Thursday, November 22, 2007
Around all corners, impacts were made
Shanna Flowers
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In the rush of our lives, the calendar affords us a reprieve today to take stock and say thanks.
Many of our thank-yous are personal, uttered in the private sanctuaries of our hearts and minds.
But on this day, we use this space to show public gratitude for friends and neighbors who graced this column in the past year and make a community contribution in varying ways.
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When you drive past the refurbished historic cemetery on Orange Avenue across from the Roanoke Civic Center, thank Bob Hale.
The retired musician and photographer made restoring Old Lick Cemetery his project. First Baptist Church in Gainsboro owns the property and keeps the lawn mowed. But many of the tombstones were in disrepair. Brush and trees had become overgrown.
A few others joined Hale, 83, in cutting back truckloads of brush and picking up bags and bags of trash. But he was the force that ensured the 943 people buried there are gone but not forgotten.
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After 41 years with Head Start, Cleo Sims retired this summer as head of the organization that has touched the lives of nearly 30,000 preschoolers.
Sims never worked as a teacher in the program. She was behind the scenes, paying the bills, keeping an eye on the bottom line, hiring staff, signing off on curricula, scrapping for resources to give youngsters a chance.
Now, everyone realizes the critical task of getting preschoolers off to a good academic start. Sims was one of the early riders on that bandwagon.
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First, his name is Randy Mitchell -- not Randy Schafer, as we assumed all these years. More important than the man's name, however, is his character, foresight and selflessness.
On the surface, the older, white, former bank executive has little in common with Chris Lowe, his young, black apprentice at Schafer's Shoe Repair. But Mitchell did what too few are willing to do: He gave a young person a chance.
Mitchell saw Lowe's drive and ambition and taught the young man everything about shoe repair. Just over a year ago, these men didn't know each other. Now, realizing Lowe's natural repair skill and business acumen, Mitchell will turn his business over to Lowe within two years.
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We give thanks for Thomas and Towanda Penn and Samuel and Gail Thompson. With more than six decades of marriage between them, the Roanoke couples are on the front lines of trying to enhance family and marriage.
They run a group called Family Life and Marriage Enrichment. The biblically based group isn't marriage counseling but helps couples navigate toward happy and healthy lives together.
Why should we care? Because the work of the Penns and Thompsons makes strong marriages, and strong marriages and families are the undergirding of strong communities.
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We give thanks for Bruce Smith, former Virginia Tech All-American and future NFL Hall of Famer. Certainly, we appreciate the $50 million project he's building in Blacksburg.
But equally important, in light of the poor choices of other newsmaking athletes, we appreciate the manner of man he has become. We should be thankful for him and countless other athletes like him who make the quiet transition from star athlete to productive, private citizen.
If his Blacksburg project is successful, Smith will be admired not only for his mark on the athletic world, but also, more significantly, for his imprint on a community.
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We hear so often about the failings of youth that we sometimes forget to give thanks for their successes. Two groups in particular made an impact in separate ways this year.
Seven youths from James Madison Middle School --Caroline Perkins, Andrew Stockstill, Anna Paden Carson, Mitch Moore, Anne Burke Baldridge, Locher Grove and Elle Agee -- gave the community something to be thankful for with their showing at an international scholastic Odyssey of the Mind competition in Michigan.
The team brought home a top prize for their problem-solving and artistic performance.
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At William Fleming High School, eight upperclassmen initiated an anti-teen pregnancy assembly aimed at keeping their schoolmates from becoming parents before their time.
Teen pregnancy is a problem that extends far beyond Fleming. But students willing to initiate the dialogue in their school deserve acknowledgement. Take a bow, Patrick Curtis, Brittni Taylor and Dyquan Cooper. Jasmine Brown, Casey Palmer, Brandon Keith and Brittanie Jones and Kirsten Coles.
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Finally, Southwest Virginia, give yourself a pat on the back. You responded in droves to Barbara James' request to help feed the area's elderly hungry.
Real estate agents, car salespeople, health care workers, schoolchildren, church members and so, so many individuals donated more than 32,000 cans of soup and more than $15,000 to create a fund.
Now that we have given public thanks, Amen, Happy Thanksgiving -- and pass the sweet potatoes.
