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In
the last chapter of "The Shepherd Of The
Hills" by Harold Bell Wright, the "old
shepherd" told a young artist who had wandered into
the hills in search of scenic landscapes suitable
for his canvas;
"These hills
belong only to me as they belong to all who have
the grace to love them. They will give you great
treasure, that you may give again to others, who
have not your good strength to escape from the
things that men make and do in the restless
world over there. One of your noble craft could
scarcely fail to find the good things God has
written on this page of His great book."
"Before
many years a railroad will come, and the
beautiful hills that have been my strength and
peace will become the haunt of careless idlers,
and a place of revelry."
"I
fear that you must work hard, young sir, while
the book of God is still open, and God's message
is easily read. When the outside world comes,
men will turn the page, and you may lose the
place."
Wright
was strangely prophetic when he wrote these
passages, words of wisdom from an elder to a youth,
in his fictional drama of life in the central
Ozarks a century ago. In reality he knew that, when
the railroad was finished, that this otherwise
remote area would become easily accessible to the
outside world and people would flock here to enjoy
the same experience that he had discovered when he
sought out the peace and solitude of the hills in
which to write his book. However how could he know
that his manuscript would become a best selling
novel, and in itself become the reason for
thousands of people to make the "pilgrimage" just
to see the countryside that inspired the wonderful
piece of literary work.
We
have been often criticized, for getting on our
"soap box" or even standing in the pulpit, as we
sometimes tend to proselytize when we disseminate
the doctrine of this publication, the concept that
progress and preservation must go hand in hand, and
that common sense must prevail. For to us it defies
all logic to destroy the same natural beauty and
cultural heritage of these remarkable old hills,
those very amenities that lure the tourists and
their money as well as those who leave as Wright
put it, "that restless world over there," seeking
out the strength and peace that the Ozarks has to
offer anyone who is open minded enough to look
about in appreciation of God's handiwork found
throughout this region.
All
across this great land, our elected officials
enacted ordinances and laws that make redevelopment
of blighted areas and "brown fields" attractive to
business with promises of tax rebates and matching
fund grants designed to offset the cost of
construction and relocation. These laws were
enacted so that, eventually unproductive lands, or
lands that had been polluted and ravaged could be
put to good use for the betterment of the
community, bringing jobs and improvement to the
economic infrastructure. However we are hearing
reports and witnessing first hand how political
subdivisions throughout the country are misusing
these measures and the laws relating to public
domain to condemn otherwise productive real estate
and "green fields" to attract business that will
eventually produce tax revenue for the governing
agency. Even in some cases, long established local
businesses near the redevelopments will suffer and
eventually find themselves forced out of business
by the larger companies brought to the neighborhood
with the very tax dollars that they, the existing
businesses have paid. Even in some cases perfectly
beautiful and well-kept residential neighborhoods
are razed to make way for progress. So how do we
draw the line as to the true intent and sprit of
the original legislation that our leaders are using
to make these changes possible? How do we define
blighted, and unproductive areas that probably
should be redeveloped but yet protect our
landmarks, historic places, and residential
properties that provide rich cultural heritage and
a sense of belonging, that most humans
need?
Most
of us, by human nature, will turn a blind eye when
it is not our homes or places we feel a deep sense
of connection to, that have become the target of
the bulldozers. Thereby allowing these sites to be
razed and redeveloped, becoming just another fading
memory, just another page turned in that great book
Wright spoke of. If we are not aware of the
significance of these sites and structures we tend
to be oblivious to the need for consideration of
the proper disposition of these assets.
How
many times have you or someone you know, sold on a
garage sale for pennies, or even disposed of an
object that seemed insignificant, just another
article that had outlived its usefulness, only to
discover that what was useless junk to you was
actually a valuable antique or important
collectible artifact to someone else? The same
holds true for our landmarks and natural resources.
Long time residents take them for granted, new
arrivals to the community have no idea of their
significance, we then go through life oblivious to
the pending doom of these places, only to wake up
after it is too late and have the sudden epiphany,
that someone should have been proactive and either
preserved the object or site in question, or at
least took steps to document its existence for
future generations before it was wiped from the
face of the Earth.
As
little children, we learn that if we touch a flame
or hot surface, we will get burned and suffer pain.
In our system of justice, our judges refer to laws
written by our legislators and rule on cases by how
these laws have been interpreted in the past. In
almost every aspect of our lives we use precedence
and learned experiences from the past, to make
decisions today that will affect our lives
tomorrow. Having a well-rounded knowledge of the
past, and how our ancestors coped with similar
experiences gives us a means by which to evaluate
our situations and effectively deal with them
without repeating the mistakes out of history but
rather building upon the accomplishments we have
made.
As
we drive through the countryside and we see old
homesteads, old barns, buildings that were canning
factories or perhaps the home of some other early
day Ozarks enterprise, we should take just a minute
to let our minds wander and ask ourselves who were
the people that built these structures, how did
they live, what inspired them to do the things that
they did? By asking these questions and by seeking
out the answers, we learn about the cultural
heritage of the region, we learn how these people
before us lived in the hills and coped with every
day life. And we can learn to recognize their
accomplishments as well as their mistakes, and then
we can not only enrich our lives but make informed
decisions and work together for a better
tomorrow.
It
is not fitting for any journalistic organization to
reach a biased conclusion in favor of a particular
agenda, and publish such, but rather to deliver to
the readers the information that they need in order
to make their own informed decision regarding their
needs and that of society. That is why we state the
we feel that preservation and progress must go hand
in hand, some things need to be maintained while
others must make room for progress. It is not the
place of this publication to make those decisions
as to what to save or what to raze, that is up to
you.
That
is the mission of The Message Tree, "The Online
Magazine That Celebrates The History Of The Central
Ozarks, Its People and Places." We may
editorialize, even proselytize or promulgate our
belief that everyone should take just a few moments
occasionally to explore the rich cultural heritage
of the Ozarks, not just what is contained in this
electronic periodical, but also the other material
that is available on the Internet. Knowledge of
what is around you, its significance, and how it
came to be is so important.
We
urge you to subscribe to other offline printed
regional publications such as The Ozarks
Mountaineer that feature articles about the people,
the times out of the past, and places of the
region. We urge you to read some of the fine books
by local authors that tell the wonderful story of
the Ozarks and its people.
In
past issues of The Message Tree, we have shared
with you the activities and efforts of the various
organizations and societies throughout the area,
that have worked so hard to preserve even seemingly
insignificant artifacts, objects that are just
small pieces of a puzzle that when combined provide
a vista into the past and answer some of the basic
questions we have posed in this editorial. We urge
you to support these groups, at least send them a
letter of thanks, as a thank you for a job well
done goes a long way with volunteers that work so
hard with no compensation other than an occasional
"pat on the back."
In
conclusion, please take time to learn the
significance of the places and sites that you pass
by everyday as you travel through the hills, take
time to become involved in the decision making
process of deciding the disposition of these
historic sites, don't find yourself whishing that
you or someone else should have spoke up before
another cultural icon vanishes. And remember the
words of the "Old Shepherd"
"I fear that
you must work hard, young sir, while the book of
God is still open, and God's message is easily
read. When the outside world comes, men will
turn the page, and you may lose the
place."
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