Letters 11/03/10

Bedford
institution enriched the lives of many

    As a small business owner in Bedford County we can sympathize with what’s going on with other small businesses because of the economy.
    We would like to thank Barry and Carl at Coffey & Saunders for all the personal touches they gave their patrons over the years such as making you feel welcome and showing their appreciation in so many ways. They were always glad to load your purchases. This was especially nice for us after Clarence had a stroke. Many of their patrons were older and this meant a lot to them. Where else could you go in Bedford and get this special service? They were always glad to order items they didn’t stock.
    It seemed that when our kids were growing up they used our house as a back stop when they played ball. I don’t know how many times that Coffey & Saunders cut and replaced the glass and screens for our storm door, while we waited.
    It’s people like those boys and Margaret Saunders that make Bedford such a great place to live. We wish them the very best and sadly stand by and watch as another small business falls to the big box stores, shame on us!
    Thanks again Coffey & Saunders for all the extra personal services you gave my family and many more families in Bedford City and County. You will be missed.

Clarence and Barbara Catron
Catrons Tire Service
Bedford

Thank you, Coffey & Saunders

    I was looking out the window in the car a few days ago, and I thought to myself “wow, Bedford really is a great place to live. We have culture all around us: the D-Day Memorial, a bunch of little unique shops that you can’t find anywhere else, a train station-turned-restaurant, and we even have our own farm store!” I was thinking about how cool it was that we have Coffey & Saunders. They offer a ton of unique items for all of your farm-home-garden needs, they always offer friendly service, and they’re 100 percent local. So why are they going under?
    I’ve lived in Bedford my whole life, and my family has shopped at this farm store many times. They always have what we’re looking for, so why go anywhere else? We’ve enjoyed the luxury of not having to drive (somewhere else), because Coffey & Saunders is just up the street, and we’ve gotten friendlier service. I know that a lot of people will be really upset with and affected by the closing of a great local shop. Will the World’s Best Little Town really be the best without its top-notch farm-home-garden store?
    That brings up another point: the importance of supporting locally-owned businesses.
    When my family and I saw in the paper that Coffey & Saunders was going out of business, we were all shocked: could they be closing their doors? But hen a thought came to me: was it really that much of a shock, or had I seen this coming? The day when I was thinking about how great it was that we have our own farm store, I also thought: “I wonder why I see hardly any cars in their parking lot anymore?”
    Then I thought about how awful it would be if Coffey & Saunders closed. They’ve been around since 1947, as an important part of Bedford. I’m sure a lot of people simply thought it was “easier” to shop for their farm, home, and garden needs at the big ... superstore or (other big box store) where they know exactly what’s in stock and what they can find there. These are great businesses, but are not a local shop. You can find these stores almost anywhere you go: what you cannot find is a locally owned-and-operated business with friendly service, familiar faces, and a dedication to finding whatever it is that you’re looking for, every single time.
    That’s what it’s all about. As Winston Churchill put it, “Continuous effort- not strength or intelligence- is the key to unlocking our potential.” When you rely completely on these superstores, you take away the culture and flavor of the small town. I always thought Bedford was a unique, friendly little town, full of character and the zest of local business. I’d personally like it to stay that way. That, in my opinion, is what makes a great small town truly great.
    Bedford will not be the same without Coffee & Sanders. The loss of this business, that has been serving the Bedford community for more than 60 years, will be a sad event in the history of the World’s Best Little Town. How many local establishments will have to go under before we realize that they, not mega-institutions, make this wonderful town? Support your local shops, people of Bedford, be proud that you live in such a cultural town, and feel blessed that you’re privileged with friendly service and great people to help you find what you need! Thank you, Coffey & Saunders, for your dedicated service.

C. Flagg
Bedford

Wow!

    Gosh. Golly.  I’ve made the big time!  Today I received an anonymous letter which stated, “Your recent letter to in (sic) a local newspaper just confirmed to your fellow neighbors here in Mountain View Shores how damn stupid you really are.”  Wow!  The anonymous letter went on to list all the reasons  why anyone who votes Democratic  is a real idiot.  The letter was posted from Roanoke, not Huddleston.
    It is interesting to me that a person who has such strong opinions is unwilling to sign his/her name to such a letter.  I may be an idiot, but at least I sign my name to any letters I mail.  I must admit, it takes a bit of courage.   I’ve only sent two letters to the editor in my life, both in the past six months, and both letters disparaged the vicious, hateful attacks on a political candidate through the placement of scurrilous ads and bigoted signs.  Where did Southern hospitality and good manners go? Or was that a myth?

Sue Bender
Huddleston

America’s
survival?
 
    From coast-to-coast and from border-to-border, there is a growing awareness that all-too-many of the decisions made at the highest levels in Washington over the last 60 plus years did not have the best interests of our  nation in mind.  As a result a growing number of voters are bent on “throwing the rascals out” and replacing them with men and women who will not just pay lip service to the Constitution (the Supreme Law of the land), but will actually live up to their sworn oaths to ‘protect and defend’ the nation’s founding document.
    Will this movement continue to grow?  Will the 2010 elections and those in 2012, result in massive changes in how the affairs of our once great nation is administered?  The date, as I write this letter, is October 25, 2010.  I believe that one week, and a day from now, on November 2, our nation will receive a powerful warning about its present condition, and be given the opportunity to change its ways by returning to political, economic and spiritual sanity.  But, will it -- like so many other “great” nations of the past -- be swept into oblivion?
    Give some serious thought about this.  Having been indoctrinated since the 1950s with the diabolical concept that there are no absolutes, and never having been trained to think, analyze and to deeply consider the consequences of our actions, most of us have become little more than mindless automatons -- puppets on a string, or “human resources” to be used as desired by our hidden manipulators, persons in powerful positions (those so-called “experts”).
    It is vital that we each understand the fact that the creation of confusion is one of the key elements of brain washing and mind control.  For example, in the event of deliberately-created crises they make the dumbed-down masses willing - even excitedly eager - to accept a multitude of balls & chains (such as “Homeland Security” and “The Patriot Act”, etc.) sold to them by the “experts” as needed for our “national security.” Of course you know that old adage:  “We’re from the government, and we are here to help you!”
    It has been proven repeatedly over the years that when treacherous politicians,  posing as our national leaders, wrap up the chains of tyranny in the American flag—and have a Marine corps band play America the Beautiful and God Bless America—millions of gullible sheep will flock eagerly to have unconstitutional and freedom-destroying shackles affixed to their ankles and wrists on their way to the Global Plantation or New World Order concentration camp that is looming ever more ominously above the horizon.  Think!  Have you unwittingly “bought” any of these phony products that promised you a Utopian society but delivered the exact opposite?  Most people have! ...
    It is time that we truthfully recognize that our founding fathers established a Republic.  When we pledge allegiance to the flag we pledge allegiance also to the Republic for which it stands.  We are not a Democracy as is erroneously touted throughout our country today!  In the Constitution the founders stated that all men are endowed, by their Creator, with unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
    Our nation was founded on the principles of Christianity and we need to bring God and Godliness back into it!  Since its beginning, God and the Holy Bible has been mentioned and used on a daily basis.  A prayer has always been the start of congressional sessions.  Oaths of office and the taking of the stand in our courts are taken with the left hand on the Bible and the right hand raised.  “In God we Trust” is on our money.  One nation, “Under God” was added to our pledge of Allegiance to our flag, etc.
    Sad to say, “There are many individuals in powerful leadership positions who want that one world government and the elimination of our national sovereignty. 
    I say: “May God Bless America!” and, I mean it sincerely because America sorely needs God’s Blessings.
 
George Kelly  
Bedford