To my nearly 2400 friends on Facebook , Since I have been on Facebook I have never posted anything controversial , religious, political, or even negative. I only use it to stay in touch with friends and family and to occasionally post positive things going on in our city and county. However, today I feel the need to post something very much out of my norm.
Marsha and I started our small business August 1995 (21 years ago) in a small rented farmhouse a few miles out RT 32. We started with very little resources, but determination, hard work, and support from Family, Friends, and God delivered success and thus has supported our family for the last 21 years. We later moved to town in a larger facility and was fortunate enough to purchase our little place in 2001.
As many of you know there has been a lot of changes to the road system close to our location. I have been very concerned since this started. The state made statements like, 90% of the traffic will be gone off of your road. The red lights at our intersection will be gone. Turning lanes will be gone. A new turning lane built within a couple feet of our property (according to them) which takes all the traffic a new direction. When expressing my concerns to the powers to be I was always told.. but your business is established, they know where you are, you do business by phone etc, etc, I have been very concerned all along that this could be detrimental to our small family business but always reassured it would be fine. They didn’t need any of our property they would just stay a couple feet away., They saw no need to acquire our property so we could just move to a new location.. it would all be fine.
Well today, after the turning lanes being taken out, the red lights flashing just to be removed in 2 weeks they also feel it necessary to put this barricade across our road.(pic attached). Also note you cannot access us from the new road. For those people who know us you know how hard we have worked through out the years on this business. We have spent nights , weekends, holidays, etc.. both preparing our shop with displays and doing fresh flowers for our communities funerals, weddings, etc. I feel I have been a public servant in some fashion since a teenager and I can tell you today I’ve never felt so defeated and let down.
A feeling of being “DONE IN” by your own government and no one cares. Small businesses are disappearing from our region as it is. We all struggle at times to exist and any unnecessary damage like this is just ridiculous. This is our most important time of the year. Couldn’t be worse timing. I know we’re probably not the only ones, some other businesses’ on the road to Wal-Mart and probably Wal-Mart itself has been affected but, the difference is ours on 32 is permanent. While their road will eventually be done and really help them ours is totally opposite. With that being said even thought it looks and says closed.. YOU CAN GO AROUND THE BARRELS AND GET TO US. Please help us spread the word… again this is our biggest time of the year.
At last I would like to say it takes me back to when my grandfather Edgal Jordan was living. He had worked his whole life building a poultry business, farming ,raised his family and paid for his farm, then one day a white car with government tags stopped and said.. were gonna be taking some of your farm , and taking easement on more of it , in other words you still keep it and pay taxes on it but you won’t be able to freely use it for farming practices that you have been accustom to. We need to build a lake. Papaw, (in heaven) I now know how you felt and theres nothing else like it. #FeelingDoneIn, #BigGovStepsOnLittleMan
