A Perfect Week

          The Biggs Cadillac-Buick-GMC Classic played at Albemarle Plantation’s Sound Golf Links last week delivered beyond everyone’s expectations.  The weather was perfect every day, the course was in splendid condition, and the golf was exciting, right down to the finish.

          Frank Adams III of Laurinberg, NC, who entered the final round three strokes ahead of the field gave up his lead on the 12^th hole, but regained it with an impossible birdie on the 17^th hole and sealed the victory with another birdie on the last.  For his victory, Adams pocketed $30,000 of the $200,000 purse, eGolf Tour’s largest.
          While the golf was superb, it wasn’t the biggest story of the week.  That has to be the reception 122 golfers from 30 states and four foreign countries received from Plantation residents.  Every single one of the golfers, plus their family members, friends, and caddies who came along were housed in Plantation and local homes.  That made the event a great big family affair that guaranteed a gallery of spectators that continued to build throughout the week and numbered several hundred spectators at the end.  Happily, Plantation residents were joined by many people from Hertford and surroundings.
          Maybe the real story is that this golf tournament, with its tremendous sponsor support from so many businesses in the area, has put Hertford, Perquimans County, and this corner of Northeast North Carolina on the sports map.  That eGolf Tour chose to stage such a prestigious event here is a feather in our cap.  That it was such a huge success shines another bright light on what this area of great natural beauty has to offer.

Delusion

          President Obama has proven again and again to be way out of his league as the leader of this country, never mind the leader of the free world.  He not only lacks the competence to lead, his mendacity and narcissistic arrogance tell us he cannot be trusted to level with the American people or to keep his promises to our allies.  Worse, he now gives signs of being so detached from reality, we have reason to doubt his sanity.

          His commencement speech at the Coast Guard Academy was positively baffling.  There he was addressing graduates who are about to launch their careers as military officers, and he identifies climate change as a serious threat to global security and an immediate risk to our national security.  “Make no mistake,” he says, “it will impact how our military defends our country.”
          Excuse me?  The Middle East is falling apart, Iran is about to go nuclear, Russia is gobbling up its neighbors, and North Korea threatens to lob nuclear-tipped intercontinental missiles our way, but the President of the United States says we need to act now to combat the crop failures, drought, and high food prices that fuel unrest and civil war in the Middle East!  And just how does he expect the Coast Guard to defend the world from that?
          Meanwhile, we have Josh Earnest speaking for the President and telling us that over all we are winning the fight against ISIS.  This is absolutely delusional.  What will he say when ISIS overruns Baghdad?  That it’s just another temporary setback?  That things will settle down when Iran gets the bomb?
          In my opinion the greatest threat to our national security is the clueless dunce occupying the Oval Office.

 

 

Biggs Redux

          Next week around 150 professional golfers are expected to arrive in Hertford to compete in the second annual Biggs-Cadillac-Buick-GMC Classic at Albemarle Plantation’s Sound Golf Links.  This is a story to be proud of.

          Last year’s tournament, the first of its kind in Perquimans County, was a venture into the unknown, but its success made such an impression on eGolf Tour, that it booked the Sound Golf Links for a tournament—sight unseen.  Not just any tournament, but one of only four with a guaranteed purse of $200,000.  Why?
          The answer lies in one word: Community.  The word got around after the inaugural Biggs-Cadillac-Buick GMC Classic that the Albemarle Plantation in Hertford is a special place to host a professional golf tournament.  The event was received with enthusiasm not only by the residents, but most importantly by the surrounding community whose enthusiasatic sponsorships made the event a financial success.  Word spread that there were cheering spectators at every hole and that players were not only hosted by Plantation families, but were taken fishing and boating as well.  More than a hundred volunteers served as starters and spotters on the course and greeters at the many sponsor receptions.  Even the media recognized the importance of this event for Northeast North Carolina by covering it on television and in local newspapers.
          The four-day tournament beginning on Thursday promises to be an even greater success that last year’s.  The weather is finally cooperating, the course is in great shape, and the community is welcoming the contestants with open arms. 
          ”Come on down,” as Bob Barker would say.  This is a special time not only for Plantation residents, but for the entire community of Hertford and Perquimans County.

Where Are the Parents?

          This month we commemorate the end of World War II in Europe.  While we are reminded of the worst atrocities committed by police states in Germany, Russia, and elsewhere, cops across this nation are being accused of abusing their power and causing social unrest.  Are the sign-carrying protesters who link Nazis and our police officers being fair?  I think not.

          When I was a little kid, we played stickball in our yard using rubber balls called Spaldeens.  Sometimes a batter would clobber the ball clear over the street onto the neighbor’s yard.  The neighbor didn’t like that, so every time he saw a ball bounce into his yard, he went out and grabbed it before we could get to it.  Many a game ended that way. 
          Our supply of Spaldeens exhausted, my brother and I decided to retaliate by vandalizing the neighbor’s black DeSoto.  But the neighbor caught us before we did any damage and called the police.  That evening the town sheriff came to our house and spoke to my father.  The next thing I knew, my brother and I learned a painful lesson in Crime and Punishment 101 taught not by the sheriff but my father.
          I never forgot that lesson.  In fact, I thought of it when I saw Tonya Graham smack her son and drag him away from the Baltimore riot.  It should be clear to everyone that juvenile criminal justice is best administered by a parent.  When there are no responsible parents around to teach their kids the difference between right and wrong, we get Ferguson and we get Baltimore.  We get dead kids and we get dead cops.
          We don’t need to focus on police abuse as the cause of arson and looting.  We need to focus on a worse kind of abuse:  parental neglect. 

Local Theater

          This past Sunday I attended the third and final performance of “Over the River and Through the Woods” at the Carolina Moon Theater.  It was a blast.  The intimate setting was perfect for interaction between the cast and the audience.  And there was plenty of that, with laughs aplenty at the well-timed humor. 

          Most of the audience consisted of people who could relate to the characters and to the story of Italian-American grandparents in New York trying to hold on to their grandson who announced that he was about to leave them for a job in Seattle.  The story spoke of family ties based on love and traditional values.  To me, the story spoke especially about living and dying, and letting go.  Most importantly, it was about what we pass on to our children and grandchildren, our legacy, our everlasting imprint.
          With atrocities abroad and lawlessness in our cities grabbing daily headlines, it is good for us in our little town of Hertford to have a small theater group dedicated not only to entertaining us, but also to reminding us of what’s good about this world.  Bravo to all of them.

Hillary's Chutzpah

          We are all familiar with the Yiddish word “chutzpah.”  Its synonyms are nerve, cheek, insolence, and audacity.  A man murders his mother and father and then asks the judge for leniency because he’s an orphan—that’s chutzpah. 

          Better yet, chutzpah is Hillary Clinton claiming she and Bill were dead broke at the end of his presidency after they walked away with $190,000 worth of White House china, silverware, rugs, TVs, furniture and gifts. 
          Chutzpah is Hillary promising to get big money out of politics after funneling millions from foreign governments into the Clinton Foundation while she was Secretary of State—and she continues to do so. 
          Chutzpah is Hillary deriding CEOs for their high salaries when she gets $200,000 and more for a one-hour speech, money on which she pays zero income taxes.  And none of which, I might add, went into the tip jar at an Ohio Chipotle restaurant where she had lunch a few weeks ago.  So much for her empathy for the working class.
          Hillary Clinton’s chutzpah is all part of what many in the media are calling a lack of authenticity.  How can she claim to be the champion of ordinary people when she insists on flying for free on private jets, staying only in royal suites at supporters’ expense, all the while in the process of collecting a projected $2.5 billion in campaign funds from fat cats on Wall Street and in Hollywood?
          Hillary Clinton has a long history of scandals to her credit (Rose Law Firm records, Cattlegate, Benghazi, scrubbed emails, etc.); she has repeatedly earned William Safire’s description of her as a congenital liar; her record of accomplishments as a senator and the Secretary of State is dismal.  Yet, she acts entitled to follow her priapic husband to the Oval Office he so ignobly dishonored. 
          Italian historian Francesco Guicciardini (1483-1540) witnessed both the flourishing and the end the Italian Renaissance.  As a supporter of Cosimo di Medici, he knew something about the advantage of belonging to a prominent family.  As a friend of Nicolo Machiavelli, he also knew something about what it takes to get to the top.  He wrote that to be successful a politician must set aside principles and act only in his self-interest.   He would have loved Hillary Clinton.

More Than Frozen Feet

          The State of Maine is an interesting place.  Stuck in the farthest northeast corner of the country, it shares a longer border with Canada than it does with the rest of the United States.   Yet, its geographical isolation is probably a factor in its refusal to be dominated by its liberal neighbors to the west and south.  A case in point is what Maine is doing about Food Stamps.

          Last year Maine imposed a three-month limit on Food Stamps for able-bodied adults without minor dependents, unless they work 20 hours a week, take state job-training courses, or volunteer for six hours a week.  Lo and behold, the number of Food Stamp recipients in this category has dropped by 80% since the law was passed.
          Food Stamp enrollment under President Obama is up 70%.  Work is not a requirement.  Do we see a connection here?
          I would love to see North Carolina adopt the same program as Maine.  Would it be disrespecting able-bodied Food Stamp recipients who can’t find a job to require them to spend six hours a week as volunteers?
          I spent my entire teenage years in the State of Maine.  My most vivid memory is of frozen feet in sub-zero temperatures.  I have never wanted to go back.  But I tip my hat to that state for its bold, independent policies.  Common sense does come from unexpected places.