Desmond Scaife: Youth served in LaFayette mayoral election

Desmond Scaife
Columnist
Published: October 22, 2008

Congratulations to LaFayette. This small town has elected a 21-year-old Auburn University student, Matthew Hurst, as its mayor. They have and will invest in the three greatest natural resources, which our great country has to offer ... youth ... education ... and hope.

LaFayette has lost industry, small businesses and even seen some of its farming opportunities decrease and change in this county seat.

Chambers County Board of Education, like most small communities, had to consolidate and close some schools due to lack of and not enough.

This community, which at one time was quite stable with the McClendon Trucking Company, Russell Mills, and opportunity in its industrial park, now has to look for new opportunity on new horizons with a hope of the KIA plant possibly bringing some new companies its way.

The youthful mayor has seen his community from opportunistic eyes. He will use his optimism to unite and listen to his community.

Through his community service, he will incorporate the city’s agenda around the insight of trusted area chambers of commerce, instructors and resources at Auburn University, and tap into his congressional assistance to seek the best for his community.

Mayor Hurst will employ a 24/7 regimen because he wants for his community, as many past and good mayors have and should.

He will unite with neighboring mayors to receive support and insight as his work begins.

No, I am not his campaign manager nor his advisor (don’t know him personally) but it reminds me of a young rural pastor back in the late 1980s who found himself with a congregation that had lost hope and had meager resources if any, and the economy was not doing so well for them either. But on the first and third Sunday mornings, there was some “good news”!

The similarities bring to mind a fact that many across this land are attempting to dismiss: we cannot do anything without a hope.

We applaud this new young mayor and young people across this land because they give of themselves to serve and build their communities. Many of us grew up serving our community through simple actions of food drives, toy drives, clothing drives, litter campaigns, doing various chores for older people and mentoring younger children. As small as these tasks seemed — it showed the needy that someone cared and gave them some hope.

In our community work, we learn some of life’s lessons.

There are people across the spectrum, different people which we cannot dismiss nor ignore. Whether they were the Mayflower pilgrims landing on Plymouth Rock or the drum beaters who were brought to America from Africa; whether they were the Union or Confederate soldiers giving their lives at the debate of emancipation; or whether it was the last might of the soldiers at Iwo Jima and the escorts of Tuskegee Airmen; or heroic rescuers rushing to the Twin Towers’ on 9/11 or an individual giving CPR to a waning life, we all meet at the inspiration of Buckalew Mountain.

Desmond Scaife lives in Auburn and writes a column for the Opelika-Auburn News.