Small town support

[Frank]

Nothing to do with sailing...but it's a 'feel good' story in the midst of lots of 'feel bad' stuff going on. A local fellow, about 55yrs old, managed a muffler shop here for years. Although not his business, he treated it like his own and everyone both trusted and liked him. Cancer came along and to make a very long story short...he has a huge medical bill and no way of paying it. The stress that brought to him and his family at an already extremely bad time was overwhelming. A few friends got together and organized a dance. Sold tickets, auctioned donated items, had 50/50 tickets, sold food, drinks and whatever else could be done. A local band donated their time...the list goes on. The next day when things were added up...close to $90,000 was handed to him. Everyone had a great evening and was proud to be part of it all. Gotta love small town support.

[Captain Smollett]

Thanks for posting this.

I was just, a couple of hours ago, emailing a friend about the rampant selfishness we see around us.

It's nice to know not everyone is in that "Hollywood...me...me...me" mindset.

Grog to you, sir.

[s/v Emerald Tide]

I recently experienced small town support, when I pulled into Belhaven, NC.  They had just built a new community boat dock, after having had fund-raisers to get the money to do so.  ET was the first sailboat to dock there, and the town "press" showed up with camera and reporters to mark the event.  It was important to the town to support the sailing community, and they were excited over the first boat docking there.  It was very nice to experience their enthusiasm, and to participate in this. Small towns are very cool - it makes one desire to leave the city life, which can be marked by indifference.

(The picture on the front page of the newspaper also made a nice gift to send for to my family.  Five minutes of fame....)

[CharlieJ]

Glad to hear that. Last I was in Belhaven (September last year) the entire place smelled from sewage, caused by over flows from Hurricane Irene...And the town docks were a shambles, as were marinas.

VERY happy to hear they've recovered.

I was originally there in 1982, and 1983 onboard my trimaran. VERY different place then.