For some De Soto National Memorial visitors, government shutdown spoils the fun

The front gates of the De Soto National Memorial are invariably wide open every weekend so vehicles containing dogs eager to sniff and saunter on the park lawns and youngsters eager to romp after balls and kites can stream in.

But on Sunday the park, which is a unit of the National Park Service, was officially closed due to the U.S. government shutdown and a swinging gate was locked across the main entrance.

Visitors can still use trails, lawns and the beach area, but the visitor center was locked tight with no employees to be found.

A recorded message on the park’s phone on Sunday said, “Due to a lapse in government appropriations, the DeSoto National Memorial visitor center and parking lot are closed to the public. Our trails are still accessible and open for public use.” The park’s website announces the same.

But many of the park’s regular visitors refused to abandon their routines at the park, 8300 DeSoto Memorial Highway in West Bradenton, and instead simply parked along the highway and walked in past the gate.

Some were angry at the state of affairs.

“Get off your a-- and go to work,” said Bradenton winter visitor Cay Daub of New Hampshire, lashing out at lawmakers who are locked in a stalemate. “We pay them. These parks are the people’s pleasure. I can’t believe they work for us. They should really feel responsible for what is going on and not this petty arguing. Isn’t it disgusting. The children. Lots of serious things going on out there.”

“I’m not too happy,” said Gail Wilde from Michigan. “We love to come over here when we are down here for the winter and walk our little dog and enjoy the scenery and everything else.”

Vladimir Blaskovit had a word for lawmakers: “No problem. Make a deal and go on. That’s all.”

Paul and Jill Ahern, full-time residents of Bradenton, walked their dog, Che, on Sunday despite the shutdown. They said the De Soto National Memorial is the reason they bought a house a half mile away. The couple fix blame for the park being closed on the Republican Party.

“The park is closed due to the dysfunction of the controlling political party,” Paul Ahern said. “They control Congress. They control the Senate. They control the presidency and yet the Republican Party can’t keep the lights on.”

“I would tell them, ‘Stop being polarized by partisan politics and the minority of the country that wants to foment it and do your basic jobs and if you can’t, then get out,’” Paul Ahern said.

Although he was clearly in the minority Sunday, James Adkins of Bradenton, gave a thumb’s up when he emerged from the park after a run. He said the shutdown is a good thing.

“Running in contradiction to what most people feel about government, government is essentially a business, and sometimes you have to restructure a business, or close a business or fire people,” said Adkins, who owns his own real estate brokerage in Bradenton. “What they are doing right now is trying to restructure some parts of the government to make it more fiscally sustainable. If that means we have to shut down some of our parks or national monuments for a period of time in order to restructure something, that’s 100 percent A-OK with me.”

“I think the restructured government will look exactly the same except, hopefully, some cuts to entitlements and a slower growth to the size of governement,” Adkins added. “Our government is great. The economy is fantastic. Services like this park are first class around the world. It’s politics right now, and it’s part of life.”

Richard Dymond: 941-745-7072, @RichardDymond

This story was originally published January 21, 2018 at 2:49 PM with the headline "For some De Soto National Memorial visitors, government shutdown spoils the fun."