Random thoughts…
WCHS Valedictorian Braeden Chesson and Guest Speaker Shawn Walker Jr. gave great speeches at the commencement this past week.
Thanks! Very inspiring
I’ve covered graduation speeches for more years than I care to count. I hate pre-canned, bland speeches or any mention of Dr. Seuss’s “Oh, the Places You’ll Go.”
So very glad that Chesson and Walker spoke from the heart to inspire the Class of 2026.
Toward that end, Mr. Chesson – NC A&T is a fine school, glad you’ll be attending. My brother Adam is an alumnus with a degree in electrical engineering. He went onto do great things – US Secret Service and more.
Another alumnus is Rev. Jesse Jackson, Class of 1964.
Jackson became the first Black man to run for the U.S. presidency in 1984 and 1988, winning 4 Democratic primaries/caucuses in the first race and 11 in the second, and receiving 6.9 million votes. I first registered to vote at one of Jackson’s rallies – a church in Greenville.
Mr. Chesson – advice is cheap when high school seniors graduate, so bear with me as I say this.
It doesn’t matter where you're from so much as what you and the Class of 2026 can do to move the ball forward to serve God and the community.
“Every single person sitting here today has a story,” Chesson said. “We all came into this building carrying different struggles, different pressures, and different responsibilities. Some of us had to grow up faster than others. Some of us had to fight battles people would never imagine. But no matter what came our way, we kept going.”
Seniors, because you’re coming from Washington County and Northeast NC, know that you have superpowers. More affluent areas – they don’t know hardship and may not have learned the value of that special sense of community that we have coming from small towns. Clearly, Mr. Chesson, like many other Panthers’ seniors, you know that the value of hard work is its own reward and a character trait that pays dividends that last a lifetime.
Don’t get caught up in the drama – that’s just a distraction. Instead, keep moving forward, keep moving forward, keep moving forward.
Faith is important. Embrace God, whether you are an executive having a good day leading the top of your field or if you are having a bad day scrubbing floors after a long day at work. Always remember, God has a plan. Trust in God!
Know that Washington County is proud of the Class of 2026!
To quote Chesson, “Showtime!”
In other news, Glenda Fields of Plymouth was featured on WNCT 107.9 this past week – Hometown Hero. Fields is a good person, inspired by God to make Washington County a better place to live.
Moving onto the General Assembly – there is a bill that, if passed, would allow ABC stores to open on Sundays, let grocery stores sell ready-to-drink cocktails and allow restaurants to run limited drink specials – happy hours.
Raleigh, don’t do this. Alcohol destroys lives, so let’s not make alcohol any more available for purchase than necessary.
Sunday is a day for prayer, the Lord’s day. One day a week – maybe just make it harder for folks to say no to happy hour.
Remember the Blue Laws and dry counties. I wish we could return to that because our society has gotten sick with a cancer, whether caused by alcohol or drugs, that continues to spread, rotting our small towns from within. It’s one thing to offer a toast at graduation, but quite another to make it more and more acceptable for alcohol to be a daily ritual.
Raleigh, as I say with everything else you touch, leave this alone.
In other news, Saint Mark African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church recently celebrated 150 years of ministry and faith. Founded in Creswell after the Civil War, the church stands today as a powerful symbol of faith, resilience, and African American history in eastern North Carolina. That’s a testament of faith for a church and congregation to worship for 150 years.
I talked to Dean Brown at the Plymouth Country Club the other day. He said there was a Civil War battle fought in that area – a stack of cannon balls was found on the golf course many years ago. And Brown has found mini-balls — the bullets fired from the soldiers’ weapons. There’s a lot of history in this area.
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