LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: VOTE `YES' FOR OUR GROWTH

To the Editor:

Most of the reasons given by those who oppose or support riverboat gambling have not touched on my biggest reason to support the proposal. We have wanted an excursion riverboat here for years. Several groups have attempted to get a boat based at Cape as a tourist attraction, without success. This is the first proposal that will support such an operation. A riverboat will draw as much as the train at Jackson does. Local people ride it once or twice a year, usually to entertain visitors. But, the train is a major attraction for special groups and bus tours. The same groups and tours will use the riverboat here, at Metropolis and other locations. I have relatives and friends that take bus tours to other boats, enjoying the ride with friends, the scenery, the boat ride, games, meals, etc. This is not the sort of activity you do every day.

Compulsive gamblers can find all the gambling they want now without a boat ride to pay for. Remember the past of Southern Illinois? Bingo and lottery tickets are another form of gambling that nobody thinks twice about. Neither bring jobs or income to Cape Girardeau. A riverboat will bring a renewed downtown, visitors to our whole city, and new spirit to Cape.

Much of the arguments are the same as we heard against the Show Me Center. "All our money is going to leave town." "We'll have big city crime." "Traffic will be impossible to control or to get through." I don't think any of our worst fears have materialized or will come about from an excursion/gaming riverboat. Let's look to our future without expecting the worst possible results and imagining monsters around every corner. I have faith in Cape and our ability to cope with any problems as the materialize. Vote for our riverboat. Vote for our growth.

Don Strohmeyer

Cape Girardeau