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Thank you.
I try to say it as often as I can. Two words with a simple meaning. Someone does something for you and you say thank you.
I appreciate our veterans who wear those hats designating the war they served in; it gives me a chance to say thank you, or thank you for your service. They, and those who served in our military whether in war times or not, deserve those thank you’s from every single American. Every day.
We set aside one day a year just for that (It’s Monday, Nov. 11). Veteran’s Day is what it sounds like – a day set aside for the rest of us to tell those brave enough to put on a uniform for our country that their service means something.

There was a man, from down Willboone way
Who was sent to Vietnam, one hot August day.
Handy with a gun, a country boy at heart
He had no idea, of the terror to start.
Rifle in hand, to the jungle he did walk
The enemy is near, don’t anybody talk.
The bullet it whizzed, by his ear so near
He turned and realized, his very worst fear.
His buddy he lay, with a hole in his head
It was his only friend there, and now he was dead.
He came home and tried, to do things right
But noone cared, what had happened that night.
The VA provided, prescription drugs galore
And he sat on his couch, and stared at the door.
Days went by, then months and then years
By now he was numb, and could shed no more tears.
Then one day, with his courage back once more
And a shattered old flag, his only friend from the war.
He headed to town, his first trip in a long time
To see that new monument, with names so divine.
His hair long and disheveled, his clothes dirty and torn
He didn’t care about that, or anyone’s scorn.
He knelt by the monument, held his flag like a friend
Put his hand on their names, and began to cry again.

The above poem is based on the story of a Davie County man, who after the veteran’s monument was dedicated in Downtown Mocksville on Veteran’s Day back in 1987, began to get his life back on track.
Thank a veteran today.
I was wrong.
Man, was I ever wrong.
I praised the decision to go with a 3-way stop sign on North Main Street at Milling Road. My decision was way too simple; and it seems I had forgotten my past.
I used to drive through that intersection every day, sometimes a dozen times in one day. I know how much traffic comes into and out of town on North Main Street (US 158). It’s a lot. It’s one of the busiest streets in town.
So why not put up a stop sign so that traffic will have to stop? Why did I think that was a good idea? The vehicle on North Main has to stop, then the vehicle behind it has to stop, etc., etc.
One week with the new configuration in place and the verdict is already in.
It ain’t working.
Getting government to reverse a decision is a lot harder to do than getting a hack newspaper editor to admit he was wrong. But it needs to be done.
At its best, the 3-way stop was a cheap, sideways move. At its worst, motorists coming out of Campbell Road don’t stand a chance of heading east any time in the near future.
Someone said a stoplight would be a better solution for that intersection. I’m holding off judgment on that idea, although with modern technology and road sensors, it could work. Only one thing is for certain, traffic in that area will only increase. Developments are already on the books to ensure that.
By the time this intersection is figured out, they’ll be talking about stoplights in the Country Lane and Sain Road area.
– Mike Barnhardt