season here. Through the years it had many different faces. Today, it is a five-day long event meant to bring the community together for fun. The pageant itself is really a small part of the celebration. Many people who attend have done so for years and wait for the opportunity to boo the Mandarin and cheer the lovers. The pageant is based on the story behind a china pattern, not Chinese history. It should also be noted that the legend is available in story-book form at the PG library.

The Feast of Lanterns is a long list of people who have worked very hard to bring to our city diverse events that can be enjoyed by all. Why? To give young people of PG some much needed money for the time they are ready to go on to college. The monies made during the event go into a scholarship fund.

Please stop turning this into some sort of ethnic debate. The people who have worked so hard over the years and the young people who participate do not deserve to be labeled as bigots. —Sue Renz | Pacific Grove

TROUBLING HISTORY IS RECOGNIZED

It’s good that Kera Abraham’s article [“History Burns,” July 26-Aug. 1] and the resultant letters about the Feast of Lanterns are opening a dialogue between some Asian communities and the Feast organizers.

Letter-writer L.W. Wong and Stanford grad student Bryn Williams should visit the Chautauqua Years exhibit at Pacific Grove City Hall to see that the city does indeed embrace the Chinese-American community. There are scores of photos of the original Chinatown residents, and displays that touch on the Exclusion Act, the participation of the Chinese in the first Feast in 1905, and the 1906 fire. It’s also available as an online exhibit at: pgmuseum.org/archives/exhibit/china~1.htm. andpgmuseum.org/archives/exhibit/feast~1.htm

The Chinatown fire also figured in a 2006 exhibit at the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History about the local effects of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire.

The Museum also archived and makes available C.K. Tuttle’s portraits of about 100 of the village residents—men, women, and children. These portraits are available for research at the Museum, and they are also online. The photos are a fascinating record of the real people who may have inspired the amalgam that is the modern-day Feast. —Esther Trosow | Pacific Grove