“Get a life in which you are generous. Look around at the azaleas making fuchsia star bursts in spring; look at a full moon hanging silver in a black sky on a cold night. And realize that life is glorious, and that you have no business taking it for granted. Care so deeply about its goodness that you want to spread it around…All of us want to do well. But if we do not do good, too, then doing well will never be enough.”

~ Anna Quindlen

One thing I know for certain (as Oprah says) is there are generous people in these parts.

Tragedy brings forth those with good hearts — in times like these, it’s something that says much about our area and who lives here. Over and over, people pull together for one another: I’ve known it firsthand, as have many others.

Last week’s terrible loss due to fire of Marilyn’s Melrose Inn found folks pulling together and helping Marilyn along.

That’s what community does. Pull each other along this road of life we’re on. Bumps, potholes, missing bridges on that rough road: there’s someone who helps pick you up, just when you can’t go any further.

Kindness to one another matters. Possessions come, possessions go. Money comes, money goes. The things that last are compassion, love, kindness.

Something like this could happen to any of us (it can and will): unexpected and out of the blue — wrecks, illness, fires, mudslides, loss, you name it. The troops continue to rally around those who fall down on that road of life: because we’re all in this together.

There is still good in the world.

• Saluda Tailgate Market is open from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Fridays at the city parking lot off Main Street.

• Saluda Welcome Table is every Tuesday: dinner is served from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m. in the fellowship hall of Saluda United Methodist Church.

• Saluda Community Land Trust’s “Walks in the Woods” are on the first and third Sundays each month. The next walk will be Saturday to Green River Cove, a moderate hike. Meet at Saluda Library’s parking lot at 2 p.m. You can reach SCLT at 828-749-1560 or visitsaludasclt.org. Contact Chuck Hearon for hike information at 828-817-0364 or chearon@skyrunner.net.

• Ward’s Grill hosts a Veterans’ Breakfast from 7 to 11 a.m. on the third Thursday of each month, offering a free breakfast for all veterans. The next one is Sept. 20.

• The Saluda Historic Depot is located at 32 W. Main St.; museum hours are 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. Saluda Train Tales are held on the third Friday each month at 7 p.m. through October. Cindy Stephenson Tuttle, great-granddaughter of Otho Brownlow Garren (a photographer/building contractor during Saluda’s early days) will present the next train tales on Sept. 21.

• A community potluck and bingo will take place at 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 24, at Saluda Center.

• Saluda Living in Place will have its third annual health fair from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 27, at Saluda Fire Department. Park Ridge’s WOW van will be there, along, with free health screenings plus information on aging in place. To learn more, call 828-243-0734.

• Art Trek weekend will be Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 29-30, with a preview party from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Friday at Upstairs Artspace in Tryon, to kick off the open studio tour. Saluda artists participating will be Dale McEntire, Kristin Mode, Alexia Timberlake, Laura Polanco and Bonnie Bardos.

 • Happy September Birthday to Wayne Thompson, Courtney Hoots, Merci Weitzen, Dale McEntire, Joni Rauschenbach, Sonya Monts, Linda Kaye Hayes, Carol Kenfield, Debbie Fisher, Leslie Jespersen, Linda Mintz, Sheila Billeter, Cary Pace, Ross Arrington, Hop Foster, Chuck Hearon, Alexia Timberlake, Jason Justus, Beth Carson, Clark Thompson, Nicholas Edwards, Cindy Tuttle and Don Clapp. 

Thank you for reading this column; as ever, the goal is to make you feel like you’re enjoying small town life in a friendly mountain town called Saluda. Feel free to contact me at bbardos@gmail.com, 828-749-1153 or visit bonniebardosart.com.