A letter to a small town

This is a letter that needs to be written to many communities who see McDonald's as a boon.

Letter to the Editor,

Another McDonalds.  Just what the world (and Moose Lake)needs.   I know this is a done deal and so it is useless to complain about this franchise that will now grace the Moose Lake exit on I35.  But I still feel it is important to talk about this development and how it will impact Moose Lake. I am NOT anti-development, but let’s not kid ourselves.  This fast food purveyor is not going to contribute money or value to the town.  Yes, there will be some minimum wage jobs for a few teenagers, seniors, or struggling underemployed adults, but that’s about it.  How many people will pull off the freeway for some fast, unhealthy food and then decide to drive into town to see what other businesses they might visit? Think about your own travels on our country’s highway systems.  How often do you venture into the town after a quick stop for gas or food?

What I am concerned about are places like Art’s Café, Poor Gary’s Pizza, Joe Jitters, and the Lazy Moose Grill.  How many people will choose to go for the cheaper food up the road? How many local teenagers will choose to hang out there?  McDonalds Inc. will provide this newest outlet with the ingredients for their Happy Meals and Big Macs – not the local grocery store.  Certainly the developer has the right, based on locally approved ordinances to build such an establishment and make money from it, but the benefits (both economically and in terms of health) to the rest of us are negligible.  So while others may hail the Golden Arches as a local achievement, I will not.   It is up to the residents of town and those of us who are not residents, but come to Moose Lake for our banking, library, groceries, medical needs, and entertainment to continue to provide strong support for those establishments that were here long before Ronald McDonald.

Kate Crowley

Willow River

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Munger Trail - Willow River to Moose Lake

Image
The Willard Munger Trail - named for one of the environmental heroes of MN is our neighborhood bike trail and the place I get my biking exercise and conditioning.  I thought it would be good to share some of its highlights and pleasures.  So here is a look at the trail and what I enjoy. The small towns that prospered during the days when the trail was a railroad track and the country moved by Steam Engine are just a shadow of what they used to be, but that shadow is filled with surprises and fun places to explore if you give yourself the time to engage in the setting, as well as the peddling.  Willow River is our little home town and the Mercantile is over 100 years old and still meets many of our needs.  It is a place for refreshments and Peggy Sue's is a local restaurant that makes a great lunch or dinner stop. There is also a local park that provides you with a sense of the RR past. The trail is very straight like most RR grades and lacks hills except between Rutledg
Read more

Sense of Place

Image
GOING NATURE’S WAY By Kate Crowley I am intrigued by the idea of Sense of Place; to feel completely ‘at home’ in one particular place.  I have read that people who grow up on the Great Plains feel claustrophobic when they are in forested environments and in reverse,  people who have grown up surrounded by forest find the openness of the plains unnerving, with nothing to break the view to the horizon. I grew up in the city, but the Minnehaha Creek and Parkway were just two blocks away and I spent countless hours playing and exploring there.  The city lakes were within biking distance. The Mississippi River was just blocks away from the apartment where I lived the first four years of my life.  When I was 36 I married Mike and moved to our current home and it was perfect.  When my dad first visited us in our new home, he said, “Kate must think she’s died and gone to heaven”.  This is where I am supposed to be.  Scientists who have studied the evolution of humanity have proposed
Read more

Rain threatens birds

Image
WINGIN’ IT By Kate Crowley As the floodwaters recede, a stunned and relieved populace can finally stop holding their collective breath. Throughout southern Carlton County and all of Pine County there is a sense of disbelief that only four years after a major flood event, it has happened again.  At our home we measured over 8” of rain in less than 24 hours. This is what the word deluge was meant to describe. Others said it felt like they were in the middle of a monsoon. Thankfully there was no loss of life in our region, but property damage and loss was significant for people who have in some cases finally recovered and remodeled after the flood of 2012, which was said to be a once in 100 years flood when 8 to 10 inches of rain were spread over three days. Here in Willow River, there was fear that the small dam holding back the waters of the river would fail, with catastrophic results. Roads throughout the two counties (and into Wisconsin) were hard hit and the cost to repair
Read more