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The elusive Fourth Street risky riders

By Lisa Stevens John - | Aug 30, 2000

Now that Ive settled the weed-trimmer problem, both by buying a new weed trimmer and by marrying a man who can fix just about anything, life is running a lot smoother around my house.

The weed-trimmer problem solved, next thing I want to tackle are those black stripes that mar the citys new sidewalks. I hear tell that those bicycle-tire skid marks arent made by young teens and pre-teens who are searching for some sort of meaning in their lives, but that theyre made by a normally quiet group of senior citizens, who, once we think theyve turned out their lights at night, secretly don helmets and biking gloves and take to the street in droves.

I slipped out one night and watched. Wheeeee, one shouted gleefully while skidding bike tires on the sidewalk in front of Lenahans Hardware.

Another one, across the street in front of The Mirror, rode on one wheel, showing off expertise gained from years, and I mean years, of practice.

Still others joined the throng X each laughing it up with the screeching sound of another skid mark in the works. In the dark and with their helmets these destructive, but gleeful, riders appear to be youths overflowing with energy, youths who dont have enough to do, youths who allow peer pressure to take over and who are determined to express themselves even if it is in a destructive manner.

And yet, here they were, not youths, but our renowned senior citizens, leaders and pillars of our community X organizers of quilting bees, ice cream socials and pitch parties.

By the time these silver-haired, helmet-clad bikers pedaled home, just before sunrise, the sidewalks were well -marked. And by the time the young teens and pre-teens awaken, citizens are already investigating.

And where does that leave us? Almost empty-handed, one might say.

Thats because these folks are elusive. One night theyll be terrorizing Fourth Street, the next night theyll be throwing bottles off the bridge at The Cliffs, and then K theres rural mailboxes. We wont even get into that one. In short, one never knows where the mischief brewed by these seniors will next strike.

I hear tell that the young teens and pre-teens in our community are eager to snag these rascals. After all, the youth are catching the blame X why not pinpoint the real culprits?

Perhaps it would help if their children and neighbors of these senior citizens kept a closer eye on them. Perhaps they could be grounded on occasion. Perhaps the television privileges could be stopped. And well, theres always the possibility of no dessert and going straight to bed after supper. K But the list of these possibilities could be endless and it would be exhausting to follow up on all of them. Being a child and a concerned citizen is a lot of work.

One might ask: How much of this responsibility lies with the general public? How much of this responsibility lies with law enforcement? And how much of this responsibility lies with the children?

If all children in the community knew where their senior parents and neighbors were at all times, this vandalism could be reduced and possibly stopped.

Perhaps if we work together as a community to remedy this problem, a solution can be found.

Meanwhile, its time to pick up the weed trimmer, go home and get to work. And after thats done K Well, theres the small matter of cleaning up our citys new sidewalks.

Anybody out there know how to remove skid marks from concrete?