YES One of the saddest sights to emerge from stringent COVID-19 protocols is loved ones forced to die alone due to no visitors being allowed in most health-care fatalities. In an area like Cherokee County, where family is at the very core of our culture, this has been an especially cruel burden to bare.
While we recognize that it’s essential to take necessary precautions during a pandemic, at the same time we can’t allow it to take away our humanity. Thankfully, the N.C. General Assembly is working on bills that would keep the above from happening here.
Last week, in a 49-0 bipartisan vote, the Senate passed the No Patient Left Alone Act, which would ensure that ailing people can have a visitor present in their most trying moments. And just a few weeks ago, the House passed two bills dealing with medical emergencies – “Clifford’s Law,” which would allow long-term patients to receive monthly visitors; and the “Jeff Rieg Law,” which would allow a clergy member to visit patients, protecting their religious rights.
Since these common-sense measures could make all the difference to you and your family tomorrow, they need to be put into place today.
Local legend moves on
DOWN Not everybody who starts their life in Arkansas and travels the world becomes an intricate part of life in Cherokee County, but Doyle Smith did just that. After opening Doyle’s Cedar Hill Restaurant in 2002 at the former Oak Barrel location in Murphy, Smith’s friendly banter, good humor and superb culinary skills quickly made his place a local favorite.
Smith passed away Saturday at age 76. I can still see his smiling face the first time he proudly brought out of a plate of burgers made with bison, elk and Kobe beef. How pleased he would be when people sampled his soup of the day and had to have a bowl. The casual way he strolled around his restaurant like he was best friends with everyone at every table.
Because he pretty much was. Thanks, Doyle, for some great food and great memories. The spot where the restaurant once stood on Andrews Road will always make us think of you.
Girl’s legacy continues
YES Nora Starks of Cherokee County was only 9 years old when gave up her savings to buy Bibles for a new church. At age 17, she started a well project in Kenya to help bring clean water to people in need. While the Murphy High School student’s life was cut short in a tragic automobile accident on the night of her prom, her love for others has never stopped.
Nora loved horses more than just about anything in the world, dreaming about what type she would own someday and saving her every dollar she earned in hopes of turning her dream into a reality. At age 9, she had saved $1,000 and was eagerly looking forward to finding the right one, when she heard her pastor share that a Hispanic church was forming, and there was not enough money for Bibles for either the children or the congregation.
After the service, Nora told her mother that she wanted to give all of the money she saved to make sure the church had what they needed, because how could you have a church without Bibles? How would anyone learn about God if they didn’t have His book?
Years later, when the time came for her youth group at Little Brasstown Baptist Church to select a project, Nora came up with the idea for a well in Kenya. She did the research, helped plan how the money would be raised and kept everyone motivated to make the well into a reality. Clearly, she was not your typical little girl.
Murphy Rotary Club member Bob Massey was Nora’s neighbor and confidant. Today, Massey and fellow Rotarians want to continue her “Service Above Self” life by partnering with LivingWatersCanada to have a new well dug each year in her memory.
The club hopes to raise $5,000 – the cost of one well – to keep alive Nora’s passion for changing the world. For details, email sarahtleatham@gmail.com. Donations can be sent via check to Rotary Club of Murphy, P.O. Box 846 Murphy, NC 28906; please put “Wells for Nora” on the memo line.
As Helen Keller put it, "Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much."
– Publisher & Editor David Brown