Letter to the Editor; Open Doors, Inc.
Dear Editor:
Rumors and opinions! Rumors belong to everyone. But a person’s opinions always remains their own!
Rumors can be fascinating, because each time they get passed along, they always grow a little bit. This seems to be the case about Open Doors, Inc.
Open Doors, Inc. is a small group comprised of some very hard working individuals who have worked hard all their lives, and live in different states. They have all known each other for over 20 years plus. They could have taken the little nest eggs they saved and bought stocks to make a large corporation richer. But instead they always wanted to do something meaningful, and that would benefit others, like providing jobs for Veterans, which is their main focus, and providing jobs for students and young families. So when the plans were made on how to do this, one of them suggested contacting me, because I had great ideas and lived in a small town. You see, I had always told them I lived in Superior Country, and just down the road a piece, was Paradise! They liked the sound of that.
Well, it didn’t take me long to sell them on Mineral and Sanders counties. So I set about looking at buildings and land, which were for sale, that needed to be renovated and redone so retail and living spaces could go in. I thought perhaps this would be a great start for them, because long range plans in future years, call for doing more as they all have visions of a great future to help others. They really liked the idea of providing jobs and helping to grow small towns. It’s not about getting rich and making a lot of money, it’s all about helping someone else work and support a family.
Today I learned there was lots of rumors and opinions circulating about! Someone told me, “lets have a meeting so you can explain what you are doing, and perhaps look at financial statements.” So I thought about that! Here is my opinion, and this is not a rumor, this is a fact! And besides, I wondered what folks would think, if I knocked on their door, and announced, “I want to look at your financial statements!” Do you think if you went to the owner, and or CEO, of Tricon Timber, and asked to look at his financial statements, do you reckon he would haul them out to you? I doubt it!
People who have worked hard all their lives and saved money, can do whatever they want with their money, and if they need to spend more than they have, they get that the old fashioned way, they borrow it, and make payments on it to pay it back!
Then there are some grants out there, that with work, time, and diligence, you may receive from someone else’s money because they feel the same way you do about your project, and want to help out.
Change is hard for some people, and they like their little town just like it is. Don’t change anything, don’t grow anything, we like it like it is!
The only problem with that is, our children, and grandchildren, grow up, and they like it here, but have to leave home to get a job and support themselves and their families. How fair is that?
You lived here all your life and had a job because the mills were here. But that is not the case now. Times change, and sometimes, people have to change too, to go along with it. When you use the old buildings already built, renovate them to their glory, and use them instead of building new ones. They stand stately and proud once again, and become a source of pride in the community.
Open Doors believes in using the most up to date green materials to renovate. They believe in working with the environment, and along side of it, not destroying it. They don’t want to change the landscape, they want to enhance it. After all, God created all this beautiful country for all of us to enjoy, not to destroy!
Open Doors is working with city and county officials in several parts of the country to bring back the glory of old buildings for use once again as they were built originally to use. And if the good people of Mineral and Sanders counties will work with us, give us moral support, and be happy to see jobs come, once again, there will be jobs here, to benefit families.
Dreamers and visionaries think alike. You dream a dream, you see it in your vision. Then you take it one step further, and act on it. That is what Open Doors is all about!
Thank you for your time,
Agnes Salisbury,
Superior