This past weekend in Scotland County couldn’t have been better.
Perhaps one of, if not the busiest weekend of the year — at least to date — Scotland County was host to numerous community events that gave residents several options for things to do.
Starting on Friday, the second in the Hasty Realty/Laurinburg After 5 concerts, this one featuring newcomer Jebb Mac Band, was held in downtown Laurinburg and plenty of people turned out to hear the Florence-based band with an eclectic play list.
On Saturday, the county exploded with events.
From the annual Chalk Banks Challenge along the Lumber River to Habitat for Humanity’s Bike to Build fundraiser to the annual Union Grove Missionary Baptist Church Community Day in front of Golden Corral to a bullying seminar for youth and adults to a martial arts competition at St. Andrews — and probably others we have unintentionally left out.
Weather for all of the events cooperated with blue skies and warm sun.
We applaud those groups that planned, promoted and held each of these events. While not every weekend will offer such a menu of activities for the public, it does go to show any thinking that there is little or nothing to do here holds no water.
***
Let the feathers fly
The Scotland County Board of Education apparently needs time to think about a request from graduating American Indian students who want to wear a special feather on their caps for graduation.
While we can understand the school board can’t let things gets out of hand — because with teenagers, it surely could — we also think it’s a simple no-brainer when it comes to this request. And it’s a request that didn’t just come to light last week, so for the board to need more time smacks of being disingenuous.
We’ve seen approvals for religious beliefs, nationality backgrounds and more over the years — all part of our leanings toward acceptance of our differences.
We don’t see how allowing these students to proudly wear this feather could possibly be a problem.
The board should have given its unanimous stamp of approval already.
***
A welcome home
The city of Laurinburg has finally and officially gotten moved into its new City Hall.
Monday’s regular city council meeting consummated its relationship with the new facility, and we count ourselves among those who are proud that Laurinburg now has a modern building that not only can safely house city administration and its police department, but also serve as a fine representative of a city that is embracing progress.
The new City Hall stands as an icon to what’s both good and bad in the city. The naysayers who didn’t want the facility built would rather let Laurinburg remain in the past with a crumbling infrastructure, while those who are applauding the structure prefer to find ways to improve this city’s reputation.
Our thinking is this: The new City Hall is complete, so what’s next?
***
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better, too.” (Paulo Coelho)