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After a crumby ending, donated dough rolls in for 2 cookie deliverers
Denver Post ^ | 02/06/05 | Electa Draper

Posted on 02/05/2005 10:24:01 AM PST by Pikamax

After a crumby ending, donated dough rolls in for 2 cookie deliverers By Electa Draper Denver Post Staff Writer

Sunday, February 06, 2005 -

Durango - The Cookie Defense Fund has swelled to thousands of dollars.

Hundreds of Denver Post readers e-mailed and called to express "shock" and "outrage" that two 18-year-old Durango girls were sued for something they did last summer: drop off a plate of cookies and a paper heart on a neighbor's porch.

Taylor Ostergaard and Lindsey Zellitti lost in Small Claims Court in La Plata County on Thursday. Their impulse to bake cookies and treat neighbors by knocking, dropping off and running away went awry. One of nine neighbors who received a plate of cookies said the pounding on her door about 10:30 p.m. July 31 frightened her into an anxiety attack. A Durango judge awarded about $900 to the 49-year-old woman to cover some medical bills incurred when she ended up at the emergency room the next day.

If the people who called and wrote make good on their pledges, that $900 will be recovered many times over. Several people offered to personally cover the whole amount themselves.

The attention has been overwhelming.

"We just put them on the plane. Lindsey, Taylor and Jill (Taylor's mother) are headed to New York to do 'Good Morning America,"' Martha Zellitti, Lindsey's mom, said Friday night.

"They just thought it might be their one shot to tell the country they're still not afraid to do good deeds," Martha Zellitti said. "They'll just try to be more considerate in the future about the time."

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The families are also mulling over an offer from Jay Leno to do "The Tonight Show." It's not looking good for Leno, though, because Lindsey's mom wants her to get back to college in Kansas, where she is a freshman studying animal nutrition. Taylor is still in high school.

"We're just not the movie- star types," Martha Zellitti said.

But the story, which appeared Friday in The Denver Post, was linked to the Drudge Report and eBay. The tale was recounted on MSNBC ("Sugar and spice is not always nice," journalist Dan Abrams said) and other media.

The Otis Spunkmeyer cookie- making company is offering to hold an event in Durango to set things right.

"Cookies are the ultimate comfort food," Otis Spunkmeyer spokeswoman Liz Rayo said. "We don't want anyone sued over cookies. Cookies are good. This is an emotional issue for us."

They're not the only ones.

In e-mail after e-mail to The Post, from Hawaii to New York, and from Canada to Puerto Rico, people invoked with dismay the adage "No good deed goes unpunished."

Many observed that the unfortunate misunderstanding gave new meaning to the term "Cookie Monster."

One reader called the plaintiff in the case "a macaroon." Another called her a "cookie batterer."

The plaintiff could not be reached for comment Friday.

Martha Zellitti said the girls' families are not upset with the neighbor, or with the judge, who received many calls from people questioning his decision. Zellitti said the neighbor volunteers at the local food bank and does good deeds herself.

"And the judge made the best decision he could with the information he had," Zellitti said. "We just weren't prepared."

The judge awarded only $1 for damages, even though he could have given the plaintiff lost wages and the cost of new motion- sensor lights for her porch and more. She had itemized about $3,000 in all.

But political conservatives who read the story were convinced the judge must be a liberal activist intent on being politically correct. On the other hand, liberals said the judge and neighbor must be conservatives, who tend to see "terrorists behind every bush and on every porch," even in a quiet rural neighborhood just south of Durango.

The girls' defenders ran the gamut from executives and reverends to felons.

One e-mailer offered to set the girls up in their own cookie business.

There were other factions. A small but intense group were incensed that anyone would consider 10:30 p.m. "too late." It's really early, they said.

One church group wrote that members were very concerned because one of its favorite programs is for youths to ring doorbells, drop off treats and run. Another church group in South Carolina said it had young men in its congregation who would like to correspond with the Durango bakers.

"Lindsey's boyfriend wouldn't like that," Martha Zellitti said.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cookies
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To: Howlin
And before you go any further, the part about "pounding" and "shadows" and "Who's there?" is HER side of the story. Needless to say, there's nobody to back her up.

Police reports say that the young ladies hid their car in a tree grove 500 yards from the house.

141 posted on 02/05/2005 3:18:27 PM PST by Conservababe (I calls it like I sees it.)
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To: Dog Gone

well i didn't necessarily mean that Dog... more like, a man's home is his castle type thing..

in other words.. that beings the incident took place on her private property it had bearing on the ruling?

that's my hope... because otherwise it should have been tossed out. and probably should have been anyway.


142 posted on 02/05/2005 3:19:34 PM PST by sdpatriot ("If I know the answer I'll tell you the answer, and if I don't, I'll just respond, cleverly." Rummy)
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To: Conservababe
Hid their car.

Do you really believe that?

143 posted on 02/05/2005 3:20:57 PM PST by Dog Gone
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To: stands2reason
You'd get banned like the other fella that challenged her.

Just so you know, I had nothing to do with that jump person being banned. I don't hit the abuse button and didn't know he was gone until just now.

And while we're on the subject, I think you're being far too generous to that person by saying he "challenged" me. He insulted and mocked me but still, I don't hit abuse and was pleased to let his posts speak for themselves.

144 posted on 02/05/2005 3:21:10 PM PST by cyncooper
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To: Conservababe

You mean they hid in their car and watched the woman freak out? Is that what you're contending?

Or are you saying they hid in the car and watched the police arrive?

Since we don't have pictures of graphics, that's the only place to park at the lady's house.


145 posted on 02/05/2005 3:21:27 PM PST by Howlin (It's a great day to be an American -- and a Bush Republican!!!!)
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To: cyncooper

to be more clear - i only agree with the ruling if it was based on private property ownership in some way. i don't know if it was..


146 posted on 02/05/2005 3:21:40 PM PST by sdpatriot ("If I know the answer I'll tell you the answer, and if I don't, I'll just respond, cleverly." Rummy)
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To: Dog Gone

Read the article, dude. The homeowner looked out the window and saw no vehicle in the drive. The girls had parked behind the trees 500 yards away from the house.


147 posted on 02/05/2005 3:23:00 PM PST by Conservababe (I calls it like I sees it.)
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To: Conservababe
Hey chick, maybe they parked on the street and came up the driveway on foot. Maybe some trees, NOT UNCOMMON in Durango blocked the view.

You're insinuating some devious intention on the part of these girls when everyone with the IQ above a snail's now knows otherwise.

148 posted on 02/05/2005 3:26:00 PM PST by Dog Gone
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To: Conservababe

ya know what? i think there is a certain type of person that "get's" that what these girls did isn't all that smart..
lol

maybe it's us gals that feel we have a right to protect ourselves in our home - or even on our property?

i have done that before. of course i had a shotgun with me.. lol.. and thus didn't feel scared at all.. lol..

this is funny..


149 posted on 02/05/2005 3:35:12 PM PST by sdpatriot ("If I know the answer I'll tell you the answer, and if I don't, I'll just respond, cleverly." Rummy)
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To: Dog Gone
I am not insinuating anything, foolish one. I am just saying that the girls are lucky that they were not shot because of of lack of good judgment in their charitable endeavors.

Take a deep breath.
150 posted on 02/05/2005 3:35:12 PM PST by Conservababe (I calls it like I sees it.)
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To: Howlin

Somebody called jumptime disagreed with cyncooper and got banned. That's why I was "implying" it, as you put it.


151 posted on 02/05/2005 3:35:55 PM PST by stands2reason
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To: stands2reason

People get banned becasue of their remarks; not because of one poster.

And cyncooper wasn't the only person who "disagreed" with that poster.


152 posted on 02/05/2005 3:37:06 PM PST by Howlin (It's a great day to be an American -- and a Bush Republican!!!!)
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To: Conservababe
"Hid their car" is not insinuating anything, my dear?
153 posted on 02/05/2005 3:39:45 PM PST by Dog Gone
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To: Howlin
Well, since you don't like ediotrializing, how about citing the Colorad code that allows anybody who lives in Colorado to kill anybody that comes to their door.

Two points:

1: I never said that anyone in CO can kill anyone who come to their door.

2: there is no such statute.

154 posted on 02/05/2005 3:41:02 PM PST by Balding_Eagle (God has blessed Republicans with really stupid enemies.)
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To: cyncooper
I don't hit the abuse button

Glad to hear that. I'm the same way, unless the poster in question is attempting to discredit Jim or FR.

I don't know why half the posts in this site get pulled myself. I think a mod or two wears skivvies that are a few sizes too small.

155 posted on 02/05/2005 3:45:06 PM PST by stands2reason
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To: wireplay
If you bang on my door in rural Colorado at 10:30 at night and then run, I would have called the sheriff as well. I wouldn't have sued or reacted as ugly as this lady but it is way outside the bounds of normal. Good intentions, poor choice of application.

Here is why I don't agree for the most part.

First, this woman is obviously a neighbor. Now a country neighbor to be sure, but she was one of only 9 houses they left cookies at. They identified themselves on the paper heart, so she could have just called their folks. Even if she didn't know her neighbors, it would be pretty simple to realize it was some neighbors who left the cookies and it could have been discussed without calling the sheriff's office.

Second, this was done in the summer. With daylight lasting until well after 9pm in many areas, it's not unreasonable to see that they could have started their "deliveries" while still dusk. They also had enough sense to leave alone houses that did not have lights on.

Third, this woman was not "alone" as has been implied by some people. She had her daughter (18 I believe) and mother in the house with her. Neither daughter nor grandma had these "anxiety attacks", only the 49 year old woman. This is not a realistic explanation of why she had to go to the hospital and then high a gunsl... lawyer. She was in it for the money, flat out.

Did the girls make a mistake? Yeah, but not even a punishable mistake in my opinion. Just a stern warning from the folks that running around after dark isn't a good idea and others can feel anxious about late night knocks at the door.

That's why I think the law shouldn't have even been brought into this.

156 posted on 02/05/2005 3:47:28 PM PST by Anitius Severinus Boethius
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To: Pikamax
What time is sunset in Durango Co on July 31st?
157 posted on 02/05/2005 3:48:57 PM PST by tubebender (Can someone remind me what my Near Years resolutions were...)
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To: tubebender

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1336745/posts?page=125#125


158 posted on 02/05/2005 3:52:15 PM PST by cyncooper
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To: Balding_Eagle
1: I never said that anyone in CO can kill anyone who come to their door.

Is this your post?

To: mowowie
Here in CO the homeowner could have shot, and killed, the two door-knockers legally. She was in fear for her safety, and the two door-knockers (that late and pounding on the door) were a percieved threat.

The neighbour is obviously a witch, and deserves much of the scorn she is recieving, but the girls could be dead right now too, legally killed in self defense.

99 posted on 02/05/2005 4:28:30 PM EST by Balding_Eagle

159 posted on 02/05/2005 3:52:35 PM PST by Howlin (It's a great day to be an American -- and a Bush Republican!!!!)
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To: tubebender

Denver Co had sunset at 8:14pm on July 31, 2004. So it was probably dark by 9pm even in the mountains.


160 posted on 02/05/2005 3:54:01 PM PST by Anitius Severinus Boethius
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