Dear Editor, I would like to share an experience that I had today (Saturday, May 14, 2005) while I was at our city park that I thought that it might interest your readers and our residents of Cedar Key. It was a beautiful day at the park, full of sunbathers and children playing in the water. It was such a serene environment that I could not have ask for a more perfect day at the beach. That is until, about 2:00ish when the park was bombarded with airboats coming in shore right up to the beach where young children were playing! I am not talking about one or two airboats; I am talking about the whole beach being lined up with them. With noise deafening precision, the airboats beached themselves paying little attention to the disruption they were causing to the sunbathers or swimmers, they were upsetting lounge chairs, blowing over umbrellas and running people out of the water as they landed. They seemed to have a single agenda and that was to take over the beach, which they did with little effort since all the small children were running out of the water from fright. I went over to the pavilion were air boaters congregating to ask who was in charge and why they were allowing the airboats to beach where children were playing in the water. I was told by some half crocked guy that the city had given them permission to do this, that the city knew for months this Airboat Tournament was going to happen and they had rented the park for it. By now, I was so upset by all the chaos that I went to find our local police officer, to report this endangerment to swimmers. To my dismay, the police were aware of this event and had questioned the city earlier in the week on how the swimmers and the boaters were supposed to use the beach at the same time. I am guessing that nothing had been worked out and this was made apparent by anyone who was unlucky enough to be visiting or swimming at our public beach today. I am not writing this letter to point fingers at anyone or to say that airboats should be condemned. I think that our little town needs to address the whole airboat tournament at the park issue and come up with some rules so that what I saw today will not have to happen again. I am not sure that having these tournaments in our already parking deprived town is a good idea since we make little to no money off of them. We have to endure the noise, congestion and the clean up afterwards for what sums up to boat launch fees. I believe the charge for renting the park is about $25, and I noticed that they (the tournament coordinators) had a barbeque restaurant from Gainesville come and cater this event, so our local businesses were left out of making any revenue as well. It is evident that we are being used and I am personally tired of it. Are you? Thank you,
Tina Roberts, resident |
