LTE: North Carolina students grateful for Thomaston hospitality

Dear Editor,

We were strangers and you took us in. The students and staff of Macon Early College in Franklin, North Carolina would like to express our heartfelt appreciation for the overwhelming hospitality shown to us by the town of Thomaston during our visit last week.  Our students were participating in a Civil Rights tour of the area that included stops in Monroeville and Selma along with a visit to Amelia Love Johnson High School.

Thomaston Baptist Church allowed our group of 40 plus students and staff members to use their Fellowship Hall during our two day stay, providing both food and lodging to our entire group. Their hospitality was overwhelming. The final stop on our trip was Amelia Love Johnson High School. Our goal for the school visit was to gain a deeper understanding of the Civil Rights movement through the personal stories of some who lived through and participated in it. As our group stepped off the bus at ALJ, we were greeted by students holding a huge welcome banner and by cheerleaders hailing our arrival. To say that we were overwhelmed is an understatement.

A special thank you to Superintendent Luther Hallmark and the Marengo County Board of Education for allowing us to visit, to ALJ Principal William Martin and Social Studies teacher Para Davis for helping coordinate the day’s activities, to the lunchroom staff for working overtime to provide lunch to our students, to Dr. Arnelya Cade for purchasing that lunch for our entire group, to the panel members who shared stories, and to the students and staff of ALJ who truly made us welcome. We were even provided access to free housing for our chaperones thanks to the generosity of Hale Smith and Gary Wolfe. For the efforts of these and many others, we cannot thank you enough.

With deep and sincere appreciation,

Gary Brown (Social Studies Teacher, Macon Early College, Franklin, NC)