As a resident of downtown Grand Marais, I rather enjoy watching airplanes land and take off from the harbor, often right over my rooftop.
Some in these pages openly expect Grand Marais and its inhabitants to service their particular views and expectations just because they visit or even acquire property here. Rather than harmonizing with what is, they chafe over what they believe it should be.
But Grand Marais is not a theme park with citizens donning Smurf costumes and performing on street corners to please its passer-bys. It is, and historically always has been, a working city and the commerce center of the county, with businesses end to end.
Mr. Anderson and his flying machine not only bring pleasure to the many who avail themselves of his tours, but the man and machine are a proven and valuable asset to the community as an aerial observational platform in times of emergency. He and his plane were instrumental in saving the lives of two little girls a while back. But the costs and effort required to keep his plane aloft in times of need often go unrecognized. Mr. Anderson takes on the grueling task of offering rides to partially offset the operational costs of the machine. He should be lauded rather than demonized as some sort of pariah.
Grand Marais and Cook County continue to make great fiscal sacrifices to set aside 3,000,000 acres for those wishing to escape the din of city life. To attempt to drive business from the small patch of the county that still survives as its commercial center, whether due to band music, fry odors from hoods, drums beating from canoes, tour boat generator hum or even airplane noise, all due to individual likes and dislikes inconsistent with city life, is in my view not only shortsighted but contrary to the public interest.
Vilnis Neilands
Grand Marais
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