Ironman makes Cd'A better

Thanks for the brief Ironman breakdown in the Nov. 28 editorial, but I think you were pretty weak on why Ironman in the Lake City is a good idea.

I clearly understand the argument that Ironman is a corporate entity and the question that, as such, why should Cd'A help it conduct its business. Are you kidding me? Idaho is chock full of red-blooded capitalists who wave the profit flag as heartily as any state in the Union. Our recent election proves Idaho is big on profit and profit making corporations. And it's not like this is the only thing in Cd'A that someone profits from.

Coeur d'Alene has a six week holiday lights festival and we all know that it is one company that profits from it the most. Why not? They're the ones who put the most effort and money into it. But along with their profits, locals profit. The business community will feel the trickledown spending from out-of-towners, it's free entertainment for anyone who wants to come down and check it out, and it's a vehicle for charitable causes.

Now let's compare this with Ironman. Yes, a big corporation profits from it. Ironman is an event/industry of such scale that no entity other than a for-profit company could run. But what about our profits?

Trickledown economics? A far wider range of local businesses and services benefit from Ironman. Ironman is Coeur d'Alene's largest single outside-money-coming-in event of the year.

Free entertainment? Find me another event that is so entertaining 3,000 people will volunteer to help run it and hundreds will stay up until midnight to see that last person cross the finish line.

Charitable causes? Over the last 12 years, direct local contributions via Ironman are in the hundreds of thousands and the annual amount grows every year.

Now these are the two biggest event-driven tourist attractions this city has. Question is why would we want to dump one? And why the one that's the biggest boost to our local economy?

I heard the Chamber of Commerce claims it lost $20,000 on Ironman last year. Lost $20,000? I'm thinking how in the world did our little city get to host a world class and world famous event for only 20 grand. If they want to now complain about costs for events I'd like to see exactly what they spend on every other item on their list and how much revenue each produces. Isn't the Chamber's purpose to promote this community? Well they did so in spades when they scored Ironman. Then they spent 12 years telling us what a positive influence it is and how much money it brings to our community. And they were right. And the money is clearly in the millions. Annually. Now all of a sudden The Chamber wants to get rid of it? Seriously?

Like it or not, and maybe as a surprise to newbies, Coeur d'Alene has been a tourist town since the late 1800s. In the early 1900s, 10,000 people would take the electric train from Spokane to spend their Fourth of July in Coeur d'Alene. Let's ask the thousands of folks who've moved here in the last 10-20-40+ years, were you not a tourist here first? Considering the history of how this city was built with dollars coming from visitors, we clearly are a tourist town.

Now name an event that brings as many money-spending visitors as Ironman. We have a tourism-based economy and now somebody wants to boot the single largest economic event of the year? I present to you this year's winner of the Three Steps Back Award.

I've already heard the "Hagadone wants Ironman gone" line (this community has a habit of attaching The Empire to everything), so that's no surprise. Sure, the CdA Resort could host another convention instead, but what other convention offers the opportunity to jack room rates as high as they are for Ironman? Of course the Resort likes regular conventions where they can expect to keep a higher percentage of attendees "in house." Does Ironman spread their money too far around town for them? If this is the case, then we must ask who the Coeur d'Alene Area Chamber of Commerce exists for? Are they serving the community, their backers or themselves? Because tossing a now signature (and irreplaceable) event surely would be a slap in the face to this community at large.

Ironman brings a caravan of devotees and they spread themselves all over our community. Per capita, per duration and per dollars spent, no other event draws as many tourists as Ironman. And forget the money - name another event, anywhere, that brings as many positive role models as Ironman. You couldn't ask for a better demographic of people to invade our town. They don't riot, throw beer bottles or drunkenly stumble down Sherman. They even clean up after themselves.

Of course we have other events. Being the guy who coined the name Car d'Lane, I'm pretty partial to it. But Car d'Lane is small potatoes compared with the feast of Ironman. Please introduce me to anyone who traveled 6,000 miles to see a '57 Nomad. Compare the three couples who drove from Missoula for a car show to the family of six from Dallas who spends a week here to watch a loved one swim, ride and run. Pretty obvious who drops the most coin into the local economy too.

What else do we have to hang our hat on? When I was a kid we had the Diamond Cup. Want to talk about where that is in our future? Me neither. There was the Forest Festival Days, but like the sawmills, that's history too. We had the week-long Scottish Tattoo back in the day, bringing pipers, bands and dancers from as far away as Eastern Canada. But we had a parks director who let it go in favor of softball. There's Art on the Green/Streetfair, a fun weekend for sure, but do people travel here from Japan and Mexico to hear a marimba band and look for bargains? We have the Fair, but everybody's got a fair. Most of us won't even travel to the Spokane Fair, so who's travelling to ours? Fourth of July? Yup, the Spokanites are still coming but I doubt they spend as much here now as they did when they came on the train.

Let's talk about something a little less tangible. Pride. I join thousands of others who take pride in the fact that little old Coeur d'Alene has become the destination of choice and desire for a worldwide audience. That we are a "holy grail" of sorts. Fans of the arts have MOMA, Broadway and Bonnaroo. Historians have the Smithsonian, European castles and Terracotta Warriors. Football fans have the Rose Bowl, basketball fans have Boston's parquet floor and baseball fans the Green Monster. Auto racing fans dream of Daytona or the Grand Prix of Monaco. And in the worldwide Ironman community, there is Kona and Coeur d'Alene.

Better yet, Ironman brings a special attitude to our community, a very fun, happy and healthy attitude. We are overcome with positive energy and a spirit of camaraderie, sportsmanship, inspiration and achievement. Meeting people from literally all over the world that can't stop telling us how beautiful our area is and how wonderful our people are is very uplifting. Only a curmudgeon wouldn't have at least one good story of interacting with someone from Ironman. I have dozens and dozens of such stories.

Very simply, Ironman makes us a better community, financially and emotionally.

I don't know who's pushing to dump Ironman or their reasoning. So to whomever it is that's driving this train of derailment, please answer some questions. How do you plan to replace the millions of dollars that Ironman brings to this community every year? What other event might you propose that could replace the status and stature of Ironman Cd'A? Do you have something planned that will get thousands of people to volunteer and instill a large sense of community? What do you have up your sleeve that will give local groups and causes a way to raise funding? And most importantly, what the hell are you thinking?

Dave Walker is a Coeur d'Alene resident and former member of the City Council.