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Opponents said gambling would siphon spending that would otherwise go to local businesses.

“We need to come up with a way to increase revenue and become a contributing factor to the financial success of our community and our state,” said Whitney Shelton, a lifelong county resident.

“That can be done through factories, wellness clinics, grocery stores, any form of employment that will attract jobs and citizens to move here and work… not by wasting our money at a casino,” Shelton said.

Some speakers warned that gambling would cast a shadow over the safety of children, not only those with chronic illnesses who attend Camp Carefree but also those attending Huntsville Elementary School in Madison and others living near the casino site.

“There is no amount of revenue that can replace the way our children live their lives,” parent Clark Erskine said.

The tract slated for the casino abuts the 37-year-old Camp Carefree, run by a largely volunteer nonprofit organization that offers free summer camp to children with chronic illnesses. It also serves well siblings of ill children, and children with a parent who is seriously ill.

The camp “is not an amusement park,” said Rodenbough, the board member. It “has been a good, controlled environment in our community. It is a simple country camp where (children) play, they ride horses, they swim, they canoe, they fish, they do outdoor things that they wouldn’t otherwise get the opportunity to do.”

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