Tar River Writing Project

Defining Moments in the History of Our Town

 I remember the old brick church on the corner of West Nash and Broad Streets in Wilson; that’s where I attended Kindergarten. Wilsonians took pride in Nash Street, once named  "One of the most beautiful Main Streets in America."

 I also remember the "For Sale" sign that went up on the lawn of this historic church building. The church was sold and a modern new bank with shinning glass windows, tinted bronze, was built in that once humble location. No one says "Gee, that new building stands out like a sore thumb in the heart of our historic Victorian neighborhood." Goodbye ambiance! Who let that happen?

 What’s happening in our fair city is probably happening all over the great state of North Carolina. We have a huge Kroger’s grocery store in the middle of a once busy mall. Just eight years ago, Kroger’s brand-new 100,000 square feet structure opened its doors, and then promptly closed them only four years later. Those front doors, now riffled by rocks or bullets, will have to be boarded up. But no one is saying anything, not even, "won’t that look nice?" Worst yet, there are no plans for all that empty space.

 Not more than a mile away, another mall with a centerpiece store, K-Mart opened up and closed only five years after it opened. Two buildings, neither one of them small, neither one of older than ten years, are hopelessly empty. While the homeless shelter is running out of space and funds.

 The children in many of our schools are currently being educated in trailers; the new proposed school that will cost our taxpayers millions of dollars has not been built. It is due to open in January 2009. While we drive past the empty Kroger’s and K-Mart buildings, the groundbreaking for our new school will cover farm land with concrete. I will have a hard time celebrating that one.

Downtown, stores are empty, too, but those buildings are old. We don’t talk about them anymore, about re-vitalizing our downtown. But there’s a part of me that says why don’t we just put the new school in the heart of our nearly abandoned downtown? Or even put the Kroger’s or K-Mart buildings to better use? But I keep silent.

 Is there any town in this state that’s still historic? The only one I can think of is the town of Wendell. Why are we wasting the resources that are right under our very noses? Would it be totally un-American to say we don’t need that new shopping center in our small town? Hello out there?

 The quote on my monthly calendar reads: "Rhetoric is a poor substitute for action, and we have trusted only to rhetoric. If we are really to be a great nation, we must not merely talk; we must act big." –Theodore Roosevelt

Who's going to stand up first? and start acting big? I’m certainly not doing so well on my own.