While everyone was dancing naked in the parks in celebration over the smoking ban (I still saw a lot of people smoking) at JazzFest, I was extremely disappointed that the ONLY public water fountain available on the South side of the park was shut off this year. In year’s past, the organizers do a good job of trying to hide it behind the porta potties, but it is usually on.
I get it that the organizers want to sell bottled water to raise money, but those of us that would prefer to spend what money we do have on food and beer and don’t like the taste of bottled water (ick) we like having that available, especially when it is around 100 degrees, and you know, like a public park.
So let’s talk public safety here. While we seem to be concerned about the 2 or 3 kids that will be in attendance that have asthma breathing smoke, we don’t seem to be too concerned about thousands of dehydrated individuals on a hot day, unless of course they have $3 to buy a bottled water the organizers probably bought for a nickel or got donated.
I guess this year we not only had a smoking ban in Yankton Trail Park, we had a Water Ban. Ironically the sprinkler system was working just fine because when I was walking around in the grass Thursday night my feet got wet.