Dear Editor,

 

The quiet community of Cotton Gin saw more excitement of a dubious nature during Memorial Day weekend than I can recall in almost fifty years of association with the area.

Thanks to a recent land sale, what was once a strip of cow pasture has been converted into a nefarious playground for ‘out of towners’ who are no doubt desirous of less scrutiny by law enforcement than afforded them in Dallas. A traffic jam caused by more than a hundred cars trying to navigate their way through an opening cut in a barbed wire fence was further delayed by two men with assault rifles approving the ingress and egress of each vehicle.

There have been many celebrations and happy gatherings in Cotton Gin since its founding in 1848 but heretofore none have required ‘security’ that was reminiscent of a Central American drug cartel. Hours of raucous music ensued, with drag races through the muddy pasture resulting in a steady trot of wreckers coming to the rescue. Daylight revealed a wasteland of detritus up and down the road, the entrance to the Cotton Gin Cemetery obliterated by the numerous cars attempting to turn around, and savage ruts in the grass along the cemetery property.

With all the land that is changing hands in Freestone County please use what has happened in Cotton Gin as a cautionary tale. What would have made a perfect home site for a family moving to our area is now an eyesore and a gateway for illegal activity. If not so, why the necessity of armed men by the roadside?

I deplore this turn of events for Cotton Gin, whose citizens have been successful in their efforts to preserve and beautify the townsite and cemetery. Who knows what the next ‘party’ will bring to our community?  We haven’t even begun to clean up or make the necessary repairs from the last one.

To Commissioner Clyde Ridge and the officers of the Freestone County Sheriff’s Department I extend my appreciation for their presence and efforts to keep our portion of County Road 930 safe this past weekend and correct the damage done.

For all parties involved in facilitating these miscreants in establishing themselves in Cotton Gin I offer a quote from Shakespeare:  “A plague on both your houses.”

 

William Shelton

Teague, Texas