Custer watches the parade go by—again

Jason Ferguson

Published: Wednesday, January 14th, 2009

If you were against the idea of having the amphitheater being at Pageant Hill, you might not want to read this column. You’re not going to like what you’re about to read. I greatly respect our city council. I agree with 99 percent of the decisions it makes. But I think it really dropped the ball on this one. It’s my right to do that, and I’m even going to tell you why. I wasn’t around to witness it, but I often hear about how both the Passion Play and the 1880 Train both came to Custer to pitch their ideas, wanting Custer to be the headquarters for their innovative projects. Both times, the city council voted against the issue. Both those projects worked out pretty well for Spearfish and Hill City, eh? I can’t help but think Custer may have just thumbed its nose at the next big thing in the Hills. And for what? Because someone who lives near the hill may lose a couple hours of sleep 10 days a year? Heaven forbid that happen. Before you say I have no right to express my feelings about it because I don’t live near the hill, you’re right. I don’t live near Pageant Hill. I do live 50 feet from the Gold Pan Saloon. If you think those concerts on Pageant Hill would be noisy, try spending a week next to Gold Pan during the rally. Then you can tell me about noise. It’s 10 straight days, and it’s constant. Of course, I don’t run to city hall and complain about it. Why? Because the Gold Pan is making great money that week. The city is making great sales tax money that week. The rally benefits the city in numerous ways. It’s bigger than Jason Ferguson. I’m not the only person in town. They shouldn’t stop the entire rally because I don’t like the constant din. So what do I do? I put up with the drunken yelling. The fighting, the band that plays back there. Heck, I sometimes even pull a chair up to my window and watch and listen, or sit out on the deck. For awhile, the Custer Reenactors were having shootouts behind the Gold Pan in the summer. Every time one of the guns fired, I about wet my pants and had a heart attack. But I didn’t complain. It’s part of being a good neighbor. While we’re on the subject of alcohol, I found some of the exaggerations about allowing alcohol on the hill to be laughable. There are many people out there who can drink responsibly. It is possible to have one beer. Or even two beers. Allowing alcohol sales on Pageant Hill doesn’t mean 500 people are going to get belligerently drunk, start a brawl, wander into the neighborhood, kick your cat, pee on your lawn, stab your son and bomb your home. That’s a pretty big stretch from point A to point B in my opinion. Many people are worried about bears in the woods that aren’t there. I would like to know where this “alternate location” everyone keeps talking about exists. It must be hiding out with Bigfoot and Nicole Brown Simpson’s real killer. The fact of the matter is, there is no “ideal” place to have such a venue. No matter where you put it, someone isn’t going to like it. Someone might be inconvenienced for 60 of the 8,760 hours in a year. The point of the idea was to have the concerts in town so it could benefit the town as a whole. Even if you think the concerts wouldn’t benefit you, it would. The concerts would lead to people in town, which would lead to those people spending money in town, which leads to tax money, which leads to you getting a new street or other service from the city. If you can believe someone touching alcohol on Pageant Hill would eventually lead to them going on a city-wide killing spree, you can believe that. The attraction of an outdoor ampitheater is just that—it’s outdoors. Anyone who has ever attended an outdoor concert will tell you the same thing. It’s not the same going indoors. Plus, having the concert indoors means less people can attend, which means higher ticket prices for you. The Breakfast Club did its homework. A lot of the armchair quarterbacking that went on wasn’t necessary. When I heard this idea, I thought it would be something the city would rally behind. I was wrong. Whether or not this backfires on the city the way the Passion Play and 1880 Train did remains to be seen. I would have liked to see us at least give it a chance. That would have interrupted the status quo, however, which is something we seem to be so in love with we should take it to the courthouse and marry it. All I ever hear from visitors—and even residents—is how there is nothing to do in Custer at night. This club gave us a great idea. Instead of trying it, we patted them on the head and said, “We love the concept.” Everyone loves the concept—as long as they aren’t affected by it, that is. I guess we will have to have the amphitheater at the bottom of the ocean. I commend the Breakfast Club for bringing this idea forward, and am truly sorry it won’t come to fruition. Both Hill City and Hot Springs have expressed interest in bringing this project to their towns. If it takes off in another city, I will be sure to check it out. A wonderful opportunity has passed this city by. If you try hard enough, you can find warts on any idea. We should really be trying to find reasons new and exciting ideas can work, not reasons they can’t. But, at least our precious Pageant Hill will remain intact—and be used once on the Fourth of July and perhaps by sledders the two days a year there is enough snow on it to sled down.