So many good things in one place

The socket wrench felt comfortable in my hands, which was a good thing: a quick look in a nearby box revealed dozens of large bolts with washers awaiting the attention of our crew. I’ve always enjoyed tools, working with my hands, building or putting things together.

It was around 10 a.m. last Saturday morning, the sun heating up on this early fall day as about a dozen people assembled the superstructure for the sound system in Sorrells Street Park in Canton. I had never done this before and so was fascinated and also enjoying doing something outside on such a gorgeous day. Members of Haywood County’s own Balsam Range were also there lifting and building, as was Smoky Mountain News Writer Cory Vaillancourt.

The metal speaker stands, more like mini oil derricks, required bolting together successive pieces of fabricated metal that were then raised by a motor on the back of the structure. We’ve all seen them at concerts, but I had never helped assemble one. Cool process, and it took lots of hands to pull it off.

That Saturday morning group was just a sampling of the tremendous volunteer effort that came together to organize the Grit and Grace benefit concert by Balsam Range and Amanda Platt and the Honeycutters later that evening. The stage and the sound system were donated by Pisgah AVL with help from John Holder and Chad Stewart. They were hoping for help assembling it. Help came.

And that’s really what this benefit concert was all about, people helping people. Our arts writer Garrett Woodward and Balsam Range’s Buddy Melton hatched the idea of a show that would help flood victims but also to bring people together. Canton leaders, including Mayor Zeb Smathers and members of the town board, wanted to let people from around the region know that the mill town was still very much alive and well after the remnants of Tropical Storm Fred had wreaked havoc on it and the outlying communities of Cruso, Bethel

and Clyde.

And so people got to work. Thanks goodness I had planned a visit to my dentist’s office for a cleaning when this was just a kernel of an idea. Hygienist and Clyde Lions Club member Laura Inman said the club, and the Cantons Lions Club, would probably help. What an understatement.

Inman and Max Bumgardner of the Canton Lions Club embraced the idea and their club members jumped in. They were responsible for many of the tasks required for pulling off such a large event, from collecting and counting cash donations to toting trash cans and putting out water, getting portapotties and dumpsters and masks donated, even working feverishly to get an alcohol permit into the Raleigh ABC office a hair’s breath before the deadline. Law enforcement showed up, and Piney Grove Methodist fed all the volunteers barbecue, keeping spirits up and people energized. It was one of those events that reinforces how much I love living in a small town and in this particular place. People needed help, they needed their spirits lifted, and people step up, no questions asked. As I watched the Lions Club members walking through the crowd with buckets, I saw people reaching into their pocketbooks and pockets and tossing money into the kitty. Including the credit card donations collected by the Celesa Willett and the United Way, all told about $36,000 was raised that evening, all going to help people in Haywood County who suffered as a result of Tropical Storm Fred and its devastating floodwaters.

This was indeed a rare event: people were generous, they shared music with friends and strangers, and they helped individuals and a community heal. Not much more to say except a heartfelt thanks to all who volunteered and all who attended and were a part of a memorable celebration. (Scott McLeod can be reached at info@smokymountainnews.com.)

Scott McLeod

Editor

The crowd at the Grit and Grace benefit, with the Evergreen paper mill

in the background. Jeff Delannoy photo

Warning on archives is just too much

To the Editor:

One can find treasures in the most improbable places. For me, the Letters to the Editor captures the flavor, thought, and concern of local residents. Whatever the tenor, whether amusing, strident, or irreverent, the letters offer the spectrum of current concerns. There is seldom universal agreement, but the crux of the matter is that opinions are not just possible, they are encouraged.

Contrast local opinion with the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Incomprehensibly, the federal employees on the Archives staff have posted a warning sign above founding documents, including a copy of the United States Constitution. They warn that our Constitution “may reflect racist, sexist, ableists, misogynistic/misogynoir, and zenophobic opinions and attitudes; Be discriminating towards or exclude diverse views on sexuality, gender, religion and more; Include graphic content of historical events such as violent death, medical procedures, crime, wars/terrorists’ acts, natural disasters and more; demonstrate bias and exclusion in institutional collecting and digitization policies.”

Further, it states that the document is “outdated, offensive and insensitive.” Staff wishes to “forewarn audiences of content that may cause intense physiological and psychological symptoms.”

If this evaluation of the documents which guarantee our freedoms is accurate, then one must expect that the Letters to the Editor page will soon carry a warning label. The same must apply to all printed matter, movies, TV, etc.

Where will government correctness and repression end? Thomas Jefferson said that “A government that is big enough to give you everything that you want is a government big enough to take away everything that you have.”

Don’t let them confiscate your freedoms. Kathryn van Heyningen Franklin

LETTERS

GOP actions weaken republic

To the Editor:

Republicans keep claiming that Democrats are destroying the country. They use emotionally laden words like “socialism” and “communism” in ways that are ridiculous and silly.

In reality, Republicans are the ones who are trying to destroy our democratic republic with voter suppression and other ways to steal elections. More than 20 Republican-led states have passed voter suppression laws designed to make it more difficult for folks who are not affluent white folks to vote. In some states, they have passed laws allowing Republican legislators to throw out election results if they don’t like the outcome.

Republicans are not interested in governing as demonstrated under four years of Trump. Try to find any legislation that was for the benefit of the general public, such as infrastructure, education, or renewable energy. Their only interest appears to be grabbing and keeping power at all cost.

Not only are Republicans obsessed with power, but they also have no use for actual facts and science. Instead of evaluating what works in curbing the COVID pandemic, they promoted false information and hairbrained cures that had no basis in facts or reality. From drinking bleach to taking horse dewormer, they came up with one fanciful suggestion after another instead of promoting those actions that have been proven to actually work, like wearing masks and getting vaccinated.

They seemed content with exposing adults and kids to COVID with the risks of hospitalization and even death. Even if one “recovers” from the acute effects of COVID, the “long haul” cases have mental and medical problems that persist for months if not years or for their lifetime.

When they don’t get their way, Republicans around the country have resorted to violence and intimidation. They have harassed school officials, school board members, and even assaulted people in public places trying to get people to wear masks.

I am reminded of a line in a book by Isaac Asimov, “Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.”

Norman Hoffman Waynesville

Texas abortion law appears unconstitutional

To the Editor:

The anti-abortion law enacted by Texas appears strong and worrisome. But, is it really strong? This major question lingers: where will the “bounty money” come from?

The Fourteenth Amendment may be relevant. It states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the protection of the laws.

Somewhere in the Fourteenth Amendment there must be a legal basis to challenge the Texas law. Read it once more. Then decide what you think about the law itself cast up against the Constitution. Each of us has feelings about the abortion controversy. But, we must follow the Constitution or amend it. Dave Waldrop Webster