From the Center 1-11-17

Published 9:03 pm Tuesday, January 10, 2017

I would like to continue last week’s column by discussing several more good people we have in our county. Yes, they are paid. Let’s get that out of the way. But, over the last week in true Mississippi form, we had tornadoes Monday…then an ice storm Friday.

After a tree fell across Hwy. 42 at Prentiss High School Monday, it took about two minutes and I heard the mayor on the radio. He took his personal vehicle to block the road to keep everyone out of harms way. He and the town crew were out in the rain taking care of business.

Before the hour was over, almost every highway into Prentiss had a tree across it. It wasn’t long until I heard the supervisors on the radio as well, with the main goal of keeping our county citizens safe.

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The latter part of the week, we were faced with a winter storm warning.

I heard a Prentiss police officer on the radio, long after his shift ended, as he was assisting MDOT with the spreading of sand on our bridges.

Supervisors were heard after hours as well, working on bridges in their district. One supervisor said there were 22 bridges in his district alone, that he was checking.

Again, these people are paid, yes. But I sense something during these chaotic moments,  that you can’t buy. Heart. It is in each of their hearts to take care of the citizens of this county.

No, we don’t agree with every thing they do. And each and every one of us has, at one time or another, felt we could do the job a little better, or a little differently.

We don’t walk in their shoes and most of us aren’t aware of the protocol they must follow on a day-to-day basis. I still feel they go a and beyond in a crisis and the safety of the citizens in their district is in jeopardy.

I, as a single mom, appreciate any efforts made to assist in keeping me and my children safe. I especially appreciate the mayor’s mad animal trapping skills!

I hope we can all come to appreciate what we do have here in our community. Things could always, always be worse.