Dear editor:

After reading Niagara Foundation president Lyle Hall’s op-ed piece in The Lake Report last week (“Niagara Foundation wants to protect The Wilderness,”) I could not just sit back and let him try to sway the public’s opinion on The Wilderness.

I have known Ken Reid almost my entire life and I swear he would never, ever sell that piece of property for development and anyone out there who would believe that accusation sure doesn’t know anything about Ken.

After his wife Kea’s death, I spoke with Ken. He told me the Niagara Foundation had made him an offer to purchase the property.

When he told me the amount I just laughed and asked if he felt insulted. He just looked at me and said, “What do you think?”

The next time I bumped into Ken I could see how frustrated he was. Not the Ken I knew at all. He told me Kea’s mom’s will specified that she was to inherit so it was left in trust for transfer to her before her mother died.

The Wilderness is protected under the Ontario Heritage Act as a whole, never to be developed and has been since the mid-1990s.

Has anyone taken the time to understand that The Wilderness is Ken’s home? The place where his wife grew up. The place Ken and Kea lived together.

They loved that property together. He loves that property. It’s his little piece of heaven.

Mr. Hall commented about disrepair and trees falling down on the property. It’s called the Wilderness, for God sakes. It’s a natural forest. What do you expect?

If the Niagara Foundation was so concerned why didn’t it help pay for upkeep etc.?

I’m not sure why the foundation thinks it owns half.

Therein lies another question. Lauren and Vaughn Goettler have pledged $1 million to help preserve The Wilderness. Then why aren’t they dealing with the owners of it?

How best to realize Ruth Parker’s wish of preserving and maintaining the property? I don’t think for one minute Ruth would want to force her family out to do so. So, who is making Ruth’s decisions for her?

Give Ken Reid a break. You all know what that property is worth and clearly the foundation has been chomping at the bit to get it since 2013.

I’m sure at this point he would be happy to accept a reasonable offer at fair market value on a property he loves just to get his life back to normal instead of having people hounding him.

Ken lost his first love and is now being forced out of his second love and all of his memories. There is something truly wrong with this.

When I was growing up in Niagara, rich or poor we were all shown the same love and respect. Not anymore.

Karen Taylor-Jones 

NOTL