Posted on 02/10/2005 12:09:43 PM PST by ZGuy
The cookie conflict isn't over yet. The spat between two teens from the southwestern Colorado town of Durango and one of their neighbors over a batch of cookies they baked last summer has garnered national publicity over the past week. It has led to donations for the girls.
For Herb and Wanita Young, it has all been a nightmare.
"We have got horrendous phone calls, tons of hate mail, threats to our life," said Herb Young in a telephone interview Thursday.
The saga began in July when Taylor Ostergaard, 17, and Lindsey Jo Zellitti decided to bake chocolate chip and sugar cookies for their neighbors. They placed them outside with large red or pink construction-paper hearts that carried the message, "Have a great night" and were signed with their first initials: "Love, The T and L Club."
Things went sour when they approached the Young home. Wanita Renea Young, 49, said she heard someone banging on the door late in the evening and saw "shadowy figures" who refused to answer when she called out to them. The teens later said they did not answer because they wanted the treats to be a surprise.
A frightened Young said she spent the night at her sister's home, then went to the hospital the next morning because she was still shaking and had an upset stomach.
The Youngs said they tried to settle the dispute, even enlisting their clergy. The teens say they offered to pay the medical bills, but Young insisted on going to small claims court where a judge awarded about $900 in medical costs.
As they story spread, Denver radio station KOA raised more than enough money to pay the court award. The girls, who did not immediately return messages, were expected to be in Denver later Thursday to accept a check from the station. They have already been invited on national television shows and a cookie company has created a "Kindness Cookie" in their honor.
Things have not gone as well for the Youngs.
"It's horrible, nobody has heard our side," said Herb Young, adding the couple has had to hire a lawyer. "I don't believe the girls meant for this to happen. But they could have prevented it from happening if they had just shut their mouths when they came out of (small claims) court. Now they are caught in something they can't control."
The parents of one of the teens asked for a restraining order against Herb Young, accusing him of making harassing phone calls. He admitted calling the Ostergaards once after hearing the teens were talking to a newspaper and at one point said "the gloves were off," which apparently was taken as a threat.
"My home isn't a home any more," Young said. "We are all on pins and needles."
She did call the police.
= = = = = =
"We heard this horrible banging on the door, like someone was trying to break it down," Young said Friday. "I ran upstairs and called out 'Who's there?' three or four times. But no one answered me and when I looked out the window, there weren't any vehicles in sight. But I could see the silhouette of someone on the other side of the window. I got really scared and called the sheriff's department."
According to documents filed with the court, the girls had parked about 500 feet away from Young's home, shielding their car behind a grove of trees.
A statement by Taylor Ostergaard included in court documents said the girls "knocked on the door three times loudly, left the plate of cookies on the step and ran away. (We) wanted someone to hear the door and find the cookies so an animal wouldn't eat them before morning."
Three La Plata County sheriff's deputies, who arrived at Young's home shortly before 11 p.m., discovered the cookies and a note scribbled on red, heart-shaped construction paper reading: "Have a great night. Love, The T and L Club."
She asked for an apology only. The girls LAWYER refused to let them do it.
Secondly, so what you're saying is that the woman intially wanted an apology, but she didn't get it so she sued? That had they apologized she would not have sought their money; but since they didn't offer one, she'd make them pay for it? Sorry, that doesn't engender any sympathy with me.
Like I said, she had me on her side until she sued. Then she lost me.
Several days later, Young found out who had left the cookies on her doorstep while speaking on the telephone with Taylor Ostergaard's mother, Jill Ostergaard, who offered to pay for expenses related to the incident not covered by Young's health insurance plan.So let's see. They immediately offer to pay her medical bills and they write her a letter of apology. But they don't meet with her in person, so she takes them to court. Yeah, that makes sense.The girls also wrote a note of apology to Young, but on the advice of an attorney, they opted not to meet with her in person.
Several weeks later, the Taylors and Ostergaards sent Young an attorney-authored agreement outlining their intention to pay Young and releasing the two families from any further financial liability related to the incident.
But Young was advised not to sign the document and took the girls to small claims court - where a decision Thursday resulted in a victory for Young and national attention for the two teenagers.
And you want to criticize them for talking to a lawyer? If you ask me that was downright prescient of them.
She was earlier quoted as calling it a "run-in". I believe a "run-in" is quite different and far more accurate. It is obvious that she is a spiteful bitch and spiteful bitches have more than their share of "run-ins".
SHE was scared. It doesn't have anything to do with me.
She needs to grow the hell up.
And how would YOU know it was teenage girls if you were in her shoes and they hid and didn't respond?
I would not be caught dead "in her shoes". MY porch light is on at night. I have a peep-hole and a window. If I was apprehensive I would also be armed.
I would not be run out of my home and when the truth came out if I was her I would be ashamed for acting like a dumb-ass. I damned sure would not have sued two girls for suprising me with a cookie delivery.
Why??
Would a sane person go upstairs to answer the front door which is downstairs?
Perhaps she goes into the basement to get something out of the attic too.
Being a bitch has probably allowed her to get her way all her life. It has bitten her on the ass this time.
Like the Fed-X driver does?
You're claiming the girls didn't respond to this woman based on her claim that she called out. However, we only have her word that she called out. We don't know for sure that she did.
Here's a link to an article on the story:
The article says she called the Sheriff's Dept. and they determined no crime was committed. So instead of accepting that as fact, she has an anxiety attack and has to leave her home and go to her sister's for the night? It also says she was at home with her 18 year old daughter and elderly mother when the girls knocked on her door. No husband mentioned. So where did she leave her mother and daughter when she went to her sister's? Home alone? Or did she drag them out in the middle of the night? We don't know. Then the next day, still being so distraught over it all, she has to go to the hospital? Sorry, but this woman is a whack-job.
No mention is made as to when she discovered the cookies sitting on her porch. Was it right after the girls left? Was it when the Sheriff showed up at her door? And how did she know who to sue since the only info included with the cookies was a message that said: "Have a great night" and signed the T & L Club which stands for Taylor & Lindsey. Perhaps she'd already gotten cookies from them in the past and knew who the T & L Club was.
It also says that the girls left the cookies at nine homes that night, and that they only went to homes that had lights on. None of the other homes they went to that night complained about their cookie delivery.
The article mentions that Young thought it might be burglars or neighbors that she had "tangled with in the past." Burglars don't announce their presence by knocking on your door, so it all comes down to the neighbors she fought with previously. The neighbor problem is also mentioned in the text of the photo of Young posted earlier on this thread. It's obvious that this woman had a confrontation with some of her neighbors, but we don't know what it was over, or who is at fault. But whatever it was, it appears to me that these girls were sued based on the anxiety of Mrs. Young over apparent on-going hostilities with some of her neighbors. Very sad indeed.
Give.Me.A.Break! I was assaulted IN my apartment in college. I have had folks knock on my door late at night. Did I freak out and go hysterical? Nah, just answered the door and sent them on their way. Miss Wanda (aka the evil and terminally stupid cow) did not use her Wal-Mart discount and buy motion sensitive lights. She had no alarm system (and if she had the level of fear this grifting skank claims she posessed, she would have an alarm or some other setup to scare off prowlers. What a couple of assclownus maximii these people are). And what a discredit they are to folks who ARE still dealing with attacks (note that she proves rape is not a sex crime at least).
The husband? What a family of freaks and how sad Wanda and Herb reproduced!
I wonder if Paul Harvey will talk about this one?
Why did the girls feel the need to get a lawyer in the first place?
That's you. Luckily people are different.
If you are not prone to have anxiety attacks, you likely won't have one, no matter what.
However, we only have her word that she called out.
But yet, you believe the girls when we only have their word. hmmmmmm
Maybe they should have gone to the dance?
My Fed-X driver leaves it with a neighbor if I don't answer. And normally I know if I've ordered something.
Is that your argument?
She was in the basement. hello.
I see you are into name calling. Why is Mrs. Young a b*tch and the teenage girls who caused all this hassle not ones too?
I believe a "run-in" is quite different and far more accurate.
And you believe it is far more accurate because...?
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