re-opening…

WELCOME BACK

After 84 days since our doors to the restaurant were last open to the public, we are excited to have guests dining with us again. It has been a long ordeal, but we have all survived and are prayerful that things will be allowed to return to normal. We always enjoy the interaction the restaurant allows us to have with the visiting public and hope for these times to be a part of our lives once again.

As always, we will be striving to offer a clean and safe and satisfying eating out experience, following health code guidelines, good cooking and sanitation practices. We will also be enacting some further steps that the government is now requiring of us due to Covid 19. As you notice, there are fewer tables and chairs available here in the restaurant, so that we may maintain the six-foot rule required by the state. We also have hand sanitizer available for your use and of course soap and water are available in the restrooms. Our wait staff will conform to government regulations, by wearing facial masks or face shields.

For clarity sake, I will tell you that it is my opinion, and that of many other medical professionals that masks are neither helpful nor healthy for the wearer.  We are desirous of being good citizens and have conformed to the law for these past three months, but are very troubled by the fear mongering, government overreach, media distortion, and social medias wild and inaccurate rumors that have caused so much angst among us. Here are the facts regarding the corona virus in St. Louis county as provided by the counties official department of health web site on June 8, 2020. There has been a grand total of 119 confirmed cases in the county, of which only 25 cases have required hospitalization. While any death that occurs is regretted, and we have lost 14 people to the virus, there has not been one death in the general public. (all have been from senior care facilities) At present only 3 people are hospitalized in our county with no one in intensive care. The number of people who have been denied medical and dental treatment during this same time frame exponentially exceeds the 25 hospitalization cases. There have been well over 25 people taken to the hospital due to vehicle accidents in this same time period, and yet we do not say to each other  “stay off the road so you do not endanger others”. Our experts have been wrong on most every account saying that over seventy thousand  Minnesotans would die from the virus, claiming there would not be enough beds for patients, continually changing the date on which we would experience the surge,  vacillating in every direction on the efficacy and the need for masks, and what kind of masks would work. The most concerning thing I saw is a signed open letter from over twelve hundred medical and national health experts concerning the anti-police demonstrations as quoted here: “As public health advocates we do not condemn these gatherings as risky for Covid 19 transmission… This should not be confused with a permissive stance on all gatherings, particularly protests against stay-home orders.”  This is an absurd political correctness, not related in any way to data or science, yet is arrogantly portrayed to the American public as the “experts” wisdom.

Some may say you are biased in what you say, and I would agree, as everyone who voices an opinion comes from a certain bias. My bias is an overreaching desire to retain the liberty that our constitution allows for us and to limit the power and reach of the government that would restrict the God given freedoms we now enjoy. From my perspective it is very egregious that one man (our governor) can rule by decree for nearly three months without any legislative input. We have rules that seem to be implemented and enforced by whim rather than sound enforceable laws. I ask myself why the big box stores can sell all manner of goods and non-essential items, but our little gift shop was ordered closed. How is it that one man can determine that liquor stores are essential, but churches must be shut up? Do you think that the experts are so much smarter than we, the citizenry, that we should give up our liberties for their biased decrees?  This Is the road to tyranny and the price we will pay will be much greater than any security provided. 

My bias also comes from a deep belief that God is the perfect issuer of freedom. The God of the Bible allows for man in this life to determine his own eternal destiny. When Christ died on the cross for our sins, he allows for us to make the decision whether to trust His finished work to save us, and even as much as His desire is that not any should perish, (II Peter 3: 9) he leaves that choice with us.  Consider the words of Jesus Christ as recorded by the apostle John.

“For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the son of God.” 

God has done something wonderful for humanity. He offers eternal life to all who receive His gift, he warns of the dangers of rejecting this gift, then leaves the decision up to you. As I write this letter, I understand there will be some who will readily agree with me and others who will strongly disagree.  The wonder and greatness of our nation is that we allow for this great diverseness of opinion and welcome a healthy exchange of ideas. You will be welcome at our restaurant whatever your view of masks is. We will not look down on any of you who feel that wearing a mask is the right thing for you to do and would continue to value your presence among us. We also recognize that there may be some who feel that with our opinion on the virus, we are allowing for an unsafe condition and would choose to take your business elsewhere, as freedom loving Americans we believe that this is your absolute right. Any further conversations of these matters with us would be welcome. Once again welcome back. Thanks for reading, 

Donn for the Kunnari family

P.S. Thanks for all the public service that our local police department provides to us. I cannot imagine our town or any other without you.

“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”  Benjamin Franklin