"I Visited McCook NB & All I Got Was The Lousy Chair"

Small towns are quaint aren't they? I grew up in a small town and by and large the people are resourceful, neighbourly (read: nosey), there's one public school for each grade-level group, a Catholic highschool, post office, volunteer fire department and a grocery store.  Usually there's a water tower that is situated somewhere near the town arena and/or park. The name of the town is normally painted on the tower too, that's so the people driving through the town or taking a scenic hot-air balloon ride don't blink and miss the name on the little four-corners 'Welcome to Anytown' sign. 

My small town was even on a stagecoach route. 

By golly small towns have history in spades, that's for sure.

Peel away the Currier and Ives fuzzies of small towns though and you'll find that without regional and provincial or state funding, they are screaming for cash to maintain their infrastructure.  I recall reading that my small town only went to sewer systems within the last 2 years or so. Previously everybody had septic tanks (I promise to write about them some other time).

Lots of small towns have things like fairs, seasonal festivals and are really strict with their pet licensing policies and bylaw fines so they can scrape together some cash at the local level to help keep their burg bobbing above the financial waterline.

So, it stands to reason that folks in the town of McCook Nebraska - population 8,000 - want to take "Old Sparky" off the state's hands - since it's not doing anything with it, mind you. See, the good folks in McCook think the electric chair would be a smashing tourist attraction:

(AP) "Fifteen men were executed in the chair, which is about 210 miles east of McCook at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln.

Corrections department spokeswoman Connie Nemec says there are no immediate plans to move the chair."

Well I would think not, given the town of Licoln would probably want to keep such a hot tourist-y tchotke all to itself. Being it's a much bigger town than McCook, Licoln could invest in and support its star tourist attraction with t-shirts, pendants and bumperstickers ("I went to the Chair in Licoln NB") etc.  

I think McCook should stand firm, circulate a petition and write the governer to get that chair. Nothing should mobilize a community more than exploiting a tool of capital punishment for local gain.  

I hope they get that chair and the spirits of the 15 individuals that died in it haunts the shit out of McCook Nebraska.  

These men may have been convicted criminals but the chair should be treated with the solemnity and respect it deserves as having been an instrument to end life, not put out there like some sideshow attraction.

The ghouls of McCook who want this chair might as well cut a hole in the seat and stick a pot of geraniums in it too. Just for some added flair.