David Avanzino’s quote in the Democrat-Gazette [9-22-23] when addressing having a gun store in Eureka was, “Eureka Springs has long been a haven for tranquility and harmony.” He also did not want anything to “disrupt our way of life” or “impose significant risk to the well-being and safety of our residents.” This would also be important in thinking about the past weekend.
I can’t think of a time in my 50 years living here that I have seen more wrecks, heard more sirens, been in more traffic jams with more volunteers flagging traffic problems, or listened to more noise than there was last weekend.
I hope Chris [Clifton-CAPC] recognized this and takes our name off of advertising stating that Eureka Springs shares with Rogers in promotion of Bikes, Blues and BBQ.
I had to go to the airport last weekend and in driving through Rogers there were many more bikes than in Eureka, and because of the flat terrain, far, far less noise and not one ambulance!
Please don’t respond with “we are just doing anything we can to make a living.” Tourism tax collections were up all over the state long before last weekend!
It is not the desperate condition that should stimulate Eureka to ignore Mr. Avanzino’s and many, many Eurekans and peaceful visitors’ beliefs.
LeRoy Gorrell