Firefighters in an emergency
In every age, the danger of fire has threatened our homes. When a fire alarm splices the night, men and women from all walks of life scramble to answer the call. The majority were volunteers, and not much has changed – except their numbers.
In Cherokee County, the volunteer firefighter shortage has reached a critical emergency state. Every four days in North Carolina, a life is lost to fire. That’s one person gone every week or less.
Volunteers make up the largest part of our fire personnel. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 72 percent of North Carolina firefighters are volunteers, and we have lost an average of 600 firefighters every year since 2016.
Fewer volunteers create the need for us to call departments outside our district to assist. This strains other departments and leaves less firefighters to respond if a fire breaks out elsewhere.
We’re taking action. The N.C. Association of Fire Chiefs and the International Association of Fire Chiefs launched a campaign with 12 North Carolina counties, including Cherokee County, to boost volunteer firefighter recruitment. As support, the NCAFC obtained a SAFER grant through FEMA.
Our strategy includes traditional methods along with advancing technology to pinpoint likely recruits.
We’re offering workshops, supporting policy changes and advocating for employers who allow volunteers to take time to help their communities.
Anyone, from grandparents and teachers to college students and mechanics, can play a role. We seek vital administrative volunteers and even beckon entire families to volunteer together. Helping our fellow neighbor is one of our most treasured American traits – and a vital need that we’re determined to see survive.
Please join us. For details, visit https://volunteerfirenc.org.
Chad McNabb, Hiwassee Dam
The writer is chief of the Hiwassee Dam Volunteer Fire Department. This is endorsed by Tracy Mosley of the N.C. Association of Fire Chiefs.
Celebrating St. Patrick
I’m offended by:
- Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish.
- Irish whiskey.
- Irish linens.
- Irish crystal.
- Irish jokes.
- Bailey’s Irish Cream.
- The Green New Deal.
- Green beer.
(Tongue in cheek, of course!)
St. Patrick is a Roman Catholic saint and a hero of Christians. He was snatched from England as a child. He spent long lonely years under his Irish captors tending their animals. He returned to England and prepared for the priesthood. He always prayed for his captors.
In the early 400s he returned to Ireland and was committed to the conversion of the Irish people.
Enveloped in the light of Christ this gentle man, with his Shamrock, extolled the Trinity … the Triune God.
Just a “sidebar” – should I be offended and bitter because my Irish ancestors were enslaved? The USA is the only country to outlaw slavery in human history.
Enjoy St. Patrick’s Day. He’ll be watching. Pax Domini.
Jura McCarthy Ashley, Murphy
Checking all your sources
Regarding the letter written in the March 10 edition of the Cherokee Scout by Dr. Vernon Dixon titled “Fossil fuels should pay.”
Thank the Lord for the editor’s note at the conclusion of the letter stating that “the writer is a retired psychiatist.”
We can all sleep a little better at night now that we’ve heard the profound environmental opinions of a well-established shrink.
Christopher Peterson, Murphy
800 signees in just 8 days
A big thank you to all the people of the Murphy and Andrews areas who supported our efforts to stop the present plan for school consolidation.
We couldn’t have made our feelings known without your coming to sign our petitions. Our small group in the course of about eight days had more than 800 signatures.
Unfortunately the fix was already in place, and the voice of the people was not heard or even listened to.
Did they let us speak? Yes.
Did they even listen? No.
The three commissioners who voted to go ahead with the present plan went through the motions, but their minds were already made up.
The matter of Commissioner Randy Phillips not voting was not even addressed although valid reasons were stated and just ignored.
We all need to remember this when these gentlemen come up for re-election.
This consolidation is going to affect not only the children of this community, but all of us taxpayers as well. The surface has only been scratched.
Jack Simons, Elliott Southworth, Chuck & Mary Ann Hoesch, Cherokee County
Victims need real justice
I am reading last week’s newspaper, and I am deeply concerned about two different articles.
The first is from 2015 about Mary Rankin, who abused her children sexually, denied them food and God only knows what else she did to them. She pled guilty to several charges and copped a plea “so the victims could find closure and move forward.”
These children have long-lasting emotional issues as well as physical development issues, and she was sentenced to minimum of 99 months in prison to a maximum of 167 months, which isn’t nearly enough. The sentence was suspended, subject to a 60-month probationary period.
The second article to do with the death of Angelica Grant, 50, in a hit and run on Feb. 26 on U.S. 64 East. She was struck by a vehicle and left in the road to die alone. Eight days later, Jared Lee Shook turned himself in to law enforcement admitting he was the person who struck Grant, then continued traveling on U.S. 64 without stopping,.
However, no charges have been filed against Shook in her death after leaving the scene of an accident. Cause, seriously? He killed a woman and kept driving.
What is wrong with law enforcement? Are district attorneys that bad at doing their jobs? Please, somebody, help me understand.
My heart aches for the children who were abused – and now she is free to do this to someone else’s children? Why?
My heart also aches for Grant, who died alone on the highway after being run down. I would guess alcohol was involved, which is why most drivers flee, but whatever his reason for leaving, he should rot in jail.
What if someone ran down his family member and went on their merry way? He would want justice, don’t you think?
Lorraine Kozlowski, Murphy
College offers great classes
One of the best-kept secrets that is available for seniors in Cherokee County is the Institute for Continuing Learning at Young Harris (Ga.) College.
Because of the pandemic, all classes are offered online. I have just finished a stimulating class called “Appalachian Literature.”
Being from the Midwest before I retired to Cherokee County a few years ago, I was not that familiar with contemporary writers of the South. I can now say I am a new fan of award-winning authors Ron Rash and David Joy, who write about western North Carolina.
Ron Rash is best known for his 2008 book Serena; those who have only seen the movie have missed a great work about the lumbering industry and the formation of the Smoky Mountain National Park. Rash teaches Appalachian Studies at Western Carolina University.
David Joy’s latest When These Mountains Burn is about the opiate crisis in Jackson County and extinction of mountain culture. He is from Sylva.
I am excited to be registering for “Contemporary Appalachian Literature Part 2” and “Elder Law,” which covers Estate Planning, Medicare & Asset Protection, and Trust & Probate.
Other offerings in the upcoming session include “The Poetry of Rainier Maria Rilke,” “Writing Your Memories Into True Life Stories,” “The Business of Art,” “The Power of Goal Setting,” “5 Characteristics of Personal Power,” “How to Exceed Ourselves” and “Stop Self Sabotage,” “Photography Spring’s Wildflowers” (which will have an outdoor component), “More of a Memoir than a Cookbook: Exploring Culinary Literature,” and “Beginning Partnership Pinochle.”
For details about class offerings, schedules, and registration, visit https://www.iclyhc.org.
Wendy Paige, Marble