Dexter aldermen are shortsighted

To the editor:

In response to "Dexter board won't fund museum donated by deceased resident":

I was raised in Cape Girardeau and read the Southeast Missourian online. How many towns would consider themselves lucky to be given a museum?

The Dexter Board of Aldermen is being offered a chance to preserve part of everyone's history for very little money. Norman Gillespie is doing the lion's share of running the museum -- no easy task for a small museum even in the best of times.

The issue isn't how many people visit, rather that someone is trying to preserve part of Dexter's heritage. If the aldermen want more people to visit the town and this museum, what are they doing to help promote it?

Rather than saying they won't help with funding because of low attendance, have the aldermen (or anyone else) thought about helping with in-kind services? Advertising, printing and media spots could all help bring people into town. How about putting placards on the main thoroughfares into town?

There are too many possibilities to list here, but with a little thought and imagination, Dexter could easily bring in more than the mere $2.40 a day it would cost to help Gillespie. Investing a few dollars now will pay Dexter greater dividends in the years to come.

MARK CONRAD, Fairborn, Ohio