Editorial: Birdies and Bogeys, An Attack Edition

By Sunday morning, assessment of damage had begun turning to repairing what could be repaired and figuring out what needed to be replaced. By Sunday evening, several hundred people were able to have power restored.

Over the next few days, working in conditions that were cold, damp, dark and dangerous, local workers and crews brought in from other areas hustled to fix the two attacked substations and others that had suffered damage from cascading fallout.

Electricity is one of those things we all take for granted, but none of us ever take for granted those hard-hat crews who frequently have to operate in high-stress situations to help us.

Eagle, by the numerous faith-based operations that loaded up mobile response units and camped out across Moore County last week offering hot food, showers and a warm place to hang out.

Volunteers with the NC Baptist Men hauled in trailers with hot showers and laundry, parking at First Baptist Church in Pinehurst, just a few miles from the West End substation. Other volunteers made large kettles of beef stew.

Meanwhile, churches from Sanford, Robbins and other nearby towns pitched in, setting up feeding stations in parking lots, hot showers, warm rooms to sit in while charging phones, and offering all manner of donations and relief.

All told, dozens of local churches reached out to offer help to local residents, putting their faith in action to do unto others.

Birdie, by the various towns for opening up community rooms, libraries and fire stations as places for the public to come and charge mobile devices or just catch a few hours of heated space.

Led by Southern Pines, which offered its Haney community room next to the police station and its downtown library, the municipalities made the most of their buildings operating on generator power. Fire stations from Pinebluff to Pinehurst offered free charging for mobile phones.

In the Southern Pines library, staff kept patrons warm and fed with snacks.

“We just want to provide a safe, warm place for people,” said librarian Laurel Holden.

Double Bogey, by the Moore County Board of Education, for going ahead with its catered celebration for new board members while most of the county sat in the dark.

The board was required to swear in new members Monday, Dec. 5. But rather than just have a quick meeting to install the new members and elect new board leaders, the board instead went ahead with its planned after-party of Chick-fil-A and Bojangles, in addition to Moon Pies, Royal Crown Cola and Cheerwine. While certainly not a sumptuous banquet, it was a lot more than many Moore County residents had Monday night while more than 35,000 customers remained without power.

Conversely, the Board of Commissioners swore in their four members earlier in the day in Carthage, elected new leaders and then adjourned to get back to the business of managing the county during the crisis.

This is certainly a small thing, but it shows just how tone deaf this new Board of Education, under the leadership of Chairman Bob Levy and Vice Chair David Hensley, could end up being.

The right message here was empathy, that the board stood with the rest of Moore County, instead of patting themselves on the back at Westmoore Elementary School up near the Randolph County line, far removed from the problems everyone else was experiencing. Surely they could have scrapped their party and donated the sandwiches to hungry Duke Energy workers and first responders or others.

Empathy? Let them eat moon pies.