AdvanceChristiansburg

Last weekend was pretty special in our town.  On Saturday 23 Aug 08 we had three events going on - each significant in their own rite, but taken collectively amounted to something much greater.  The first was Montgomery Museum's Annual Celebration, complete with story-telling, a Civil War encampment, antiques, local historical books available for signing by the authors, arts and crafts, and even a visit from Will Rogers.  What fun!  Next, there was a 45th Anniversary Celebration of Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech in Washington, held at Rosa Peters Park.  At this we were invited to watch Dr. King's famous speech as a group, and then gathered outside to an 'Open-Microphone' session from members of our community who described their experiences from that pivotal time in our history and talk about the evolution of civil rights.  I was born the year following Dr. King's speech, and subsequent assassination, but it was stirring to listen to community matriarchs such as Elaine Carter speak first-hand about those times, being there in Washington, and the excitement, hope, uncertainty and even fear that came with participating in the equal-rights movement in those eventful days.  Lastly, we had our fourth and final Cruisin' Christiansburg in the Downtown Area with perfect weather and the same success that the first three had produced.  The coverage by our local newspapers has been both generous and positive for these events, and I believe there's little convincing necessary that these types of events are very worthwhile to continue into the future. 

As we celebrate our past and present, the message is that we should be planning future progress as a community by  creating more events to be TOGETHER - and to share history, experiences and ideas.  By all accounts, each of these events is evidence of a community on the move and is definitely something to be thankful for, get excited about, and to be involved with.