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“I have left off crying, and giggling as well. Now make up your mind. I don’t care anything for all this talk. You told me what your price for the job was and I have come up with it. Here is the money. I aim to get Tom Chaney and if you are not game I will find somebody who is game. All I have heard out of you so far is talk. I know you can drink whiskey and I have seen you kill a gray rat. All the rest has been talk. They told me you had grit and that is why I came to you. I am not paying for talk. I can get all the talk I need and more at the Monarch boardinghouse.â€
— Mattie Ross to Rooster Cogburn in “True Gritâ€
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In today’s entitlement-oriented American culture where many citizens exemplify a herd mentality, with a child-like expectation that someone must take care of them, while leading lives with a neurotic level of fear of anything and everything, the nearby Town of Canton is a refreshing throwback to a time when rugged individualism and “true grit†were qualities that were practiced and admired.
Canton had an even rougher 2021 than many other localities in the U.S. as it — in addition to suffering through yet another year of the COVID-19 pandemic — was swamped by a vicious flood from Tropical Storm Fred last August, inundating Canton, Cruso, Bethel and Lake Logan, and resulting in at least six confirmed fatalaties.
Yet, instead of sinking into despair, Canton’s leaders and residents — which always seems to happen in this amazingly spunky, high-spirited town — are springing back and resolving to rebuild. Besides the general disruption from the flooding in and around Canton, even the Pisgah Memorial football field remains damaged to this day.
Showing “true grit,†Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers recently told Asheville television station WLOS (News 13) that, in 2022, he expects full recovery and victory for the town. “We still don’t have a town hall, police department, fire department, a permanent place to call home.†The TV station added in its Jan. 3 report, “Smathers says — with the grit and grace Canton is known for — his town will survive and thrive again.â€
Sounding more presidential than the president, “paper town’s†mayor told News 13, “The belief in each other and what we can do together, that’s going to get us into next year and I truly, truly believe that ’22 is going to be a great year for Haywood County.â€
Again, we salute Smathers and his Cantonites for their ‘true grit.†We also expect them to rebuild in time to be able to mark the project’s finish at the 100th anniversary of the “Haywood County clash:†the Canton versus Waynesville high school football game in October.
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