6 minute read
The ‘Sap is Risin’ and a life well lived
Editor’s note: Long-time principal and community leader Charles Starnes passed away on Saturday, Feb. 27.
BY RANDY SISKE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Our “Breakfast Club” started eating together in 2006 just because we went to the same place, The Smoky Mountain Café, at the same time. That restaurant closed so we all decided to go to Duval’s. It closed so we started going to Clyde’s. We would occasionally visit other restaurants, but we always returned to the corner table at Clyde’s. There was Charles of course, Paul George a former coach and teacher at Tuscola, Cecil “Zeke” Yount, a former “PreCharles” student of Tuscola, Richard “Dick” Sheetz a transplant and incorrigible Yankee, myself, a Tuscola Class of ‘83 student, and a handful of regular visitors. There were stories, teaching moments, entertainment and plenty of good-hearted ribbing by all involved. Charles always gave as well as he received.
Charles would usually arrive before the establishment would open and reserve our usual seat. If someone did beat us to “our” table, Charles would not ask them to leave, but he would let them know that it was his table. Usually, by the end of their breakfast they would be cutting up and joking with him like they were old friends. Charles was an ambassador for Waynesville, Haywood County and all of Western North Carolina. He helped start and establish Folkmoot, sat on many community boards, service groups and even ran for the state legislature.
I can’t count how many times a former student would come up to our “Breakfast Club” and start sharing their memories of Mr. Starnes with Mr. Starnes. Most of the time they would mention the “Sap is Rising” speech and they always had a smile on their face when doing so. One of those former students was John Sisk, who is currently the head strength coach for Georgia State football after seven years at Georgia Tech and 10 seasons at Vanderbilt. He actually thanked Mr. Starnes for his “Sap is Rising” speech because he had been plagiarizing it for years with his students.
Several years ago, before we knew how COVID-19 would disrupt our lives, Charles asked me to speak at his funeral.
Specifically, he wanted me to recite his “Sap is Rising” speech which he was famous for. We the students didn’t know exactly when it would happen, but after a few words, we knew immediately what this lecture was about. Every March as the weather got warmer and daydreaming became an obvious issue, Charles would do his morning announcements and then, with a slightly louder voice and parental tone, “Now students ….” The upperclassmen knew what was to follow.
While at the Haywood County Library, I came across a collection of Haywood County’s senior yearbooks. I apologize for not remembering which class it was, but one of the classes from the late ‘80’s had the foresight to document this cherished memory. Different classes had different names for it: The “Sap is Rising” speech, “Senioritis” and “Charles Starnes’ annual epistle,” but no matter what it was called, after Mr. Starnes recited his spring time rite of passage, we knew how we were expected to act. On campus, at least.
Charles Starnes
“Students, it’s that time of year again! According to my observations around campus, the sap is rising. The bees are getting frisky and the trees are beginning to bloom. Now, in the spring of the year, when the sap starts rising, something happens in young boys and girls — they think they need to get closer and closer; they think instead of talking, they must touch. So, let me warn you to get your emotions under control. Remember there is a time and place for everything, and Tuscola is not the place for overly showing the emotion of love. So, although the sap is rising, we must control our bodies and expressions of love.”
I learned many things from and about Mr. Starnes since being in the “Breakfast Club.” Building a successful educational system requires the same things as just about any other business or team: passion, drive, commitment, staff recruitment, structure, tenacity and personal sacrifice.
Thank you Kim and Greg for sharing your Dad with thousands of other kids that needed him.
I will always cherish that period of my life, that school, that speech and Charles “Mr.” Starnes. (Randy Siske is retired from the Navy and lives in Waynesville.) Although I’m wondering how the polio and other vaccines came into existence without Mr. Trump, I’ll leave it at that. John T. Barrett Sylva
Getting vaccinated also helps others
To the Editor:
On behalf of the Haywood County Senior Democrats, I would like to express our profound gratitude to the Haywood County Department of Health and Human Services for coordinating and delivering our county’s allotment of Covid-19 vaccines. We are the generation that spent our childhood covered in red spots and eating ice cream due to swollen throats because we did not have vaccines for debilitating and potentially deadly viruses. My brothers and I were lucky that our elementary school was one of the test sites for the new polio vaccine in the mid 1950s.
Vaccines are invented to combat diseases that have no known or reliable treatments. That is why the smallpox epidemics, the 1917-1918 flu pandemic, were so deadly. As of now, nearly half a million Americans have died of Covid-19.
I know many people do not believe in vaccines and feel that they are harmful and cause future medical problems. These are extremely rare events and scientific research has proven that there is no linkage between vaccines and other medical conditions. Whether to vaccinate or not is a personal choice.
If you choose not to get the Covid-19 vaccine, consider these two things: • The US now has recorded three new mutant strains of the original Covid-19 virus that are much more contagious and deadly than the original one. Two of these strains are currently present and active in Florida and South Carolina and one has been found in Mecklenburg County, N.C. • The ripple effect, meaning that an unvaccinated person puts the entire community at risk. I was a nurse practitioner student at a county clinic outside of Houston, Texas, in the early 1990s when we experienced a measles epidemic. Businesses and schools had to close, over 100 people were hospitalized, nine people died, five were children. The consequences of going unvaccinated are not limited just to you.
I look forward to receiving my second Covid-19 shot because I would rather be safe than sorry. I also choose to protect my loved ones, my friends, and my community. The good news for us is that both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine will be protective against the new strains. We live in a county that has put forth a tremendous effort to vaccinate everyone in a timely manner. Thank you again for all that you do.
Janet Banks, PhD, PNP Maggie Valley
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