This past Sunday at church, someone quoted the old Greek proverb, “A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit.” As the speaker continued to make a connection with the proverb and the future of our church, I quietly sat with the words and let them wash over me. 

The seeds of chaos sown into the fertile soil of the embattled Fontana Regional Library system over the last few years have sprouted. 

The FRL Board of Trustees has struggled to function over the last year, but things have come to a head the last couple of weeks as trustees, local media and a former librarian all received anonymous emails riddled with misinformation and threats. All the while, the board is still without an attorney, and now, that lack of representation is holding up crucial decisions.

The Voices in the Laurel choirs have announced that spring registration is now open and the organization invites new/returning singers from Haywood, Buncombe, Jackson and Swain counties to be part of its 30th season. 

What do rangers eat for lunch? How did the Great Smoky Mountains get their name? Do rangers have to feed the bears? Are there alligators in the park? What about moose? Dolphins? 

“The kids really want to know,” said Scott Young, a volunteer at Great Smoky Mountains National Park who, together with his wife Jayne, has answered every letter kids from across the country send to the national park since they first took on the task in 2021.

Waynesville resident Sam Wilds is blind, cannot work, uses her entire Social Security disability check for household bills, has approximately $50 left on her SNAP card for the month of October, and once it’s gone, it’s gone. 

“Why doesn’t she just leave?” It’s a question asked countless times when trying to rationalize why someone in an abusive relationship continues to remain in that relationship.

Besides blaming the victim, the question also makes some strong assumptions: 

An Aug. 21 forum featuring most of the candidates in Sylva’s upcoming municipal election painted a broad portrait of a community wrestling with growth, values and limited resources, but it also revealed a few stark differences that could prove critical when voters begin going to the polls in November. 

The child care industry has been sounding the alarm for years now, but with federal stabilization grants drying up a few months ago, what was for many a smoldering problem has become a five-alarm fire. 

Kayden is doing her very best not to tell me about the preparations she and mom and Jack have made for Father’s Day, but she is six years old, and at this age especially, secrets are like little, wet bars of soap.

To the Editor:

I would like to speak in support of a decision from this board to remove from a library system that continues to make decisions that offer and highlight sexually based material, including sexually explicit material, for children.