Traverse City Record-Eagle

Your Views

April 24, 2012

Letters to the Editor: 04/24/2012

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Don't close Hickory Hills

As managing partner of a business located within Traverse City, I am strongly opposed to the city manager's efforts to close Hickory Hills.

The recreational activities that are available to us are what cause many people to choose to live and work here. They are a part of what makes Traverse City what it is. Even when people don't use a given recreation feature themselves, the fact that it is there creates the overall atmosphere that they value. All that, in turn, helps create a vibrant local economy which allows me to base my office here and to employ people here. We cannot lose sight of that.

If local government is about anything, it has to be about supporting the kind of community we want to live and work in. Decades ago this city's leaders recognized that and established a unique and special place in Hickory Hills. I hope that the current city leaders also recognize it and continue to make Hickory Hills available to the community.

Peter B. Worden Jr.

Traverse City

Why we live here

If the city commission decides to turn 100-plus teens (who would usually be constructively occupied at Hickory Hills on weekends, holidays, snow days and after school) loose into the community with nothing better to do, they might want to add those police officer and fire positions back into the budget. (Boredom seldom ends well.)

Also, economically speaking, Mt. McSauba in Charlevoix will surely be happy to host skiers from downstate who are looking for a Hickory Hills replacement. The business owners in Charlevoix would benefit greatly from the traffic and off-season economic boost, as we do now. I am sure they are on the edge of their seat awaiting the city commission's decision.

Let's hope that the commissioners are not short-sighted in their deliberations. I hope they remember why their constituents live here and why people visit here all year 'round.

Brooke Stevens

Traverse City

Women who stay home

Again, this newspaper has demonstrated its willingness to blindly follow the lead of the far political left.

The political cartoon on April 14 is distasteful and displays your "editorial eliteness."

Ann Romney has faced severe health challenges as well as raising five sons. To intimate that this is not full-time work shows the editors' lack of understanding of the many issues which face real people today. This cartoon is a slam against women who choose to stay at home and raise a family.

I doubt if you would ever run something so distasteful showing Michelle Obama.

How about a cartoon showing her putting her 13-year-old daughter on a plane to Mexico for a spring break that is costing U.S. taxpayers $25 million in security. That would be funny — wouldn't it?

Dave Baldwin

Glen Arbor

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