Networkus interruptus
I got my tighty-whities in a bunch last week over the emergence of "networking" in Floyd County and by letting my anger get the best of me I broke one of the cardinal rules of life here: Live and let live.
Whatever my feelings towards the practice of networking, I was wrong to castigate those who feel a need to use it to try and survive in these economically-strapped times. The original post and a follow up have been removed, along with the comments.
My apologies to readers of Muse and my thanks to those who took the time to point out that my actions were over the top. I’m a passionate man with strong opinions and sometimes I let both traits overcome judgment.
We now take you take you back to your regularly scheduled Musings…
Amen to that Will. Folks who are friendly and considerate of others generally find similar people everywhere they go and the converse is true as well. (There’s an old parable about that but I’ll leave that for some other time).
I’m in the real estate business and I often find myself at odds with my peers in that I don’t beleive that any and all development is good. I’m appalled when RPAC (the Realtor’s lobbying arm) endorses candidates who have a “laissez faire” attitude toward development (and business). I know there are folks in Floyd that feel they have a right to do whatever they want with their property and we should always be mindful of the rights of property owners but individual property owners don’t live in a “vacuum”. Each and every piece of land is connected to several others and owners need to think in terms of what’s good for the community as well as what’s best for themselves.
Your comment about the cost of land for younger folks hit home with me since the primary motivation for my recent land purchase was to insure that my daughter (who just married a Floyd local) would not spend the rest of her career hoping that her income would catch up with the rapidly rising land prices. We hope to build a couple of “appropriate” energy-efficient homes that will compliment the character of the area maybe even raise a new generation of Floyd “natives”.
Rick
Rick:
I can understand your frustration with RPAC since I was the NAR executive in charge of the PAC from 1987-92 as Vice President for Political Programs in Washington. During most of that time (future NAR president) Layne Morrill was RPAC chairman and we spent many hours debating the issue of handing out contributions to lukearm supporters.
We faced two challenges. First, RPAC could not give out contributions without a recommendation from the state and local Realtor organizations who too often wanted us to often support candidates with weak records on NAR issues and, second, we faced a lobbying staff more interested in buying access than rewarding those who supported the cause.
My time at the Realtors came during a sabattical from journalism to learn more about government and politics. What I learned sent me hightailing back to journalism.
I’ve been a “native” of Floyd for 25 years. I felt welcomed and encouraged by the locals when I came. They seemed to appreciate my interest in local culture, particularly the music, farming and mountain crafts. They helped me enormously and seemed happy to know that some of the newcomiers were interested in carrying on the traditional music and crafts. Some of their children had, by necessity, left to find work outside the county. Many of the “hippies” have long contributed to the tax base. Often, those of us in the arts earned money outside the county which we then brought to Floyd. I do patronise our local businesses. I’ve found friends and co-workers in all segments of Floyd’s population. One of the charms of living here has been the gracious acceptance of people whatever their choices. Up at the dairy barn, Jacksonville Center, is a furniture exhibit that celebrates the talent and diversity of our area. People of all kinds are attracted to Floyd’s beauty and oppertunities. Everything changes, nothing stays the same. The best we can do is to learn to live in harmony. Peace begins at home. Chris
I am not a native of Floyd, although I didn’t grow up far away. I think where folks come from is not very relevant. What matters is their character and the way they treat others. Floyd will continue to grow and change with new residents who aren’t from Floyd. This is reality and longing for the old days isn’t going to change that.
There are concerns I have about Floyd’s growth, but where the new folks are moving from or what they believe aren’t on the list. A concern I have that I don’t hear from others is that young people from Floyd who want to stay in Floyd County are starting to get priced out of the real estate market.
Serena:
I understand your points but I wonder if Floyd is really known as much for its alternative lifestylers as people think. Amy and I lived in the Washington area for 23 years and when I told people that I was from Floyd County the reaction would be "oh, that’s where they have that wonderful bluegrass gathering on Friday nights." The Washington Post has written dozens of stories about the Jamboree and Floyd’s music culture.
Among NASCAR fans, Floyd is known as the home of a legend like Curtis Turner or a up-and-coming crew chief like Darian Grubb. If you do a Google search on "Darian Grubb" and "Floyd" you get 1,070 hits. If you do one on "Floyd" and "bluegrass" you get more than 1 million hits.
If you talk to Floyd’s growing Quaker community you find that they came here because one of their religion’s publications praised the county’s lifestyle and the people here.
My point is that Floyd is known for so much more than just the "hippie" culture. The alternative lifestylers had not yet arrived when I left Floyd in 1965 to pursue a career in journalism. I left for the same reasons most my age did in those days — to make a living in my chosen profession. I came back for the same reason that others do — because after 40 years of life "out there" I appreciated so much more the benefits of life "back here."
The Floyd lifestyle is unlike anything I have found after four decades of traveling the world and meeting many different people from many different cultures. I can discuss bluegrass music with a homegrown musician at the Country Store on a Friday night, argue politics with a local over eggs at the Blue Ridge on Saturday morning and talk about art with an alternative lifestyler at Cafe del Sol in the afternoon and come away from all three encounters feeling like I’ve talked with a friend.
That’s a big part part of what made coming home so special.
Been some interesting conversation here. I am proud to be a native of Floyd County to me that means I was raised here as were my parents, grandparents, great grandparents and so on. It’s great some folks who have lived here for many years consider themselves natives as well. It is a bit disheartening maybe to see so many local businesses owned by ‘newer’ natives you might say. Growing up here I knew that getting a job in Floyd meant working in a factory for probably minimum wage. I also knew that while that was good steady and hard work that most likely I could make more money in another county. Sad but true. Now as I look at the lack of industry in Floyd it makes me realize that unless you have made your ‘fortune’ if you will in another state or county and have the capital to open your own business you will not be able to make any money in Floyd still to this day.
It is also true that when I tell folks I am from Floyd County I get a lot of comments of oh yeah that’s where the ‘hippies’ have taken over. Right, wrong or indifferent that is the impression other counties have of Floyd.
Someone mentioned above how they had a top notch clogger come here to teach a dance class and none of the folks who showed up were natives. My first question would have been why not have a local person teach the class, we have many great dancers right here in our own back yard who would be more than capable of teaching a class. Then again being Floyd, we are so used to having easy access to music and dancing that lots of folks are not willing to pay $15 for a couple of hours of anything. Newcomers to the area maybe but the locals most likely not going to happen.
Anyway, I just kind of wanted to add my two cents worth. I can kind of see this subject from both points of view.
I just get tired of them always pushing their views and beliefs upon us. It is like saying we are too dumb to know what is good for us.It is not hatred Is it too much to ask of a human being to bathe and practice good personal hygene? I have said enough and with this I end comments.
fiat justitia!!!!
Although networking is an essential way of getting things done (“You know someone who knows someone who knows someone…”), it certainly wouldn’t hurt if networking was done with a little more panache. It’s annoying when done clumsily.
I agreed with your original post. Too many moving into Floyd and wanting to change it. If it was so nice and made them want to move here then why change it to their way of life. Leave us Natives and Floyd alone
I have to admit Doug you’re a class act– talented AND gracious. I didn’t think that first post really sounded like the nice guy I had met when I first began spending a lot of time getting to know folks around Floyd. Of course we all have the right to vent every so often (that’s one of situations where friends are very helpful, if you don’t wear it out). I have exercised my wonderful right as a citizen of this country (and “native” of Virginia) to live pretty much anywhere I wish, I’ve had the good fortune to find warm and welcoming (not to mention helpful) people everywhere I go.
I know too that there are always a few cantankerous stinkers here and there but I’ve found that a smile and lots of kindness will wear most of them down after a while. Inside every one of them is a nice human being that has had a little pain and just needs someone that understands and doesn’t judge them.
It’s also my belief that we’re all one family and that if we work together, we can create our own “paradise” wherever we happen take root. If we start trying to divide everyone up into “us” and “them”, you not only bring unhappiness to everyone concerned, you also have to ask yourself who YOU really are. Are you really a “native” or are you just a descendant of someone that killed, infected or drove out the natives that called the place home before you? It’s this type of thinking (seemingly genetic but learned from elders) that continues to divide our planet into artificial fifedoms with battlegrounds in-between. If we accept the fact that we’re all one family (a fact now proven by science through mitochondrial DNA), it casts everything in a different light. It doesn’t solve all the problems of the world of course but it gives us a place to begin.
Which brings me back to what we’re talking about (I bet you thought I’d never make it). If we can’t bring peace to Floyd County (or Montgomery or Giles or New Orleans or Washington D.C.), what makes us think we’re so special to begin with? All I’m asking is for people to get to know one another before they start judging and slamming the door in someone’s face. I realize that my family isn’t perfect but they’re always welcome at my house.
Peace,
Rick
A good rant is always over the top. I enjoy a good rant. Without the extremes of a good rant we would never see the ultimate evil that can come from carrying something too far. A rant reveals those possibilities.
If you live passionately you piss a few people off. You also love a lot of people and they you. It all balances out. At the end of the day I’d rather have an aquaintence like you than ten polite dullards.
Floyd County had peace before all the “new age” or “hippies” came here. We were proud of Floyd and what it stood for. Now I along with many more are ashamed what it and the town is turning into. On a typical saturday in town, how many original, hometown Floyd Countians do you see? Very few. There is nothing in town for them. All it is is a bunch who want to turn floyd into something they want and it so far left it is pathetic. Floyd County cannot survuve with “crafts” etc. I am sure very few if any clain an income on their business, which in turn generates no tax base. It is alarming to see how many receive public assistance and are too sorry to work. Most live off the income their parents send them monthly from up north to keep them down here because they are ashamed of them. This is not speculation on my part, it is known fact as some have told me this is the case. Every where I go and people know I am from Floyd they ask, “How is hippieville”? It is embarrasing. It is time the common original Floyd Countians take back what is our county and regain it to a status we are proud of.
In response Native… Doug, forgive me for using your blog to respond to a commenter. I cannot resist and I hope it’s allright. Native….Your comment really hurts. I am now gratefully celebrating my 30th anniversary this month, of my move to Floyd County. It was much different back then, quieter, simpler. I fell in love with Floyd with all of my heart and soul. I came here because I wanted to learn from the locals and live like them. And many Floydians helped me and my friends and taught us how to garden, can food, cut up a cow, etc. In exchange we helped them put up hay, fix fences….Many locals have been very kind to us and still are. Over the 30 years I have made many friendships with the local communtiy and still cherish them.
As far as economics, I almost solely shop locally and patronize many local businesses as well as “new” businesses. I try to go to Slaughters instead of Food Lion, Rite’s Print Shoppe instead of Office Max, Farmers Supply instead of Lowes, DJ’s Drive-In instead of Hardees. I have paid taxes here for 30 years. There is much more opportunity for work here than there used to be and I personally know several “new” businesses who employ local people.
There are good and bad in all types of folk. Please open your heart and mind and maybe come out on a Saturday night and meet some new people, hear a different kind of music…try something new. I brought one of the best cloggers in the USA, Cherie Sheperd, to Floyd a couple of years ago for a class. The class was only $15 for the day and I did everything I could to let the locals know about it. Of the 14 people who came, none were local Floyd folks. It nearly made me cry. I wanted desperately to share something so special with the community.
Anyway, I could go on forever on this topic. I don’t know you but I think if you sat down and talked to me for a few minutes, you might actually like me. Please know that we never wanted to change Floyd. In fact, we ourselves are upset at the newer and newest people and houses and changes that are happening here. It is your own sons and daughters who are buying the big farm places and cutting them up into plots, selling them for a huge profit and allowing huge modular homes to be built there. This, too, breaks my heart.
When I moved here I adored that everyone waved to me in my car when we passed. I still do it….but only some wave back. Thanks for listening.(if you do indeed come back to read comments on this particular page) and I hope you can understand how thankful I am to have found my home of 30 years with all of it’s gifts and beauty. I cherish you and it everyday and thank god for guiding me here.
Native:
There are some who want to turn Floyd into their personal idea of utopia, I have to disagree with your emphasis on "hippies" and I certainly hope, and believe, that your bias is not typical of Floyd natives. It certainly does not represent how I feel. Many of the alternative lifestylers who came to the area in the 1970s are the ones who own businesses and contribute very much to the tax base and the unique nature of the town right now: Anga at the Winter Sun, Frank & Sally Walker of Cafe del Sol and Bill and Joanne Bell of Bell Gallery & Garden. All are thriving, ongoing businesses and they pay a lot more in taxes to Floyd than I do (and I pay a lot in taxes to Floyd and Carroll counties).
Likewise, the Country Store lives on because Woody Crenshaw, a newcomer, stepped in and bought it and many in the crowd who pack the store on Friday nights are natives and/or long-time residents: Alzora Wood, who manages the store, is a native. So are Melvin and Ruth Wood, who helped start Slate Mountain Presbyterian Church (one of Bob Childress’s stone churches) with my grandparents. The beauty of the Friday Night Jamboree is that it cuts across cultural lines and draws from many apsects of our community. We have a number of good friends we see there on Friday nights. Some are natives, some are long-time residents, some are newcomers and some are thinking of moving here. That’s the beauty of the Jamboree.
Oddfellas Cantina is owned by Rob Neukirch (a transplanted actor from New York) and his wife Michelle (from California). Reed Embry, owner of the Pine Tavern, commutes from Roanoke to Floyd. Both are established businesses that contribute much to the area. Both are solid, respected business owners.
These businesses fit well with older established enterprises like Farmers Supply, Blue Ridge Restaurant, C. W. Harman’s and Ingram’s.
I wrote a story for The Floyd Press two years ago on public assistance and found that the majority of those who draw the support are Floyd born and bred and come from old time families. It is a myth that the newcomers or the alternative lifestylers drain the welfare rolls just as it is a myth that more crimes are committed by newcomers like the Mexican community who, in fact, have a loser per capita crime rate or don’t apply for public assistance. I cover the courts for The Press and most of the crimes who come through are old time Floyd County names from families that I knew when I grew up with here in the 50s and 60s.
A major part of Floyd’s charm is its diversity. The problem we face now comes from those who see Floyd more as a chance to score quickly and make money and less for its beauty and unique nature. But they are a very, very small minority and many of those who come to Floyd County are contributors to , not destroyers of, the things that make this county such a great place to live.
Shortly after I moved back to Floyd County in 2004, I was eating breakfast at the Blue Ridge when a Floyd native came up and asked me: "You that photographer up at the Diary Barn?"
"Yes," I replied. "I am."
"Where you from?"
"Willis."
"I didn’t mean where are you living now. Where you from originally?"
"Willis."
"No shit?"
"Nope. Graduated from Floyd County High School in ’65."
"Then what are you doing up at the Diary Barn with all them hippies?"
"Making friends. Maybe you ought to try it sometime."
You very well may not fit in the “category” of people I speak of. I don’t like seeing farms cut up, but I dislike it even more when I see “shacks” put up in a commune or community that look awful and the yard and everything else grows up and is very unsightly. They are the ones who if you get close to the body odor knocks you down, the hair is filthy and in knots.
You sound productive and I like what you had to say, you are an exception, because most that move here don’t know how to be a neighbor, they seem to only complain about the local folks farms, ie… the cow manure they spread stinks or they don’t like animals making noise. From some I have smelt give me the dairy barn and manure smell anyday.
I take exception to how that “group” seems to fight anything coming into floyd unless it is a business that one of their “kind” are starting. As bad a shape as floyd is in financially the county can’t turn away every business. If it is very toxic yes do, but we need industry here.
Ok enough ranting but maybe we can meet someday, from what you had to say I believe it would be a very intellectual and informative talk from both sides.
Good day rio.
I agree 100% with you.What tax base does the Jamboree bring in? How many full time jobs? I only hear “your where the hippies are”
It is a sad day seeing what Floyd has now became. Oh on’t forget the Music Fest, pictures are everywhere of the people that go to it. How many local, old time Floyd Countians do you see going there? I am so ashamed to have that portrayal of Floyd in the news. It is another woodtock minus some of the violence, but the same mindset of people and lifestyle.
Like any community, Floyd is not perfect but if it is as you describe I doubt that it would be so attractive to the many newcomers who move here year after year. Yet they keep coming and the ones who are coming are not the "hippies" that you seem to fear so much.
The top five private employers in Floyd County are Citizens Telephone, Crenshaw Lighting, Chateau Morrissette winery, Hollingsworth & Vose and Dreaming Creek Timber Frame Company. Four of the top five were started by people who moved here from somewhere else and they contribute over 50 percent of the business tax base to the county. The Jamboree contributes substantially to the tax base not only because of the business at the Country Store but also because of those who come to Floyd to attend the Jamboree, stay at the beds and breakfasts and eat at the local restaurants. With the improvements to the Country Store, the real estate taxes will no doubt increase dramatically.
According to the statistical abstract provided by the Census Bureau, non-natives comprised 52 percent of the county’s population in 2000 and the bureau estimates that the percentage was 56 percent in 2006. The average new home built in Floyd County in 2006 cost more than $200,000. That doesn’t sound like they were shacks on communes or trailers with tires on the roof.
I’m sorry if your bitterness clouds your vision and fuels your hatred towards those whose lifestyles may be different from yours or mine.
Like Serena, my family’s roots go back many generations in this county. My grandfather sold cars for Thomas Ford and my grandmother worked at the shirt factory on Locust Street. My stepfather’s family helped start the sawmill business in this county.
However, I cannot, and will not, share or endorse your hatred towards those who have chosen to make Floyd their home in more recent times nor can I look down upon those who have chosen a different lifestyle. I have differences with some but those disputes are philosophical and not driven by hate or prejudice.
I’m also curious as to why you choose to hide your identity behind an anonymous screen handle? You talk about being ashamed of the reputation of Floyd County but why aren’t you willing to stand up for it and defend it with your own name? Serena was. Why can’t you? It’s easy to toss insults at people from the shadows.
I’m a Floyd Countian and proud of it. But that pride is tested when I encounter attitudes such as yours. Such intolerance is not part of the way I was raised as a Christian nor is it part of the values my family instilled in me as a Floyd Countian. If Floyd County has any reason to feel ashamed it is because such intolerance still exists in our midst.
That was eloquently stated, Doug. It’s very fortunate for myself as a “newcomer”, for many others like me, and for all the wonderful folks that arrive in Floyd with every imaginable skill, talent, idea, skin color, hair style, religion or whatever that a huge majority of the people of Floyd share a “live and let live” philosophy and gracious and welcoming demeanor that seems to make everyone feel “at home” when they set foot on Floyd County soil. The way my parents raised me, you don’t have to agree with someone’s opinion, wear the same clothes, like their hairstyle or even care for the way they smell to give them the respect and kindness they deserve just for being another human being.
You raised a valid point about the county demographics and the ownership of businesses and other endeavors that make Floyd County economically viable in a world that is ceaselessly changing (like or not, change has always been a part of human existence from the very beginning). Have you ever wondered (Native may want to think about this one) what Floyd would be like today without the so-called “newcomers” that seem to be driving the area’s economy? I’m thinking there might be a lot more folks living in sub-standard housing (shacks as some call them) and not by choice either!
From what I gather in talking to friends that are descended from “real” natives (Native Americans), their beef with the “newcomers” (all the rest of us) is about showing respect for their people, culture, religion and the land that was once their exclusive home (they never claimed to “own” it) and is not born of a desire to return to life in the stone age. Nor do I have any desire to (like my grandfather) work myself into an early grave raising hogs, tobacco, corn and cotton (well, it could have been the tobacco, fatback or corn whiskey that killed him).
Change is something that happens no matter what we do. If you don’t believe that, try staying the same age for four or five years and see how well that works! The only influence we can hope to exercise over change in our world is to aim for “quality control”. This seems to be the hallmark of a lot of the goings-on in Floyd today. You can make the extra effort to guide changes that make Floyd a better place while maintaining its undeniably unique character or you can make a fast profit by throwing up a few more franchises in Dryvit boxes. Those with the economic means can make those decisions unfettered by local ordinance or the citizens can get involved, form groups, write grants and vote for officials that share a vision of a Floyd in which everyone, both Native and the “hippies” (even some of us over-the-hill hippies that long ago traded our long hair for a paycheck) can take pride. By the way, I should say in the interest of honesty and full disclosure that the hair fell out.
As for “Floydfest”, if Native would bother to check it out, he or she may find out that it’s a WORLD music festival that features every kind of music you might want to hear, including some of the finest country, bluegrass and old-time you’ll ever experience. While there last year, I ran into farmers, factory workers, teachers, college professors, mechanics, doctors and lawyers. I think perhaps Native’s “hippyphobia” has gotten the better of him or her and that he or she needs to get out a little more often.
So I too say live and let live! Personally, I can tolerate and even enjoy a wide range of ideas, hair-dos and lifestyles. What I choose not to accept from anyone is hatred and prejudice. There’s just no room in my heart for it.
Peace,
Rick (my real name)