It’s our turn to create recreation

Tony Byrne

Published Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Vote “yes” for recreation on Tuesday. We owe it to our children, our grandchildren, and ourselves … we owe it to our community!

To those of us who grew up in Natchez, we remember how our community leaders with vision and foresight provided us with Duncan Park, which included one of the first public golf courses in the South. They also developed Liberty Park and the horse barns. Later, Duncan Park swimming pool and the Sadie V. Thompson pool were constructed. North Natchez Park and Broadmoor Park were built as well as tennis courts and ball fields. Those leaders wanted us to play and enjoy ourselves. We owe the same generosity to our community once again. It is time to modernize our recreation for the future of Natchez.

The election on Nov. 3 is a very simple “yes” or “no.” If we have a “no” vote, I can assure you that we will not see an improvement in recreation for at least 20 years. However, with a strong “yes” vote, we will all have the chance to develop the plans for the type of recreation that we need for Natchez and Adams County … the type of recreation that will bring not only enjoyment to our community, but revenue to our local businesses.

This “yes” vote tells the powers that be that we want a strong recreation program. No building or financial plans are set in stone at this point. Those will be determined by a nine-person board to be appointed by the school board, the board of supervisors, and the board of aldermen each with three appointees.

One concern I have heard is that members of our community do not have faith in “them,” meaning the three boards.

I see it not as “them,” but as “us” who will make it work with the appointed nine-member committee.

Furthermore, members of my generation say they will not use any of the recreation facilities and do not want to pay for them. This is the wrong attitude and certainly not the attitude of the community leaders that provided recreation for us.

On a recent radio program promoting a “yes” vote, a caller said he was for recreation, but thought there should be a street and road bond first. While I agree the streets and roads are in bad shape, these are two separate issues and the issue before us now is recreation.

On that same program, I said I thought two of our county supervisors were against recreation.

I did not call them by name. Since then, however, they both told me they supported recreation, but were not in agreement with the way it would be funded.

Since that is not the issue of this referendum, I was glad to hear they were for recreation.

Many positives go along with a “yes” vote, including the extra money that can be brought into our community with tournaments. Recreation can also help get drugs off our streets! We can keep kids busy, healthy, and involved in things to do after school and in the summer.

We have wonderful hotels in the area that need customers. Restaurants and retail businesses need additional business. Natchez and Adams County can take pride in building a modern, up-to-date recreation facility that benefits its citizens and its businesses.

We all live in Adams County with some living in the City of Natchez. This is not a city vs. county issue, but a positive issue for all of us in Adams County.

Recreation is an issue that, again, we owe to ourselves and our community, but most of all, it is an issue we owe to the children and grandchildren in Adams County.

Join with me and vote “yes” on Tuesday.

Tony Byrne was the mayor of Natchez from 1968-1988.