My swan song of sorts as I depart The
Sun News (my last day is today, but my last actual editorial will be published
Sunday):
A former editor at The Sun News had a
habit of asking staff members at the beginning of each year: “What do we want
to be known for this year?”
As I leave the newspaper after
spending the better part of a decade reading and writing about the successes
and challenges the Grand Strand experiences, the question returns to me, after
a fashion. What do I want The Sun News to be known for in the future?
I’d like the paper to be known as a
voice of fearless, deliberate calm.
Sunday’s first editorial was cribbed
in part from one that ran 15 years ago:
Ready for a busy few weeks?
May is just around the corner, and it
brings with it a slew of events and visitors. How the events play out and our
reaction to them could determine not just their individual success, but our
reputation as a tourist destination and the repeat business of the hundreds of
thousands who will grace our shores this coming month.
Speaking of local history, we were
dismayed to learn that the Gullah O’oman shop and museum run by Vermelle “Bunny”
Rodrigues’ and her husband Andrew had closed recently, after nearly 15 years of
educating locals and visitors alike about the rich Gullah Geechee culture and
heritage our area is steeped in.
The Rodrigueses have said they hope
to reopen in a different location after losing their lease in Pawleys Island,
and we certainly hope they do so. The couple’s stories, artifacts and passion
for the Gullah Geechee culture have been a vital part of the effort to keep the
area’s past alive, and it would be more than unfortunate to lose those links,
especially just as the long-planned Gullah Geechee Heritage Corridor ramps
up its efforts to highlight the unique African-American sea island culture.
Sunday’s
editorial takes on the tried and true topic of nullification. Remember that
from your high school history textbooks?
South
Carolina has a proud tradition of obstinacy. In the federal family, we’re the
child who automatically responds to every suggestion with an emphatic “nuh-uh”
or “make me.” Ingrained over centuries, stubborn refusal has become our gut
feeling, our knee-jerk reaction. The federal government says po-tay-to and we
say po-tah-to. Of course, if the feds at any point changed course and started
saying po-tah-to, we’d immediately insist that real Americans say po-tay-to.
This
disdain for and distrust of authority has led us into confrontations of all
sizes, from bloody wars to congressmen who publicly call the president a liar
during a State of the Union address. The recent calls by state legislators for
reviving nullification only adds to this long tradition of digging in our
heels.
If the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of
Commerce isn’t already advertising around Pigeon Forge, Tenn., perhaps it’s time to start. We’ve
even got a suggested slogan ready.
Myrtle
Beach: We’re not as morally bankrupt as you might think.
Horrific crimes capture our interest,
no matter where they are committed. They illustrate, perhaps, the threads that
connect human beings regardless of geography, religion or other demographic
factors that separate us.
Consider two awful crimes separated
by the great distance between Colorado on the
Great Plains of the United States
and Pakistan.
Tuesday’s editorial pleads for a
little more restraint when it comes to our anger at the violence against our
interests in the Middle East:
In the wake of last week’s violent
protests in the Middle East, including one that left four U.S. Embassy workers
dead in Libya,
many in our area have been understandably incensed. The brutal actions were
reprehensible and deserve swift and unerring justice. But while justifiably
enraged at these indefensible attacks, some have unfortunately quickly turned
the blame on the entire Islamic faith or Arab race.
Friday’s editorial wades into the
recent dustup between Helicopter Adventures and the business’s Plantation Point
neighbors:
What happens when the letter of the
law runs into less well-defined limits such as civility and politeness? We end
up with situations such as the one now involving Helicopter Adventures.
The business, set up to offer aerial
tours of the area, opened its doors in May and quickly earned the ire of its
new neighbors in the Plantation Point development, who loudly complained about
the noise made by the aircraft as they took off and landed near their homes.
Nevermind that the company had followed all of the rules in setting up its
business, talking with county officials and jumping through all the hoops
required by local laws.
How about some good beach music this
weekend? Thursday’s editorial celebrates the genre that’s a part of our
heritage around here:
The mercury is still stubbornly high,
the crowds of summer are mostly gone and the kids are back in school. For a few
blessed weeks, local adults may actually have the area’s 50 miles of beach
mostly to themselves while it’s still warm enough to enjoy. What better time to
listen to some classic beach music?
On Sunday, the Beach Music Hall of
Fame at Coastal Carolina University
will induct its second class of honorees (read more about it in Friday’s Kicks!
section). The still young organization will honor Chuck Berry, Earl Bostic, Ray
Charles, The Coasters, The Embers, The Ink Spots and The Platters.
Thursday’s first editorial suggests a few games for the next Summer Olympics:
The Olympics will be over Sunday, leaving us four long years to wait until the worldwide celebration of summer athletic prowess comes around again. Wednesday, our best and only chance of local glory – hammer thrower Amber Campbell – unfortunately fell short in her bid for the gold.
Recent Comments