Editor:
Congratulations to the District 55 School Board. They apparently see SHEDG for what it is: A self-serving organization with only one agenda – accommodating the Jamboree to add money to its coffers. The only logical reason that SHEDG would want to have the tennis courts removed is to facilitate an expansion of the Jamboree. In that case, let them foot the bill. Why should the District take on a project at great expense to itself to further the interests of a group that has shown little concern for the “economic development” of the community for which it is named?
I am a newcomer to this community, but my ties to it go back over forty years. When the Jamboree first started and SHEDG was in its infancy, I saw good things on the horizon. However, after many Jamborees and years, I do not see any economic development. On the other hand, I see an organization that has become synonymous with its source of income, which is not being shared with the people it alleges to represent.
After all of these years of country singers and the crowds they bring, where is the money? It certainly is not going to anything that might create jobs or genuinely help the community. The tennis courts are only a microcosm of the shallow promises of SHEDG.
When it comes to their money and its strings, I stand with the school board — “Just say no.”
Kenneth R. England
Sweet Home