By David Harwood, Blowing Rock
This past week brought me both the joy of new beginnings and the sorrow of final goodbyes. Within days, I celebrated the wedding of dear friends and mourned the passing of my mother. One moment was filled with hope, the other with loss. Together they reminded me that time is relentless, seasons shift, and none of us are promised permanence.
Blowing Rock is in a season of change. New people arrive, new money flows in, new buildings rise. To longtime residents, it can feel like watching a beloved home remodeled beyond recognition. To others, it looks like long-awaited progress. But the greater threat is not development but the unraveling of civility. Neighbors are treating one another less as members of the same small town and more as opponents to defeat. Too often, self-appointed watchdogs create drama instead of solutions, missing the chance to contribute meaningfully. Thoughtful debate is giving way to sharp attacks. The real danger to Blowing Rock is not what happens to its charm, but what happens to its community.
As Winston Churchill once observed, “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” Listening is often harder. It requires patience, humility, and recognition that the people we disagree with are also invested in the life of this town. If we can’t extend that recognition, then even the most beautiful village will feel divided.
And yet, examples of recognition and quiet excellence surround us. Our town staff demonstrate it every day. They manage our finances with care, deliver services with professionalism, protect us, and keep this community running with a level of competence that should make us proud. Nowhere in North Carolina is there a municipality better at providing the essentials of daily life. Honest, informed criticism is healthy for any community. But when staff are criticized from a distance—without regard for the facts or the work they do—it does not strengthen us; it weakens the very institutions that hold us together.
Growth will continue, because towns, like people, cannot stand still. The challenge is not whether we grow, but how. “Smart growth” is more than a phrase—it’s a commitment to balancing development with preservation and prosperity with character. In practice, that means protecting our architectural scale and mountain vernacular and ensuring infrastructure and essential services keep pace with demand. It’s a recognition that planning, land use ordinances, and public engagement are in place to ensure our future remains consistent with our goals and values.
What we need most right now is not more division, but greater commitment to one another. Let’s disagree without disparaging. Let’s question without condemning. Let’s protect our town’s unique charm while also protecting our shared sense of community. The death of civility will do more damage to Blowing Rock than any hotel, condominium, or shopping center ever could. Let’s not allow that to be our legacy.
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