Letter to the Editor

People like Virgil Butts are almost extinct

Sunday, June 5, 2016

To the editor:

After reading last week of the passing of Virgil Butts, an icon of Clay county, it brought me to the realization in today's society the type of individual he embodied is almost extinct.

As many readers can attest, Clay County had giants of our small town who we all remember. Many have passed on, a few are still here. If you fished, hunted or played sports, LT. Clark was your guy. If you rode a motorcycle, you knew Gayle Hughes. Papa Joe Thomas was a loved teacher and the ice cream guy. Sheriff Wayne Lucas was tough but fair, "pour it out and go home and I won't tell your dad, this time." If you farmed it was Don Girton or Harold Hofmann (my dad). There are many more.

What's sad is that these giants have been replaced by faceless corporations and banks that are owned by people we never know. Everything thing is done online and so impersonal.

We trusted these people as we grew, and I will forever remember the influence they had my life. For the few of these people who are still with us, thank you, you have left a mark on our town that will last forever.

Ken Hofmann - Brazil