Jill's Journal: An inspirational 'letter to the editor'

Sometimes, it’s the small things in life that make us pause and reflect on just how good life is.

I had one of those moments last week. 

It came Friday morning as I was going through an assortment of emails awaiting my attention. My eye quickly spied a “Letter to the Editor” that had filtered into my email from our website portal.

The subject line tagged the letter’s topic as “Boy Scouts” and the first few sentences mentioned “Troop 212” and “Eagle Scout requirement,” which led me to believe the young author was required to write a letter to the editor of the newspaper for this particular merit badge.

Or that’s what I was thought I was being led to believe.

My heart melted in his next words 

“Thank you for all you do. Every town needs an editor for the newspaper and if anyone appreciates you, it would be my grandmother. You do a great job and keep her day a little bit better. Thank you for all you do for the great city of Brandon.”

Wow – such attitude-changing words in just a couple of simple sentences – and just the fuel this ol’ gal needed to power through her day.

I thought of Cameron Barr’s letter off and on that day. It made me smile every time, and it also inspired me to bring attention to a recent Facebook post, which ironically so, fueled my passion for factually telling the stories of our communities, our people, our events, our lives.

This particular Facebook post caught my attention, as someone was inquiring about the dirt work going on along I-90.

“Really?” I thought to myself. We just published an update on the forthcoming Brandon 90 Plaza a few weeks back. 

As expected, I perused the comments. One after another. Many negative. Many questioning the city’s ability to provide the needed infrastructure and its amenities – namely water. Here’s the deal folks: Brandon has enough water to supply us. What we don’t currently have is the capacity to store the needed water – hence the new 1.25-gallon water tower that’s currently under construction – and the ability to treat the water that is under high demand. Guess what? The city is also in the process of providing the community with what it needs to do just that.

And yes, both do come at a cost.

But remember, the infrastructure that was in place when you came to the city was paid for by those residents and their tax dollars who came before you, many of whom still call Brandon home. It’s the same for our school district: Brandon Elementary, Valley Springs Elementary and a large chunk of the current high school were funded by those who owned property and farmed our rural landscape, many who probably didn’t even have a kid in the classroom.

Back to the Facebook post regarding the dirt work along I-90, one of the comments charged that the proposed grocery store and event center had both been “squashed.”

I try my best to keep my mouth shut in these instances, but I couldn’t let this one go without comment. I asked how this individual was privy to this information? “Did you talk to the landowners or the developer?” I asked.

She responded, that “Yes,” she had, citing she had talked to someone at the “city.”

The next morning, I called the developer. If these charges were true, I wanted to know. I wanted the public to know.

Turns out, there wasn’t an ounce of truth in the statement.

Which brings me to the point that you can’t believe everything you read in a social media thread as the gospel truth. Most of the time it goes sour. And to be honest, comments like these are “community killers.”

A separate Facebook post earlier this year brought attention to the Double D’s street dance. The man stated he knew nothing about dance or he would’ve been there, and encouraged  that they should’ve marketed the event.

I had to chime in on this one, too.

I told the man that the bar’s owners, Jason and Paul, did market the event, mentioning numerous Facebook posts, in addition to  print ads in products, the Brandon Valley Journal and Trader.

His response: “And that’s supposed to mean what ...”

I quit there.

What it was supposed to mean is we all have to open our eyes. These invitations to events and elections and celebrations can usually be found in your mailbox every week in our products and on locally-focused Facebook pages. Or perhaps noted on posters on display at local businesses or on yard signs that dot our roadways.

Sure, would I love to have this guy as a subscriber? You bet. But the intent of my post wasn’t solely to gain a subscriber. I honestly wanted him to realize that this information is out there in some shape and form, and its up to all of us to take the initiative to take a look.

And if you want factual information on what’s happening in our growing community, please consider investing a dollar-a-week, plus some change for tax into your local community news source. 

So, thanks Cameron, for reminding me why I and thousands of other weekly newspaper editors across this great country of ours do for our communities and for grandma’s like yours whose kind words make our day a little bit better, too.