We can do it, if we only work together

By Democrat Editorial Board | The Natchez Democrat

Published Thursday, June 25, 2009

Lots of heads were nodding in agreement Tuesday as Ronnie Bryant walked the floor at the Vidalia Conference and Convention Center.

Bryant’s voice filled the room, but it was his message of what could arguably be construed as mostly common sense that reverberated with the crowd.

As the head of the Charlotte (N.C.) Regional Partnership, Bryant knows a thing or two about the benefits of thinking, working and acting as a region.

The benefits of doing that in our community seemed obvious to Bryant.

“The hill you are trying to get over is something, from my perspective, that is a no-brainer,” he said.

And the biggest hurdle to working as a region, he said, is a small, but insidious word that cuts deep into the heart of our better conscience — ego.

Why doesn’t Natchez embrace the growth in Vidalia as great for the area?

How is it that sometimes Ferriday and Vidalia have seemed in competition with one another?

Ego and shortsightedness are the only logical answers.

“You’ve got to give up something … It should be about serving this community not to stroke your own personal domain,” Bryant said.

As our community considers what, if anything, will be done with the lessons Bryant brought, we’d all be a little wiser to remember the old tale of stone soup in which each village adds something to eventually make a fine soup.

Alone, all we have is a few random ingredients. But together, we have a recipe for growing our area to new heights.

Nodding our heads is the first step. The next step is joining hands and making it happen.