To the Editor:
The quality of our lives is most affected by local government. It provides directly and indirectly services important to one’s pursuit of happiness such as schools, water supply, waste management, street maintenance, planning and zoning, traffic control, parks, recreation, open space, sidewalks, pedestrian ways, public transit, and all that is near and dear.
At one time election forums drew large crowds as for the Lincoln/Douglas debates. My great-uncle Russell Conwell was a renowned orator in that era, delivering a lecture entitled “Acres of Diamonds” more than 6,000 times. He raised $7 million all donated in scholarships to needy students, mostly at Temple University which he founded. The lecture begins with a story of a farmer in India who sold his farm in order to search for diamonds. He exhausted his resources in the search and died while back at his farm the new owner discovered acres of diamonds. The moral of the story developed by many well-told stories and illustrations that our “acres of diamonds” of opportunity is where we live.
Conwell’s lecture concludes: “Let every man or woman here, if you never hear me again, remember this, that if you wish to be great, you must begin where you are, now. He who can give to his city any blessing, he who can be a good citizen while he lives here, he who can make better homes, he who can be a blessing whether he works in the shop or sits behind the counter or keeps house, whatever be his life, he who would be great anywhere must first be great in his own community. Right here. Right now.”
Our city is blessed with an extraordinary history well worth preservation, while keeping that wonderful sense of community that has been Alexandria. Let’s choose our local candidates on their judgment and abilities to preserve and maintain the quality of life in our city.
Carlyle Conwell “Connie” Ring, Jr.
Former School Board member (1969-1978)
Former City Councilman (1979-1988)
Former Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority member (1999-2011)