In the Great Census Contest between Wake Forest and Fuquay-Varina, Fuquay-Varina is ahead 73.8 to 73.6, Wake Forest Mayor Vivian Jones said this week. If F-V is still ahead when the Census season ends, Jones will have to buy John Byrne, the Fuquay mayor, lunch and wear a Fuquay cap. (The numbers represent the percentage of folks in the respective towns who have already completed their Census form.)
Since I know my fellow Wake Foresters do not want to see their mayor humiliated and embarrassed like that, I urge you to complete the Census online – just go to 2020Census.gov – and make sure all your neighbors and friends do the same.
The Census results will determine how many representatives we have in the U.S. House of Representatives, how much money comes to the state, counties and cities and towns in the next decade for education, highways, government and all sorts of projects. Make sure we get close to 100 percent.
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Please put this event on your calendar, though I am not sure whether we can really attend. Between Aug. 30 and Oct. 10 the Wake Forest Historical Museum on North Main Street will host a Smithsonian Traveling Exhibit, “Waterways.” It will be here partly through the help of the North Carolina Humanities Council.
A complete schedule of events will be announced in August.
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Saw a grand idea this week. Two pandemic experts are saying the whole United States should be shut down for two months – bars, schools, gyms all closed with only really essential businesses and services open while we all stay home in a strict quarantine and wear masks when we have to go out for food and other necessities.
At the end, we will have smashed the curve, not just flattened it, and any COVID-19 cases could be dealt with by quarantine and expanded contact tracing. The government could spend the two months greatly increasing the amount of everything needed for testing as well as PPE and other things needed at hospitals, schools, homes and nursing homes.
Well, I’m sure its pie in the sky, unreachable and maybe even unthinkable by our great leader and his merry men. But I’d be willing to do it if we came out in October with the ability to resume life somewhat as it used to be.
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The very best way we can honor the late Rep. John R. Lewis is by striving to become his version of the Blessed Community.
“We all live in the same house. And it doesn’t matter whether we are Black or white, Latino, Asian Americans and Native American,” Lewis’ voice rang out during the ceremony as his casket was placed in the Capitol Rotunda. “It doesn’t matter whether you’re straight or gay. We are one people, we are one family, we all live in the same house. Be bold, be courageous, stand up, speak up, speak out, and find a way to create the beloved community, the beloved world, a world of peace, a world that recognizes the dignity of all humankind. Never become bitter. Never become hostile. Never hate. Live in peace. We’re one — one people and one love.”
So it doesn’t mean sitting around while thinking kind thoughts. It means we must, as the community of Wake Forest, look around, ask questions and hear from everyone. Is there dire poverty? Are there homeless people? Are there inequities in our schools? Are our churches segregated? Is our housing segregated? Are there enough resources – nurses, counselors – in our schools? Are all our friends white or Black or Latinx?
In the coming months and years we must answer these and many other questions – and I think we will. We must.
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Last week it was the Reader’s Digest contest scam and this week it was the Publisher’s Clearinghouse turn. Remarkably, it sounded like the same man. Could that be the case?
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One Response
I agree with Mayor Jones that as residents of our beloved community, Wake Forest we have the responsibility to answer the 2020 Census! 73.6% is not good enough! Leadership in the community recognizes, I am certain, that our community is very new and a lot of the new residents may not have received a questionnaire. New residences are cropping up like wildfire, we must make sure that all receive a census form. I for one is frankly tired of driving on old decayed roads, most of which are State owned but are in need of repair or replacement! The simple act of filling out this form as stated will go a long way in improving our Town!