People who write letters to the editor and make public their woes should be very careful about the manner in which they present the facts. In her May 14 letter, A.M. Walters neglected to mention that the child, a very feisty 2-year-old, began screaming while the Caribou Choral Society was “warming up,” at least 35 minutes before their concert began. Alarmed that the infant, already clearly distressed, would disturb other concert-goers soon to arrive, Dan Ladner, the director of the Caribou Choral Society, politely suggested that the child’s two young caregivers take her out into the lobby should her crying and screaming continue. Failing to understand the nature of the request, the caregivers and the child’s mother – a singer with the Caribou Choral Society – took offense and left the concert hall. Walters’ letter to Bangor Daily News followed.

To suggest that children are not welcomed by the Caribou Choral Society is ludicrous in the extreme. Over the past 26 years, children have not only happily attended their concerts, they have often been featured performers. This year, for example, Molly Bouchard, a talented fifth-grader, appeared in both the Christmas and spring concerts. I doubt that the screaming 2-year-old took note of that fact. The writer certainly did not.

Furthermore, it is important that parents and caregivers are sensitive to the needs of others audience members – adults and children alike. How many of us have strained to hear a minister’s sermon, an actor’s monologue or a singer’s performance while a disgruntled infant, totally oblivious to anything but his or her own distress, wailed in fierce, competitive decibels? Common courtesy alone would dictate the removal of a disruptive child whose behavior merits neither the praise nor the sufferance of the concert-going public.

Virginia White

Director

Caribou Performing

Arts Center