Mercer County Republicans will soon be choosing a new party leader. The Mercer County Republican Executive Committee will hold elections for chairman on Dec. 10 at the Republican Headquarters on Mercer Street in Princeton. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. Anyone registered as a Republican in Mercer County is eligible to seek the office if they so desire. The chairman is elected by the popular vote of the current executive committee and does not have to be a member of the committee to be elected. Members of the state and county executive committees are elected on the May primary election ballot and those wishing to serve in either party, Democrat or Republican, must file as a candidate in January before the May primary. Republican Chairman Marty Gearheart said he has “tendered my resignation effective 12/31/09 in order to put the appropriate effort and focus on the 2010 3rd District Congressional race.” Dr. Doug McKinney is the Republican Party Chairman in West Virginia. McKinney was born in Bud, Wyoming County, and earned his undergraduate and medical degrees at West Virginia University.
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The tourist train did bring back many memories of the glory days here in Bluefield when this city was the center of commerce for the region. A good friend remarked that when he left a big city in eastern Virginia to come to Bluefield his friends in that town asked him why he was going to Bluefield of all places. When he arrived in Bluefield, the first conversations he had with some new acquaintances he had made were “Why on earth did you come to Bluefield?” He said he began to wonder why he had decided to come to Bluefield after being asked the question several times. He did find an answer: “The people are nice, the climate is nice, I like the small town atmosphere and, compared to many places, Bluefield is a much better place to raise my children.” Although Bluefield remains somewhat larger in population and area in comparison to other towns in the area, the city’s heyday is long gone. The train doesn’t stop here anymore. One observation is that many of the town’s residents seem to focus on how things once were. We all miss the thriving downtown. I sure would like to go to Montgomery Ward or Kresge’s again, but that will never happen. The downtown evaporated when the Mercer Mall was constructed as did the downtown area in many cities soon after malls were constructed. That focus on the past may be what is hindering us in focusing on the future. We do have institutions that are forward thinking. We have a fine college, Bluefield State here in town, but we don’t necessarily think of ourselves as a college town and neither does Bluefield, Va., for that matter, even though Bluefield College, located on the Virginia side a stones throw from the state line, is another excellent institution of higher learning. Perhaps if we could somehow get past dwelling on the fact that our city is not what it once was and expend our energy and enthusiasm looking toward the future, we might find a way to bring innovation, prosperity, commerce, people and employment back to the city and to the area. “None of us is smarter than all of us.”
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It is interesting to note that of the performers supporting “Music Saves Mountains, sponsored by the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Gibson Foundation, only Kathy Mattea is a West Virginian. EmmyLou Harris said protection is needed for the Appalachian Mountains, where country music was born and is celebrated in song. I haven’t seen any mining in Bristol, Va., Bristol, Tenn., or in Nashville. I must not have looked in the right place. Emmylou Harris was born in Birmingham, Alab., and raised in North Carolina and Woodbridge, Va. Randy Travis was raised in North Carolina. Big Kenny Alpin was born in Culpeper, Va. J.D Souther was raised in Amarillo, Texas. Kid Rock grew up in Romeo, Mich. Sheryl Crowe, who is quoted in the Music Saves Mountains website, was born in Kennett, Mo. and probably ought to stay on Ventura Boulevard. Again we have outsiders, none with coal mining in their background, coming in to “save” West Virginia and Southwest Virginia. What do these performers propose to replace the jobs that will be lost and the coal that will be uneconomical to recover? I’ll answer that — they have no plan, but I’d bet these performers would still like for us to buy a ticket or a CD.
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There you have it, a few comments on items of interest to the area. I hope that the rain has cleared and that you have another blue sky today. And one more thing … many folks in the area will miss Keith Honaker, Bramwell’s former police chief.
Wilson Butt, a resident of Bluefield, is a retired Department of Highways official.
Columns
November 13, 2009
A focus on the past may be hurting Bluefield’s future
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