Sam Postís play brings joy, sadness
Last night I had the pleasure of seeing a truly great piece of art. I went to see ěPoochie,î a play by a local playwright Sam Post. Several of my friends (including Bob Paolino, Shannon Doherty and Lori and Shawn Van Wallendael) were members of the cast. They were all wonderful, as I knew they would be! There was not a moment that I wasnít mesmerized by the story. Every line was delivered so truthfully that after a few minutes, I didnít feel I was watching a play, but rather watching a family interact during sometimes funny and sometimes sad moments.
Knowing that the focus of the story was a family dealing with Alzheimerís, I expected a very depressing play, but I found myself laughing through the entire first act. Of course, there came a time when my heart was pulled up into my throat. Sara Coon, who plays the granddaughter, made me feel the greatest connection to the character of Edna (the Alzheimer patient), although Iím sure other audience members felt connected to various family members depicted depending on their life experiences.
How often does a play, or even a movie, stay in your mind all day and into the next? Sam Post put his story and characters so deeply in my mind and heart that they will remain for some time. This morning I was saddened to learn that his mother, Rose Post, had passed away less than eight hours after I first met and shook his hand at the theater.
This play only runs for three more nights at the Looking Glass Artist Collectiveís Black Box Theater, 405 N. Lee St. in Salisbury. Tickets are $10 at the door with no advance sales. If you have a chance, go see this play. You will not be disappointed!
ó Joanne Stewart
Mooresville
Help fight poverty
Many thanks to Sarah Campbell and the Salisbury Post for bringing more light to the struggle many people in Rowan County face each and every day. Unemployment, underemployment, kids going to school hungry, and homelessness ó statistics that have more than doubled in just 10 short years here in our community.
Thankfully, Salisbury does have several, well established non-profit agencies to assist folks in their daily struggles, including Rowan Helping Ministries, Salvation Army, churches and the like. We would like to lift up another such agency: the Community Care Clinic. In existence since 1996, the clinic has served thousands of uninsured adults, providing medical, dental (one of the few free dental clinics in the Piedmont) and pharmacy services to people who desperately need it.
Just like other agencies, however, we have seen a larger number of patients with less staff and money. The economic outlook and the unemployment percentages in this county and in our country continue to be dismal. Unfortunately, many people are forced to make a decision between paying for health care and putting food on the table. Please consider volunteering, making a donation or asking churches, civic and social clubs to which you belong to make the Community Care Clinic an organization that they support annually. Also, honoring a loved one with a memorial or an honorarium is a wonderful idea.
Volunteer physicians, dentists, dental hygienists and other medical support personnel are urgently needed. Our clinic depends upon the community to continue to keep Rowan County citizens healthy, active and productive. For more information, please contact Juliana Parrish, interim director, at 704-636-4523. The need is great at this time.
ó Brenda Goodman and Krista Woolly
Salisbury
Goodman and Woolly serve on the Community Care Clinicís board.
Parker & Mormons
In response to Kathleen Parkerís column ěMormons top the ticketî in the Oct. 14 Salisbury Post, I would like to suggest that those wanting a deeper and wider understanding of Mormanism write to Concerned Christians, 525 East Broadway Road, Mesa, Az. 85204, visit the website www.concernedchristians.com. or call 480-833-2LDS. They have a worldwide ministry to ex-Mormons.
ó Lorraine M. Lee
Salisbury
Support Dayvault
On behalf of Ryan Dayvault, I would like to recommend to all of the voters of Kannapolis to vote for him in the November election for City Council.
Ryan graduated from A.L. Brown and Catawba College, with honors. He comes from a pioneer family of our area. Mr. J.W. Cannon bought sizable acreage of land from the family to begin Kannapolis.
He is proud of our city and would like to serve on the council in order to contribute his knowledge, experience and devotion to our city. His interest in growing Kannapolis for the future is uppermost in his mind. The current downturn in our economy makes it necessary to make the right decisions. His vision is needed to help us progress to a safe and economic future. It will be challenging. His youth contributes to a different view toward how decisions are made. I believe he is capable of making the right decisions.
I urge everyone to consider Ryan as one of our next councilmen. Some change is needed in the makeup of our current council.
ó Norris Dearmon
Kannapolis
Election letters
Letters endorsing candidates in the Nov. 8 election must be received in the Salisbury Post newsroom by 5 p.m., Oct. 31.