Let the banners hang.
That’s exactly what we think the Garland Board of Commissioners should do to honor the town’s high school seniors. It’s been a positive shout out to teens in several Sampson towns, including Garland, since Covid, and it’s one that should be allowed to continue.
Doing less makes absolutely no sense. It costs the town no money and it provides a positive vibe that the town of Garland desperately needs.
Given those facts, we are baffled the board didn’t give its permission last week when Helping Hands Change Makers President Sheila Smith approached board members about Project Graduation and an earlier decision not to approve the banners.
Smith was at the board meeting to get the green-light for this year’s project, and to clear up what she called misconceptions about the permissions needed — and the funding for — the banners.
Banners, which feature a high school senior’s photograph and their name, are placed on town utility poles every year just before graduation, celebrating young people for their academic success. It is a tradition that was started in 2020 by then-Mayor Winifred Murphy with the help of town volunteers, who raised money for the banners and coordinated the project. Because of the positive response from the community, the raising of the banners continued year after year until recently, when the town’s Board of Commissioners slammed the brakes on the worthwhile project.
Granted the brake-slamming happened under a somewhat different board, but it’s still surprising that current members didn’t see the need to take action, especially given that work on the project is already over a month behind. Since the board doesn’t meet again until April, it means a decision on the worthwhile endeavor will be delayed until it is possibly too late to accomplish the task.
We see the board’s indecisiveness as surprising and frustrating, especially given members were presented all the facts we believe they needed to green-light the project last week.
Smith provided commissioners a document, outlining previous years’ efforts, the fundraising that had taken place, and a copy of a letter from Mayor Austin Brown to parents regarding the banners, dated exactly one year before last week’s meeting.
Brown’s letter from March 4, 2024 states “very positive feedback” from members of the Garland community, while saying the town has “proudly established” the project as one of its annual events.
Another portion of Brown’s letter laid out the cost of the banners that would be displayed on utility poles throughout Garland — $100 for UHS seniors, $120 for students outside of the district, and $40 for an optional yard flag as well. “Parents may sponsor or obtain sponsors for their child(ren) to be included. General donations received from area businesses and individual supporters of the event help to keep costs as low as possible for those participating,” the mayor’s letter also outlined.
Smith also cleared up confusion over who actually green-lights the project — the town or Duke Energy, which owns the utility poles. Duke officials, she said, had referred her to the town for that permission.
Long-time board members Ralph Smith Jr., Jo Strickland and the mayor should have already known this, given the project has been ongoing now for several years, leaving us to wonder, again, why no decision was made.
The banners need to go up, the town needs to give its permission and if it takes a specially-called meeting to get them hung, then it should be done post-haste.
We urge the board to take a positive step and to do so with expediency.
Please hang the banners.