Well, no, I didn't understand how the theme was coded. If I did I probably would not have asked.
What you are saying makes sense, although it's still confusing because a) there is this Vigilance-based site with a left side menu and b) there are spots for a 1) wide side bar, 2) right side bar and 3) left side bar.
Thanks for your prompt reply. Appreciate it.
I'm sure the next thing, from what I've read in these support pages, is to tell me to pick another theme or use wordpress.org but I'm not that jammed up about it. As I said, "maybe I'm missing something obvious..."