The commentary by Diane Sayre in the Aug. 3 edition of The Sentinel has really gone beyond any comprehension or useful purpose.

After the article appeared I contacted Ms. Sayre to discuss her outrageous comments. She was not embarrassed to admit that she has been an infrequent visitor to the Thursday Night Market Place (TNMP) and when she does visit she leaves at 6 p.m. She offered the fact that her column is merely an "opinion," thus not subject to any investigating or fact-finding. She also stated that she used "blogs" and her "friends" as her source for her critique of TNMP. Evidently, no sense of fair-mindedness was ever considered by Ms. Sayre.

Never in the eight years that I have been working for Main Street Hanford (MSH) and organizing TNMP (about 180 markets) have I heard it referred to as "wild" or "Thursday Night Drunken Place." Her uninformed article insulted the Main Street Hanford program, Thursday Night Market Place, the board of directors, the volunteers, the sponsors, the staff and most importantly our community.

Perhaps I can enlighten Ms. Sayre a bit. Main Street Hanford is part of a national program tasked with the revitalization and historic preservation of downtown. A four-point approach is used: organization, design, promotions and economic restructuring to accomplish our goals.

Briefly, TNMP, the Blues and Roots Festival, and Wine and Chocolate Tasting are part of the promotions committee. Because of these events we have brought a positive focus to our downtown and enhanced "a sense of community." Without a vibrant and vital downtown we have no community.

Happily, we have been able to generate income which is reinvested directly back into downtown. We have assisted businesses with facade grants, we have painted store fronts, we have partnered with the City of Hanford to provide tree grates and trees, and we are responsible for the twinkle lights in downtown.

Additionally, we contributed to the Visitor Agency's repair of the carousel and we have purchased over 50 colorful banners for downtown. We have literally reinvested thousands of dollars into our historic downtown.

When Ms. Sayre suggested in our conversation that I defend MSH and TNMP because it is my job, I corrected her -- it is my passion. It is only too sad that Ms. Sayre's passion -- or is it just a job? -- seems to be based on negativity and making unfounded statements about an organization (MSH) and an event (TNMP) that has accomplished so much in nine years.

Her obtuse commentary and statements during our discussion exhibited a lack of knowledge, and sadly, an unwillingness to become an informed and responsible journalist.

Madill is executive director of Main Street Hanford.

(Aug. 12, 2009)