Today's Letters: Saddened by misinformation

Re: Hot tubs, AC, cherry paneling and 6 mpg Feb. 10 column by Dan DeWitt

Saddened by misinformation

I recently read DeWitt's column about the lifestyle of our members in the Family Motor Coach Association who attended their annual rally at the Hernando County Airport.

His comments were well-taken and his views were appreciated. I also admire his candid approach in describing our members' choice of retirement.

I asked the members of our organization the other night to please stand if they had ever served this great country of ours in any branch of the military, in times of peace or war, so they could be thanked by their fellow members. Seventy-five percent of the 3,800-member audience stood. They volunteered to serve and a lot of them fought for the very freedoms that Mr. DeWitt enjoys. He also makes his living from some of these freedoms. We, myself included, were proud to serve our great country so that Mr. DeWitt can make a living.

If Mr. DeWitt's comments were made to stimulate some type of printed conversation back and forth in the media, well, it just won't happen. We are proud people and we are friendly people and we really do like coming to Hernando County and patronizing the local merchants each year, and as a result, have made many friends here among them.

Mr. DeWitt's comments don't upset us, or anger us, but they do sadden us. They sadden us because of this fine community having to listen to and read such misinformation in their local newspaper. They sadden us because of the many fine merchants that may be viewed as being represented by Mr. DeWitt.

We thank the local community for another great year here in Hernando County and we appreciate the fine cooperation from the law enforcement folks and also the great relationships we have with all of the county commissioners.

So, thank you, Mr. DeWitt, for exercising your rights and freedoms, which most of us who came here last week gave you.

Charlie Schrenkel, president Southeast Area Motor Coach Association

We like to travel and see America

I was sorry I read Dan Dewitt's article on RVers. I do not know what leading questions he asked to gain such a negative impression of people who like to travel and see America. This is akin to having a second home for many, and a lot less costly to run and maintain.

We own a 40-foot motor home and enjoy every minute we are traveling. I did the math and cannot figure out how Chris Baskin spent $10,000 to $15,000 on fuel in 21/2 weeks. Impossible! Our rig gets better mileage than a Hummer, and other high-performance cars and SUVs.

Yes, there are rigs out there that cost $1-million and more, with hot tubs, cherry paneling, etc., but this is far from the norm. Yes, the dealers brought in these rigs to impress the attendees, but I doubt they sold one.

I was happy to read that the Times covers this event every year, and perhaps next year, you can send a reporter who RVs, knows which questions to ask and stays clear of the "braggarts."

Mr. DeWitt's article is a poor characterization of people who love to see America and the lifestyle wasn't even mentioned.

Mike Mills, Spring Hill

So how does this rally benefit us?

I'm trying to figure out how this annual motor coach rally benefits me as a resident of Hernando County. I work here and live here, but all I can see is more people clogging up the roads where I drive, and the restaurants, gas stations and stores where I eat and shop. In fact, this rally is a major inconvenience to me since I don't own a restaurant or store where these people eat and shop.

So, tell me again how I benefit from this rally that's held once a year at the Hernando County Airport? A handful of businesspeople benefit briefly from this gathering of gas-guzzling behemoths, but it's not a sustainable benefit since it only lasts a week and new employees are not added to the payroll of any businesses that cater to the owners of these highway-hogging dinosaurs.

So, again, please help me understand how I benefit from waiting in long lines at my favorite restaurants and stores and have to maneuver delicately around these huge motor coaches dragging cars behind them. This can't be safe for other drivers on the highways.

And help me understand the mentality of people who pay $250,000 to $1.5-million for these monsters that may get 6 or 7 miles per gallon of a valuable fuel resource. These things have kitchens bigger and better-equipped than my home and the first thing these people do when they set up is to get into their little car (or sometimes a full-size SUV) they towed thousands of miles and go to a restaurant! For several hundred thousands of dollars, I can spend a lot of nights in the best motels and eat in a lot of five-star restaurants while traveling the country in a comfortable automobile that is much easier to handle than a highway freight train.

These people just don't get it. If they have more money than brains, then I would definitely benefit from this rally if they would set up a booth at the airport and give away $100 bills to anybody who fogs up a mirror. Then I just might be able to support this annual show of "Mine's bigger than yours!"

What a waste of our priceless resources! No wonder the rest of the world laughs at us.

Dick Hanville, Spring Hill

The benefits of big, supersized

What's the matter, Mr. DeWitt? Aren't you getting paid enough at your job to afford a motor home? Or is your problem a guilt that manifests itself in that classic liberal disease of envy?

It is obvious that you failed economics while in school because anyone who has taken it would realize it is people like those at the rally that generate jobs and move the economy of these great United States. Their purchases give jobs to manufacturers, a huge service industry, salesmen, after-market add-on companies and ... wait for it ... Hernando County itself, which is (according to leftist whiners) "suffering." Not only that, but the profits they give oil companies fund the pension plans of millions of Americans.

Have you forgotten what it is like to be "American," Mr. DeWitt? Or do you want us to drive puny little European cars while living in puny little apartments with puny little appliances walking puny little dogs? Will that make you feel better? If so, grab your friends and move to France.

I like big. I like supersized. I like enormous. I like lots of space.

One more thing: Any science classes you took in school must have had "relativism" and "consensus" in the title because last time I checked there was no conclusive proof that man is responsible for global warming, or that it exists, because science is all about proof, not consensus.

Change is constant. Global changes are measured in eons. Our lives are measured in decades. And if the climate is warming and the oceans are rising, only the stupid would refuse to move. Darwin had something to say about those kind of people.

Personally, farmland in the Yukon might be a great deal right now. Think of all those hungry people in the world the socialists can feed with new land (assuming they know how to work).

Vilmar Tavares, Spring Hill

Writer had his own agenda

I cannot help but wonder how fast Dan DeWitt traveled through the Hernando County Airport and how lazy he was in getting information. Or perhaps he is an idealistic, but misinformed, tree hugger looking for a way to vent his anger.

We had more than 2,000 motor homes at the airport (4,000 people) and I did not see a single hot tub in an RV, or one for sale! I saw motor homes of all sizes, ages and a wide range of miles-per-gallon models.

What Mr. DeWitt failed to ask is who are these people, what have they done, and what do they do? He forgot to ask how many pints of blood were donated to your blood bank, how much money we spent in local restaurants and how much money we spent in local stores. Yes, we spent money in Hernando County, but if it is not wanted there - perhaps we should take our business elsewhere, where it is appreciated.

Yes, we travel and some live full-time in their motor homes. We have a home in Georgia and we travel and we get a little more than 7 mpg. But we are traveling with two people and a pet and we would use more fuel flying and renting a car, not to mention the laundry created by staying at hotels. We are both retired and we have both been very active volunteers in our community,

Does your author know how many gallons of fuel it takes to fly just one passenger from Atlanta to Tampa? Perhaps his article would have much more credibility if he presented real facts.

Did your writer visit the manager of the local Publix or the local Wal-Mart to find out the increase in sales during the week we were there? I guess not!

Does he consider that perhaps the other states should refuse to supply gas and gasoline to Florida since they refuse to use their own resources?

Next time it might be best to send someone with an open mind who wishes to examine and write about the facts and not be wrapped up in his own agenda.

JeanAnn Miller, Big Canoe, Ga.

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[Last modified February 14, 2008, 20:25:26]