EDITORIAL -- FEATURE SPOT, Editorials, Opinion
 By  Staff Reports Published 
3:25 pm Thursday, June 23, 2022

In praise of patriotism

With summer in full swing, we are also firmly in the middle of the most patriotic time of the year.

Memorial Day and Flag Day are barely in the rearview, and Independence Day is looming large on the horizon.

If you haven’t unfurled your flag, strung up the bunting or purchased fireworks yet – well, now is the time! We are loving seeing the county draped in red, white and blue.

Amidst the pool parties and cookouts, lake days and camping trips, we hope you’ll also make time to take pride in our country and honor everything it has taken to bring us to this point.

Does our country have problems? Undoubtedly. No matter where you stand on divisive topics from the economy to poverty to the environment and beyond, the U.S. has certainly not reached the very pinnacle of what it could hope to be someday.

What is also undoubtedly true, however, is that we live in a great country, filled with blessings and assets that people in many countries can only dream of. Despite the negatives, we have so many positives we can be proud of.

Even as we deal with problems like illiteracy, food insecurity, crime, hate, inflation, broken homes and more – let’s be honest with ourselves, we do have problems – we also see the innumerable benefits of living in the great U.S. of A. We have amazing freedoms, amazing opportunities, amazing prosperity.

O beautiful for spacious skies. For amber waves of grain. For purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain. America! America! God shed his grace on thee!

Splendid words, for a splendid country.

Let’s not forget to embrace a patriotic spirit this summer.

Also on Franklin County Times
Educators update states of their schools
Main, News, Russellville, ...
María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
November 19, 2025
RUSSELLVILLE — Local educators and community members gathered Thursday at Tharptown High School for the seventh annual State of the Schools program. T...
Dowdy guilty in dog mauling deaths
Main, News, Russellville, ...
By Brady Petree For the FCT 
November 19, 2025
RUSSELLVILLE — A Franklin County jury found Brandy Dowdy guilty of one count of manslaughter and one count of criminally negligent homicide after more...
Youth sports policy aims at bad conduct
Main, News, Red Bay, ...
By Brady Petree For the FCT 
November 19, 2025
RED BAY — Over the course of his 14 years coaching youth league sports, Torrey Lewey has noticed a plethora of changes, one of which includes a tenden...
West sings national anthem for Special Olympics
News, Russellville, Russellville Golden Tigers
María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
November 19, 2025
RUSSELLVILLE — Russellville High School senior Elijah West sang the national anthem at this year’s Special Olympics, marking his second time to perfor...
Garden club learns about poppy symbolism
Columnists, Opinion
HERE AND NOW
November 19, 2025
We began our November Cultura Garden Club meeting with a hands-on rock-painting activity led by muralist Ree Shannon of aRo Art & Design Concepts. Ree...
Electricity prices are soaring, and coal is a key solution
Columnists, Opinion
November 19, 2025
Electricity bills are climbing almost everywhere, and the reasons have little to do with ideology. Three forces are driving prices higher: massive new...
PCHS opens with 3 wins
High School Sports, Phil Campbell Bobcats, Sports
Bart Moss For the FCT 
November 19, 2025
The Phil Campbell Bobcats reeled of three straight basketball wins to open the season, beating Tharptown, Winston County and Cherokee. The Bobcats ope...
Young Lady Tigers still in building stage
High School Sports, Red Bay Tigers, Sports
By Brady Petree For the FCT 
November 19, 2025
While most coaches have their hands full managing one team, John Torisky once again returns to coach the Lady Tigers as well — giving him twice the am...

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *