Newspapers / The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, … / May 20, 1993, edition 1 / Page 4
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Opinion Page THE BRUNSWICK#ftACON Edward M. Sweatt and Carolyn H. Sweatt Publishers Edward M. Sweatt Editor Lynn S. Carlson Managing Editor Susan Usher News Edttor Doug Rutter Sports tZditor Erie Carlson . StaJJ Writer Peggy Earwood Office Manager Carolyn H. Sweatt Advertising Director Tlmberley Adams. Cecelia Gore and Linda Cheers Advertising Representatives Dorothy Brennan and Brenda Clemmons Moore ..Graphic Artists WllUam Manning Pressman Lonnle Sprinkle Assistant Pressman Tammie Henderson .....Photo Technician Phoebe Clemmons and Frances Sweatt Circulation PAGE 4-A. THURSDAY, MAY 20, 1993 Budget Presents Challenge For County Commissioners The budget proposal submitted by Interim County Manager John Harvey holds enough surprises and packs enough wallop to be forever known as the "Monday Massacre" if it passes substan tially intact. Whether that's likely is anyone's guess. Harvey's budget let ter to the county commissioners is sometimes logical, other times confounding. His explanations of it in interviews are, too. On one hand, Harvey seems to have the admirable intent to streamline the management structure, grouping related services and putting them under managers who should be the best quali fied for those types of supervision. He appears to be making a sincere attempt to relieve some bureaucratic bloat, though a bud get proposal including a 10-percent tax increase can hardly be termed an economic purgative. On the other hand, there are areas of extreme illogic. Not least among them is the recommendation to dissolve the library board, an all-volunteer panel which has no independent power to spend money, has never sought a stipend for its service and has performed diligently and thoughtfully in its first year of exis tence. In one breath, Harvey professes to make changes in the coun ty administrator's office as a professional courtesy to its next in habitant. In the next, he refers to two women in his employ, both recommended for dismissal, in terms devoid of professionalism and courtesy?as "that one who belly-dances in a Greek restau rant in Wilmington" and "that blonde gal." Perhaps most trying, and most telling, is Harvey's reference to the existence of "subliminal" policy directives and "ongoing" county policy. This exposes the absence of the well-understood county government mission which is the foremost responsibility of the board of commissioners. Policy can only be "ongoing" in a system where the bureaucracy is calling the shots. References such as these reveal that while such a budget may serve to elimi nate a measure of fiscal waste, it is more than happenstance that some commissioners' personal and political adversaries will fol low that waste down the chute. Harvey's recommendations present this board of commis sioners with its greatest challenge to date. To show Brunswick County's citizens what its mission and agenda really are. To es tablish that it is capable of exhibiting a positive direction, mak ing decisions based on the greater public interest, and doing as well as undoing. Do The Fishermen Care? The newly-formed Brunswick County Environmental Coa lition sponsored a public meeting last week on the status of ef forts to clean up pollution in Lockwood Folly River. The coalition was well-represented at the meeting. Federal, state and local officials were there to talk about what they've done and plan to do in the future to help the improve the river's water quality. Conspicuous in their absence were Brunswick County's com mercial and recreational fishermen, the people who have the most to gain if Lockwood Folly is cleaned up and the most to lose if it isn't. Local commercial fishermen have never been shy about ex pressing their opinions on regulations and issues that affect their livelihood. But fishermen were remarkably scarce at last week's meeting. Surely, government employees won't lose sleep over the troubled Lockwood Folly if the people who need it most, the fishermen, aren't concerned enough to attend a two-hour meet ing. Based on what was said at that meeting, it's not too late to tum the tide on bacterial pollution and save one of the state's most productive fishing and shellfishing areas. If local fishermen are truly worried about losing the Lockwood Folly River forever, they need to get involved before it's too late. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Thanks To School's Talented, Tireless Volunteers To the editor: conducted to install new playground equipment As the 1992-93 school year comes to a close, and to furnish the school with a new sign, the parents and staff of Union Elementary School Many thanks go to these talented and tireless would like to express their appreciation for all the volunteers of Union Elementary School: Sam support given to the school by the many volun- Edwards, president; Dennis Earp, vice president; leers and the Executive PTO Committee. Judy Clayton, secretary; and Ellen Masscy, trca Thc volunteer program was coordinated by surer. Patricia Poulos, with participation by more than There were numerous other projects that were 150 parents and other members of the community, spearheaded by concerned and interested parents. The PTO Executive Committee, under the dircc- Dennis Earp and his wife Esther kept school spirit tion of president Sam Edwards, coordinated and alive with the set-up and care of the campus moved to completion many successful projects aquarium and the T-shirt sales. that have greatly benefited the school this year. Connie Davis was instrumental in the organiza Onc of the major projects of the PTO was the tion of the first annual "Night of the Stars" talent improvement of the playground. The playground show. Due to the time and energy put forth by was completely redesigned. Fundraisers were Dina Gause and her committee, "Spring Fling" We're Yunnina jxjt" cfffeh!! Doers Or Whiners: Which Do We Choose? Most oi us respond to challenges in one of two ways: We adopt a can do leader's approach and make a di rect tackle, or we adopt a "woc-is me" attitude, whining as we fade in to the doortrim. Challenges abound, of course, they're the stuff of life. It's how we respond to them that matters. Leaders abound as well, people who rise to challenges and gain a following of doers. Recently I've come upon several good examples of how individuals and communities can face common challenges: par enting, tourism development and re vitalization of a mouldering Main Street. At last Thursday's DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) gradu ation at Shallotte Middle School, Superintendent Ralph Johnston and DARE Officer Ronald Hewett could have been talking to any adult, be cause we are all role models for the young people we know. But they were talking to the most important role models a child can have: his or her parents. Their message was simple: "Par ents, you arc the future for these children. They listen to what you say. They watch what you do. They want to be what you are." What an incredible responsibility! A reminder ought to be on the bathroom mirror or refrigerator door of every home. Someplace where parents can see it easily when mak ing decisions, before they take the easy way out and do it themselves rather than leach their kid how to as Susan Usher sumc a new responsibility, before they buckle in and say "yes" to out rageous requests, for fear of losing their child as a buddy. Anytime they might forget that love sometimes re quires being tough. Dick Trammell, director of the North Carolina Travel Division, talked up another type of leadership in a telephone conversation last week. He'd like to see Brunswick County tourism and promotional groups take the lead in facilitating a regional (multi-county, not multi town) approach to promoting tour ism. Right now about the only re gional effort that I'm aware of is the Southeastern Welcome Center out at the bypass. But that first effort could be the groundwork for more working to gether. Trammell's idea is that two or more of our southern coastal counties should pool their resources, collaborate, to promote the larger area as a whole. Once they're hooked on the region, then various service providers (food, lodging, recreation, etc.) can compete for their business. It's an approach sev eral mountain areas arc taking, such as High Country Hosts in the Boone area. tioncd their merchandise mix in the Trammell believes this kind of ef- right niches, beefed up customer ser fort can result in longer slays in an vice and repair service departments, area and repeat visitations and more liberalized return policies, held more business for everyone! joint promotions and advertising A third example is the little (pop- campaigns, held more aggressive ulalion around 3,000) town of sales, and took a lower profit on cer Viroqua, Wisconsin, whose business tain price-sensitive items, they could community generally had a loser not only survive, but even move mentality and was stagnating in a ahead in spite of the new competi pool of self pity after a tough two tion. decades in the 1970s and 1980s? It wasn't easy and it didn't hap even before learning that a major pen overnight, but the community discount store was about to locate learned to work together, calling on there. The four-block-long down- Wisconsin's state Main Street pro town business district had a dingy, gram (North Carolina has one too) rundown look, as though nobody for help in examining itself, setting cared. There was little unity, with goals, visualizing what should be merchants, town officials and pro- downtown Viroqua's future. Then fessionals each going their own they set about raising the S150.000 way?and often griping at and about they needed to prove they meant each other. They moaned about high business and did it in three months, unemployment and welfare rates Needless to say, they put that same and low per capita income, taxes commitment into their other efforts and all the usual things. and were soon recognized as a Main When news of the discounter Street town. came, some businesses closed up A local bank helped establish a shop even before the store's doors low-interest loan pool for financing were open, or soon after, in an al- restorations, numerous types of most self-fulfilling prophecy of downtown business promotions doom. were organized. Over the next two Others, under the leadership of years, 13 businesses were restored, can-do optimists, set about seeing new businesses opened and others what they could do to stay in busi- expanded, and the number of jobs in ness in the face of a major threat, town increased by a significant per They found that working together centage. The tiny community, now was to their great advantage. confident and cohesive, is now rais To quote an article on what hap- ing money for a community arena pened next, the discounter, it ap- for fairs, festivals and shows, and pcared, had been a wake-up call for for a community fitness center. Viroqua, a benefactor-motivator in No more talking like a quitter. No wolf's clothing." more "woe is me." Who says it can't Retailers found if they reposi- be done? In Defense Of Roadside Landmarks, Main Streets People Can See it's almost more tnan I can bear. The Leaning Tower of Little River is gone, and the 55 Behille is on her way down. If the arbiters of taste and the Lvnt1 builders of interstate highways have ^ , their way, there won't be a good COHSOD roadside landmark left in this re gion?or at least one that anybody [ 1 from out of town will sec. ^ I understand that some of those j newcomers to Little River thought ing?a delightful diversion when the Leaning Tower was tacky. Well, we're out of the range of cigarette of course it was, but that doesn't outlets and Jimmy Carter fireworks mean it deserved to die. stands." I'd be willing to bet that some of Yeah, boy. "Sleep Wecth Pedro, these tastemongers, before they set- Amigo" IS one of the great crack tied here in the Sunbelt, were ups. among those who rally to the de- In all fairness, it was the March fense of South of the Border every 13 storm, and not the arbiters, that time South Carolina tries to regulate caused the partial sinking of the billboards. Belville\ its plaintive "BABY "Hcrfc and I pass through your PLEASE COME HOME" graffiti is area on 1-95 severvJ times a year, now underwater, so you can be sure and we find those signs quite am us- it's just a matter of time until you'll look out over that memorable Belville skyline and Find she's noth ing more than a memory. Roadside landmarks arc impor tant. In addition to giving one a sense of the familiar and a feeling of continuity, they serve another purpose. If you're on your way from here to Wilmington, your kids know when they see the Belville that you're almost there, so they can avoid asking a 34th time. Now that the leaning tower is gone, you'll have to get all the way to the new bungee arch before they'll stop ask ing how much fanher it is to Myrtle Beach. When I was a child, I knew when I saw the old cotton press on Highway 38 near Latta that we were halfway between Cheraw, S.C, and the beach. I knew when I saw the big shed with the slice of water melon painted on the side that we were halfway to Charlotte. people I met at the beach who lived in Charlotte told me they knew they were halfway there when they stopped for cheeseburgers at the J & K Grill in Chcraw. It is not until 1 sec the Simp's BBQ sign in Creswell that I know I'm within striking distance of the Outer Banks (and getting close to the Last Chance Texaco at the foot of the Alligator River bridge, final pitstop for at least 35 miles). 1 know I'm in Tidewater, Virginia when I pass the Jesus Is Lord Steakhouse outside Chesapeake. If the arbiters don't take it all away, the lnterstates will. I may be all alone in this, but I like to get to know towns by their main streets and not by the French Fry Alley out at the exit ramp. Imagine driving from Wilson to Benson on 1-95, then turning around and coming back on 301. On the way there, you'd pass ramps the kinds of places you probably leading to, and billboards advertis- wouldn't stop at. But don't you ing. Holiday Inn, Best Western, miss them like they were? Shoney's, McDonald's?all the no- 1 used to have to make the trip surprise sameness you'd expect on regularly from Hcndcrsonville to a piece of highway specifically dc- Hickory. When 1 had passengers, signed to keep you from having to I'd just hop on the interstate and stop and take a look around. take a menial nap until the trip was I used to book banquets and tour done. buses at a Best Western off one of But when 1 was going it alone, those ramps during a miserable but I'd take 64 East, through the brief stint in a town that shall re- Edncyville apple orchards, past the main nameless. The motel was tacky tourist traps and backcd-up owned by a Kuwaiti dermatologist traffic in Chimney Rock, around from Cincinnati who had never laid Lake Lure, winding into the eyes on the place. foothills from Ruthcrfordton to On your way back, you'd get a Valdcse to Icard to Hickory, paying feel for what once was?funky little attention to what was growing in family-owned motor courts with the fields, looking at people work jazzy neon signs, and real roadside ing in their yards, passing court diners that probably had great houses and fire stations and country Brunswick stew and some kind of stores. dessert that was their very own spe- And feeling like a person with a cialty. It's all gone now, the diners place and some time, rather than closed and the motels turned into just another hamster on a wheel. was not only enjoyable, but a financial success. Our many thanks go out to these volunteers ami our local merchants for their contributions in sup port of the school. At the May 4 PTO meeting, new members of the executive committee were installed. They arc Robin Gaskins, president; Debbie Bennett, vice president; Vivian Jordan, secretary; and Hcrbie Ward, treasurer. This committee will be surveying parents and teachers within the next few weeks. This input will serve to facilitate goal-setting by the 1993-94 Union Elementary School PTO. Zclphia GrisscU, Principal Robin Gaskins, PTO President (MORE LETTERS, FOLLOWING PAGE)
The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.)
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May 20, 1993, edition 1
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