Last week was a very busy one for me. It was filled with meetings and doctors’ appointments. I could have used a longer weekend to recover.
The highlight was the planning summit that Gabby Gregory organized on behalf of the Braxton County Development Authority of which I am a member. Obviously, I felt obligated to attend and I’m glad I did.
The two-day event held at the Days Hotel & Conference Center in Flatwoods was very well attended and full of information and great ideas.
I can’t say enough good things about Gabby and Kevin for their hard work and expertise in teaching an old dog new tricks. Kevin brought a wealth of experience in the area from his long and distinguished career in the military to the table. That coupled with Gabby’s unique abilities and organizational skills made the summit a huge success in my eyes.
I was pleasantly surprised that the room, representing a very wide range of ages and professions, had much the same vision when it came to the strengths and weaknesses of our county.
Gabby decided to get the youth of our community involved and she couldn’t have picked a better group than the FBLA delegation from the High School.
When we broke up into our groups for the afternoon session, I was amazed at their poise, knowledge and interaction with adults in the room. One wouldn’t recognize their youth by the way they contributed to the tasks at hand.
The same applies the following afternoon when we combined our efforts and consolidated our ideas.
Braxton County High School and these twelve students’ parents should be very proud of them for the way they handled themselves in an environment that many would feel is beyond their intellectual and intelligence level. In addition, they were polite, mannerly and well behaved even when we were not involved in official activities.
While the work of the summit in plotting a future for Braxton County is very important, I found a new hidden asset for our community… our youth. Meeting these young people has renewed my hopes and aspirations for the next generation. After seeing them in action last week, I believe that, in spite of what I consider a very dismal picture currently, our future is in good hands with these leaders of tomorrow!