Tournament brought stress
The much-publicized PGA/84 Lumber golf tournament held in Farmington has been concluded. Let’s all pause from the events of the week-long affair and take a closer look at the benefits to our county and mountain community versus the “disturbance of the peace” aspects brought onto the lives of many of us. I could not begin to cite every personal example brought about as a consequence of this PGA tournament. Nor do any of us condemn or applaud any individual actions or group behaviors during this weeklong affair.
I am suggesting that our community leaders must not only take into consideration the monetary gain to Fayette County businesses, but do a rethinking of their position in terms of the stress disease it brought to the people living and traveling in the mountains, as well as the anxiety over the weather and poor tournament attendance and troubles experienced on the part of the Nemacolin Woodland’s owners, their employees and guests.
Your paper reported on at least one drunk and disorderly guest. She was not the only one who probably over indulged, and I am sure that our leadership must be concerned about the large array of alcohol abuse opportunities all over the course grounds, as guests moved freely between the bar and the cart and the car. How many of these drunks do you think probably jumped behind the wheel and drove their vehicle out onto Route 40 and through Farmington and who knows where?
This is one area of event planning where we could all use a lot more reassurance from the state police stationed as road guards that no drunken fool would be allowed to leave Hardy’s property. Another stressful situation is the anger some of us feel over Joe Hardy being allowed the services of our public servants, the state police officers. Are we supposed to suck it up? Next year, let’s insist the Hardy family contact a private security firm to provide traffic control .
Next on the list of stressful situations caused by this tournament are the parents of school children. Many had to make arrangements for the care and supervision of their children who were forced into staying at home during that weeklong golfing bash. Not only were the parents stressed, but many laid-off Uniontown School District bus drivers and school service employees got no paychecks. This worthy of our county leadership’s attention who may be overseeing next year’s edition if they get re-elected, and I hope they don’t.
Surely, the actions of one, egotistical, old rich man with nothing more worthy of himself than to oversee a bunch of golfing fans cannot be held above the educational preparation of the future leaders of Fayette County. When we, in the mountains, ask how much more we will be asked to suck it up, all we hear coming from the “Rock” is the reply, “more… more… more!”
Jim Lilley
Markleysburg