GIVE THE GIFT OF LIFE: DONATE TUESDAY: The Alleghany Rotary Club is sponsoring a Red Cross Blood Drive Tuesday, October 4, from 11a-3:30 in the Alleghany Memorial Hospital Solarium. Every pint donated benefits three patients. You may be in the emergency room tomorrow needing blood. Do your part -- Donate. For an appointment, call 336-372-7158WHEN WILL THE COLOR PEAK? Check the Chamber's Home Page and click on the "color prediction" link. Updated weekly, it keeps you informed.
WALK OUT OF DARKNESS: Alleghany Lives, a local suicide and depression prevention information non-profit, sponsors a walk beginning Saturday at 10a in the Prayer Garden at Sparta United Methodist Church to Crouse Park to call attention to the high rate of suicide in the county. The walk and brief program will last about an hour. Anyone who is invested in seeing the high rate of local suicide decline or is just interested in Alleghany Lives is invited to participate. For more information, call Bob Bamberg, 336-200-2468, Julia Simmons, 336-657-3032, or Jane Wyatt, 336-372-4059 and please read the Quick Editorial further down in the Briefing.
SHAW FINE WOODWORKING HOSTS BUSINESS AFTER HOURS: Mark your calendar to be at Shaw Fine Woodworking, 3727 NC 18 South, in Whitehead's historic Joines' Store building, for Business After Hours Thursday, Oct. 6, 5-7p. The Shaw brothers are known for their construction and musical skills and you will get to experience both. Ray Shaw has turned the old Joines store building into his shop and store and it never looked better. His workworking skill is evident in every piece he crafts. Also available are home accessories including exquisitely decorated gourds, lampshades crafted from botanicals and art by his son Jarrod Shaw, who also does custom portraits. (What a unique Christmas or birthday gift?) And you will hear a rare musical performance by the Shaw Brothers. Which ones? I'm not saying. You'll just have to come and see. It 3 1/2 miles from Sparta but worth the drive. 336-529-4080
QUICK EDITORIAL: Saturday, Alleghany Lives sponsors the "Walk Out of Darkness" beginning at 10a in the Prayer Garden at Sparta United Methodist Church to call attention to the need to confront this county's history of high suicide rates. I hear some people expressing concern that Alleghany Lives wants to remove the stigma of suicide and in doing so risks making suicide a choice more easy to make. Nothing could be further from the truth. Alleghany Lives seeks to remove the stigma of seeking professional help when someone is depressed and contemplating suicide. Not all depression leads to suicide and not all suicide is a result of depression, but the majority of people who take their own lives have a history of depression.
Some of you may have heard me talk about my experience with depression following my father’s death. I spent more than two years slipping further into depression before I sought help. I know better. I worked 8 years in the mental health field. But I’m just as susceptible to embarrassment and shame of admitting I’m not as strong as I put on. And one of the blind alleys of depression is you believe you deserve the misery. No one deserves that misery.
The good news is that depression is one of the most treatable of the life-threatening emotional conditions, but you’ve got to want help, as much as life itself. If everyone in Alleghany County pledged that if the day ever came when they were contemplating taking their own life they would seek help, we could move to the bottom of that state list of suicide rates.
That’s Alleghany Lives mission statement: Asking for help is a decision you can live with. Please consider joining us in the "Walk Out of Darkness" in remembrance of the many friends and neighbors that are no longer with us because of suicide and in the hope that we can each pledge to end future losses.
By the way, treatment works. I have a hard time remembering when I have felt better!
HAPPENING EVERY WEEK: Check the Alleghany Farmers Market Facebook page for information on upcoming vendors at the Thursday (3:30-5:30p) and Saturday (10a-2p) in front of the Farmers' Hardware Parking Lot.
>> Alleghany Jubilee: Come to listen or come to dance to the blue grass and old time musicians who play on Tuesday beginning at 7p and Saturday at 8p. Admission $4. The Jubilee is located on North Main Street, across from the courthouse. 336-372-4591
>> Crouse House Pickers: Local blue grass and old time musicians jam each Monday, 2 blocks north of the Courthouse at the Crouse House in Crouse Park, beginning at 6p. Come and play or just listen. No charge, but a donation is appreciated. 336-372-5473
GREAT ACTIVITIES TO DO ANYTIME
>> Alleghany Farmers' Market: Check the Alleghany Farmers Market Facebook page for information on upcoming vendors at the Thursday (3:30-5:30p) and Saturday (10a-2p) in front of the Farmers' Hardware Parking Lot.
>>Driving Loops: Brochures for three driving loops of the Alleghany countryside are available at the Alleghany Chamber of Commerce and Visitors' Center. Each loop is about a leisurely hour's drive and includes information on historic points along the way. The Chamber office is in the rock building with the green awning (58 South Main Street, Sparta). Our foyer is always open and a brochure is always available.
>> Alleghany Historical Museum is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Stop by to experience local history and to see the new displays, 7 North Main Street, Sparta.
Check for upcoming events: On our website are listings for our Calendar. Check them often and let us know if your activity is not listed.
Bob Bamberg
Executive Director
Alleghany Chamber of Commerce
PO Box 1237 Sparta, NC 28675
336-372-5473
Director@Sparta-NC.com
Sparta-NC.com
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