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Copyrights reserved by the author. If you are in doubt, please click on 'Copyrights' and read the details. On November 4, keep Maine `A wonderful life' by J. G. Fabiano Christmas is still a couple of months away but a holiday movie has been stuck in my mind ever since big money decided Maine would be a great place to put a casino. The movie is `It's A Wonderful Life,' and starred Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed. Stewart played George Bailey, the owner of a small Savings and Loan in a quaint little town called Bedford Falls in upper New York State. It seems that a more powerful local banker wanted to get rid of the competition so he could build his vision of what the town should look like. Instead of small, family-owned stores and businesses along Main Street he would rather have large saloons and gambling casinos fill his need for more money and power. The big bad banker, `Old man Potter' in the movie, first tries to buy George out but George refuses because he cares about what will happen to all the little people in town. Then, Potter sees his chance after an absent-minded bank clerk who works for George drops a large sum of money intended for deposit: Potter finds it and keeps it. Facing ruin and jail and tired of a life of struggle that leaves him feeling a failure George goes to a bridge where, wishing he'd never been born, he prepares to leap to his death in the swirling waters below. However, before he can jump, an angel appears in the guise of a befuddled old man and jumps for him, forcing George to rescue him. The angel then gives George the chance to see what the World would be like if his wish were granted and he had never been born. As George makes his way down the main street of the town that would never have known his presence he finds only bars, flop houses, dance halls and gambling dens. His friends have all been hardened by vice and corruption and the quaint little town transformed into a neon lit honky-tonk called Potterville. The similarities between the movie and the casino issue on Question 3 of the State Referendum this November 4 is quite extraordinary. Let's face facts, we live in a wonderful State that prides itself on family, friends, and neighborhoods. When people come to visit they marvel about how living in Maine is like living in America the way it used to be, where entire towns still come out for football games, preserve local traditions, hold family fairs and, most importantly, take care of each other. People from all over the country yearn to live in this type of environment because they want their children to grow up in a secure and comfortable society. This influx of people caused property values to skyrocket because many towns in southern Maine drafted growth-control ordinances so they could protect their small-town ways. From April through November hundreds of thousands of people visit to clear their minds of the pressures of wherever they call ‘home‘. In fact, the popularity caused a Maine lawyer called Tom Tureen to think how those numbers could be exploited and to cook up a deal with a Las Vegas casino developer that would make them all a lot of money - all behind the promise of helping Maine's Indians. They promise tax relief and thousands of jobs and the opportunity to take the State of Maine out of its time warp and make it a part of modern day America. What I have to ask is: Who wants to be part of modern day America? Remember, thousands of people flee modern day America every day to come to Maine because they like it just the way it is. Do we want to become a place where people want to leave? How will our neighbors cope with a big casino in southern Maine? How many of them will frequent the casino more often than they can afford? How many of our friends will lose everything they own to scratch an itch that has already destroyed so many other lives? How many of our neighbors' homes will fall into disrepair because of money lost? How many of our neighbors' children will yearn to go to the casino instead of going to a football game or a high school dance? Let's say the casino does give back to the state $100 million a year. What will be left after the costs of a casino have been paid? Police departments around the casino will have to hire more officers to cope with the increased crime and drunken driving. The roads to and from the casino will have to be modernized. The water and sewer services of Sanford will have to be modernized to accommodate the demands of 50,000 visitors a day and once the casino is built and the money starts pouring in, how long before it needs to expand? All one has to do is look at what happened at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut, to see that its expansion acted like a cancer that infected so much of the towns that surrounded it. Maine has always been a family-friendly state. Most of the traffic coming across our borders brings families looking to enjoy the beach, the shops, the restaurants and, basically, our lifestyle. Many of my acquaintances visit the casinos in Connecticut and Massachusetts. They rarely, if ever, take their children with them. They leave their children home because it is common knowledge that a casino is not the kind of place one would want to take children.There is no argument that the traffic coming into Maine will increase but how many of those who support the idea of a casino care that the traffic will change from families to those hoping to make themselves rich? This type of tourist has little need for our shops, family restaurants, beaches and its campgrounds. They will visit the casino and spend their vacation money at the slot machines and gambling tables while the small business men and women of Maine will see their dreams and lifestyles disappear as quickly as the visitors of the casino will see their money do the same. The concept of making oneself rich while visiting a casino is another great myth that many people still believe. I don't know of anyone who thinks the casino is trying to come into our State to help it. The Las Vegas developer and his lawyers do not care about our Maine or its people. They are coming here for one simple reason - to make more money for them. Alas, it seems that powerful interests want to change all of our lifestyles to build their vision of the way life should be. Those slick pro-casino people seem to think they can sway the people of Maine with visions of millions of dollars going into our State coffers. They think they can make the people believe casino money will be our economic savior and create thousands of new jobs. They have tried to convince the people of Maine that they give a damn about our lives and our families. I guess they think we must be pretty dumb! On November 4, 2003, all the people of Maine will play a part in their own reality movie called: `It's A Wonderful Life.' Its stars will be those of us who live in quaint little towns all across Maine. The movie, `It's A Wonderful Life,' had a happy ending, when George Bailey discovered he had made a difference to many lives, and all the people of the town gathered around him and his family to show their support for him at his moment of doubt. After November 4, I hope the people of Maine will also have the same happy ending. The End
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