From the desk of Harvest Foundation President Kate Keller
My mom was a high school American government and history teacher. As you might imagine, my brothers and I were dragged to every Revolutionary and Civil War battlefield, visited every presidential house or library along the route to visit our grandparents, and had to watch every State of the Union address and identify which senior official was selected to be absent.
Understanding what it took for America to exist and sustain was an ongoing lesson in our house. (Any of you with teacher parents knows that teaching never ended …)
We are now in the final week before election day upon which we will select our leaders for City Council, the County Board of Supervisors, the Virginia General Assembly, and our federal leaders in the House, the Senate, and of course, the Presidency. Over the years, we watched the ads and campaigns go from bad to really bad.
We often find ourselves in situations where we feel we are in a fundamentally different space and opinion than many people in our families and in our communities. While national politics is important and we all must vote and do our part, I encourage you to think more locally. Strengthening our local community is a priority for all of us. We all want a Martinsville and Henry County that is thriving and is a welcoming place for us all.
Helping our neighbors when they are sick or in need of help, or celebrating our local youth for winning the high school football game, or putting on a smash-hit play are the attributes of a strong community. Our bonds are not tied to a national campaign but to each other. So while you may vote differently than your neighbor, please remember that they are your neighbor.
All of those lessons taught by my mom remind me that for almost 250 years, our leaders, soldiers, and citizens have fought and voted to allow us the privilege to disagree and still take care of each other.
