Published: May 17, 2008 11:03 pm         

Editorial: Resilience-- Those who stayed are shiny examples

Editorial: Resilience-- Those who stayed are shiny examples



Opinion: The Register-Herald, Beckley, W.Va.





The floods of 2001 ripped through southern West Virginia and left a swath of destruction that, unfortunately in many instances, changed many small communities for the worse.

Plenty packed their bags and left for other parts of the region or other states. Who can blame them?

Others, however, made the decision to stay and undertake the monumental task of rebuilding their lives, their homes, their businesses and their communities.

Last week, the Mullens Area Chamber of Commerce held its yearly banquet and it served as a shining example, and as a marked reminder, of those with a will to survive and persevere in southern West Virginia.

A couple hundred people turned out at the Wyoming East High School gymnasium, and while the featured speaker was WVU head basketball coach Bob Huggins, the highlight of the evening was the honoring of the chamber’s woman and man of the year and business of the year. It was the recognition of student achievements both in and out of the classroom.

You see, the recipients of these annual awards are important, their names are etched in plaques and books, but it’s the act that strikes us most.

These are the people who refused to let go.

Talk to the community leaders who stayed put; they’ve told us how easy it would have been to put what belongings they had left on a truck and gotten out of Dodge after the raging floodwaters ravaged them almost seven years ago.

Yet several stayed, in places like Mullens and Pineville, just to mention a few. They committed themselves to putting the pieces back in place.

Sure, the scars are still there. What happened in July 2001 will be talked about and remembered for decades to come.

And the process of rebuilding continues.

But the people of these small towns in Wyoming County display a spirit we should pay special attention to and admire. A spirit, a desire — resilience we should all emulate.