Island resident Rod Stevens sent me and a lot of other people an email today asking for photos depicting dangerous sidewalk cracks along Winslow Way.
He’s offered to give a $25 reward for every potential hip-cracking crack.
As I get old and lose some of my faculties, I get ever more worried about falling down. I’ve just come back from doing some errands in downtown Winslow, and mindful of those dangerous cracks that are so talked about by our council majority, I kept my eyes wide open as I walked the sidewalks first down one side of the street and then back the other. It must be my eyesight, but I couldn’t see any of these dangerous things. Therefore, I offer this reward of $25, my deductible on a visit to Tom’s Clinic, for anyone who will help me by pointing out these dangerous cracks.
Rod Stevens, doddering pedestrian
He’s had two cracks sent his way today. Actually, Debbi Lester sent in a link to an online collection of Winslow Way cracks. She’s got quite a few pics of the root-and-concrete tangle outside the Isla Bonita bar, which has been proven treacherous for tipsy barflies. (I’ve never tripped on it, but I’ve seen it happen. It was especially hard to watch because the aforementioned tripper had a lit cigarette in his mouth. Coulda lost an eye).
The above photo of the sweet bike jump north of T&C was sent in by Robert Dashiell with the header “This should be easy money!”
Even the City Council weighed in.
Councilwoman Debbie Vancil said Bainbridge could learn a lesson in sidewalk maintenance from the city of Claremont, California.
“…being a town the size of Winslow with 7 world class colleges, this town is highly focused on the bicycle and the pedestrian,” Vancil wrote. “They have achieved what we strive to attain…and the colleges do not offer a lot of revenue to the City. We need better role models for change in Winslow..those that are closer to our community’s own values for change.”
Noting Dashiell’s photo, Councilman Bill Knobloch said such cracks don’t add much weight to the argument for the Winslow Way reconstruction project.
“This means that we have to spend millions of dollars because we have a root uplift to our sidewalk?
Not sure how much money Rod has doled out yet, but Helpline House may get a surprise. Debbi Lester has generously donated her winnings to that worthy organization.
*****UPDATE: The Rod Stevens-sponsored Dangerous Sidewalks Contest* has officially come to a close. The winners, Robert Dashiell and Debbi Lester, had their $25 winnings donated to Helpline House.
*Unofficial title.
