Like so many others, I saw an opinion piece published by roadsnacks.net. Not the New York Times, Charlotte Observer or Raleigh News & Observer. Not the North Carolina Department of Commerce or the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce.

No, it’s from roadsnacks.net, which is one of hundreds of thousands of websites out there.

I’ll save everyone the trouble of going there. Just know that roadsnacks specializes in “worst lists” nationwide, based on whatever criteria they see fit to use. They don’t use an even-handed set of criteria, either. No, they pick their own criteria, and every bit of it is negative. If a town has positive qualities, they don’t look at those. They don’t care.

I have a few things to tell you, roadsnacks.net.

First, I know we have a lot of work to do around here. We are well aware of that and we’re on it. There isn’t a day that goes by that we do not wish and work for more jobs and higher wages.

In the meantime, I am proud that more than 40,000 children visited Discovery Place Kids here last year. I am proud of the National Railroad Museum and the Rankin Museum of American Heritage. I am proud that our library’s summer reading program was so large and successful that they had to move to Cole Auditorium to find enough room. Did you look at that, roadsnacks?

You may want to watch some of our children at the Richmond Community Theatre in a couple of weeks. They’re learning about art and about stage productions. You know we have one of North Carolina’s longest-running community theaters, right, roadsnacks? And if you miss that performance, maybe you will want to check out one of our Plaza Jams. We host outstanding bands the first Thursday of every month. Free.

Did you look at Richmond Community College, roadsnacks? No, that’s right. You don’t care because it is a positive thing. Richmond Community College is committed to educating the community and has grown admissions steadily over the last several years. Other community colleges have not. And RCC’s president, who was born and bred here, has rolled out many new programs that will pay graduates well above minimum wage. He understands that RCC can be a force for progress.

RCC even has an early college program dedicated to helping our young students get free college classes before age 18. Want to finish a two-year college degree by the end of your senior year of high school? You can do that here. And do I need to mention the outstanding Dewitt Performing Arts series, too? RCC is beginning to move the needle. Did you look at that, roadsnacks?

I am proud of the sports programs for our youngsters and the lessons they learn on the field about practice and teamwork. Our athletes are some of the best in North Carolina. I am proud of Rockingham Middle School’s chorus for winning a national competition at Disney World this spring. You heard that right: A national competition, at Disney. Bet you didn’t know our children and their teachers have that kind of talent, did you, roadsnacks?

I love going to Hinson Lake and to Hitchcock Creek. Did you know that Hitchcock Creek has been recognized nationally by American Rivers as a model project? If I were a river rat, I would love the Pee Dee and the new recreational opportunities on the Diggs Tract down in Cordova. I’m proud that our local Mangum Track Club has become an East Coast phenomenon. World-class runners show up to run in the Hinson Lake 24-hour run each September.

Yes, world-class runners who compete in Europe against the best endurance runners on the planet come to Hinson Lake. Did you know that, roadsnacks?

I love that our pharmacists, dentists and physicians know our names. So do our electricians, our plumbers and the folks who keep our heat and air working. I love that FirstHealth hosts an annual wellness screening for our citizens every fall.

And by the way, did you know that U.S. News and World report named the FirstHealth network as one of the best hospitals in North Carolina? How many towns our size can boast about being part of one of the state’s best hospital networks, roadsnacks? I trust U.S. News and World Report when they say that. They’ve spent decades learning how to measure and rank things. If I remember, roadsnacks, you’ve just started measuring and ranking things.

I love seeing friends every time I go shopping. I love the way we rally around high school football each fall. I love the way our children can go to as many Bible schools as they wish and have friends at every single one.

I hope you know that small towns are all about friends and relatives, roadsnacks. We have a lot of friends and relatives around here, and we like that. Our area has many, many good, caring people.

And when those friends and relatives pass away (and we have lost too many of them lately), did you know that the police and deputies still stop traffic out of respect for the family? I bet you didn’t, roadsnacks.

I can keep going, roadsnacks, but I think you get the point. So why don’t you cruise over to a favorite Web page of mine, jmacphoto.com, and look at some of Jimmy McDonald’s photos highlighting the beauty of this area? It might take you a while. There are a lot of photos. And we have a lot of beautiful places here when you stop long enough to see them.

The last couple of decades have been hard on us and hard on our citizens, roadsnacks. We get that. But I’ve learned the most important thing isn’t where you have been or where you are now. No, the most important thing is where you are going next.

You don’t have to come visit us, roadsnacks. In fact, we wish you would just stay home. We don’t have time for you right now. Not while we are working hard to become better.

John Hutchinson is a Rockingham City Council member, mayor pro-tem and local businessman who serves on the Rockingham Downtown Corp.

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John Hutchinson

Contributing Columnist