Dear Editor,
We are writing to clarify some misinformation and misrepresentation printed in the Gonzales’ Gazebo article printed in the 3/24/23 edition of Yellowstone County News.
As the “other family”, we are going to provide facts NOT mentioned in the article.
Fact #1: We met with the HCC board in January to present an idea about building a covered picnic area in Barkemeyer Park to honor our son, Taylor Larson. We requested and received permission from the board to investigate the potential of a covered picnic area with the promise to present our proposal once it was finalized.
Fact #2: We did not present a proposal to build and maintain flower boxes. While a good idea, flower boxes were NEVER mentioned in the request.
Fact #3: We have a fund started; the promise of other donations, both monetary and physical labor; and potential ideas for other fundraisers. We have a quote from one company for a structure. We have plans to obtain ideas and quotes for different structures. Once the proposal was finalized, we had planned on presenting our proposal to the board. Our hope was to have the project finished by this fall or early next spring.
Fact #4: Mr. Gonzales spoke with someone who mentioned our plans to him. He contacted us to discuss merging the two families’ memorial ideas. He stated he had found a gazebo idea he liked. He proposed the idea of fundraising and building it together to memorialize his father and our son. We informed him we would discuss this as a family and return a call with our decision. We have NOT made any decisions regarding merging the two memorials.
While there are other misrepresentations in the article we will not address, we feel the ones mentioned are the most important. The fact that the YCN reporter at the meeting knew of us as the “other family”, we have not been contacted to provide any input into the gazebo proposal. We are not, nor do we aspire to be journalists. However, as consumers of journalism, we would like to have truthful and accurate reporting to read. This article is neither of those. This is a horrible article that could give all potential credit to any gazebo/picnic area built to the Gonzales family regardless of the names on any plaques.
We, as a family, are very upset with this shoddy representation of journalism. As a journalist, it is your job to communicate facts to your readers. Your newspaper has failed. Your reporter has failed. You, as the editor, have failed. Because of this failure, you and your newspaper, Mr. Editor, may have caused Barkemeyer Park to miss out on a wonderful opportunity for beautification and improvement. We are still moving forwarded with our plans to honor our son, but we are now undecided if Barkemeyer Park will be the beneficiary of our generosity.
Mr. Gonzales, his family, and our family only want to honor and remember our lost loved ones. We thought, and still think, the gazebo is a great idea and a need for our community’s beloved Barkemeyer Park. We would like to wish Mr. Gonzales and his family the best of luck in their endeavor to bring his gazebo idea to fruition. We wish them no ill will and good luck moving forward!
Marc, Nichole,
and Zachary Larson,
Worden
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