The world feels like a chaotic place right now, and Williamson is no exception. Folks in the area are doing their best to stay positive and look to the future. They’re also looking forward to getting out and doing the things they love once more.
Getting back to the simple things
For many, it’s the simple things they miss the most. “Gosh, I want to go to the movies!” says Donald Salmons, who works at one of the businesses at the South Side Mall. “Go shopping! Eat at local restaurants! Just appreciate my normal life more and stop taking the mundaneness of it all for granted!” Kel Barker, a local student at Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College, looks forward to the same things. “I look forward to playing Dungeons and Dragons and finally getting to visit my friends again!”
Chris Dotson, local coordinator for Williamson Forward, feels the same way. “When we’re able to move about freely again, I’m looking forward to getting together with friends and family. Sometimes we don’t realize how nice it is to be able to go out to eat or sit around with friends having coffee until we can’t do it easily anymore.” Chris is also ready to get back to meetings and events with the Tug Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Williamson Women’s Club, of which she is a member.
Vicky Evans, an instructor at Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College’s Williamson Campus, is looking forward to getting back in church. “I yearn for the fellowship and connection that actually, physically being at church gives me,” She says.
Debbie Carlin, the owner and instructor at Debbie’s Dance Studio, is dreaming of the day she can get back to classes with her students. “I continuously dream of the time the dance studio can get back to normal. We had just ordered recital costumes and the students were halfway through learning their recital dances for a June performance, and it seems like without warning, everything was taken away,” she says, “I miss the simple things, but the dance studio is what I miss the most.”
For some folks, it’s important to look on the bright side of the stay at home order. Pete Runyon, a member of the Friends of the Tug Fork River Facebook group, has been focusing on the positive while at home. “This is the first time I have really had an opportunity to fish and relax at home,” He says. “I actually went hunting for morel mushrooms on Sunday, and I’ve always wanted to do that. I didn’t find any, but at least I went.”