While flipping through the Centennial brochure, I noticed that Red Deer boasts 10 Ghosts now. This brochure also contains an article called, From Infancy to Adulthood. A brief look at the pictures of these Ghosts reveals that Red Deer must not be an adult, after all, but a desperate adolescent trying to look like an adult.
A statue of a founder, that’s OK.
But then what happens? Because someone ran for office, we make a statue of her. A girl got a pet beaver once, and so another statue! A pig got loose and we even make a statue to commemorate that!
These Ghosts make us look like juvenile wannabes.
It’s time to quit until we spawn an actual hero.
And some of these Ghosts ought to be decommissioned. We should rein this in. Otherwise, we’ll have to make two statues just for me: one for the time a magpie sat on my lap, and a second one for the time I petted a dragonfly.
As Red Deer citizens, each one of us is a representative of our city. In turn, the city reflects upon each one of us. I don’t like being associated with some of these Ghosts. You Ghost makers and Ghost deciders, quit it! We have too many already.
If this letter gets printed, I’d rather not see any letters written against it. Just hold your tongue instead, reflect, and admit: the Ghost thing has gone way too far, and it’s making us look unintelligent and desperate.
Mark Gaboury
Red Deer