Letters to the Editor

Taking the Blame Instead of Blaming

Dear Editor, 

Regarding your near family tragedy at Buggs Island Lake, it was refreshing to see someone own up to their mistakes and even publicize them in an effort to help others avoid similar experiences.  This is the very essence of taking individual responsibility.  I could not help but speculate, however, how your report might have read differently had you been more liberal in your politics.  The headline might have read: “Virginia Fails to Protect Its Most Vulnerable.”  Following a description of what actually happened would be a series of explanations (excuses) for why the near tragedy was not really your fault.  The drop-off into deep water should have been marked and roped off.  There should have been signs on the beach warning of potential dangers, and perhaps even restricting people from the water unless they were wearing government approved floatation devices.  Lifeguards should have been provided.  I could go on, but I think I’ve made my point.  Then there might have even been some pontificating about how the outcome would likely have been different had the victims not enjoyed the “white privilege” of having been able to learn to swim at a young age.  And finally, there would probably be a recommendation for increased tax assessments to fund more protection for lake visitors.  I am happy that you and your family survived this harrowing experience safe and sound and that you learned valuable lessons you could pass on to others. 

I normally only write letters to editors when I disagree with them, so this is the first I have written to you.  After several years of reading your paper I have been unable to find much if anything I disagree with you about except religion, and I learned long ago that it is illogical and futile to try to use reason to argue against faith.  Keep the faith. 

Sincerely, 

Steve Whitmer 

Charlotte Court House, VA

A Heartfelt Message

Dear Editor,

I wrote the following poem for the friends and family of COVID-19 victims. I ask that you print this in The Southside Messenger, so in my opinion it will be a heartfelt message.

HE/SHE IS THERE

Let not your heart be full of sorrow,

For he/she is in heaven with a new tomorrow.

Let your heart be full of love,

For he/she was sent there on the wings of a dove.

Let not your eyes be full of tears,

For he/she is with you in another way.

Let your eyes see the beauty around you,

For he/she is there in the rainbow after a stormy day.

Let not your memories fade away,

For he/she is there to comfort and guide you.

Let your memories ring true,

For he/she is there to always love you.

God’s will be done,

Isabelle B. Clark

In Support of Our Police

Dear Editor,

I would like to thank the many police officers serving not just my community, but communities throughout this country. Recently, protestors have called for defunding the police. Let’s be realistic, as long as criminals exist so must police officers. We all know what happened in the CHOP, a so-called police-free zone. Why would anyone want to live in a place as lawless and volatile as it was there?

Now, not all officers are deserving of wearing a badge, but my family has always had peaceful encounters with the police. I do not believe that is because we are white, but rather because in those instances we were respectful and followed the directions of the officer. If we had chosen to flee or attack the officer, I imagine things would have turned out differently.

Police officers put their lives on the line every day to protect and serve and in return, they are being treated worse than those breaking the law. Every night across this country, protestors are out in the streets causing destruction and terrorizing communities, but the police are the ones being blamed for the violence. The blame should be placed where it belongs, on the protestors and the governors and mayors supporting them, not the police.

Police officers deserve our respect and appreciation and they certainly have mine. Please thank a police officer.

Megan Schools

Keysville, Va.

In Defense of a Good Person

Dear Editor,

I am writing this letter in defense of Charlotte County school board member Teresa Dunaway, whose Facebook post last week garnered countywide condemnation for being “racist.” I have known this woman for my entire adult life, and I can attest to the fact that there is nothing racist or hateful about her. I think anyone who has ever met her would agree with this statement.

I know of no one in this county who has done more in her school board position or taken an elected job more seriously. Teresa has done everything from dressing in “Cat in the Hat” character and reading to elementary children at schools throughout the county, to attending EVERY athletic and civic event in those schools. She was instrumental in reinstating the winter dance at Central Middle and Randolph-Henry High Schools.

Teresa has spent her entire adult life raising and caring for children. She has been a babysitter for several generations of children, and they are treated like her own. She is widely known for her passion for children and animals and will not tolerate abuse or mistreatment of either. When Teresa’s grandchild’s mother was killed suddenly when the child was but a toddler, Teresa and her husband raised her, and she still resides with them today.

When the Wylliesburg ballfield needed lights and other updates, and additions to continue to function in the league, Teresa Dunaway was the first one to step up and start the fundraising ball rolling, organizing events to pay for the updates. She did it for ALL children. She also helped raise money to have lights installed on the helipad at Bacon District Volunteer Fire Department.

For years, Teresa has helped organize hunts and other events for cancer patients. For the last two years, she has organized an annual beauty pageant to benefit Barksdale Cancer Foundation. These events have netted $13,000 for cancer patients in Charlotte County … ALL patients … whomever needs help in their cancer battles.

Since the CV-19 pandemic struck in March, Teresa and her family have been making masks – over 1,500 of them – for not only friends and neighbors, but for hospitals and doctors’ offices all over the country … masks for ALL people. The only renumeration she would allow as donations to one of her favorite charities … Barksdale Cancer Foundation.

We have all said or done things that we later regretted. I can tell you that Teresa simply misspoke when she wrote the hologram post. I think what she felt, but did not relay in the best way, was the injustice of all the poor children – some mere babies! – who have been killed in the aftermath of the George Floyd tragedy. I believe her anger comes from the fact that no holograms or celebrations are memorializing their tragically short lives.

I implore the citizens of this county, do not “throw the baby out with the bath water,” so to speak, because of a post made with innocent passion. Teresa may not be perfect, but she is a heck of a loving, caring and compassionate person. She makes it a point to help people in need in whatever way she can, and she does not deserve to be crucified for an innocuous post that has been blown all out of proportion.

Thank you,

Wendy S. Lankford

Red Oak, VA

Thank You

Dear Editor,

“Thank you!” Prince Edward County’s Board of Supervisors.

Thank you for caring. Thank you for listening. Thank you for your taking your time to weigh all factors before ultimately voting July 14 to return recycling operations to STEPS, your community partner.

The board’s action has assured that we will continue to serve this wonderful community and that six individuals with disabilities that keep the STEPS recycling operation running smoothly will continue to have jobs.

Valued jobs.

Jobs that have changed their lives.

STEPS, faced with the uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic, temporarily shut down recycling operations in March. Prince Edward County used an alternate recycling vendor during the operational hiatus. We restarted operations June 1, but the county wanted to review the merits of continuing our 21-year relationship.

The county’s decision was understandable. Budgets are tight in these challenging times and taxpayers have a right to be assured that their monies are invested well.

The county’s review shows that the relationship continues to make financial sense. Plus, it makes sense on a difficult-to-quantify human level, where individuals with disabilities are given an opportunity to work, serve their community and do their part to help preserve it.

I also want to express my personal appreciation to the editors of the area newspapers who understood the weight of the board’s decision and supported the recycling center, and for community members who testified to the value of the community recycling program. 

Thank you for getting involved and caring enough to have your voices heard. You are awesome!

Our mission at STEPS is to lead, coordinate, create and deliver quality opportunities to impact self-sufficiency and reduce poverty throughout the region. The recycling program is an important part of that mission. We pledge to continue to honor this community in providing the best possible services as we to strive to move lives forward.

—Sharon Harrup

(Sharon Harrup is the President & CEO of STEPS Inc, a non-profit agency that provides a multitude of services to Prince Edward and surrounding counties. STEPS’ corporate offices are located at 225 Industrial Park Road in Farmville.)

Opening Schools with Students in Attendance

Dear Editor,

When the Government and the U.S. Department of Education are pushing through the schools, no child to be left behind, how can they not let the students go back to the classrooms?  If the students are not in school they are at a babysitter’s house, or day care center of some sort, in close contact with each other or home alone, so what is the difference who is working with them so that they retain what they have already studied.  If the schools are afraid of being sued because a child got sick, (we believe this is a fear tacit by our Socialist Governor and others) then have the Parents sign a legal document saying they agree for the child to attend school in person and will not sue if the child got sick.  Come on now, kids go to school all the time with colds, fevers, upset stomachs; are the schools being sued for one kid catching a cold from another or a teacher catching a cold from a student? (Ask any school nurse how often children are sent home after they get to school on the bus sick.) This is a result of the legal parent/guardian not keeping their child home when sick and or not practicing good hygiene.  The school staff is always reminding the children the importance of good hygiene; the parents should be enforcing it at home as well.

That being said, the children need to be in a classroom setting to get a proper education especially those in K-6, (those) are the best learning years. Getting the basics down pat (reading, writing, spelling, true history, and math) is essential to moving forward and excelling.  Our special needs children need to have the teacher learning experience to help them learn and excel as well.

What we have observed is that with this no child left behind rule, students are passing with D’s and F’s to a higher grade. How does that help the child? It only makes the next level harder; they give up, act out and are embarrassed, and in some cases put on medicine so that they will not act out. (Then wonder why we have a drug problem when they are told that drugs are good for them) This is a great injustice to the child; parents need to take a more active role in their child’s education and help them overcome their struggle with whatever subject they are having a difficult time with.  Help is available. 

How can a student become leader or productive citizen once he/she is out of school and is an adult if they cannot read and understand what they read or write so that it is legible and make an informed decision?  Won’t happen, they will want the Government to take care of them because they believe it is owed them and they can’t or won’t want to care for themselves.  We are on our eight-year-old grandson when he is here going over his writing, spelling, reading and math skills so that he will not fall behind.  Does he like it; the answer is no but, it is necessary to know these things in order to succeed in life.  He is one of those children who need to be in a classroom setting. A child’s education is the most important job of his/her life.  Please get the students back in class where they need to be. You will be putting kids further behind by just going virtual; not everyone is able to learn this way.

Jolene and Michael

Antonellini

Keysville, VA

Response to Masks or No Mask

Dear Editor,

Question asked was have you ever seen a surgeon or nurse in the operating room without a mask?  Why – the answer would be because they do not want to contaminate the patient with their germs by accidently coughing, sneezing, etc. into an open wound and or an incision causing an infection.  I would also guess to keep from getting blood or other body fluids from entering through their nose or mouth if it were to spray out.  I also believe the Corona Covid-19 figures are not accurate.  I donated blood last week and prior to the donation I received an email from the American Red Cross advising that they will be testing all donors’ blood for Corona antibodies.  And no they could not tell you if the Corona antibodies, if found in your blood, is the common cold, regular flu or Covid-19 because they are all a Corona virus. They should not lump them all under Covid-19.  Therefore, I ask what the figures are for the common cold and regular flu.  Usually the numbers for flu deaths are significant each year, but since March you only hear about Covid-19.  By the way, the government has never shut down the country for flu outbreaks in the past, life kept on as usual.  If people who are sick stayed home and washed their hands with warm water and soap, a lot of health problems would be solved.  Shutting down the country for this long is inexcusable.  

I believe our Government has gone too far in dictating how people should live, run their businesses, etc. They are putting the small independent businesses out of business. This is a small part of taking away our rights and moving us closer to Socialism/Communism.  Blaming higher numbers on small businesses like bars and restaurants is wrong; this is just another way for the Government to close down small business so large corporations and the Government has control as to where you shop, eat, go for entertainment, etc.

If you feel safe or feel the need to wear a mask it is your right to do so, just as it is my right not to.  That is what makes America great.  If you are sick, stay home. It’s a no brainer, but to force those of us who are not sick to wear a mask is wrong.  If you choose to stay home and distance yourself from your family and loved ones, that also is your choice.  If I’m not sick and my family members are not sick, yes, I will physically see, touch and hug them – that is my choice. That is why we have families, to enjoy each other’s company. 

Wake up America! We cannot live in FEAR. The Good Lord knows how many days each of us has on this earth, when our purpose/time has been completed according to His will. He will call you home and there is nothing you can do about it.  Keep your faith strong and give thanks for all the blessings and trials that have been bestowed upon you.  Don’t let FEAR control your life, let God control it.  The Lord gave each of us a mind to think and make decisions with, the Government wants to take away our ability to think and make decisions for ourselves so that we become dependent on them to tell us what, how, where, when we can move, live, work, shop, what to eat, etc. 

Another example of what the Government Socialism/Communist minded have instituted is you won’t be able to travel via air or other modes of travel or go certain places unless you have the new DMV driver’s license, that in order to obtain cost $10 extra plus you have to provide several documents showing who you are.  Well, when you get your first driving permit you only had to show a birth certificate to prove you are a U.S. citizen and your age.  This new license also has a STAR on it to allow you to fly or go certain places.  Sound familiar? It should if you know your kistory. This is what Hitler did to the Jews.  He also told the people to give up their arms and he would protect them all.  Well, how did that work out for the people, not very well?  Read your history, the real history not the made up history.  So why would you have to give more information when you already have a license and voter identification card.  Simple, illegals in the United States are being given permits.  How can they get permits with nothing to show that they are a U.S. citizen or here legally?  My guess is they are getting drivers licenses without documentation so that they can vote in our elections.  If I’m correct you cannot vote unless you were born an American or become a naturalized citizen, where you take an oath to honor the U.S. flag and its constitution.

On another note:

 Why has there been no mention of this so called coin/money shortage that is posted in all the stores?  I asked this question of Senator Ruff and Delegate Wright. Delegate Wright (who is not my representive) was the only one to respond to my call; he advised he was unaware of this and would check into it and call me back, which he did and for that I thank him very much.  It appears the Federal Government is not releasing coins or enough money to the banks and businesses. There is no coin shortage in the USA.  They are now trying to control our money, they want people to use debit/credit cards only so that they can track where we are, what we buy and basically keep tabs on what We the People are doing so that they can control everything that we do.  Again, wake up America. Do not let them keep taking our Constitutional rights away.

Jolene Antonellini

Keysville, VA