To the editor:

Why didn't someone think of this?

Why didn't someone sell this on eBay, especially when the county is spending so much to remove it?

There are a lot of bored, rich people in this world that are not sure what they plan to buy next. I could give some examples, but I think we know where this is going.

If we go back and do our history, our country received one of the greatest landmarks in America as a gift -- the Statue of Liberty.

The Wilkie was a gift to us. It was our Statue of Liberty.

[anonymous reader]

Dear Reader:

Let's set aside for a moment the Wilkie is on public property (the Levee is owned by the city and its a federal Army Corps of Engineers site).

I am not sure who would have wanted to spend the money to save the Wilkie, especially if they were somewhere else other than Winona. Not all the Bloedow cookies in the world could save it. I am guessing its because Winona, a town that is in love with its own history and recognizes history, understood that a 27-year-old look-a-like, wasn't really historic. It wasn't even old.

Granted, there were people leading the charge to save it. The truth is they cared deeply, but just couldn't arouse sentiment where there was little to none.

The Statue of Liberty is an interesting comparison, but there's a very important distinction. The Statue of Liberty doesn't just commemorate the past, or what was. The Statue still has as much meaning today as when it was given to us. It stands for liberty, equality and promise of America -- ideas that aren't specific to any particular period in our history; ideas that are still as fresh today as they were in 1886.

The Wilkie, meanwhile, just calls attention to a very specific time in our history. It had a hard time really speaking to the present or future, especially when the structure itself was void of any true historic significance. In a bit harsher terms, it was mirage, a Winonan Potemkin Village.

Maybe even those who gave such lipservice to the Wilkie's importance at the base of Main might have privately conceded a boat that couldn't float wasn't really very true to the river.

Maybe we should have just left the pile of wood and debris there. That would have been the most honest use of the space. After all, a pile of rubble is just what it seems -- pieces of wood, plaster and glass. Instead, the Wilkie was never as it seemed -- meant to look like a boat, drawing curious gawkers, but then never quite living up to tourists' expectations or ours.