I am preparing to start a series of articles on the History of Van Zandt County. But before I launch that project I want to make my argument regarding the importance of history in our lives and answer the reader’s question of why they should even care to read those articles.
As I was pitching my proposal for the series of articles on Van Zandt County History to our esteemed newspaper publisher, Brad Blakemore, I began to realize what impact our history has had on him and his commitment to his career. By the way, Brad is an extremely nice guy who is very invested in our county and its on-going advancement, and we are fortunate to have him in this capacity. Soon after Brad became the newspaper’s publisher he travelled all over Van Zandt County to the different cities and communities where he could get a flavor for the county and what he was getting himself into. I don’t want to put words in his mouth, but what I have learned from him and what his reporting of those travels have confirmed is that he found a wealth of knowledgeable and inspiring people. He experienced the richness of our tradition and the pride for where this county came from to get where it is today. Talking with him about it helped me realize that those visits and the knowledge he gained certainly helped him believe he had made a good decision to come here after leaving the Chicago Tribune Corporation to take on the important function of keeping the people of Van Zandt County informed.
When we stand near a historical marker and read its message, or read a book about an historical era it helps us appreciate lots of things. Such as the many sacrifices made by those who came before us. The pride for our country, county or city. we learn from mistakes that were made that shouldn’t be repeated. We understand plans and strategies and how they were developed, and most of all we gain the big picture of what life has been like and how life got to be what it is today. It establishes a tradition for us. With this mindset it’s so hard to understand why someone would want to destroy any history, tear down any statues, erase any words. Undoubtedly we have had lots of good and bad things happen in our country’s history, but we are who we are as a nation today because of them – both the good and the bad. How many mistakes have we learned from in order to become better than we were? How many plans have we altered, changes have we made, because of our history and traditions?
I sat in a meeting of a visiting dignitary this morning as one man raised his hand and stated he had recently moved here from California. The dignitary had just had all of the veterans in the room stand up to be recognized. This man went on to say that never before in California had he ever been recognized for being a veteran, yet since he has been here in Texas every time he turns around he is being recognized for that. Texas has a strong tradition, history if you will, of patriotism and support for the military. Our history as a State has kept that alive and important. Our history as a County has established many values and traditions, many of which I hope I can share with you as I initiate my reporting on the History of Van Zandt County. Please be looking forward to it in the next issue.