Recent days: both difficult and inspiring

As Charlie Crow says in his blog posted today, it has been the Golden Rule in effect all around Rector with friends and neighbors lending helping hands in countless ways.

The community hopes to have a spring banquet this year to recognize all those who helped so much and just to celebrate the way in which everyone worked together. One of the greatest things was the way so many young people stepped up to volunteer at the community center and all around the town.

I'll add other information as we go along as to what happened, but it has been an inspiring scene amidst all the devastation.

One of the most common viewpoints around town is the tremendous response of Entergy crews and other electrical workers contracted by the company. I feel safe in saying that, when the damage was first observed, there was no one who thought the power would come back on this quickly. They did magnificent work in difficult circumstances.

At this point, at least 90 percent of the community has power and the rest should be online shortly.

The situation is very difficult for those in the more rural areas as Clay County Electric continues to work to restore power. Unbelievably, more than 15,000 utility poles were downed in Clay County Electric's service area.

The community thanks all those who helped, including the National Guard, county and state officials and many others. Special thanks go to Harps Foods and the Rector School District for supplying a lot of the food at the disaster shelter.

There are numerous photos on the website which show the effects of the ice and also the response of the community. The photos were taken by Nancy Kemp, Ryan Rogers and Brad Holland.

I'll share more information on the storm and its aftermath as we move along.

Meanwhile, life begins to return to normal and the community has the opportunity the enjoy junior and senior high basketball games on Saturday afternoon. I believe the games start at 3. We will check and let everyone know the exact time.