To mask or not to mask. Republican or Democrat. Duke or UNC.
The list of what divides people in both North Carolina and across the nation seems to grow longer — and more vitriolic — every day.
That’s why a well-known film maker, a country music star, and a public relations guru decided to put together a project meant to bring people together, to become a little more civil toward one another, to look past differences and respect common beliefs.
Their magic bullet? Hometowns.
Or more specifically, letting people share memories and thoughts about their hometowns — and Mount Airy is front and center with two separate presentations on a national website devoted to the cause.
“You have to find a way to talk to people without arguing with them,” said Dan McGinn, CEO of McGinn and Company and one of the originators of the Honor Your Hometown program. “We’ve just fallen into this trap: we’re only going to talk with people we agree with and we’re not talking to anyone else, and that’s not good for this country.”
McGinn, documentarian Ken Burns, and country music star Marty Stuart began bouncing ideas around. They were hoping to find ways to promote civility and a way to encourage folks to get back to talking to one another without rancor, and regardless of political, religious or social differences.
They then came across the idea of having people talk about the one thing McGinn said most people have fond memories of — their hometowns.
“If you talk to people about hometowns, they start to smile, they open up and they want to tell you stories about the memories they have,” McGinn said. “I’m dedicated to my own hometown, I come from a little place in West Virginia called Nitro. I’ve always thought whatever success I’ve had in life, my hometown had a lot to do with it.”
The three decided to put together a website, https://www.honoryourhometown.com/, where people could share video stories about their hometowns, and help folks make a connection to one another.
“We went to Gen. Colin Powell, he loved it,” McGinn said. Powell, who has since died, was National Security Advisor to President Ronald Reagan, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President George H.W. Bush, and Secretary of State under President George W. Bush. “He made the first video for it.”
Next came Dolly Parton, along with both Burns and Stuart making ones as well, and the project took off.
Mount Airy is there as well — twice, for two separate reasons.
“If you’re going to talk about hometowns, you’re going to arrive at Mount Airy sooner or later, aren’t you? It’s the quintessential hometown,” McGinn said.
Thus, Mayor Ron Niland was in the first group of mayors across the nation invited to submit a video.
“I got an email, a request from this organization, it is a non-partisan, it was people like Colin Powell, Ken Burns, Dolly Parton, just a bunch of national celebrities that were saying ‘Hey, our country dialogue of being mad at one another is not what we are as Americans.’”
Niland said the email was seeking input from him, and other mayors, about the qualities of Mount Airy and their respective towns, qualities that “we celebrate as Americans. I thought that was a good idea.”
Niland’s video, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qMrSDy4cSo is about two minutes long.
“I did it in front of Andy and Opie statue — this being Andy Griffith’s hometown, we were also known as Mayberry,” he said. “I talk about the values of the show, honesty, decency, and fairness — those are really what unite us as Americans. That was basically the message, when it’s all said and done, it’s the decency and goodness that’s going to define us as Americans.”
Mount Airy got a second entry onto the website because of a friendship Stuart had with Andy Griffith.
“Marty had worked with Andy Griffith… Marty preformed at a family memorial service for Andy Griffith. They were personal friends,” Ginn said. As a result, he said Stuart requested that the Surry Arts Council make a presentation for Mount Airy as well.
“That show, what it represents…is so powerful, so important to many Americans…we said we have to have Mount Airy represented,” Ginn said.
Tanya Jones, executive director of the Surry Arts Council also submitted a 3-1/2 minute video. Giving a brief overview of the town, along with a talk about the county’s blue grass, old time, and country music history, Jones also referred to Mount Airy’s original celebrities the Bunker Twins. She talked about Griffith, his basing much of the show on his time growing up in his hometown, and his influence on Mount Airy. Her video, https://www.honoryourhometown.com/hometowntreasures/zbjk3ghsu6jbedp88gy33plxmnrwp9, was shot in front of an Andy Griffith poster at the Mount Airy Playhouse.
McGinn said the effort is an all-volunteer one which has caught fire in recent days. It has been featured on The Today Show, CBS Mornings, NBC Nightly News, USA Today, and a number of other national outlets.
He hopes the project continues drawing interest — hundreds of towns and groups have submitted videos to be featured — and eventually becomes a national movement.
“There is no bureaucracy, no organization, we’re not asking for money, we don’t want anyone’s money…it’s nonpartisan. We just picked up the phone and started calling some people.”
“We seem to have 1,500 days to honor everything. We have Cat Day, Taco Day, Name Your Care Day, but not a Honor Your Hometown Day. We thought that’s not right. We want to make honoring hometowns and annual national celebration. We’ve got a good chance of making this a national movement.”
And in the end, he believes if it does catch on, perhaps a National Hometown Day can be the beginning of bringing people back together, celebrating what they have in common rather than their differences.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com