JULY 29, 2010 ISSUE
Letters to the Editor
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Local Governments, ASU Should Chip in To Help Hayes Center
Dear Editor,
Many in the High Country consider the Hayes Performing Arts Center the jewel of the High Country in that it symbolizes the willingness of a small community to give generously to create a bit of culture in our beautiful mountains. To many the Hayes provides some of the outstanding highlights of the summer season, but, alas, the Hayes Center has fallen on hard times and will remain closed for at least the remainder of this season. We have been given no hint of how its money problems will be resolved so it can resume its intended role.
It is time the community came together to make whatever sacrifice is necessary to open the Hayes once again to the outstanding performances that makes a difference in the lives of so many. May I be so bold as to suggest a bold possible solution to this dilemma. There are four major entities in the community: the Village of Blowing Rock, the Town of Boone, Watauga County and Appalachian State University. What if each of these four committed to provide $1 million over a three- or four-year period so that the major financial problem would be solved? Each entity would decide how it would fulfill this commitment, either by conducting a campaign to solicit donations, hold fundraising events over the period of this commitment, or if all else fails, utilize tax revenues to raise the money. Many people in the area would be willing to pay a small increase in their taxes in order to save the Hayes, and the economy of the area would be helped if it is operating.
In exchange for this significant commitment, the Hayes could hire a person with the tourism industry experience to put together and promote tours that would include a stay in local motels, meals at local restaurants, tickets to local tourist venues, a performance at the Hayes Center, various events at ASU including An Appalachian Summer events, Tweetsie Railroad, the Blowing Rock, Boone, App. State, as well as farm tours and arrangements with adventure contractors. There are many ways to improve tourism in the area such as was done so well for the Mitford celebration a few years ago.
This may not be the only or best solution to the problem at the Hayes, but if this won’t work, someone come up with something better. We should be proud of this community’s accomplishment in building the Hayes, and we should not allow it to remain dark any longer. Let’s get the Hayes open and operating again.
Minton Tinsley
Voters Must Make Informed Decisions
In a recent article in the High Country Press, a participant at a Tea Party gathering was quoted as saying that it was important to be informed about the candidates. I could not agree more! We all need to be informed about candidates running for office. We all need to make informed voting decisions.
Here are a few questions I believe we should ask:
For incumbents, do they truly represent their constituents? What bills have they supported? How have they voted on important issues? Who provides financial support for them? Have they benefited personally and increased their wealth? Do they give constituents an opportunity to voice their opinions and hear what they have to say?
For office seekers who are not incumbents, it may be a bit more difficult. However, we must listen to what they have to say on issues, look at who is supporting them and decide if they are in touch with the people they would represent if elected.
Perhaps the High Country Press will take the lead in providing readers information we all need to make informed voting decisions.
Barbara Watkins Daye
Boone
Do We Need Financial Reforms or Government Reforms?
Why, after 234 years in our very successful and prosperous long-term economy and business history does our federal Democratic Party leadership feel compelled to pass a huge, costly, anti-capitalistic and controlling socialistic financial reform legislation?
No good reason for sure, but they did it last week!
Our forefathers designed a republic form of government and free market capitalistic economy with laws that were formed from values and policies, resulting in: unprecedented citizen freedoms, our creator’s gift of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, prosperity and freedoms to worship, educate and fulfill dreams resulted in the most successful economy and generosity in world history. This formed a well-known “foundation” for America and all Americans.
Yes, it became necessary for government to provide regulations to our free market system for protection from greed and unfairness from overly aggressive businesses with anti-monopoly and anti-price fixing. Our government remained relatively small yet provided its citizens with infrastructure, police and military protections from natural disasters and enemies.
It is a matter of record that some executives of corporations have directed and managed failures. However, there are bankruptcy and criminal laws to handle failures and unlawful behavior. Government bailouts or takeovers are not necessary. Instead of using unfounded excuses like “these companies are too large to fail,” LET THEM FAIL. If executives have acted unlawfully, they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law!
Bankruptcy reorganizations or competition will then hire those employees from failed companies and better executives will save that product or service.
We have a great example of how federal government ownership and control WILL NOT make a business successful. Our federal government’s two GSE’s (Government Sponsored Enterprises), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, have consistently operated over budgets. They then called for federal bailout funding to stay in business and to continue in the practice of issuing mortgages to unqualified borrowers!
In the first three months of 2010, Freddie Mac lost $8 billion, after which both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac received $42 million in compensation packages for 12 top executives (all federal employees) who had demonstrated failing performances in 2009.
After all this, which is a very small part of this failing GSE scenario, on May 5, 2010, Freddie Mac requested an additional $10.5 billion in bailout funding!
Wouldn’t you agree that instead of comprehensive financial reform, the American voters need to demand comprehensive federal government reforms?
Fortunately, our two incumbent Republican congressional members, Senator Richard Burr and Representative Virginia Foxx, have a history of: (1) spending cuts, (2) reducing taxes for citizens and businesses to stimulate our economy and (3) job creation policies. They want to keep ILLEGAL immigrants from taking jobs from American citizens and legal immigrant workers. They have sponsored bills to eliminate “earmarks” with PORK so that corruption in our government is reduced. They truly show respect for our taxpayers, our earned incomes and our American way of life!
Donald Bolster
Sugar Grove
Qualifications and Quality Are Important
The farmland protection plan draft contains grossly incorrect data in the assessment of the current agricultural economy of Watauga. The incorrect data stems from UP’s lack of qualifications to write the plan.
According to the USDA 2007 Census of Agriculture, Watauga’s 45,782 acres of farmland consists of: “37.16 % woodlands; 29.21% pasture, 25.63% cropland and 7.99% other uses.” This computes to 17,013 acres woodland; 13,373 acres pasture; 11,733 acres cropland and 3,657 acres of other uses.
However UP writes in the plan:
Page 72: “Pasture accounts for an estimated 29% of Watauga County’s land (nearly 60,000 acres)” [UP incorrectly applied the percentages to the 200,600 acres of all of Watauga’s land.]
Page 7: “beef cattle production (14,000 head, 6,000 acres of hay, 52,000 acres in crops-mainly corn)” [UP made the same incorrect computation on pastureland. Then they incorrectly added the USDA’s latest ‘Beef-Cows’ figures to the ‘Cattle-All’ figures (doubling the beef cows). Obviously, they don’t know that cattle include beef cows.]
Page 20: “45,000 (20,240 is crossed out) total acres of farmland in the county, 7,580 (the 37% is crossed out) are tracts of 10 acres or less.” [They changed the first number from 20,240 to 45,000 to match the USDA census. However, they didn’t change the ‘7,580’ figure to match the USDA census. The USDA census shows 558 acres instead of 7,580 acres. So, the reported 37% of farmland in parcels of less than 10 acres is actually 1.22%. This discredits all reasoning for UP’s recommendations that focus on the less than 10 acre farms (which is 62 out of 587 farms according to the USDA).
During the public hearing, we submitted a 25-page comment report to demonstrate that UP was not qualified to write our plan and to show the lack of quality in their draft plan. However, not to our surprise, the commissioners said “they were not concerned with the numbers and were focused on the recommendations.” Duh! The recommendations are based on the incorrect numbers.
Chairman Deal, we don’t have 52,000 acres of cropland like the report states. We have almost 12,000 acres, with half of that in hay and with half of the remaining half in Christmas trees. We rent our cropland in Alexander, Caldwell, Catawba and other surrounding counties. These ASU students graduating in sustainable agriculture who got the “calling” (in the words of the consultant) to farm are going to have to do the same. Or, do you propose we give up hay or Christmas tree acres or both?
And, you think the solution to protecting farmland is adding government-sponsored farmers to compete against the existing struggling farmers!
Deborah Greene
Backward E Farm
Lysenkoism Revisited
Towards the conclusion of the July 20, 2010, public hearing on the Agricultural Development and Farmland Preservation Plan, BOC Chair Jim Deal made some astonishing statements. This entire plan itself and the process reminds me of the history of the infamous Trofim Lysenko era of Soviet Russia from the late 1920s to the early 1960s.
The board chair reiterated the proposed plan’s supposed objective, which is to preserve and help farms, etc. Then the chairman revealed, “Statistics don’t mean a whole lot to me in a plan.”
The chair followed with another remark.
“I’m not as hung up on statistics as you are, Deborah.”
Lysenko was also opposed to the use of statistics, and his objectives went against proven scientific methods and genetics. Lysenko and his like-minded colleagues misused and abused science, at the great expense of Soviet agriculture, to serve the state and its ideology.
Credible statisticians and academicians emphasize that without accurate, applicable statistics, any opinion or conclusion offered is only a mere guess.
The chairman continued,
“We need a plan. And we don’t need to go in all different directions where we trip all over ourselves.”
This plan is truthfully the means to implement another predetermined conclusion for more centralized control at the expense of free enterprise, and the chairman and others involved are making a very serious error regarding integrity in their rush to develop a plan. The plan writers, another variety of agrarian reformers, are revealing that no matter what sloppy, dishonest statistical data is displayed, their objectives are prearranged.
Please be reminded that in the late 1950s and early 1960s, there were a series of meetings held in New York by The Committee for Economic Development to produce a program for agricultural adjustment. The 200 attendees were primarily bankers and economists but only one representative from agriculture. The primary conclusions were that agriculture was to be minimized and the need to emphasize the education of rural youth away from farming.
This plan is an attempt to use taxpayer funds to transform the agricultural field to favor small organic farms at the expense of traditional farms and landowners in general. Plus, it is very doubtful if small farms of 10 acres or less, organic or not, can be financially viable. Organic is fine, but the organic system cannot produce nearly enough to feed thousands or millions as traditional farming methods have.
Madeline K. Carter
Art Show Leaves Great Train Robbery
Dear Editor,
I would like to thank anyone who was able to find the Summer Fine Art and Craft Show held at The Great Train Robbery in Banner Elk this past weekend.
For the past six years I have put on four shows a year in the parking lot, front and side of the building to showcase the wonderful works of artists and crafters from around the country. After the first show, the owners encouraged me to add shows each year, as this brought a lot of business into the building where furniture and all types of items were sold.
The artists who participate in the shows travel anywhere from two hours to 12 hours to set up their booths, stay in our hotels, inns or campgrounds, eat in our local restaurants, buy gas and visit the local sites here in the mountains. They enjoy displaying their handmade works of art almost as much as their customers enjoy purchasing them.
Although The Great Train Robbery houses only a real estate office and a restaurant at this point, I still chose to have one last show at this site. But when we set up Friday morning we were told we could no longer use the front or side parking lots and were told to set up behind the building overlooking the dumpsters. The artists and customers were expecting the warm weather, but certainly not the sights and smells emanating from the dumpsters. Everyone who attended was shocked, and they let me know it.
This is why anyone looking for the white tents and my show could not find them—as we were banished to the back parking lot for the weekend.
Please come out this coming weekend for my new show at Valle Crucis Elementary School this Saturday and Sunday, July 31 and August 1, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Saturday and from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Sunday. There will be more than 60 booths and there will be judging on Saturday for cash awards and ribbons.
Pat Fay, Art Show Organizer
Mountain Top Promotions
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