Unfair diversion

To the editor:

The Florence-Lauderdale Tourism board has been trying for years to get this stop off (Trail of Tears motorcycle ride) changed to McFarland Park and not going on to Waterloo.

This is nothing new to the committee in Waterloo, which has worked on the Trail of Tears for several years. I worked on the first ride and each ride for four years after, with each year getting bigger and better. After seeing the revenue generated, the tourism board wanted a bigger say in the ride, with more income to the Florence area.

It is a shame we can let money do most of the talking for this ride. The Native Americans didn't have a say when they were forced to walk to Waterloo. As for the curvy and dangerous road to Waterloo, have you ever been on the back roads of North Carolina and Tennessee? Let's not talk about dangerous roads when money is the real issue.

The purpose of the ride should be to commemorate the memory of the Native Americans and the suffering they endured without money being the main issue.

Waterloo has handled this event for the past 12 years without assistance from Florence. Who is deciding this ride is too big for Waterloo? The same people that want the revenue for Florence. Free enterprise is the basis for the American system, and by restricting the sale of T-shirts to only official merchandise you have taken away the people's choice.

Stopping the motorcycle ride from coming into Waterloo, where the Native Americans were put in a stockade for the winter, over the sale of T-shirts is ludicrous.

I hope the riders who have attended past rides will continue to honor the memory of our Native Americans and ride to the end of the Trail of Tears.

Doris Woods

Sherry Holcombe

Waterloo