We have smatterings of rural cultural and educational programs all across rural Virginia. They provide unique opportunities for young people and families to get in touch with the soil--to find a meaning in life that the plastic, digital age does not give them.
We need to develop a coordinated effort using public and private partnerships to strengthen those programs. It will mean economic development for rural areas. It will help bridge the divide between urban, suburban, and rural families.
And it will transform lives.
I do not have a detailed, 21 Point Action Plan formulated to get this done. I have an idea and a willingness to work with others to get this job started. There are always problems in getting initiatives like this going. For this initiative there is the special problem of being able to put into words why it is so important for young people to get in touch with dirt, livestock, music, history, and art.
It would be profoundly immoral for those of us who have seen the transition that can be made by providing these opportunities to keep our light under a bushel.
There will be more on this to follow.
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