Sunday, December 28, 2008 — As the topsy-turvy year of 2008 winds down, today we begin our year’s end review, beginning with the second five of our top 10 stories of the year. We will count down our top five stories in our next two editions.
Included today, we honor the memory of six men whose contributions to Stanly County were significant and helped form who we as a people are.
Two of those men, George Weaver and Johnny Andrew, wore the mantle of news editor and editor of The Stanly News & Press with great distinction, and died exactly six weeks apart in 2008 as spring moved into summer.
In their writings, we can find words of wisdom when looking back on the incredible year past and ahead to our anxiety for the new year.
After 31 years and more than 1,550 “Cracker Barrel” columns, Andrew wrote his final column on June 28, 1988, concluding with a reflection of career and finality of this chapter in his life. When thinking on his words, consider your own situation and specifically the ending of 2008.
“Through the years, I hope I’ve made some readers happy and have given them some enjoyment reading these columns. As far as I know, I don’t think I’ve ever made anyone real mad at me. Well, maybe one. But we’ve patched up our differences since then and I’ve been very careful in not mentioning or writing anything derogatory about his alma mater.
“As the old saying goes, all good things must come to an end. These columns have been good to me and now they, too, must come to an end.
“What punctuation mark should I use to wrap it all up?
“A question mark? Nope. An exclamation point? Definitely not. The most commonly used — the period.” Yes.
“Here ‘tis: Farewell.”
In his signature column — “A Friendly Chat” — of Jan. 2, 1962, Weaver spoke to the sadness and excitement associated with the passing of the old and the beginning of the new, much as it is for us entering the scary times ahead for 2009.
“You realize suddenly that you missed doing some of the things you intended, that you failed to accomplish all that you planned, and that the time has slipped by ... gone forever.
“But with that same realization comes the knowledge that a new year is in the offing, that its pages of time are unspotted, and that it offers opportunities never afforded by any year.
“And we have the responsibility of making of the new year the best possible use. It is our God-given time and should be used by man accordingly.”
