Saturday, March 27, 2010

“Possum Philosophy: This nice guy didn’t finish last (Richlands News-Press)” plus 1 more

“Possum Philosophy: This nice guy didn’t finish last (Richlands News-Press)” plus 1 more

Possum Philosophy: This nice guy didn’t finish last (Richlands News-Press)

Posted: 26 Mar 2010 02:40 PM PDT

By ROBERT CAHILL/Columnist

We've all heard the quote "nice guys finish last." It was actually a little longer than that brief synopsis, according to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org).  In 1939, Leo Ernest (Leo The Lip) Durocher, then the player-manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, is quoted as saying, "Take a look at them. They're all nice guys, but they'll finish last. Nice guys, finish last."
Durocher was talking about a team playing the Dodgers. I wasn't able to find the exact team, although I will. Historical research is one of the things I do even though I don't really know why.
A recent article in the News & Messenger reminded me of the quote. Actually it was an article that proves Leo the Lip's adage "ain't necessarily so." The piece was about Saltville-based Reline America Inc. Now, for a little bit of what serious journalists now call "the back-story."
In 1893, the Mathieson Alkali Works in Saltville bought one of its main competitors, the Holston Salt and Plaster Corp. The transaction made Saltville into the epitome of a company town. Mathieson owned practically everything. The few ancillary businesses then not owned by Mathieson depended wholly on them in some form or another for their livelihood or continued existence. The company owned the land, the houses, basically the whole shebang. Over the years, the plant eventually had employees there whose families members went back four or five generations. It was comforting in a strange sort of way. The plant morphed from Mathieson Alkali to Olin Mathieson to finally Olin Corp., a major branch of the large Olin empire.
Then in 1973, the unspeakable, unimaginable, for many totally unbelievable happened (for local folks). The United States Environmental Protection Agency and Olin Chemical locked horns over the pollution of the North Fork of the Holston River. Talk about your "clash of the Titans." And to the amazement of a vast majority of the local population, Olin shut the doors.
The loss of its major employer devastated the town's economy. U.S. Gypsum at Plasterco had a sizable operation but not sizable enough to absorb the suddenly unemployed Olin workers. For many of the older employees, it was almost like Armageddon.
Over the years since, there have been numerous attempts at diversifying the town's industrial base. A very few have been semi-successful, managing to at least keep the doors open and folks working, but many more have come (some were less than scrupulou,) burned through whatever government money they could wrangle out of near desperate local, county and state officials and headed back out of town with their pockets full. It was very reminiscent to me of the Re-Construction period after the War of Northern Aggression (the Civil War) when the South became flooded with carpet baggers and scalawags, looking to take advantage of the devastation.
The article that caught my attention and made me smile was about my friend Mike Burkhard. Mike is a good guy and a rarity among big business these days. He is a straight talker and an honest guy. When he and his partner, Don Pleasance, came looking for a place to open their business, they were upfront. They were not looking for a government handout. In fact, they said they would accept local grants within reason, but would really prefer any available tax breaks and such amenities. They were not interested in borrowing huge sums, something the majority of companies that had come and gone usually asked for up front. What they were seeking was a good work environment with dependable, competent employees.
Mike and crew had a well-thought-out business plan. They were convinced that if they followed their plan they would meet certain self-imposed goals in growing their business. They were right.
This particular news article was about the fact that Mike and his Reline crew not only met the goals necessary to receive the tax breaks and other perks, they actually exceeded them. In fact, to date they have nearly doubled the number of full-time employees they were required to keep working in order to receive the economic stimulus package. To the best of my knowledge, not another company that has taken advantage of the various programs offered by Saltville and other government entities.
Yes, that is right. While through the years many concerns have come along, taken the money, then failed their goals and left town, leaving Saltville citizens in the lurch again and again, Reline, under Mike's guidance is already looking at a 40,000-square-foot expansion, needed to accommodate a new production line for a new product of a larger size. He and all the Reline employees deserve to be recognized.
They have done and continue to do what so many before them, a few still coming around, have promised—steady work for a goodly number of local citizens. I don't know their true pay scale. I never asked, but I understand it is quite good for this region and includes benefits as well.
As I said, this guy is a worker. He and his wife love the area. He knows what he's doing. He wants to employ great workers and train them to do an outstanding job. And as long as they produce, he has no problem at all in seeing they receive fair compensation for their efforts. In my opinion, it is a first-class outfit run by good guys who know their business.
And I have to believe that it is in part due to the fact that Mike Burkhard is a good guy. Just shows that old Leo wasn't always right. Winners are hard to come by anymore. Saltville has one in Reline. I hope the town and county officials realize just what a jewel they landed in Reline America and continue to treat these folks accordingly.

A freelance journalist, Robert "Rocky" Cahill writes regularly for the News & Messenger. His Possum Philosophy column appears in each Saturday edition.

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Town Talk: Manchester Essex High school set to celebrate the humanities (Gloucester Daily Times)

Posted: 27 Mar 2010 02:43 AM PDT

Students and staff at Manchester Essex Regional High School are gearing up for a "celebration" of the humanities — focusing for a week squarely on what school officials call "the branch of learning concerned with human ideas and behavior that includes the arts, classics, philosophy, history and literacy."

The programs, set to run April 5 to 9, will include assemblies, classroom sessions with visiting authors and professionals who will deliver presentations and demonstrations from book talks to workshops on Wudang kung fu and tai chi.

Among the highlights:

Steve Kluger, a novelist and playwright, will talk about how he uses baseball and the Red Sox as a focus for his humor and writing.

Deborah Cramer will focus on her book: "Smithsonian Ocean: Our Water, Our World," a companion to the Smithsonian's new permanent ocean hall. Her focus will blend of art and the environment, with a science class workshop will follow.

Caleb Neelon, a "graffiti artist," will spend two days presenting to the students and holding individual workshops.

Garth Hinds will deliver a multimedia presentation on being a graphic novelist and his background in the computer game industry.

An evening program in the Manchester Essex Regional High School auditorium, open to the public, on Wednesday, April 7, will feature Anita Diamant, critically acclaimed author of "The Red Tent" and "Day After Night"; a performance by Sound Waves, the high school's a cappella group; and a display of "Art with Blooms," a collaboration of local garden clubs and high school art students.

Doors will open at 6:30 p.m., the program will begin at 7:15 and theconversation with Diamant will start at 8.

Tickets are $10. The event is presented by The Enrichment Fund of the regional school district, in partnership with Spaulding Education Trust and The Hooper Fund.

Book sale today

The Friends of the Manchester Public Library will make one of its most significant gestures of friendship for the institution, and the institution of reading, today.

The Friends is hosting an indoor book sale at the library from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. , with the focus on paperbacks and children's books. Proceeds will benefit the library.

In other library news, the Non-Fiction Book Group will meet one week earlier, March 29, to avoid scheduling conflicts with the April 5 Annual Town Meeting.

The group meets at 7 p.m.; members are encouraged to bring title suggestions for the coming months.

The library will close at 6 p.m. Monday, April 5, to allow library personnel and patrons to attend Town Meeting at the Manchester Essex Regional High and Middle School.

Library officials have also announced that summer program information and camp fliers are available in the Children's Room.

Times staffers compile information about events, services and programs in Manchester and Essex. If you have a news tip or submission, contact Times Day News Editor Andrea Holbrook at 978-283-7000x3456, or aholbrook@gloucestertimes.com.

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