Sunday, September 03, 2006
The Rest of the Civil War story
There's a misleading letter to the editor in The News Tribune, so here's the rest of the story.
The letter is at http://www.thenewstribune.com/opinion/letters/story/6072890p-5326129c.html#
As a volunteer at Fort Steilacoom, I helped coordinate volunteers who collected admissions at the 'main gate' of the re-enactment. It was only within the last year or two that we started to hear that security was the reason the Civil War Association did not have re-enactments at the park. At the time they canceled, a couple years ago, we were told the big problem was the Fort Steilacoom Park is so porous. Unlike so many other re-enactment sites, you can't put a fence around it and guarantee that everyone paid admission. Thus, the Civil War Assn. was losing money.
To put it another way, a lot of people were taking the many other entrances - Angle Lane, Pierce College, etc... - to avoid paying the entry fee. Frankly, gang, I don't blame the Civil War folks for being angry and disappointed by that.
When I did hear that security was an issue, I offered to mediate a session with our police department to discuss security in the park during a re-enactment. That offer still stands.
I should also quickly note that the letter makes it sound like there is something wrong with police telling people to stay out of the park after dark. Well, the park is closed after dark. So I would think sensible people would indeed stay out of a park that's closed. If people had stayed out of the park after dark, the so-called Juggalo attacks would not have taken place. So I guess some people are going to enter a park when it is closed. I sure would not write a letter to the editor that makes stupidity sound appropriate.
If somebody wants to keep Fort Steilacoom Park open after dark, with the costs of floodlighting and night security etc..., I know I for one will want to hear a lot of good reasons.
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The letter is at http://www.thenewstribune.com/opinion/letters/story/6072890p-5326129c.html#
As a volunteer at Fort Steilacoom, I helped coordinate volunteers who collected admissions at the 'main gate' of the re-enactment. It was only within the last year or two that we started to hear that security was the reason the Civil War Association did not have re-enactments at the park. At the time they canceled, a couple years ago, we were told the big problem was the Fort Steilacoom Park is so porous. Unlike so many other re-enactment sites, you can't put a fence around it and guarantee that everyone paid admission. Thus, the Civil War Assn. was losing money.
To put it another way, a lot of people were taking the many other entrances - Angle Lane, Pierce College, etc... - to avoid paying the entry fee. Frankly, gang, I don't blame the Civil War folks for being angry and disappointed by that.
When I did hear that security was an issue, I offered to mediate a session with our police department to discuss security in the park during a re-enactment. That offer still stands.
I should also quickly note that the letter makes it sound like there is something wrong with police telling people to stay out of the park after dark. Well, the park is closed after dark. So I would think sensible people would indeed stay out of a park that's closed. If people had stayed out of the park after dark, the so-called Juggalo attacks would not have taken place. So I guess some people are going to enter a park when it is closed. I sure would not write a letter to the editor that makes stupidity sound appropriate.
If somebody wants to keep Fort Steilacoom Park open after dark, with the costs of floodlighting and night security etc..., I know I for one will want to hear a lot of good reasons.
