Blue Shadows Farm: A Novel

12. School Board Meeting—October 2000

71 Emma October 2000 Link Lake High School Ashley Anderson, true to her promise, filed a complaint with the Link Lake School District about what had happened on the field trip to my farm. She also wrote a letter to the newspaper, which I read with great interest. Dear Editor: Field trips into nature, such as the one my daughter Jenny experienced recently, are dangerous, unpredictable, and should be permanently suspended. My daughter still wakes up in the middle of the night screaming about the terror she experienced when lightning struck a huge tree and it literally exploded in front of her. I have two younger daughters, and I do not want to subject them to the trauma Jenny experienced in the name of environmental education. My husband and I have asked the Link Lake School District to eliminate these perilous and ill-planned trips. 12 School Board Meeting Either the school district makes the appropriate decision or my husband and I will be forced to take legal action. Signed, Ashley Anderson “What a crock,” I said out loud when I finished reading the letter in the paper. When I arrived at the high school that dreary October evening, I saw Ashley and her husband, Jacob, sitting in the front row of chairs in the multimedia center—I still call it the library. I suspect everyone in the area knows the Andersons. Jacob owns Ames County Real Estate and has clients throughout the county and beyond. I heard that Ashley quit her job as a realtor there when their first daughter was born. That’s when she became a professional volunteer; it’s what I call her anyway. Let’s see, she serves on the Link Lake Library board, volunteers with the Link Lake Historical Society, and is president of the Link Lake Women’s Club. I may have missed some. Oh, and of course she volunteers at the middle school. I remember when the Andersons moved here from Milwaukee twelve years ago. They were treated as newcomers, of course, and still are. That’s the way people are around here. Unless you are born here, you’re a newcomer—forever. I’ll give it to the Andersons. They’ve worked hard to fit in and contribute to the community, even though Ashley’s head seems screwed on cockeyed some days. I counted about thirty folding chairs in the room. Fifteen people turned out for the meeting; I suspect some of them were there because they’d read Ashley’s letter in the paper. Joe Crawford, looking uncomfortable in a sports jacket and tie (I’d never seen him in a tie), came in after I did and sat down beside me. “What do you make of all this?” he whispered to me. “Don’t know,” I whispered back. “Can’t believe this is happening,” he said. 72 School Board Meeting—October 2000 73 School Board Meeting—October 2000 Kate Dugan, with her notepad at the ready, slid in beside Joe. “How you doin’ Joe?” I overheard her say. I noticed she touched him on the arm. I thought something might be going on between these two. They make a nice-looking couple. I spotted some parents whose kids had been on the hike and who had gardens at my place—they were strong supporters of nature hikes. I knew most of the other people, some not well. After dealing with several routine board items, Ruth Prescott, school board president, glanced down at the papers in front of her and began speaking. Prescott, a tall, thin, intense woman, on the dark side of forty, ran a gift shop in downtown Link Lake. A strand of loose hair, which she unconsciously pushed back from time to time, hung down the side of her face. “Next, we need to discuss a complaint we’ve received from one of our parents. As you know it concerns a recent nature hike at Emma Starkweather’s farm. Emma is here this evening. First, I want to thank her for the many years she has allowed children to visit her farm. Her generosity has made a great contribution to the Link Lake community. Emma, do you have any comment before we go on?” “Thank you,” I said as I stood up. I glanced at some notes I’d earlier made, guessing I might be asked to say something. “I believe strongly that the only...