Missing letter changes message

In last week's edition, Lesli Marie Hogan wrote about how the Mesa Verde Middle School marquee was promoting religion. The marquee, according to Ms. Hogan, was promoting a "Lent program at a Moorpark public middle school." Yikes! Would our schools promote religion? Did the First Amendment sneak out of the Constitution? Nope.

It is nice to know that our community reads the school marquee. Unfortunately, Ms. Hogan did misread the marquee she had questioned in her letter to the editor.

The message originally read "March 14 Talent Show" (which, by the way, was amazing). Unfortunately, due to the high winds and the age of the marquee, the letter "a" fell to a line below, but was still clearly visible. The letter "T" was still in place next to the date, that is, 14 T lent Show.

The school could not find a volunteer willing to take the risk of climbing a tall ladder in order to change the marquee on a regular basis. One of my sons currently attends Mesa Verde. It is an excellent school which I fully support and trust. So when they asked me to assist with the marquee updates, I, of course, was happy to help.

I am pleased to say that there are plans for a brand-new automated marquee for the school, and I hope that it never malfunctions and causes anyone in our community undue confusion. Let's give our schools a little bit of credit.

When concerns or questions arise, I would always recommend double-checking the facts and then speaking to those involved or responsible before going straight to the press.

Don't bother looking for the "Lent" message. I already took it down.

Mark Van Dam

Moorpark City Council member