The water crashes over the rocks when the waves come in. The fishermen reel in their poles with hopes of a fish attached to their hooks. The sky is so lovely above and the wilderness around is full of pine trees and flowers, birds singing songs, squirrels gathering food and many more beautiful things. While surrounded by all of this beauty, you then arrive at the community boat dock. This dock has been in the Rancho McRae community in Island Park, Idaho for as long as I can remember. The wood is peeling, the color fading, there are weeds growing between the cracks. As time has gone by, this dock has aged as well and become worn and tattered. Footsteps make the dock creak and sway back and forth so it is unstable. It is an unsafe place to be and needs to be taken care of or replaced. The price may seem outrageous at the time but it could be a helping tool to save someone from getting hurt in the future.
The boat dock of Rancho McRae needs to be replaced. One step on it and a young child or even an adult could fall off of it into the water. This could result in a bigger problem than the community of Rancho McRae needs. Many may say that it is the fault of the parents for not watching their children close enough or the fault of the child for messing around on the dock when in reality it was just a simple step to an injury from the dock.
When I was seven years old, I walked on this boat dock with my grandfather as we were trying to put gas in our boat because it had ran out and our cabin’s dock was too far away. When he took a step back, my foot slipped through a slit in the boat dock and a rusty nail was sticking out between the boards and cut my leg open to the bone. I was then rushed to the hospital in an ambulance because I had lost so much blood that I began to go into shock and stop breathing. Shortly after four other children in the community were taken to the hospital for injuries that occurred from the unsafe boat dock of Rancho McRae. Since that day many children who have cabins in this community have also gotten cuts and bruises from this boat dock. Most which have also resulted in visits to the hospital or clinic.
The next question on your mind may be how will the community council of Rancho McRae be able to afford a project like this with the economy in such a bad situation at the moment. The council could ask community members for a small amount of money each month to go into a fund for the new dock and act as a fundraiser to help improve the community and allow for residents to feel like they helped contribute to solving the problem that is at hand. Others who cannot afford to put money towards a new dock may be willing to volunteer hours to help replace the old one in a month where the water is low enough to let the wood dry out and make it easier to move.
Isn’t it time to protect the youth from getting hurt and fix the problem? Many may say that you shouldn’t fix something that has been around for as long as the community has been there. Think about it, things are changing all the time to updated and safer equipment. It is time to create a dock that will be safer and more user friendly for the people of Rancho McRae. This will draw more people to use the dock for recreation because it will be a safer place to enjoy with the family or alone.
Rancho McRae is a place for people to go, relax, and enjoy themselves. The early morning fisherman wants to be able to fish right at dawn and not have to worry about whether or not he will fall through the dock or tip it over from being unsteady. This community would get more fishers to go on the dock if the circumstances changed and they didn’t have to worry about this. People would be more pleased and enjoy themselves more if the dock problem was taken and made into a user friendly, safe place to be. This one new addition would create a safe environment for the visitors and residents of Rancho McRae. It would protect people from getting injured. It would allow for a nice summer vacation, to stay a nice summer vacation without any problems or concerns.
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