A response to the whine of the year

from Wally Keeler a keen observer of all things

According to Cobourg resident, Anita Steins, there is a "beach fiasco" of "epic proportions." Her letter-to-the-editor of Northumberland Today ended with her assertion that, "I too would like to enjoy our beach at least once this year." If she has not been on the beach once this year, how could she know there is any situation on the beach other than via Pete Fisher's smear-job journalism.

Many in 'Corktown' have wide boulevards between curb and sidewalk. It could easily be widened to provide ease of parking and permit emergency vehicles clear access on the very, very few days in the year when parking is stressed. Beach safety is enhanced by moving the lifeguard chairs forward and adding a few extra lifeguards for the very, very few days in a year when crowds necessitate it.

This is the part of Ms Stein's letter that I find particularly offensive. "Those who come here to enjoy our free beach rarely are the kind who spend any money here. They have their day, ignore our laws, leave their trash and go home."

I recall those endless summer days of hippies hitch-hiking across Canada. Occasionally, some rolled out a sleeping bag in the park/beach. Bigots-of-the-day smeared them: hippies were unwashed, smelly, girls had hairy armpits and legs, ignore laws and convention, leave their garbage and move on to pollute the next community. The Cobourg Sentinel-Star's letters page was a display case of this distasteful attitude. The slanders, smears, and sneers against visiting hippies (really, just teenagers with long hair) had two wonderful defenders.

The publisher of the Cobourg Sentinel-Star, Foster Meharry Russell, wrote a wonderful editorial about observing some hippies with a small campfire glowing on the beach. In the morning he returned, and observed that the hippies had cleaned up their spot, placed the camp debris in a bin, and moved on to enjoy their land, Canada. He extolled their freedom.

When the issue of sleep-overs in the park came to town council, Deputy-Reeve, Lenah Field Fisher, a fabulous suffragette who wore extravagant hats, extolled the virtues of sleeping under the stars on warm nights. She referred to the dirty Thirties when the homeless unemployed sometimes slept overnight in the park on their quest for employment.

I live one block away from Victoria Park. I enjoy its presence in my life almost every day, any time of day. The Park/Beach is open 24 hours 365 days a year. The Park is crowded 10-15 days in a year, less than one percent of the year. Why are the few selfish self-centred Cobourgers so resentfully tight-fisted of sharing Cobourg's greatest asset.

Local resident, Steven MacLaughlin in his letter-to-the-editor called for action, "Our park and beach both stink with garbage and outsiders and it is time to clean it up!" Bigotry is the cause of the foul smell and it needs a major disinfectant.

All weekend I strolled through the park, and witnessed extended families from grandma on down to tots, enjoying themselves and each other, laughing, playing games, bonding as a family. How many homegrown Cobourgers take their extended families to the park on the other 350 days of the year?

Many of these 'visitors' came from countries where life is stressed with too lethal consequences. It is a hardship of which most Canadians are unfamiliar. Immigrants have a great resource - their kids. Canada gets their kids. In the meantime, many immigrants take low level jobs, work hard, live in apartments/condos, and deserve to enjoy Canada's freedom and prosperity.

The presence of these visitors in Canada's free parks is part and parcel of their assimilation into our society. These new Canadians make me feel good. I enjoy the smells of their cooking. I enjoy the extravagant glee of their tumbling children. I enjoy that I can witness this in a feel good country, a feel good town and a feel good Park.

Shame on Northumberland Today's hyperbolic exploitation of NOTHING. Were there any picnic tables broken or garbage bins tipped over? Were any lamp posts toppled or broken? Bushes and flowers uprooted? Were there any brawls? In the absence of any this, why would Northumberland Today amplify the message, "Heads should roll"?