I was ashamed.
For once, I am ashamed to be a part of Hampton County.
Monday night, Hampton County had the opportunity to take another step closer to doing something so wonderful for our community that I can't even wrap my mind around it.
I can't even come close to fully imagining how many lives and generations could be uplifted by this project, to be funded by a single penny.
Monday night was scheduled to be the second reading of a one cent Capital Projects Sales Tax ordinance that could improve our local health department, recreation and libraries and even make our jails more secure.
In June, our Watermelon Festival highlighted just how important recreation is to our community, our youth, our future. I said it in an editorial then and I'm saying it again, we need a county-owned recreation complex to bring our children together, give them even more opportunities, and perhaps even boost our local economy.
All of the good things in life were wrapped up right there at our fingertips in this referendum package: better healthcare for our elderly and underprivileged, recreation for our kids, and free literacy for everyone. But it may all be over for now.
Once again, Hampton County folks can't come together at the right place at the right time with the right frame of mind to get something accomplished. That's been the story of Hampton County. That's been our story for far too long.
Our citizens learned a sad lesson Monday night. Our local leaders encourage folks to get involved, come to council meetings, and be a part of the process.
And yet when they come out in force, you tell them it's too late. Too much work has already gone into this to change course now.
And that's not even the worst part. There in the audience, crammed into council chambers, down the hall of the Ben Tillman DeLoach Building, and even outside in the parking lot, were scores of children, anxiously waiting for a decision that would affect their children, their grandchildren.
Unfortunately, they, too, learned something Monday night. Don't get involved in your community, it won't do any good. And your community just doesn't really care about you, after all.
It's time to change the way we do things here in Hampton County and get our priorities straight, or we will never be anything but a backwoods embarrassment that young people will want to leave as soon as they finish high school.
Maybe there's still time. That depends on Hampton County Council. The clock is ticking to get this on the November ballot.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Hampton County needs a county-owned recreation complex. Children from Hampton, and Varnville, and Yemassee, and Estill, and Brunson, all need to come together on that field of dreams. That field may be the start of an even bigger dream for Hampton County.
If we build this complex, maybe we won't need that jail. Maybe, just maybe, one day our young people will want to stay in Hampton County, raise their families, and soon others will want to come and bring jobs and even more opportunities.
We need a county recreation complex. We need to work together.
And I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Hampton County needs to put its children first.