Who's No. 1 now?

I have a friend in Missouri who sent out an email a week and a half ago in celebration of the University of Missouri football team’s rising to number one in the football polls. The next week all they would need to do is beat Oklahoma to play for the National Championship and the real Big Bucks.
A number of his friends from around the country emailed him and copied me and others, telling him to enjoy it while he can, that these things can be very fleeting. And indeed they are.
As you may know, Oklahoma thrashed Missouri, for the second time this season. Mizzou fell in the polls to No. 6.
As the friends counseled him right after that No. 1 celebration, this has been a season where it seemed that being designated one of the top two teams in the country has been a bit of a curse. There has been a parade of teams who ascended to the highest in the polls, only to fall the following weekend.
There are a lot of reasons why it has been so hard to stay on top. One obvious reason is the lack of a truly dominant team. No one is good enough, save Hawaii, with their cream puff schedule, to go through the season undefeated.
You have to credit coaching for a lot of the “upsets.” There are a lot of talented coaches out there who are great at looking at films of opponents and spotting a weakness. Then they come up with ways to exploit that weakness.
I went to a meeting Monday night, but imagine my surprise when I turned on Monday Night Football and there, in the second half, the lowly Baltimore Ravens were tied with the mighty New England Patriots, the NFL’s only undefeated team.
I credit the Raven’s coaching staff with coming up with a winning game plan, and they certainly could have won that game. There was more to it than that.
As I have said many times before, I know football is played on many different levels, and often I believe games are won or lost before the team takes the field. I believe Baltimore believed in Baltimore. I believe the players believed enough in their team, their game plan, to win that game.
On the opposite side of the field, the New England Patriots knew they were a better team and should easily beat Baltimore. After a tough match with another team that they should have easily beaten, Philadelphia, the Pats struggled again.
You can argue that it is hard to summon the level of play necessary to overcome the inevitable bumps and bruises along the way. Every team will have breaks during the season that go against them.
They celebrated the Mighty Undefeated Dolphins of 1972 Monday night and had their coach, Don Shula, in the booth. If you go back and look at that season, Miami had their share of close games against clearly inferior teams.
The mark of a champion, and the Patriots can claim this, is the ability to overcome a sub-par performance and pull out the win. We put a lot of stock in wins, and we should.
One of the benchmarks increasingly used in the BCS rankings is the strength of schedule, hence Hawaii not getting into the championship game, despite going undefeated. With the balanced scheduling used by the NFL, with the better teams from last year scheduled to play the other better teams, you tend to have harder games every week.
There is a lot of comment that the Southeastern Conference is so hard to win and even more difficult to go through undefeated because of the high level of competition. We in the ACC would have a hard time denying that, as I think our record against them wasn’t very good. I know Virginia Tech, our supposed best team, took a beating by LSU.
You can debate that if New England goes through this 16-game season undefeated, that is an even greater feat than Miami’s season, with the strength of schedule they play. Of course, like the Indianapolis Colts prior to last year, who had strong season after strong season, if you don’t win the big games at the end, the aura quickly fades.
Yes, the Mizzou Tigers had their 15 minutes of fame, and then the spotlight moved to another team. The target on the back of jerseys moved to another team.
And the fans of the Tigers, and a lot of other fans, joined in pulling against the new number one.

Over-doing decorating

There’s a new TV commercial for a new version of the NC Lottery
where a couple decorates the exterior of their home for Christmas and
turns on the lights. The wife’s only response is “More!” The husband
dutifully responds with a heavy duty plug, and the home is illuminated
with a blinding display.
One can only imagine that the way to a truly great Christmas display
at your home is through winning the lottery. Maybe that’s the subtle message
here.
It speaks to what I see as an insatiable appetite
for decorating our homes for Christmas.
No offense ladies, but it almost seems like we
are over-doing decorating.
I spoke with a couple of guys the other
night apart from their wives. We were comparing
notes about ours.
I readily admit that I came out on the long
end of the conversation, but another guy’s
wife was sick and he got a temporary pass as
well.
The third was talking about how big a
production decorating his house was. There
was actually a packing up of things across
his house to make room for the Christmas
decorations. I’ve forgotten how many boxes of
decorations he said they brought down from
the attic for decorating his home.
He was saying that this year they had to replace the ribbons on some
of the decorations; that three years is about all you can get from bows. He
remembered how his late mother used to carefully store her decorations
so they would last another year.
The other was noting how last year his wife had bought a third
Christmas tree for their home. This one was to sit on the kitchen table so
it could be visible from the street in front of their home. The other two
couldn’t be seen from the front of the house, so they needed a third to be
seen from the front of the house.
This is a young couple. They have no children. Two people. Three
Christmas trees.
I did my share the day after, bringing home from our outside storage
(the attic is indeed full) four storage bins of Christmas stuff. That doesn’t
include the Christmas tree. I think the wife is holding out for a new tree
this year.
I’m not going to blame Lowe’s for all of this, but they certainly have
made it easy for us to go into excess mode on decorating.
I know my street couldn’t wait for Thanksgiving. While I let my beard
grow and was watching the endless stream of football over the holiday,
my neighbors were busy getting their decorations up. It almost seems
that there’s a decorating contest going on.
There’s some kid left in me, and I enjoy the lights. I can remember riding
in a neighbor’s van twenty or thirty miles to look at Christmas lights
with the side door of the van open so more could see more of the lights.
I remember riding through a neighborhood in Goldsboro just in the last
year or two to see all of the decorating they were doing.
In southern Johnston County there is a crossroads called Meadow,
famous for the Meadow Grill and their extra-good home cooking, and the
Meadow Lights, an extensive set of Christmas decorations. I wonder how
many fewer people will go to see the Meadow Lights this year. Our local
neighborhoods it seems are saying you don’t have to go.
We have gone to the Raleigh area display. I think they’ve moved it to
Walnut Creek in recent years. There’s another in Wilson which is used as
a fundraiser for a school, if memory serves me correctly.
We seem bent, if you will, on finding new ways to spend money for
Christmas.
I know there is a plumbing-electrical contractor who has an extensive
display at his house on a well-traveled road. I remember other “rich folk”
who used to extensively decorate their homes for the season. If you will,
maybe it was a way that they put back into their community.
I was struck recently as I drove past a rather modest home near a
busy intersection in northern Wayne County. I think there were about
seven inflatable decorations that lay flat in their yard, not to mention the
others that were dormant during the day, only to spring to life and light
once dusk came.
I got a call from someone yesterday. He mentioned there was someone
in our community that needed help paying their heating bill. They had
fallen on some hard times. I made another phone call and we figured out
a way to help the family.
I hope we aren’t getting so bent on spending money on decorations
that we don’t have any left to share with those who need a helping hand.
Don’t we all need one at one time or another?

A hollow turkey

It’s the Monday before Thanksgiving. I guess I should be thankful,
because it’s the right thing to do this time of year. Certainly I have plenty
to be thankful for. Sorry, but things are not as they should be.
Part of life as I have known it is that this is panic time. There is so
much to do that I won’t get it all done. There’s a pace that’s extra quick.
While it may be a stress attack, it also helps clean out the capillaries.
From some perspectives, it’s exhilarating.
Trouble is, I’m not there.
We have early deadlines for the newspapers.
Your copy of the News Leader went to
bed early this week, presuming all went as
planned. That is usually plenty of cause for
panic. Yes, as I write this, we have some more
hurdles to jump, but most of them are well
in the rear view mirror. Our able and mature
staff has handled the challenges of putting
out early newspapers with few problems, at
least to this point.
There is an extra set of concerns usually
going on. We normally will be hitting the
highway as soon as we get the Thanksgiving
papers gone to visit Marilyn’s family in South
Carolina. That adds a layer of pressure and
some extra responsibilities, to get things
packed and everything situated for a few days out-of-town.
Well, we’re not going to S.C. this year. I guess I should be thankful that
I don’t have that to worry about. It doesn’t seem right, somehow.
The main reason we’re not going is our daughters will both be out-oftown.
I guess I should be extra thankful about that in some ways. Kelly
has been on an archeological dig in Mississippi for the past three months.
Ashley will be flying to Mississippi to meet her and they will be taking
an extra turn to Texas and they will be spending the holiday with my
mother before coming home. I am thrilled that they will be able to spend
that time together, as we don’t see my mother often enough. I’m saddened
that Marilyn and I won’t be there.
Normally, if we’re not going to S.C., and we almost always go to S.C.,
we would be preparing Thanksgiving dinner at the house. It’s a family
time as the girls all pitch in to do the various jobs to make the big Turkey
Day dinner a success. Even when we go to S.C., normally Kelly will figure
out a way that we fix a big dinner before or after.
Marilyn and I have reached an age where our metabolism is staring to
work against us. It seems to take weeks for us to get past sins of the diet,
and we are learning there is a heavy price to pay for overindulgences on
days like Thanksgiving.
Needless to say, there is no pressure for us to get a big meal together
for the family. I’m not sure where we will end up on Thanksgiving.
Probably won’t be a Lean Cuisine frozen turkey dinner, but we won’t be
overrun with tempting leftovers for the next two weeks, either. I guess I
should be thankful.
I have great confidence that I won’t have competition for the HD TV
when the football comes on. Normally Turkey Day football is an unchallenged
right, but I have heard women complain about having to watch
football all day. There’s another TV in the bedroom and for once, the male
cat and I can out-vote the females.
Traditionally, the Detroit Lions and the Dallas Cowboys host games
on Thanksgiving. Seeing Dallas win is usually a cause for celebration
in my house. In recent years Detroit has gotten slaughtered in the early
game, though this year the Detroit-Green Bay game could be the best
game of the day. That’s something to celebrate, isn’t it?
Dallas and the New York Jets is not one of those marquee match-ups.
It’s a bit scary as the Jets knocked off Pittsburgh Sunday, but it’s one of
those games Dallas can only lose as they should handle the Jets easily.
The real turkey of a game could be the closer on NFL Network. If the
Colts play halfway to their potential, they should easily topple the crippled
Falcons. Like the Jets, the Colts haven’t exactly played as expected
lately, so it might be a game.
Still, it looks to be a traditional day in that I probably will drift off
during a not very exciting match-up sometime during the day.
It’s going to be a bit of a sad day for what I’ll be missing.
On reflection, some of the important things that we have: we continue
to have full bellies, mortgage payments that are up to date, body parts
that work at close to their original factory condition in most cases, a comfortable
home, two beautiful children who are leading good lives, wonderful
relationships with each other, and a future that is so bright.
Maybe it won’t be a traditional holiday with all of the trappings of the
season, but we can take joy in the abundance of good things we do have.

Whose team are you on?

I met with a group of men from across the Southeastern US this past weekend. As it was a bit of a retreat, we met in a building that did not have a television. I happened to have a laptop computer with a wireless (WiFi) card, and they had WiFi in the building. As we met all day
Saturday, my computer became popular during our infrequent breaks so that people could check the score of their favorite football team.
One of my friends who was at the meeting has an email that begins tigerrag. Would it surprise you that he hails from South Carolina?
There were a few who “wore their colors” during the weekend. That’s a little surprising in that it was a Christian gathering. Yes, a few wore cross necklaces during the weekend, and some wore shirts that showed their membership in our Christian group, but there were more than a few who outwardly were showing their support for their team.
To be sure, I’ve got more than my share of NC State stuff, and after my older daughter enrolled there, my number of shirts, sweatshirts and jackets with NC State logos has increased. Since my baby girl enrolled at Carolina, I’ve got some UNC stuff.
I won’t say that there is a balance in the amount I have. I’ve been a State fan for over 30 years, and my daughter just graduated from graduate school there, so I’ve had some years to build up my collection.
My younger daughter wants some equal time, some symbol that she is important. I would hope that she would understand, but if I wear NC State stuff exclusively for several days while she is home, her feelings get hurt. Yes, it’s just a shirt or a jacket, but it is a symbol. We may talk about how superficial that is, but symbols count.
If they didn’t count, why would we go out of our way, and spend as much money as we do, to make sure we have fan wear. If for nobody but ourselves, we want to wear things that show allegiance to our team. And we take pride in winning.
A few years ago on a Spiritual retreat, I received some little gifts. By themselves, they were not worth much, maybe $1.00 apiece, and they were given anonymously. They were little symbols. We called them “agape,” that Greek word for unconditional love. The cost of the gift had
little to do with the worth of the gift.
One of my favorite memories comes from one of those Spiritual retreats. The particular place where the retreat was being held had a kind of motel type of room, and there were maids who daily cleaned up those rooms, as you would expect.
Often during these weekends, people will wear the agape gifts they receive. Often some of those gifts will be cross necklaces of one sort or another.
As one of the men was walking in the motel area, one of the maids commented to him, asking why some of the men were wearing several crosses while some wore none or perhaps only one. He recalled that at the moment he came up with some flippant remark, but a few steps later
was stopped in his tracks. He turned, apologized, and said the reason some have more is they have not given them away, and he put crosses on the two ladies.
That story inspired me. I have given away lots of crosses since then. I have bought lots of small wooden cross necklaces and I give them away to lots of people. When I give them away, I ask them to wear it on the outside of their shirt that day, but after they get home, to continue to
wear it on the inside of their shirt.
I tell them if they are like me and haven’t worn anything like that, it may be a little uncomfortable at times. It may rub you at times. When you get too much change at the drive thru, maybe it will rub you the right way. When you go in the convenience store and you are tempted to look over at the pornography on the magazine rack, maybe it will rub you the
right way. I usually have some around, so if you’d like one, I’d be honored to give you one.
The story has another side to it. While that love is given to us unconditionally, and we do nothing to earn it, still, it changes us. As the song Pass It On says, “I’ll shout it from the mountain top - Praise God, I want the world to know; the Lord of love has come to me, I want to pass it on.”
I have given away lots of nicer crosses, as well. It’s just a symbol. Don’t you know people who beam with the love of Christ? Don’t you know people who pass it on every time you look on their face?
How about you?
I have been called to serve in a ministry to men through my church, Princeton United Methodist. As we have officers and different levels of officers, we have meetings to talk about the ministry and elect officers. Marilyn and I were in Atlanta this past weekend for one of those meetings. I’m in the ministry because of a man named Mack Parker from Raleigh. I met Mack eight years ago at a church retreat that had nothing directly to do with this ministry, and I can’t say that we immediately hit it off. In fact, I’m not sure we said much to each other on that weekend.
Mack, however, beams with the love of Christ in his life.
Five years ago Mack looked me up and asked me to get involved in
this men’s ministry with him. I did, and I continue to serve with him
today. He rode to Atlanta with Marilyn and me.
Mack has been my mentor in this ministry. He has groomed me for
leadership. He continues to advise me on what to do and how to do it. He
recognizes our gifts are different and allows me to do things my way, but
he helps me understand how to work with and through others.
Mack is a black man. He’s very astute and perceptive. While he has
helped me immeasurably in this ministry, he’s also made me more aware
of sensitivities to perceptions of black people in mixed racial situations.
He’s my friend. I owe him a lot.

Election reflections: Princeton

The biggest winner in last week’s Princeton Town Board election? The people of
Princeton.
We might argue who the best man (or woman) for the job was, but clearly the two candidates
who were elected, Walter Martin and Brandon Holland, are two good ones. In my
humble opinion, we had six good ones who were up for election.
While I offered my choices in last week’s paper, and we have to make choices, I don’t
think any candidates have anything to be ashamed of. I believe
each offered their candidacy out of a caring for the community.
They felt they could make a positive difference for the
people of Princeton, and they offered to serve. While each
have distinctive gifts, I believe each had fine qualities to offer
the town and would have made good representatives.
I would say that the two that worked the hardest to get
elected were the ones who won. The key to getting elected
remains getting out, knocking on doors, and asking for people’s
vote. Those who care enough to get out and work hard
to get elected are the ones generally you want to get elected.
That says something positive about their caring for the people
in the community.
As Brandon indicated in the interview in this week’s
paper, he made as his goal early on to out-work the rest of the
candidates. He certainly did that. I believe the voters were
impressed.
The voters continue to be impressed with Walter Martin. I am surprised by how well
he does at the polls.
It’s no secret that Princeton and Johnston County have roots in racism, on both sides
of the color divide. I have no doubt that some in the white community opposed his election
based on the color of his skin. There may have been some in the black community
who opposed him, jealous of the success he has had in office.
Clearly, however, there were many more who favored his election based upon who he
is and what he stands for.
That speaks volumes about how Princeton has grown and is growing past our roots.
Walter indicated in a brief interview Monday that when he meets new people from
other areas and it comes up that he is an elected official, they assume that Princeton has
district elections. With the black population being a smaller percentage of the total population,
as compared with Fremont, where the percentage of blacks in the community is
over 50%, Walter reaches a lot of people over the racial lines in the community.
He said that his message particularly resonates with many of the older voters in the
community. Obviously those are a lot of the older white voters in the community, and
those are ones whom you would expect to see Walter first as a black man, and second as
someone who shared their values. Walter was able to overcome that and again drew more
votes than any other candidate. That’s very significant.
I have been called to serve in a ministry to men through my church, Princeton United
Methodist. As we have officers and different levels of officers, we have meetings to talk
about the ministry and elect officers. Marilyn and I were in Atlanta this past weekend
for one of those meetings.
I’m in the ministry because of a man named Mack Parker from Raleigh. I met Mack
eight years ago at a church retreat that had nothing directly to do with this ministry, and
I can’t say that we immediately hit it off. In fact, I’m not sure we said much to each other
on that weekend. Mack, however, beams with the love of Christ in his life.
Five years ago Mack looked me up and asked me to get involved in this men’s ministry
with him. I did, and I continue to serve with him today. He rode to Atlanta with Marilyn
and me.
Mack has been my mentor in this ministry. He has groomed me for leadership. He
continues to advise me on what to do and how to do it. He recognizes our gifts are different
and allows me to do things my way, but he helps me understand how to work with and
through others.
Mack is a black man. He’s very astute and perceptive. While he has helped me immeasurably
in this ministry, he’s also made me more aware of sensitivities to perceptions of
black people in mixed racial situations.
He’s my friend. I owe him a lot.

A plea for old times?

A friend of mine was at the Princeton Town Board meeting Monday
night. He made some strong allegations against the town board and the
town staff. I’m hurt by what he said.
I consider Elmer Capps a friend. I sought his help and advice recently
on a question and appreciated his counsel.
What hurt me was the attitude behind his comments. He assumed
that the town board was not concerned about him or the citizens of
Princeton.
After he concluded his remarks, he asked the board to excuse him as
he had to get back to babysit his granddaughter.
It would be easy to dismiss his comments
as grandstanding, but Mr. Capps is a man of
integrity and I don’t believe he would do that.
One could question his appearance the night
before the election, but I don’t think he was
trying to influence that. He wasn’t in front
of a bunch of voters, and news reports won’t
come out until long after most have voted.
I noticed he didn’t use any names. He did
not say this one or that one didn’t care. He did
say that the board didn’t care and the town
staff didn’t care. The only one he referred to
by name regarding the running of the town
was former mayor William Earl Ormond, and
that was in a positive context.
I’ve pondered his comments quite a bit
since he spoke them, because he said a lot of
hurtful things against people I also consider my friends. I think they very
definitely do care about people, and try to do the right thing for all of the
citizens of Princeton.
Why does Mr. Capps see things differently?
Mr. Capps is free to disagree with this, but I doubt that he sees Don
Rains and David Starling and Eddie Haddock as people who don’t care
about Princeton. Mr. Rains and Mr. Starling grew up in his church, and
he has known their parents for more years than they all care to remember.
I suspect the Haddocks were almost as close. I know if any of the
Capps needed anything and they called on the Rains, the Starlings or
the Haddocks, it would be there right away without question, and vice
versa.
He complained ironically about condemnations and said he felt an
owner was not treated fairly, but I think the “fair” treatment is exactly
what he is complaining about.
He also said that bigger is not always better.
I think what he was saying was he wanted to go back to the “good old
days” when things were usually settled by individuals dealing with individuals,
not by a town board which set in place regulations that determined
how people and problems would be handled through a staff.
I asked the town board to respond to Mr. Capps, even though he did not
want them to. They did listen to his complaints, and they even responded
positively to some, trying to hear and consider his side on points he tried
to make. (You can argue that Mr. Capps was trying to guilt the board into
seeing his side by accusing them of being uncaring, but again, I believe
Mr. Capps is above that.)
I heard a relevant comment about the issue of a county growth plan.
Many people are more comfortable button-holing someone and trying to
personally persuade them to their point of view. That’s been the way that
things have been done around here for a long time. They’d rather argue
that than a policy that is expected to be applied across the board.
Mr. Capps suggests that lots of things should be covered by taxes, and
he points to examples where they are not always. Town board members
are aware of that, and the town staff is as well. There is some grease to
get things done around town, it is not all cut and dried as to what regulations
say or don’t say.
The problem is, from my perspective, too many people ask for too
much. There has to be a line drawn, and it isn’t based on whether you
like someone or not, but what is fair to all. Maybe in a small town where
you know everyone and you trust most people, things are different, but
we aren’t in Kansas any more.
I may not like the answer I get, but I do believe this town board will
listen to my concerns and try to respond if they can.
No, it may not be William Earl assuring Elmer that whatever his concern
is, he will take care of it, but be assured the Rains and the Haddocks
and the Starlings and the Martins and the Suttons are still concerned
about Mr. Capps and the rest of the people of Princeton.
Based on the frustrations of Mr. Capps with this board, I encourage
the board to consider what they can do to improve their handling of
town business that will remove this perceived unfairness. They have a
responsibility to be clear and consistent in all the operations of the town
to that end.

Broad shoulders

There were a few times in my youth when Mom would take me to get a Sunday suit. We would take one to the tailor and he would chalk mark the pant leg to get the pants hemmed at the right length.
As he put the suit coat on me to check it, invariably he would turn to Mom and say, “nice broad shoulders, perfect on the coat.”
It was the only time I particularly remember anyone saying I had broad shoulders. I don’t think of myself as physically having broad shoulders. I can’t help but think it might be something a tailor might say just to make you feel better about making the purchase. Is there more than just a cute phrase there.
It seems to me that is a saying that somehow has faded away. Maybe we should regenerate it.
We seem to be more concerned about talent. We’re more concerned about flash than substance. We seem to be more concerned about what is hot right now rather than what will be important five years from now, or twenty years from now.
I’ve had the privilege in my early newspaper career to work with some pretty high powered professionals. The company I worked with regularly recruited Harvard MBAs to work with the company.
The last one I worked with paid me a high compliment. We had a particularly difficult economic environment to work with in the market, a downward spiral if you will, and with his help, we came up with and implemented a new incentive plan and changed the way our sales staff looked at selling. We turned the market around.
I clearly don’t deserve all of the credit, but I was responsible for getting most of it done. I had broad shoulders.
Today when we talk about responsibility, we seem to be more concerned about pointing fingers. “It’s not my fault!”
I’m pretty good at coming up with reasons why I can’t do this or that that is on my honeydew list, at least not right now. Or why I haven’t gotten this report or that report done for the bookkeeper. And don’t even ask me about cleaning off my desk (I’ve been meaning to talk to Lucy about that).
I wonder if we aren’t doing a better job of building excuse builders. “You just weren’t feeling good that day. It’s not your fault that there was an accident. They need to give you a second chance to do it right.”
The high-powered company that I worked for hired psychologists as consultants to help us with hiring. I would meet with them periodically. One of them, and I remember little else about him or the rest, one day told me that there are tons of people with great talent who amount to little. They want to believe that their talent will carry them to great heights in business and achievement.
As the father for two daughters, I have to say I give some thought to what I want in a son-in-law. While I would hope the girls could find a good looking manly man, someone like their humble father, seriously, I hope they find someone with broad shoulders. Someone who can and would take responsibility for providing for my daughter and helping raise a family.
What really counts are people who are willing to work hard. Those who are willing to put their shoulder to the plow day in and day out are the ones who truly achieve in this world.
Bill Gates may have been in the right place at the right time, but he got to the top with some massive dedication. Steve Jobs has had massive success at Apple and elsewhere, but he had the dedication to work through some difficult missteps along the way.
We like to say work smarter, not harder, and there are times that some analysis can help us see a better way, but there are few things in life achieved that don’t require someone to take responsibility to do some hard, dedicated work along the way. And aren’t those successes the things we relish.
Besides, it’s more fun to take responsibility for successes, even if no one else knows it, than to make excuses for failures. And even if it doesn’t turn out right, if you’ve worked hard with dedication along the way, few will fault you for failure.
Have you got broad shoulders?

Our endorsements: Fremont

The News Leader traditionally has offered endorsements of candidates for your consideration. We continue that tradition this year.
Before we get started, let me be clear: some of the candidates we have endorsed won, some have lost. Some of the same traits and qualities that we saw in some of the candidates others saw we expect, and the same things that we valued, others did, at least in some races. In others, maybe not.
Clearly we have not known some of the candidates as long as some of you, and you may have a better perspective to make a choice regarding that candidate. From another perspective, our view may not be affected by the past that may or may not be relevant now. In other words, we may be more objective.
Our biggest concern is that you have good, relevant information to base your decisions on. Many elections are decided based on name recognition or popularity more than qualifications to serve. We vote for someone because we recognize the name.
We had candidate interviews in this paper and last week’s. We hope you refer to them.
If you want more information, or if you are just curious, read on.
In Stantonsburg, we believe both of the incumbents, Billy Bardin and Hubert Tyson, have done a good job for the town and should be allowed to continue to work on the projects they are involved with.
Ken Horne also merits consideration, and as we expect town council to name a replacement for Councilman Bill Edmundson, who will be elected mayor, often that is the next highest vote getter. He reflects a balanced approach, and is not a one-issue candidate, but seems to sincerely want to do what’s best for all of the town.
In the Pikeville election, again, we like the two incumbents running, Bruce Thomas and Al Greene. Mr. Thomas always carefully considers what the board is dealing with and asks thoughtful questions. The board benefits from his being there.
Mr. Greene knows the people of the town and has a good grip on what the people of the town want and need.
We believe the voters had good reasons to elect them the last time, and should continue to elect them.
We believe the voters will have a difficult decision on a third vote, as we had, but we went with Talmadge “Thiggy” Thigpen. He has a lot of experience serving on similar boards. Coming from one of the old families, he will respect the history of the town, while having the youthful enthusiasm to help the town move forward.
We also think Fremont voters will have a difficult choice to make, but again we are endorsing going with the incumbent. Devone Jones has done a really good job as mayor, helped the town start a lot of really good projects, and he has built a really good rapport between the town citizens and the town board. We appreciate his objectivity, as he has not sided with the black members of the board at times, and has tried to make decisions for the best interests of all of the citizens.
Again, those are our choices, but the ones that count are the ones you make at the polls on Tuesday. Please take the time to participate. Town elections are important.

Our election picks

Some of you have known many of the candidates for many years. Some of you may have known candidates for all of their lives. Some of you probably have made up your minds about who you will vote for. I find no fault with that.
There is an old saw in politics that people often pull the lever of the name they know, sometimes without having much knowledge of any of the candidates. They vote based on name recognition.
We hope you have more than name recognition to base a vote on. We invite you to read the questionnaire in today’s paper to help. If you want more information, I’ll offer my opinion.
I have to start with the present board candidates. I have to ask if they are doing a good job. If they are, I have a hard time justifying making a change.
Eddie Haddock has served on the town board for nearly twenty years. About the only thing negative that ever comes up about Eddie is his family’s company does contract work for the town.
Recently more allegations were made against Eddie, not surprisingly by another candidate for the board. In our cynical world, we find it easy to believe if a town board member has connection with a company doing business with the town, there must by some wrongdoing there.
Well, I can assure you that Eddie is not in league with the rest of the town board members to profit from contracts with the town. It soils everyone in town to make those allegations, that such dealings would be tolerated by the town staff and the rest of the town board members, if they were improper.
The town has taken measures to reasssure there is no impropriety.
I have asked many and can find no justification for the accusations, other than the lingering cynicism.
We are fortunate to have a firm like Haddock Enterprises willing to do small jobs around Princeton, because many larger firms are just not interested in doing the work, at any price.
Eddie is truly concerned about people. He has served as Rescue Squad Captain for many years as an indicate of his dedication to public service. He also tries to respond to complaints when citizens voice them. He has been a valuable resource to the board with his knowledge of the town’s water and sewer system.
I know there are many times when he has served the town without any compensation.
Walter Martin has been a strong representative for the town. He not only brings common sense to decisions before the board, but does his homework to research issues so he can intelligently discuss them. He has opinions and states them, more importantly with reasons why.
Walter sometimes takes unpopular stands on issues, and as a politician I sometimes wish he would pick his fights more, but he consistently votes his convictions without alienating the rest of the board with his opinions.
I have been surprised at how well he has been received as a black man in what is sometimes correctly characterized as a community with some racist attitudes on both sides of the color line.
Like Eddie, I believe the town has benefited from Walter’s experience with the Smithfield Police Department.
I believe the present town board is doing a good job, and has moved the town ahead greatly in recent years. I see no compelling reason to change.
Voters will decide on two issues on the ballot regarding county taxes. I favor approving both.
Both the land transfer tax and potential sales tax hike would be alternatives to property tax increases for the county, and I believe both generally are better than a higher property tax.
While the real estate industry lobbies heavily against any tax on their industry, fearing it will hit their pocketbook, their arguments don’t hold water for me. I don’t believe an extra thousand or two thousand dollars on a 20 year or 30 year mortgage will add more than a few dollars a month over the life of the loan, and it will help to pass along the costs of schools particularly to those families moving into our county creating a deficit. It takes a number of years for a new homeowner to catch up on paying the costs for schools and others services without the land transfer tax. In the meantime, you and I and other property owners are picking up their tab. If they are long-term residents of the county, even those paying a land transfer tax will benefit in the long run.
A land transfer tax helps put the costs of growth more on the shoulders of those creating the costs. That seems more fair to me.
Those are my thoughts and choices. The ones that count are the ones you and I make at the polls next Tuesday. Make your opinions count.

Priorities: God first

“If you don’t set priorities, the world will set them for you.”
How many of us are too busy? How many of us have too many things on our plate? We want to do a good job at everything, but there are too many things coming at us to get everything done, and more especially, get it done well.
I certainly identify with all of that.
I suspect most of us are letting the world set at least some of our priorities. Instead of doing what we should be doing, we do what the world tells us to do.
There’s increasingly another side of this, at least for me. I only have a certain level of energy. I can go with most for a period of time, but particularly with hard and intense work, I run out of energy after a while. I usually get up at 5:30 and go until 10:30, but there are nights when I am in bed at 9 p.m.
“Take a look at your checkbook. That will tell you where your priorities are.”
I remember going to a financial advisor almost 30 years ago. We laid out our checkbook. She was horrified by how much money we were spending going out to eat. Right or wrong, and we were spending too much money there, going out to eat was a priority for us at that point in our lives.
I haven’t done a study lately, but I suspect if I did, a lot of our money now would be going to pay for things we bought but didn’t have the money in the bank for: interest on credit cards and the like. I’ve tried to get better at that.
There are things we want to buy for the house, improvements, and trips we would like to take. Part of the problem is waiting until we can afford them. It takes discipline. It’s a lot easier just saying yes when no is the right answer; for me as well as others.
I am a big believer in multi-tasking and working with greater efficiency. It is revolutionizing our society.
Computers have enabled us to do so much more. As I type this column, not that many years ago I would have been typing it on a typewriter, double spaced. After I finished typing, I would have marked corrections, and I might have re-typed it because I didn’t like what I ended up with (I still do that on occasion). It’s a whole lot easier to do on a computer. It usually underlines my misspellings so I don’t miss them.
After I finished my writing, someone else would have punched it in to a typesetter. There would have been changes made. Then there would have been someone to put it together on a page with the rest of the copy and pictures for that page. An editor usually would design the page, and someone else would put it together. The editor would help make it all fit right.
Then it would go to a pre-press department. Someone would make a page negative, and then someone else would make a plate.
Today I write the column, an editor puts it on the page and prints it out. It is proofed, posted on the internet, and then someone outputs it to a plate for printing. So much faster, much less labor intensive, and so much better. It enables a person to do more, and him or her to make more money.
I am amazed at the number of kids whose parents are at their school sports games. Even games during normal working hours, there are lots of parents who somehow get off work.
I remember Mom being at a lot of my games, but she was a stay at home mom. Dad never was, but he was always working.
This may sound a bit “if it was good enough for me, it’s good enough for them”, and I think it’s good that we try to support our kids, but I think sometimes we go overboard.
Do we coddle our kids with attention and a lifestyle that they won’t be able to recapture for many years on their own? Do we give them new cars, take them on (or give them money for) beach trips and vacations without expecting them to work? Do they have to pay for anything while they are living at home? Are we setting them up for a harsh world of reality, trying to make it living on their own, providing for their families, with the expectation of having plenty of money all the time and the things that go with it? Are we teaching them responsibility and preparing them for the world? Are we fulfilling our responsibility as parents?
Is it any wonder many kids don’t want to ever leave home?
Speaking of close to home, how about what we are using with our own time? Are we focused solely on our kids? Are we putting back into our community, our church? Are we taking the time to tell others that we care about them, maybe not so much in words but in actions?
Put another way, are we giving God what is right, or what is left over? Are we making His priorities our priorities? Are we bringing Him the first fruits of our time and our talents and our treasure, or are we giving Him what is left over after we get what we want?
It begins for me with setting and keeping the proper priorities. I can do better. How about you?

Paint me red and white

I had every reason to be blue that Thursday morning. Some of you probably heard about the massive traffic jam at the RBC Center. I can testify how real it was.
I packed up five women from our office and we set out for the motivational seminar being held there.
I have to confess I was reluctant to push my girls too much, so I set a time of 6:15 to get started, and we picked up two on the way. Still, we left the last house, on the Raleigh side of Smithfield at 6:50, and you know it only takes 30 minutes to get to Raleigh from there.
While the girls were on good behavior, I was not in a great mood when we finally walked in the door of the RBC at 10 a.m.
As it turned out we missed Coach Roy Williams and Steve Forbes, two of the headliners for the day. What we mostly heard was two speakers, one trying to sell us a stock investment course and another selling another motivational seminar. I have no doubt that both were good, but I didn’t come to buy something else.
I particularly wanted all of us to hear Zig Ziglar, who I have never heard before. Unfortunately, Zig suffered a fall last year, and his dynamic motivational talk was reduced to his daughter asking him to recollect things he has said before.
That left us with General Colin Powell, and after a stressful and disappointing day, I wasn’t sure any of us wanted to wait for that. The vote was unanimous, however, that we stay.
Well, the general didn’t disappoint. He stirred emotions. He struck chords of pride. He said what I wanted to hear. And I think the rest of our crowd was similarly inspired.
I know the Iraq War has many in this country split. The criticisms of the war fill the airways. It’s hard to know how deep the anti-war sentiments in this country run. Obviously it is deep among those who want to criticize the president to promote their own run for his office.
Gen. Powell was not likely to attract an anti-war crowd. We business people tend to be a conservative group, and likely to support those who are pro-business, often Republicans.
Still, I was impressed with how well flag and country and the general played to this crowd. Clearly he could have said he was announcing his run for president and gotten a pretty strong show of support. (He made no hints of that, by the way.)
There was another not so overt theme of the day. Success was the goal, but how do you define success? Well, if you know who Zig Ziglar is, you know he’s a man of faith. What I didn’t know was many of the others there were also people of faith.
There was no altar call, but one of the motivational speakers, and I honestly missed the first part of his presentation, talked very openly about his faith and offered encouragement and support for those who wanted it.
Making more money was one of the themes of the day, you might say the primary theme. Isn’t that what the world says is important? Well, another theme was success that matters. As someone put it, are you climbing the ladder of success to only discover when you reach the top, you’re on the wrong ladder?
I’m not sure all of the speakers on the stage shared that perspective. I think some were there to make money or promote their own agenda. Some were there for a higher purpose, though.
It was good to see that, even in the midst of what could have turned out to be a blue day.

Between the ear holes Princeton

I am still getting over the near upset of my Dallas Cowboys last Monday night. How can a team as sorry as the Buffalo Bills come that close to beating my undefeated Cowboys? Both teams are on the national stage of Monday night, so you know both wanted to play well. And yet, Buffalo did everything but win.
The Saturday before I was at Duke. You remember the Blue Devils, the team that ran their losing streak to 22 games earlier this year. That Saturday they were getting thrashed by Wake Forest in the third quarter when suddenly a football game broke out. Duke gave the Demon Deacons all they could handle and could have easily won that one.
Rosewood and Princeton are having tough seasons. Both have suffered some lopsided losses this year.
In fairness, most of us don’t attend or even watch most football games. Our impressions of a team are often shaped by the final score. More than that, by wins and losses. Wins and losses are important, but often what really happens on the field, the good plays and the bad plays, the strong efforts and the weak efforts, are overridden by the ultimate distillation: w or l.
I can’t speak about every Princeton and Rosewood game, but Friday night I saw part of both Princeton and Rosewood games. While North Duplin was the better team Friday night, and I saw that, Princeton did not play that poorly against the undefeated Rebels. They are undefeated for good reason.
I did not see the end of the Rosewood game, but from what I saw, I expected they would win the game. The week before they got beat, 52-0.
The nature of the game is also such that the bigger, stronger, and faster athlete usually dominates. You can usually get kids in the weight room to improve strength, but there’s a certain amount of this stuff that is God given, and you either have or you don’t. You can’t coach speed, for example.
No offense to those who are on the Rosewood and Princeton teams this year, but the talent level isn’t as high as on some other teams. I’m sure the coaching staff is working just as hard as they have been, and I suspect the kids are working as hard as they were last year. We just don’t have all the horses some other teams have. We don’t have the speed, strength, quickness and experience other teams have.
The same could probably be said at Duke and Buffalo: they don’t have the horses to have a winning team, or at least not a consistently winning team. But at Rosewood for a while Friday, at Duke Saturday, and at Buffalo Monday, each team looked like a winner.
Princeton broke a long losing streak three weeks ago. The team that had struggled to score, that had not been close to winning, suddenly became a winner. They not only won that game, but they won it by a convincing margin, and came back the next week and won again in a near blow-out.
I asked Coach Williamson about the turnaround. When the kids went out on the field two weeks ago, they knew they were the better team.
Last week, things went their way early, and the other team got discouraged and desperate. And I’m sure his team’s confidence went up.
As hard a game as it is, and as easy as it is to get discouraged, I am inspired by those who buck the trend, who make it happen, and who overcome the odds. I am also excited by those who can help us believe in ourselves enough to make it happen.
I enjoy watching Remember the Titans again and again. I enjoyed seeing Facing the Giants.
I have caught a time or two what I think is a new feature on ESPN. Former coach Lou Holtz (he’s coached at a lot of places, including NC State many years ago) is offering a pre-game pep talk for the underdog teams in big college battles. It’s entertaining, but I also think what I heard would inspire me to feel great about my chances to win before I took the field.
Believe and have confidence, and who knows, you might even beat the Cowboys, on Monday night.

Between the ear holes

I am still getting over the near upset of my Dallas Cowboys Monday night. How can a team as sorry as the Buffalo Bills come that close to beating my undefeated Cowboys. Both teams are on the national stage of Monday night, so you know both wanted to play well. And yet, Buffalo did everything but win.
Saturday I was at Duke. You remember the Blue Devils, the team that ran their losing streak to 22 games earlier this year. Saturday they were getting thrashed by Wake Forest in the third quarter when suddenly a football game broke out. Duke gave the Demon Deacons all they could handle and could have easily won that one.
Aycock is having a tough season. My memory is long enough to remember long Falcon football losing steaks, and times when CBA had just 16 kids on the sidelines to play a game. Still, we’ve come to expect a lot more from Coach Pinkowski led teams.
In fairness, most of us don’t attend or even watch most football games. Our impressions of a team are often shaped by the final score. More than that, by wins and losses. Wins and losses are important, but often what really happens on the field, the good plays and the bad plays, the strong efforts and the weak efforts, are overridden by the ultimate distillation: w or l.
I can’t speak about every Aycock game, but Friday night I was at Beddingfield for most of the first half. I left to help cover another game for our Princeton paper, but when I left, I honestly thought Aycock would win. The offense was still struggling to establish consistency, though they had some good runs while I was there. What particularly impressed me was the defense was hitting and creating turnovers.
I would be the first to testify that football is a lot of hard work. My hat’s off to those who play.
The nature of the game is also such that the bigger, stronger, and faster athlete usually dominates. You can usually get kids in the weight room to improve strength, but there’s a certain amount of this stuff that is God given, and you either have or you don’t. You can’t coach speed, for example.
No offense to those who are on the Aycock team this year, but the talent level isn’t as high as it has been. I’m sure the coaching staff is working just as hard as they have been, and I suspect the kids are working as hard as they were last year. We just don’t have all the horses we had last year and in recent years.
The same could probably be said at Duke and Buffalo: they don’t have the horses to have a winning team, or at least not a consistently winning team. But at Beddingfield for a while Friday, at Duke Saturday, and at Buffalo Monday, each team looked like a winner.
One of my other teams, Princeton, broke a long losing streak two weeks ago. The team that had struggled to score, that had not been close to winning, suddenly became a winner. They not only won that game, but they won it by a convincing margin, and came back the next week and won again in a near blow-out.
I asked the coach about the turnaround. When the kids went out on the field two weeks ago, they knew they were the better team.
Last week, things went their way early, and the other team got discouraged and desperate. And I’m sure his team’s confidence went up.
As hard a game as it is, and as easy as it is to get discouraged, I am inspired by those who buck the trend, who make it happen, and who overcome the odds. I am also excited by those who can help us believe in ourselves enough to make it happen.
I enjoy watching Remember the Titans again and again. I enjoyed seeing Facing the Giants.
I have caught a time or two what I think is a new feature on ESPN. Former coach Lou Holtz (he’s coached at a lot of places, including NC State many years ago) is offering a pre-game pep talk for the underdog teams in big college battles. It’s entertaining, but I also think what I heard would inspire me to feel great about my chances to win before I took the field.
Believe and have confidence, and who knows, you might even beat the Cowboys, on Monday night.

A credible source

I was in a professional office recently for a check-up. While passing some time during the exam, one of the nurses asked if I had heard about microwaving meals releasing dioxin into food.
I wanted to ask her why the mainstream media hadn’t picked it up if it is true. She said that someone in the office had printed it off the internet. That was my first sign of trouble.
My wife had chastised me some time ago about forwarding things I had received off the internet without checking them out. A couple of years ago I had forwarded an email with a heartwarming message about a famous pianist. I got a scathing response from a friend, as the heartwarming message was a fraud.
A similar message on Denzel Washington proved to be a fraud – a half truth. I was disappointed. I like Denzel and wanted to believe the good things about him. (From what I understand, he is a pretty decent guy, even if that story wasn’t true.)
I don’t like being skeptical, but I won’t accept such stores off the internet now, at least until I check them out. Fortunately, some turn out to be true.
The nurse went on to say that the story also said frozen bottled water releases similar dioxin, and plastic wrap over food heated in a microwave releases dioxin.
According to www.truthorfiction.com, that claim is false or at least unproven. A doctor in Hawaii made the claim five years ago, but has yet to offer any proof.
There are some of us who are skeptical of the government and media, and want to believe that there is a mass conspiracy out there, that government and media is hiding the truth. “There really is something like this out there, and you can’t get verification because of the cover-up.” We buy into these sorts of things too easily.
The problem here is credibility. Unfortunately, anyone can say anything they want in an email, true or not, and a lot of times, even in heartwarming stories, it isn’t true.
The publisher of the Kenly News, Rick Stewart, for the last several years, has been teaching journalism and communications at Barton College. A few months ago he brought three of his students to a newspaper publishers meeting so they could offer some of their views on the newspaper industry and about youth tastes.
Unlike many of us older folk, they were not raised to read a newspaper every day. Many like reading papers off the internet.
We talked about bloggers who post to the internet, and they indicated they enjoyed reading blogs. We talked about responses to blogs, which they liked to post and read other responses.
Interesting to me, one of their comments was they expected newspapers to clean up the blogs on their site. They expect us not to allow just anyone to put whatever they want on our site. Let me assure you, there is plenty of garbage posted to our site from people overseas. All of it is filtered off.
There is a recent movie, which I haven’t seen yet, and I don’t think has played in the area, called “Resurrecting the Champ.” The story, which is mostly fiction, has the seed in a similar incident in which a reporter “discovers” a former boxing champion living on the streets of Denver, Colorado.
In the movie, the story has such appeal, the reporter runs with it, but as he starts checking his facts, he finds that the story is not adding up. It’s a really good heartwarming story, just not true.
With TV shows and fringe publications trying to capture the public interest, anything like this that has even a smudge of credibility gets some play in the media. I recently picked up some free distribution newspapers from Asheville and was amazed at some of the things that they found to publish. They weren’t stories that you will find in the Asheville daily paper, and for good reason.
Every newspaper reporter comes across stories that are good, stories that people want to read about, but in the final analysis, the facts don’t bear out. You will find stories that people will swear to you are true, and in some cases you believe them, but you can’t get independent verification that what they are saying is right. Sometimes you can’t get it because it isn’t right, for whatever reason, and sometimes you keep asking and finally find the right person to tell you the truth.
Are we ever wrong? Of course. But we try very hard to get it right on the front end.
You expect that, and I’m proud that you do. You hold us to a higher standard. And you should.

Sensationalizing the news

A couple of weeks ago, I got a compliment from a friend on how we handle news stories. In the same breath, he took a shot at WRAL-TV on their tendency to play up the negative aspects of their stories.
I didn’t say a lot at the time. I think we in the media sometimes take some unfair hits for what we do. I don’t personally support every person we cover. Yes, we do try to lift up people whom we believe make a positive difference in our communities, We also try to stand up for the little guy, and give him (or her) a chance to make their case in the community, even if we don’t agree with them.
The frequent complaint is “you are only printing that story to sell papers.”
Yes, selling newspapers is what we do. If we don’t sell papers, we don’t eat. If we don’t cover stories that people want to read, we don’t sell papers.
Yes, sometimes the news is hurtful. I don’t like covering some of the stories that come up. I don’t like hearing from people who say they were hurt by a story that was in the paper. I want to say I was just doing my job.
A fellow came in the office the other day to renew his subscription and he complimented my editorials. He thanked me for some of the stands I have taken. He said he agreed with me, at least most of the time, and he felt most people did.
The comment struck me. As of late, I have taken some pretty bold stands on some issues. I was quite certain that not everyone agreed with what I said. That’s all right.
Another friend (I swear I didn’t pay any of these people to say these things) made a positive comment a week or so ago. It resounded with me as well. It’s one of those quotes I kind of wish I could claim to have written, for it’s what I hope most people would say about us: “You write the news with a caring about the community.”

To be sure, school news makes up a lot of what we do every week. We try to maintain good relations with schools. We try to be a booster, a supporter.
There are times when the news media is seen rightly with the image of the old knock at the door and the “I’m Mike Wallace with 60 Minutes,” with the aggressive reporter and cameraman pushing their way in the door. Not surprisingly schools sometimes react with a siege mentality.
There have been allegations of misconduct by teachers in times past that schools have tried to handle internally. Certainly with the potential to end someone’s career, you want to handle things in a caring way.
The problem, like many others, is you get a rap for protecting your own and not taking proper action against someone. Schools I hope have learned that you’re better off dealing with things in an open manner. In trying to protect staff, they have at times not taken the proper actions on behalf of the students and parents. The liabilities are too great.
Still, it’s not too surprising when a principal won’t comment on allegations against one of his staff.
There is a public trust. It says that we in the media and the schools have to take it seriously when there are complaints. We have to respond. We can’t afford to dismiss complaints, saying they have no merit.
To do so violates that trust. That’s something we can’t afford.

Dollars and sense

It is a bad use of our tax money to pay to signalize the crossing at Center Street.
There is widespread understanding that many of us are hard-headed enough to say we don’t want to be inconvenienced, and will impose our will on municipal officials. It is understood that many merchants will say they don’t want to close any railroad crossing that might adversely affect their business. If the town board is pro business as they are suppose to be, the businesses will rationalize the town board needs to support them.
I know the fire department and rescue squad will be lobbying in support of keeping the Barden Street crossing open, as closing it will delay the response of emergency vehicles. It seems that decision has pretty well been cast, to close that intersection.
Let me put this on a basis that we all can relate to: dollars and sense.
Are we truly that inconvenienced by going a block one way or the other to cross the railroad? Is it worth that much to us to not have to go an extra block when we are going to the hardware or drug store? I suspect for most people it isn’t worth much of anything.
Let me be clear: the merchants on Center Street I consider friends and supporters of this paper. I wouldn’t propose the town do anything that I truly believed would hurt them.
I believe the emotions of the moment are overruling our dollars and sense.
Let me make an offer to both the emergency services and the Center St. merchants that makes dollars and sense to me. Rather than asking all the citizens of the town to pay part the town’s share of the costs of signalizing the two railroad crossings, why not pick up the cost yourselves.
Have the town set up a special tax district to cover the costs of maintaining the railroad crossing. Cover those businesses who believe their business would be adversely affected by closing the crossing, and through additional taxes, let them pay the annual costs. It is only about $2,500 per year, and it could be cut up based upon the tax value of the buildings in the Center St. area. While the larger businesses would pick up a larger share and smaller businesses would take a smaller bite, it would be around $350 each for maybe seven businesses. That sounds reasonable, it they truly believe closing the intersection will hurt their business.
Our fire department and rescue squad have a good bit of tax money they are bringing in. Is it worth forgoing purchase of some new equipment more often to keep Barden Street open? You could argue that it would still be all of our tax money that would be going to keep that intersection open, but is it significant enough for the two departments to maybe wait on getting some new equipment to pay that cost?
Our major problems that we want our taxes to pay for sometimes become relatively minor problems when we are asked to pay the costs directly. We freely want the taxpayers often to pay for things to benefit us, but when we are asked to pay the direct costs, perspectives change.
Our town board needs to make the decisions that are best for all the citizens of Princeton. If they are spending the tax dollars of all the citizens of Princeton, they need to keep all of the taxpayers in mind.
I don’t believe the future of the hardware store or the pharmacy will be jeopardized by the closing of Center St. I don’t believe closing Bardin Street will significantly impact emergency services.
One other factor that I’m not sure we are weighing is the changes in traffic patterns when the new elementary school opens.
Many correctly point out that Dr. Donnie Jones Boulevard is a mess when school is beginning and ending. A big percentage of that traffic is generated by the elementary school students.
When the new school opens, the old school will be a safer place, and mornings and afternoons will be better.
Of course, Holt’s Pond Road will be a different matter.
Fewer railroad crossings and faster trains through town will improve safety and ultimately will reduce delays.
The state is not trying to hurt Princeton. They are not the enemy. They are trying to encourage us to make the right decision. They are offering some financial encouragement to make the right decision.
The right decision for all the citizens of Princeton is to close both crossings. It makes dollars and sense.

Light at end of sewer pipe

You couldn’t help but feel for Eureka Town Board members who were wringing their hands over the massive sewer bills. There seemed to be no solution.
As some had suggested, maybe the town should go away, dissolve itself, and maybe somehow the debt would go away. Like declaring personal bankruptcy, yeah, that’s the ticket.
To their credit, the board members didn’t run away, or crawl away to a hole, curl up and die. They accepted the responsibility, and while some may want to complain, and they probably will, the town is on the road back.
I also praise the League of Municipalities. They stepped in and helped the town board to feel better about their situation. They pointed out that while the town might feel they are incapable of dealing with the debt the town was in, Eureka was in better shape than most towns.
I appreciate the willingness of the state to allow Fremont to re-open their spray field.
With recurring problems with small municipal sewer treatment plant spills, the state had adopted a policy of pushing regional treatment of sewer. With larger, more dependable and better financed systems and employees, there would be fewer problems to monitor and fewer spilling systems to try to get fixed.
The state has had some genuine compassion for both Fremont and Eureka with the high bills they are facing from the Goldsboro system. There was some discussion sometime back of trying to act on the smaller towns’ behalf in negotiating lower rates.
When the Fremont spray field is opened, the state has offered to act on Eureka’s behalf to negotiate a rate reduction for Eureka based upon Fremont’s lower cost for treating sewer sent to the field as opposed to the rates paid Goldsboro.
From another perspective, Fremont has been working through their sewer problems for a long time. There have been a number of mayors, town boards, and administrators. There have been a lot of grants along the way, but the town citizens have put many sewer dollars as well as tax dollars into trying to fix a deep down problem.
While the costs of repaying the bond issues will continue for some time to come, Fremont is nearing a time when most of their problems will be behind them. The seeming never ending repairs and rehabilitation of sewer lines will never be completely over, but the big stuff is behind us.
The town has suffered through big sewer bills and the complaints that generated, and the discouragement to new businesses and residents coming to the town. Struggling to have enough sewer capacity to handle their leaky system, with rainwater and ground water flowing into the system, there was little capacity left for growth.
Fremont’s sewer hole is significantly deeper, and the town has had to work through it for a longer period of time. In some ways, it may have seemed just as dark to Fremont as Eureka’s has to its town board.
Today there is some light at the end of that sewer line, too. There are brighter days ahead.
It won’t come too soon for many of us.

The News Leader is making a change in our sports focus. While coverage of Aycock will continue to be our primary focus with our sports coverage, and with the number of sports teams fielded at Aycock, that will be no small undertaking, we will be moving up coverage of Norwayne as our secondary sports focus.
Sarah Wise, our Wayne-Wilson News Leader reporter, and I met with the Norwayne coaching staff recently to announce the change and to ask their help. I think it is fair to say they were most enthusiastic in their response.
Let me confess that this has been a change that has been urged from the inside. As most of you know, we have been offering some coverage of Norwayne over the years, but now we will be increasing the numbers and length of stories, and the number of photos. One of our local sports cheerleaders and long-time office manager, Rosie Colvin, has been urging for years that we offer more coverage of Norwayne sports.
We hope you enjoy some of the sports spotlight being shifted to some of our younger athletes.

Condemnation is necessary

I appreciate the Fremont Town Board's willingness to condemn properties in town. As reflected in the discussion last week, it is never easy to condemn someone’s property, and Harold Cuddington’s questions are some I think we all have asked at one time or another.
The sorry truth is that the American dream of home ownership fades into a harsh reality: once you buy a home, you not only have to pay for it. but you have to pay to keep it up. Plenty of homes in eastern North Carolina have long been paid for, but no one has kept them up. And some, the owner can’t afford to pay for or keep up.
To be sure, plenty of homeowners do a good job maintaining their properties, but plenty also don’t. And no one wants one of those who don’t, beside theirs.
It doesn’t seem right that them that do right would have to pay for those who don’t, but as long as people can get easy credit, there will be people who will buy houses they can’t afford to keep up.
Not to mention the older retired couple whose money is nearly run out, just trying to keep food in the house and the lights on. The paint on the exterior or the new roof will go lacking on that home.
It used to be that the kids wouldn’t let their older parents go without, but a lot of them have moved away and they don’t have to face the neighbors.
No, it doesn’t seem that should be the town’s problem, but if the property owner won’t address it, and heaven knows the town has given them every opportunity, who is going to do it?
While the town can continue to attach the deed with bills for repairs or out and out demolition of property and sell the property to try to recover their expenses, in some cases they will never get their money back.
Spending public money on a park in the middle of town makes some sense, but spending public money on an individual’s house, and one that usually is not occupied or fit to occupy, doesn’t. What makes sense is for the owner either to fix it so someone can live in it or to take it down so something else can go up in its place. What happens too often is nothing, even when you threaten.
Some owners who should do something, will not do anything. Following through on condemnations, fixing up properties and attaching them, and demolitions will encourage some who can, to take action before the town does.
As happened with one home last week, the owners promised if they just had some more time they would address the problems, but they didn’t.
Condemnations are yucky business. I can’t blame Fremont town board members for not wanting to be in it. I’m just glad they are willing to clean up the town for the rest of us.

Planning for growth

I’m not too young to remember when county-wide zoning was debated in this county. “I don’t want anyone to tell me what I can do with my land” was the common cry. Fortunately, enough people realized it wasn’t so much what you couldn’t do, but keeping your neighbors from doing something to hurt you.
“We want to preserve the rural nature of the county” has been the recent cry heard. That sounds real good until a farmer realizes that if we maintain the rural nature of the county, he can’t sell his farm to someone who wants to put in a subdivision. “That’s my retirement you’re messing with.”
I met with several people over the past week to discuss some of the growth issues facing the county. One of the articles that relates is in this week’s News Leader, relating to the quarry projects outside Princeton.
One of the concerns is having the infrastructure, the roads, the utilities, the schools, and the police and fire protection to serve growing areas. If growth is allowed and encouraged everywhere, it becomes unmanageable. If it is encouraged where it makes sense, where it is planned for, and where it is reasonable to serve, then we can do a better job of getting services to people.
The one big determining factor is sewer. If you have sewer service, you can build more lots in an area. If you are on septic tanks, if the land will permit septic tanks, you have to be on a bigger lot.
(Remember that Princeton recently moved their new sewer lift station that will serve the new school to allow new service to a several-mile radius.)
The emphasis on growth comes as the county has recently accepted the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Committee the commissioners appointed earlier this year. That follows several initiatives to try to address growth issues in the county.
Some argue since the county has county-wide zoning in place, we have a comprehensive land use plan for the county. Others quickly point out that 90 of the 100 counties in the state have a comprehensive land use plan, and those who don’t have it, other than Johnston, are hopelessly rural.
One of those who I met with last week was Don Johnson, the former mayor of Benson, who now works with Johnston Community College. Mr. Johnson said most of us in Johnston County still prefer to do business with government one-on-one, button-holing them at the store or on the street and asking for our commissioner’s help.
He related a zoning request in Benson. At a main intersection in town, with businesses on three corners, and the old house on the other corner badly in need of repair, a request to put a business on that fourth corner was tabled after neighbors said they didn’t want a business there. “Legally, they don’t have a leg to stand on,” Mr. Johnson offered.
A comprehensive land use plan puts priorities into place. It suggests where growth is likely to occur, and it plans to provide the services necessary to serve that new population. You can’t sway it and you can depend on it being the same tomorrow as it is today. That’s putting growth on a business-like footing.
As was acknowledged at the recent Blue Ribbon Committee presentation to county commissioners, whatever the county adopts will require some hard decisions. It will be an easier path for the county to avoid any decision.
Clearly the reason we don’t have a comprehensive land use plan in place is because it’s a hard issue to deal with. Still, most understand the need.
At least some on county commissioners are behind this effort, or the committee would not have been appointed. We encourage them to press on and get this road map to the future on the books.



There has been an acknowledgement by the county that they need to do a better job providing in many areas, though I and many would acknowledge that they are trying. One of those areas is recreation.
When the old quarry is filled with water, it could be a wonderful recreation area for many in this county. It is one of the most beautiful areas of Johnston County.
While it is doubtful as it looks now that the county will have a recreation program up and running in seven years, perhaps Princeton could operate a recreation area at the quarry. Perhaps the town and the county could work together to help make that happen. We call on town leaders to have the vision and energy to help make that happen.
It would be a shame if such a wonderful natural resource was not utilized and appreciated.

Back to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

My wife, Marilyn, got a call from her sister a few weeks ago, asking us to join her and her husband for a long Labor Day weekend in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. While we looked forward to spending time with them, it wouldn’t have been one of the places we would have chosen to go.
When we lived in western South Carolina, and later when we moved to the Cincinnati area, neighboring Gatlinburg was one of the places people went to on holidays. Marilyn labeled it a “tourist trap,” and I can’t say I found a lot there to recommend it. For the twenty-five years we have lived in eastern North Carolina, we haven’t been back.
The first pleasant surprise was the length of the trip. The map services said about seven hours, and we made it easily in that length of time. Most of it is on I-40, and without any slowdowns or backups, it was a pleasant drive.
I can’t say that Gatlinburg has changed a lot, at least in the type of stores that are there. What has changed, and I would say in a really good way, is nearby Pigeon Forge.
There was not a lot to Pigeon Forge thirty years ago. Except for the charm of the hotels on the Pigeon River in Gatlinburg, for my money, Pigeon Forge has a lot more going for it.
With new land for development in Pigeon Forge, unlike Gatlinburg, what has really taken off has been live entertainment. There are literally dozens of showplaces. Many are country music shows, but there were also several playhouses, magic shows, a mystery dinner theatre, and even a Broadway style production on the life of Christ. Dick Clark has opened an American Bandstand themed show this year with headliners of old performing. Chubby Checker was there this past weekend.
If you like big country breakfasts, there are plenty of places to enjoy one in Pigeon Forge, particularly pancakes. Our host and hostess particularly like Cracker Barrel, so two mornings we ate there. There’s even a breakfast show at one of the theatres.
I’ve never been accused of being a big fan of going shopping, but if your ladies want to get in some shopping, Pigeon Forge has plenty to offer. I think there are no less than five outlet malls, plus lots of individual stores along the main drag through the area.
It looked as if rates went up some over the holiday, but when we got there Wednesday, there were some $30 rooms in Pigeon Forge. Again, Pigeon Forge isn’t as scenic, but with a great number of motels being built there, there is a lot of pressure to keep room rates down.
The in-laws were celebrating their anniversary, and they had been given a three-bedroom cabin in the mountains between Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge by their children for the week. The kids had also given them a night out at one of the nice restaurants. Some of the choices about where to go had already been made.
They had been up there many times in recent years, and had been to some of the shows and they weren’t interested in going back on this trip, so we did not go, though I would have liked to.
I had mentioned to a friend a couple of weeks ago we were going to the area, and she said she and her husband enjoyed the Old Mill Restaurant in Pigeon Forge. As the in-laws had been there and also enjoyed it, that was one of our choices. As recommended, we went early, and on a weeknight, as the in-laws had recalled waiting two hours to eat. We can heartily recommend the pot roast and the shrimp, and with family style fixings and huge portions, plus dessert included in the $20/head price, you won’t leave hungry. I couldn’t finish the leftovers at lunch the next day.
If you want dinner without a show, there are plenty of other places, many very nice, some modest, and many chain restaurants.
We had been to Cade’s Cove thirty years ago, and enjoyed that glimpse into the Appalachian past, and we returned. We stopped at one of the old churches in this part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, but mostly went to enjoy the natural beauty of the area and to look for wildlife. We weren’t disappointed as we saw a number of deer and caught a glimpse of a mama black bear and her cub.
It’s still a healthy drive from here, but if you have a few days, you might want to consider what Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge have to offer for your next holiday.

Tats, piercings and more, oh my!

I heard a fellow relate the other day that when he noticed that his wife had decided, unbeknownst to him, to add a piercing in the top of her ear, he offered to get a couple of dogs to stay under the house. “If we’re going to be like trailer trash, let’s do it big time.”
I felt his reaction was a bit extreme. I don’t find those extra ear piercings to be that disturbing. As he’s maybe ten years younger than I, I was more surprised that he wasn’t more mellow about it.
I was in a restaurant Saturday night and the fellow waiting on us had an earring. I guess you could say that he was tastefully about it.
Another related that his daughter had recently applied for a very good job near the college she is attending. She was politely told that if she was accepted, it would be on the condition that she lost the nose stud she was now wearing. Tasteful or not, some are not accepting.
I heard another man, who is rather conservative, relate how his son had had his tongue pierced. I was surprised and I asked him how he and his wife responded. He said he didn’t say too much, and pretty soon the swelling and discomfort took care of it, as he has taken it out and it has healed over.
Another conservative noted that her daughter had a belly button piercing. Rather modest, doesn’t show. I don’t think it was her mother’s choice. In fact, from her comments, I’m sure she wasn’t consulted.
I couldn’t help but notice that one of my newspaper brothers on the sideline on a recent steamy football evening had shorts on that revealed a tattoo on his leg. I guess I was a little disappointed, but I didn’t think a lot about it.
Another related his daughter had a tattoo or two somewhere on her body. He didn’t relate where. I’m not sure he knows. They apparently had discussed the topic, and he had stressed to her how it would be important to keep it in a place where it was not normally visible.
While I expect they are fairly conservative, he related that he didn’t say a lot.
I wish I could say that if I was twenty something I wouldn’t be so stupid as to get a tat or a piercing. Of course, when I was twenty something, I was pretty stupid. At least until I was 22.
I fully believe that tats and piercings are forms of protest, mild or maybe a little more radical. Most of us go through that.
I also heard recently about some “wild kids” who have turned out to be pretty decent people. Some have some prejudices about them based upon who they used to be, and they have to overcome that. If and when people get past that, they find some good things, at least sometimes.
A friend was relating how prejudiced he was about tattoos, about how his whole attitude can change about someone, and he’s voiced that to friends only to find that they have a tattoo.