To the editor:

As a former board member, I fully support Whidbey Island Arts Council. I also love live music, Useless Bay Coffee and Joe’s Music, but I can’t support the newly announced summer concerts in Langley every Saturday and Sunday during July, August and September.

Although I no longer live in Langley, I’m there often to shop or on other business, or simply to meet friends. And while I know the mission of WIAC is to support “the arts and artists,” I believe this can be done in a cooperative manner without disturbing the peace of local residents and visitors in the process.

Outdoor amplified music both weekend days all summer and into the fall? Saturdays only, maybe. Fridays and Saturdays, maybe. Unamplified, certainly. But the lovely peace and quiet that used to be Langley, the charm of a quiet summer Sunday for those who live in town or come to Langley on weekends for rest and relaxation (and to spend money), will be diminished in the summer of 2010.

I’m sorry for those who live or work within earshot of Useless Bay Coffee Co. and can count on live music every Saturday and Sunday of their summer this year whether they enjoy it or not. They have no choice, it seems.

Incidental noise on the weekends is one thing — motorcycles, lawn mowers, the occasional neighborhood yard sale — but scheduling it every Saturday and Sunday seems to me a misbegotten idea, harmonic overkill and a kind of slap in the face to those who have spoken up about music in the business district. I think it’s possible and desirable for WIAC to support the arts and to also be good neighbors.

Molly Cook

Coupeville