Editor’s Note: Before I left the house this morning, I left a note on one of the cars mentioned below suggesting I might charge for parking. When I got home, I found a business card from Mike Kafsky, manager of USNWC’s High Adventure Group, along with $4 and a kind note. I was floored. Mike, you win my "Good PR Play of the Day". Well done.
I awoke this morning to find two sporty vehicles for the National Whitewater Center parked at the edge of my lawn. The cars were loudly wrapped in a skin to promote a summer concert series sponsored by a well-known auto manufacturer. It was as if the USNWC had picked my home as a staging ground for an “in-your-face” promotion.
When I’m dressed in nothing but a bathrobe, there are only three things I want to see on my doorstep: my morning paper, a pile of cash, and Juan Valdez.
The tacky cars wouldn’t have pissed me off were it not for the whitewater center’s decision to start charging $5 a car to park their. It’s a nice facility, but not worth five bucks just to walk around.
Hey USNWC, here’s an idea: How ‘bout you pay me $5 for parking at my house?
This isn’t the first time USNWC has pissed off the public. The center – financed by my tax dollars, mind you – turned a once-quiet residential street into a high-traffic driveway to the whitewater park.
I’ve never been fond of the whitewater center’s leadership. I put them in roughly the same category as Barry Bonds and New England Patriot’s coach Bill Belichick – conmen and swindlers who degrade the integrity of sports and stop at nothing to get what they want.
You wanna park at my house? Fine. But I’ll be sure to tell my friends not to go park at yours.