Letter: Everything doesn’t have to include alcohol in Dickinson

This letter is in regards to the Alive @ 5 gathering on Thursdays through the summer.

I attended last Thursday. I had my two young daughters with me because I was told it was a family event with music and face painting and Burn the Floor Dance Studio dancing.

But to my surprise, when I showed up they had a section roped off for buying alcohol.

My girls had a great time getting their face painted, drinking Shirley Temples, listening to the music and watching the dancers. We were having a good time until some of the other guests started making lewd and ugly remarks to some of the Burn the Floor dancers who were performing. We are part of Burn the Floor Dance Studio and thank god my daughter was not asked to dance.

So why does everything done in this town have to serve alcohol? You have July 4 with street dances and beer gardens where young children are not allowed to be with their parents. Also all of the bars in town who can have their own outdoor beer gardens if they wanted to during the summer months, so why when you organize a family event do you have to have alcohol in the mix?

And you are going to have this every Thursday all summer long where the young kids will being hanging out — I don’t think I will be attending another one.

You want to promote the downtown business, but do you really want a bunch of drunks in your business unless you are in that type of business?

Concerned parent Sheila Schilling, Dickinson

Tags: opinion, letter, letters