With every Thanksgiving the inevitable question is, “What are we thankful for?”
Family, health and friends always come to mind, as do food and shelter. I’m also thankful to be a part of a community that cares so much about their neighbors.
This month Businessweek named Tryon the best place to raise children in North Carolina. That comes as no surprise to those who live here.
I don’t believe a day goes by that we aren’t informed of another group of citizens working to make our community a better place to live.
This Saturday, a small group of local men from Polk County and Landrum known as “Tryon Men of Courage” are sponsoring the 8 p.m. showing of the movie “Courageous” at the Tryon Movie Theatre. Admission is just $1 and includes popcorn and a drink.
You may be asking yourself, “why they would do this?”
I think they answered that question best on their Facebook page, Tryon Men of Courage.
“As Christian men, it is our duty to lead our homes and our communities with integrity, self-sacrifice and a passion to serve others. To raise our own children with those same qualities and to seek out and mentor those children who lack a positive male role-model in their life. We should teach boys to honor women. Our girls to settle for nothing less than a man who sees her as beautifully and adoring as God sees her. And we should teach all of our children to honor God through all that they do.”
After seeing this message so skillfully depicted in the movie “Courageous,” the group decided to use the movie as a starting point to help point individuals in this direction.
One of the final scenes in the movie shows a young man handcuffed in the back of a squad car after being arrested from a shoot-out with police officers.
One of the officers, knowing the kid was just with the wrong crowd at the wrong time, asked the young man, “What are doing? Why are you hanging out with these guys?”
Through a tear-soaked face, the boy cried, “I ain’t got nobody, man. I just ain’t got nobody.”
The group hopes to reach out to those children “who ain’t got nobody,” by first reaching out to the men in our community, encouraging them to lead their home first and then seek out one or two young boys and girls who “ain’t got nobody” in their life.
The movie Saturday night is on a first-come first-served basis, but it is also playing Friday night and Sunday afternoon at regular rates for those who want to be sure they get to see this film.
Thank you to the Tryon Men of Courage and to all who make our community the best place to raise children in North Carolina.