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the Parkway and the Derby and ev

May 5, 2002
Did you hear and read the comment by runners and media commentators about the marathon's course through beautiful Cherokee Park and the treats offered by bystanders? The Mini has been going on for years and I have never heard a commentator speak in any kind of flattering way about beautiful Southern Parkway. I do remember Melissa Swan and her partner ,one year, making snide remarks about the tree canopy blocking the view of the run from the helicopter. As far as by-stander participation, I can say the South end gets behind this race with a passion. Beechmont sells breakfast foods to the bystanders (proceeds get plowed back into the neighborhood) and many bystanders buy, and offer to the runners, treats to keep them going. Many offer other treats all along the route. They man the water stops and clean up the mess afterwards Do we get any recognition for all this cooperation ? of course not! We have long had music for the runners to run by, this year a live group. All I saw on the news( with wonderful compliments from the commentators) was a fifty person choir with a full orchestra doing ''Christian'' music in the east end and absolutely no audience. Do you detect something wrong here? If you read Sandy Ruzanka's letter to the editor in Saturday's paper about this situation, you know we are not the only ones irritated with this one-sided reporting. Instead of kudos, we have a parks dept that is issuing permits to park cars on the grass medium of the parklsnd on Southern Parkway, into the trees and over their root system, subsequently killing them. Beechmont has put over $200,000 of private money, not tax money, into replanting the Parkway and we are losing them almost as fast as we replace them . In fact a recent survey done by private citizens( Tax-Payers) reveals that some have been replanted two or three times. What is going on here? Most of the time that I have tried to talk to the ''experts'' about the situation, I have been treated in a most disrespctful manner. This especially includes the director. I am at my wits end as how to solve this problem. I hope you are trying, along with me, to find a solutin.

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