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Community focus on child care

Ephraim McDowell Health may be getting out of the business of child care, but it’s clear the larger Danville-Boyle County community is not.

A cross-section of leaders and everyday people from the area are tackling the impending need for child care — when A Children’s Place closes in August and 130 kids need somewhere else to go — from myriad angles. The response has been so broadly positive, action-oriented and comprehensive that we find it hard to believe Danville-Boyle County won’t be in a better position than it was after all is said and done.

A local, grassroots task force is looking for solutions wherever they might be found; the Economic Development Partnership is pursuing child-care-business leads like there’s no tomorrow; community members have volunteered to create and maintain an online spreadsheet of child care options so parents will have as little trouble as possible finding new ways to take care of their kids.

You can go to any town in the U.S. and hear people talk the talk about their community “stepping up” and helping when needs arise. But many of those communities might struggle when it came time to walk the walk. Here in Boyle County, we hit our stride when the chips are down. That’s unique, and it’s something to be proud of.

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Cleaning up Meadow Lane Cemetery

We’d like to say thank you in advance to the volunteers and Tri Delta sorority members who will be cleaning up the Meadow Lane Cemetery on Kilby Lane April 21.

It’s not the first time the historic African-American cemetery, which has graves dating back more than 230 years, will have been restored to good condition after having fallen into disrepair. But we hope it will be the last.

There are issues over who owns the land the cemetery is on and whether that ownership status precludes the City of Danville from providing regular mowing and maintenance to keep the cemetery in good shape. Even if there is some kind of legal problem that prevents the city from officially caring for the cemetery, there’s a possibility of trying for grant funding to keep it cleaned up.

In a place like Boyle County where history is such a big piece of our identity, economy and culture, we should be doing the right thing and keeping this historic land in pristine condition. Too often, African-American history doesn’t get the protection and reverence it deserves, though Danville is doing a better job through things like the Soul of Second Street Festival and the planned renaming of Batewood Park after Michael M. Smith.

We’d like to see Meadow Lane Cemetery become another good example of Danville valuing its African-American history.