To the editor:

Bainbridge Islanders have an opportunity to save the last large piece of land in the Winslow core. The chance to have an urban park of this size will not come up again.

Imagine what can happen right in the central core of our island — accessible to everyone: community center, trails, open space, wildlife habitat, play fields and who knows what else? The park district has indicated that they would have a formal process for citizens to help decide what will happen with the park.

In the past, islanders have been very generous in supporting acquisitions such as the Grand Forest, Gazzam Lake, and the open space bond levy.  Now imagine what the island would look like today without those parcels and others such as Blakely Harbor, the

Close Property, public farmland, Hilltop, Pritchard Park and the Forest to Sky Trail.

We can add the Sakai property to that list. Let’s make sure that in future years we won’t have to imagine what it would have looked like if we had saved it.

Please join me today by voting “yes” for the park district open space bond to purchase a beautiful new park in Winslow.

CONNIE WADDINGTON

Bainbridge Island