The beginning of the end for Branson (Ozark: timeshare, estimates)

[ozarksboy]

Originally Posted by SW Missouri Dave

OB - I find your forum entries a pleasure to read and can always count on many of them for a good laugh. I look forward to reading many, many more. I am white, my son is white, and because of his marriage to a white girl who was formerly married to a black man, I am now the proud grandfather to four black grandchildren. I should be worried how two young people will make it in the economy our generation is handing to them. And while I am, I am more concerned about what environment these four children will grow up in rural southwest Missouri. Thankfully, they are growing up amongst mostly white people who love them, and a white church that has embraced them. I can only hope the rest of the community accepts them for who they are and will become - and not for the color of their skin. It's an easy thing for us to claim, much harder to prove.

Dave, as your grandchildren grow up in Southern Missouri, they'll be highly thought of if they try to do what everyone else tries to do, i.e. we work hard, we keep our noses clean, we go to church, we spend time with our families, we lend a helping hand when it's needed.

Now, I don't like the white racism any more than you do, and I hope that whenever that candidate you cited gives a speech or makes a campaign appearance there are people present who will point out to him that we Ozarkers judge people by how hard they work, not by the color of their skin.

Also, I don't like the way the words diversity, tolerance and racism have been redefined to mean that I have to accept all behavior, all ideas, all language as equally valid, or risk being called a Klansman, a white supremacist, a skinhead or a racist.

I don't like the Nelly video and I don't like the lyrics to the song I posted as a warning. Those lyrics celebrate a way of life that I don't think needs to be celebrated or encouraged in Southern Missouri.

I also reject the political/social statements of that black leader Shabazz. What concerns me most about that video, and what I wanted folks to notice, is the way people scurry past him, cowed.

This seems to be what our political leaders and our media want us to accept as diversity. They want us to exercise tolerance, i.e. embrace that behavior, those ideas and that language as valid. Well, I don't. I don't think you do, either, so that makes you as racist as you think I am.

[jfkIII]

I may be mistaken...but wasn't it Nelly that was once accused of having sex with an underaged girl? If so, I forget the outcome on that one.

HipHop brings a certain element to the town...and maybe an undesirable one. Violence is common amongst that crowd. Think NBA All-star game in LV...or the shooting of Tupak Shakur.

Yo...word to ya motha.

[SW Missouri Dave]

OB - I thought the original post that started this thread was your light heartened attempt at showing just how ridiculous you felt the whole concept of Nelly coming to Branson really was. Selling rap in Branson is like selling ocean front apartments in Kansas. We are taking two different roads to get there, but we basically agree on the thread topic. It's simply not a good fit and in my opinion, a desperate attempt by a failed theatre, that was bought out of bankruptcy by ignorant investors who are trying to grab their "5 minutes" of headlines. A rapper in Branson - now that is sure to get some press, which in the world of marketing, whether good or bad press, is FREE advertisement.

Branson isn't having any part of it and this week, forced them to move the concert back inside to the yet, unfinished theatre. The Grand Palace, promising current and modern acts, has an online poll on their website for visitors to say who they would most like to see there. Lady Gaga and Madonna (heaven help us), have the most votes.

Am I worried? Not really. Just wondering who will be buying the old Palace when the new investors finally realize that they can't sell something that the public that lives and visits Branson, isn't interested in buying. Will they sell some tickets? It's a sad day when you can't pack the house on your Grand Opening. But then there is the day after to worry about and if they can't figure out what Branson tourist's are willing to pay for, then there won't be too many day afters to worry about.

Let them have their 5 minutes. It's a shame, but if this is the best they can do, we will probably be seeing see car shows and flea markets in their empty parking lot next year - AGAIN.

And for all those residents and tourist out there, not sure if anyone has mentioned this on the forum before, but if you are celebrating your 50th birthday or 50th anniversary this year, Silver Dollar City will let you in for free with proof as part of their 50th year anniversary. You can check their website for details, but please keep in mind when considering a vacation destination - while Sin City is trying to 'become' more family oriented to increase their tourism - there is a good reason why Branson is already referred to as America's G-rated Las Vegas. Come see us, and as OB always says, don't let the door hit you in the a.... oh sorry, I mean ... Thanks for coming and have a safe drive home.

[ozarksboy]

Originally Posted by SW Missouri Dave

Come see us, and as OB always says, don't let the door hit you in the a.... oh sorry, I mean ... Thanks for coming and have a safe drive home.

City folks don't often make great neighbors, but they almost always make wonderful tourists in Southern Missouri. We love their visits, we love their money, we love it when they leave.

[marmac]

--we love it when they leave--

Providing another tour bus is entering the city limits to replace the one leaving the city limits

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by marmac

--we love it when they leave--

Providing another tour bus is entering the city limits to replace the one leaving the city limits

Wax on! Wax off! As long as they drop their dollars instead of their drawers we can act pleased 'til they drive outta sight!

[GeekOfTheOzarks]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

Wax on! Wax off! As long as they drop their dollars instead of their drawers we can act pleased 'til they drive outta sight!

Too funny.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by ozarksboy

Yes, I'm a big hip-hop fan now, and I look forward to a recording by Nelly and the Baldknobbers.

...followed by an engagement with the Presleys during the Dixie Stampede MC'd by Yakov! What a country!!!

[20yrsinBranson]

Originally Posted by ozarksboy

The Nelly concert will bring diversity to a region that sorely lacks it, according to many people. Times are changing, whether old geezers like me want it or not. Our rural area, whether we like it or not, daily receives more urban influences as people transplant themselves into the Ozarks. In another 20 years, Springfield-Branson will be just like all the other metro areas, a shining example of diversity.

I don't know why people say there is no "diversity" in SWMO. It seems like you cannot go to a Walmart these days without seeing a white woman married to a black man and three or four little "diverse" children running around. Or, in the alternative, older folks (grand parents perhaps, or maybe adoptive parents), with a couple of little "diverse" children in tow. Twenty years ago you never saw this kind of thing.

I recall when I first moved here back in 1987, they actually told the dark skinned students at College of the Ozarks (then known as School of the Ozarks), that is would be best if they were not out alone after dark. Things are definitely different now.

I don't understand the attraction. Popular culture and the media have "romanticized" the urban lifestyle, but if you spend a little time in Kansas City, or St. Louis in the seedy parts of town, any fool could see that this is not the lifestyle that we should be EMULATING. Anyone who thinks it's cool, is brain dead.

20yrsinBranson

[skrizzle]

Originally Posted by marmac

Better hope that the type of people who like hip hop will spend enough in Branson to make up for the regular tourists who will proclaim----" Is this what Branson is turning into ? "----as they leave and re-consider next time.

Maybe Branson should make an effort to attrasct Gothic entertainment.

That might drive tourists away even faster than hip hop.



When a tourist place tries to be all things to everybody, they usually end up being not much for anybody.

Hmmm Las Vegas is pretty good at being all things to everybody, they have a wide-variety of entertainment available....

Regardless that was an extremely prejudiced comment "the type of peopel who like hip hop..."

You realize that probably a majority of hip-hop fans are white middle class suburbanites? I like hip hop... i'm not into Nelly but if it was someone I was into i'd check it out and enjoy a weekend in Branson. I would say a bigger threat to tourism in Branson is the idea of running into close-minded people who make assumptions of others based on music taste.