Car cruise had positive benefits

When people see others enjoying an activity that they don’t participate in themselves, they can react in several ways. The first is fear. It is natural to fear that which we don’t understand. I went through this in the 1970s when I was into dune buggies. The tree huggers wanted us off the dunes and out of state forests.

Another way people can react is ridicule. If they decide the activity is nothing that they want to do, no one else should to it either. If the observers are politicians, they will try to tax, regulate or license the fun to swell their coffers. The first four letters in the word merchant are the same four letters in the word mercenary. I don’t think this is a coincidence. Nancy Frasher’s concern, from what I read in her letter ["DDA should plan new car cruise," Wednesday, March 12] was mainly about the money she was going to lose.

I learned about the cruise from my son. He would drive his restored Model A over from Burton, so he could fraternize with other Model A owners.

The first time I met him at the cruise, I was amazed. The car owners were a laid back group, having fun with their cars. I saw a lot of cars in the six-figure range.

The death knell for this cruise sounded the night the powers that be sent a police unit (with strobes flashing for three hours) to camp out on the corner of Second and Main. I heard the officer say to one man, "If you don’t like me being here, complain to my boss."

I think a few did. They didn’t repeat this, but the damage was done. Several couples said when they left that they wouldn’t be back.

In this day of 24-hour cable TV, the Internet, four-season climate-controlled homes where you can live next door to someone for five years and not know their names, it was great to see people outside in the fresh air, exercising the rights of free speech and assembly.

Russ Nieman
Davison