I beg to disagree with the paper’s viewpoint on Triple Crown being held at Emerald Park.

Did you happen to see last summer’s Piknik Theater original production, Botanica?  Simply put, the show’s theme involved turning the Steamboat Botanical Garden into a water park to bring in more tax dollars. 

Never did I imagine that what was intended as a farce could actually be hinting at a truth yet to come.

No doubt we are in an age of connectedness, noise, light, competition and striving for the “lifestyle” provided by the almighty dollar. But are those the things Steamboaters really treasure about our town or the things that visitors remember about coming here? I doubt it — more likely they remember a peaceful stroll through the botanic gardens, a visit to the hot springs, a lazy tube down the river, some Champagne powder or an encounter with the friendliest locals around.

I am tired of certain Steamboat leaders wanting our town to be “world class.” I have lived in world class places, and I have left them — as have many others. World class usually comes with its own baggage, including lots of tourists, more traffic, higher prices, more noise, more lights and less friendly locals (usually the locals can no longer afford to live in the “world class” town).

At some point, you need to say “no more.” Sometimes, it is easy to say — turning down gaming casinos, marijuana producers, are examples that come to mind. Sometimes, it is not easy so easy to say. Triple Crown comes to mind. No doubt Triple Crown is as American as apple pie (and lucrative as well), but sometimes, you can’t have your cake and eat it too!

Robin Stone

Steamboat Springs