LETTER: Put Aside Bitterness at the Grand Illumination
November 28, 2012
DEAR EDITOR:
It has been a troubling year for Cape Charles filled with strong emotions, hurt feelings, bitterness, and angry words.
It is heartbreaking to hear of broken friendships, community members no longer supporting the town or town businesses because of political differences, and citizens looking to find fault and place blame.
The old school building is a valuable part of our community, but it is just a building. It has no heart, no soul, and no feelings. However, people do and these people are our friends and neighbors.
These people are the ones who used to celebrate our joys, show concern when we became ill, and comfort us in times of loss. People, relationships, and community are so much more important than a building or a political position.
It is now the beginning of the season when we give thanks for our gracious plenty and cherish our family and friends. It is time to put our community before opinion, before politics, and before material objects.
I fear, if we keep on the path we are currently traveling, we will destroy all that we hold most dear.
I encourage you all to come to Central Park on Saturday evening at 6:15 p.m. for the Grand Illumination.
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Take time to rekindle the spirit of community and hope. Light a candle and let the anger and bitterness burn away.
Think about all the things that are most dear to you.
Begin the holiday season by embracing all the good in our community.
Let us put the past behind us and begin the new year — together, hand in hand, with open hearts and open minds.
NANCY DANIEL VEST
Letters to the Editor are welcome on any subject relevant to Cape Charles, and a diversity of opinions is encouraged. Letters should be original and never submitted elsewhere. Email submissions to [email protected].
Nancy, you raise many good points in your letter to the editor. This has become a town divided and it is very sad. There are many people that won’t be attending the event in the park this year and it is mainly because of the actions of the very people that we elected to run this town. Many of the people that won’t be attending simply don’t want to be around the people that basically created the dissent that won’t go away just because it is the Christmas season. I for one am saddened by the fact that a lot of people that I used to be friendly with are on the other side of the fence now because of the Old School issue. I must disagree with you however about the school. You say it has no heart or soul. Here is a building that was the very heart & soul of the town at one time. Many people will disagree with you that attended the school. The town officials are the ones that started this issue over the school. They are the ones to blame — not the Old School Cape Charles group. Many of the people in our group have been treated very badly by the town officials and some of the people that run this town. I will not attend the event on Saturday nor will I shop in the stores that are run by the very people that have been rude to us. Sadly this is a town divided.
Nicely put, Nancy.
Well said!
While it is important to speak up for what you believe in, it is also possible to separate the issue from the individual. Personal attacks only serve to tear into the fabric of a tight knit community, destroying what makes it a joy and a comfort to live out our lives in a small town.
As Ms. Vest pointed out, the birth of peace and hope that is the heart of the Christmas season is the perfect time for us to reconnect in a positive way with our neighbors.
I concur passionately with Nancy’s plea. Be compassionate and flexible: we are all human beings with equal rights and different opinions. Celebrate Christmas in the spirit of love.
Geographically, the Old School IS the heart of CC.
Spiritually, it appears to BE the soul of the town. Quite a few people fighting to keep it in the community. Their love imbued the building with their feelings.
As far as economics and Real Estate Theory, it is the ONLY place for the Town Government/community center that meets the threshold of highest and best use.
It is mind boggling to me that the Town continues to purchase buildings with YOUR tax dollars in the MAIN BUSINESS DISTRICT, removing the taxes that they would generate.
Merry Christmas to all, and remember that Jesus is the reason for the Season.
As long as the Federal Gov’t still allows me to say that………
I would argue very much against your claim, Mike, that the Old School is the heart of Cape Charles. It is not. That building sat vacant for years and no one cared a wit. Then, when the Town accounced plans to sell it folks rose up in anger.
Understand, I do NOT agree with what the Town has done. That said, my response here is in defense of Nancy Daniel Vest’s original message and that only.
The Old School is an important architectural and historical element to the Town, no doubt. But, I argue that is is not the heart of the Town. The heart of the Town is a less tangible entity that is best defined by the spirit of the holiday season: neighborliness and the sheer love of each other and of community. People in Cape Charles genuinely care for one another, relish the history that surrounds us, and are passionate about the rebirth of our little town in the face of the worst economic downturn most of us have ever lived through.
The heart of Cape Charles is not an old building. The heart is the love of one another and of place.
I don’t want to see the Town proceed with the Echelon deal. But, I believe that losing that building to this developer is a blip compared to the loss of neighborliness and community as a result of this deal.
In the spirit of these holidays, regardless of your religious afiliation, I plead for everyone to put aside their anger and simply embrace what we do have and what makes Cape Charles the beautiful town that it is. It’s not about a building. It’s about us. All of us.
Side note: I remember seeing a moving news story some years ago about a couple from Northern California, who while vacationing in Italy with their little son, was overrun by robbers on a highway. The robbers shot their guns in to this family’s rental car, killing their little boy who was lying down in the back seat for safety.
At the killers’ trial a year or so later, the couple flew all the way back to Italy — not to condemn the robbers out of hatred for them taking away their lone child, but to tell the killers that they forgave them for what they did.
I was completely blown away by their actions.
This was an older couple, in their 50’s, who had a child later in life. It was a one-shot deal. There would be no more chances. And, they loved that little boy with all of their heart and soul. Yet, when at the hands of killers’, their little boy’s life was taken, they found it in their hearts to turn around and forgive the very people who took so much of their lives away from them. They did so, because that’s what they believed as Christians.
That story has stayed with me to this day. I think of this couple whenever I feel someone has “taken” something from me. Hatred is like a disease. Love is the cure.
Thanks Mike for agreeing with what Old School Cape Charles has been saying all along. A community center in the old school could serve so many people & needs in this town. The town could have put the library into the community center & eliminated buying the bank at all. Here again the taxpayers had no say in what our elected officials are doing with our money. In light of the most recent news about the tax credit turn down maybe now the town’s officials & town government will do the right thing and go forward with a community center. The town could renovate the building using historic tax credits themselves.
Merry Christmas to you Mike !
Good morning, all and again a Merry Christmas!
Bruce, by ‘geographically’ I was referring to it’s position in the center of the town
.
My major concern is the economic engine that will drive the revitalization of the town, and as such the main business district must be enhanced and preserved, not innundated with further non-economic entities.
Don, thanks for the Christmas cheer!
As well as being a prudent choice, the School would further fit in with the Municipal services envisioned due to its proximinty to the Park. Pop in, pay your taxes, grab a book, check the Community board for upcoming events, needs etc… and enjoy the park on the way out…..let people USE that which their taxes pay for and to have them see others enjoy it can only enhance the sense of community we all desire.
My best to all, I hope to be able to break away from work for a visit down after the New Year, I look forward to seeing all of you!