We are writing to express our sympathy and convey our prayers for the family of Steven Tanksley of Salisbury, who drowned at the Bullhole last Saturday while trying to do a good deed. Even more tragic, his wife and children witnessed this sad event.
In response to 911 calls, members of area emergency crews worked for six very difficult hours to save all those who had ventured into the raging river. They risked their lives to do so. Members of these emergency crews from Davie and Rowan Counties showed amazing cooperation and coordination. We all owe a debt to the EMS of Davie and Rowan Counties , the volunteer fire departments of Woodleaf, Cleveland, Millers Ferry, Ellis Crossroads and Cooleemee, AirCare from Lexington, the Davie County Sheriff’s Office and the Cooleemee Police Department. Also hard at work was RiverPark Manager Jimmy DeCess.
The South Yadkin River is a blessing of nature bequeathed to us by our Maker. Nature is a life-source that we cannot do without, providing sustenance and beauty. Yet, this tragedy reminds all of us that nature should always evoke a healthy fear for its dangers.
Please pray for the Tanksley family. Cooleemee asks that all area churches place them on their prayer lists during their time of great loss.
— Lynn Rumley and Daphne Beck

Lynn Rumley is mayor of Cooleemee, and Daphne Beck is president of RiverPark.

Wow! A huge thumbs up to the Salisbury Post. Page 3B in Thursday’s (July 4) issue was:
Wonderful.

The page’s centerpiece was “In God we trust” in 2-inch high letters, surrounded by quotes from our founding fathers and others using their freedom of speech to explain why God and the Bible are important to our nation’s foundation and future.
No matter where we worship or what name we use in our worship, it’s still God to whom we pray. He holds the calendar of our lives, with the good times, the bad times and even the time of our death on it. He shares our nation’s triumphs and its great sorrows, but Americans seem to have banished him from school prayer, meetings and other times when he’s needed the most to guide our everyday lives.
America is powerful, proud and spirited but is guided by the hand of the Lord, and we need to acknowledge that fact every day, not just when tragedy strikes us.
Everyone needed to read this page because this is the foundation on which our nation stands, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all, in his name.
My favorite quote is the one under Scripture: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the lord.”
That says it all!

My only negative comment about this page? It should have been page 1A.
— Christine A. Granniss

Cleveland

Editor’s note: The page was a paid advertisement sponsored by Hobby Lobby.