Park vandals need tough love
BUG GUTS & BEAUTY
Suggesting that the Star City engage a herd of goats for weed control and tax potentials was given in jest.
With the current mess of politics, economics, and culture, laughter helps to change the landscape. The image of city leaders herding goats amuses people, though the councilors may have other ideas. However, weekend events offer some intriguing possibilities if Presque Isle did have civic goats.
Animals and their care have ways of instilling discipline and empathy. That animal has to be fed every day, its mess must be cleaned up; and, it needs to be civilized and acclimated to the community where it lives. The weekend vandalism at Mantle Lake Park stunned the community. The furor was felt on every level of government and it was inspiring to see people turn out to salve the bleeding wounds.
Thanks to some intelligent observations Presque isle police were able to fix the immediate issue and find the perpetrators. By the evening the who had been determined and action steps taken to fix the problems created. Now the community must consider what would be an appropriate response for the acts of vandalism. Gut reactions are not appropriate.
This is not the first time some juveniles have misbehaved to the chagrin of their parents in this city. In the mid 1970s, a relatively prosperous time for all, the local schools were plagued with telephoned bomb threats.
These, at first, were uncommon events. A threat would be made and the schools would cancel classes that day. Done once too often and the schools soon learned to keep the kids at school and with a bit of luck only a short bit of time was needed to bring the school back in session. Faced with an increasing number of these false calls, expensive and a bit annoying, the school and the community sought help from Judge Turner.
Judge Julian Turner, born in the building that is now City Hall, and a loyal son of the community, had a reputation for tolerating very little foolishness from people in his court. He ruled with a firm hand and many students learned that it was best not to be in his courtroom.
Judge Turner was a smart man. Given evidence that the parental mortification for their youngsters’ pranks was not a suitable deterrent, he announced that the next person to be caught calling in a bomb threat would find his name in the court report (published weekly in this paper) and the names of his parents would also be published.
Getting your name in the paper is a major moment in one’s life. Getting it in because of some boneheaded stupidity is not welcomed.
Following the announcement, students were caught. They and their parents were named. These students were well known. Their parents were well known. The publication of guilt was enough to mortify parents, grandparents, and those relatives still living in the city. The false alarms stopped.
The miscreants who damaged Mantle Lake Park are now known to the police. If each one of these youngsters were to be given four goats on leashes and made to walk through the community it might help to build bridges of understanding that the perpetrators do not seem to have. The trustees could show up at the station each morning to get their friendly goat. Wearing bright green Carhartt britches for safety, the youngsters could find that two goats on each arm and a bike path filled with weeds are a strenuous exercise in learning about their community.
Walking through the streets they would be able to see how the community appreciates that park and why their actions were so reprehensible. The city would get the benefit of trimmed vegetation, fair punishment, and a sterling example of tough love. Goats need love too. Something to consider as the summer gets underway.
Orpheus Allison is a photojournalist living in The County who graduated from UMPI and earned a master of liberal arts degree from the University of North Carolina. He began his journalism career at WAGM television later working in many different areas of the US. After 20 years of television he changed careers and taught in China and Korea.
