Today it’s my honor to introduce to you Steve Darden.  I can’t remember how I met Steve, but I expect it was through his brother, Bill.  Bill and I were in the same graduating class at Science Hill High School.  Steve and his family are my neighbors, and I often see them as they walk about the neighborhood.  He and his wife of 30 years, Anne, have 2 adult children. Steve is a member of the Rotary Club of Johnson City and often visits my Club, the Johnson City Morning Rotary Club. Steve is an attorney, a listed mediator, and small business owner and is running for Congress from the First Congressional District of Tennessee.  As a former Mayor of Johnson City, Steve is particularly well-suited for that position and he will certainly serve with great significance. I was honored when he accepted my invitation to be today’s guest blogger. Steve, thank you for taking time out of your demanding schedule to pen this blog!

Let’s read what Steve Darden says about some recent events in our country.

I am in awe of our nation’s founders.  Their intellect and courage were amazing, and they entrusted later generations with our system of government, which has proven to be the best in world history. They also protected many precious rights that we sometimes take for granted, including such Constitutional rights as the right to FREE SPEECH, the right to WORSHIP as we choose, the right to KEEP AND BEAR ARMS and the right to be protected from UNLAWFUL SEARCH AND SEIZURE to name a few. The most fundamental of these are found in the BILL OF RIGHTS, or the first 10 Amendments. 

Hamilton: An American Musical brilliantly tells the story of the American Revolution through the biography of Alexander Hamilton, which was written by Ron Chernow.  It also depicts the “revolutionary” decision on George Washington’s part to step down as President after two terms rather than dying in office like the European Kings.  In a unique way, the stage adaptation of Chernow’s book has introduced (or reintroduced) many Americans to the amazing history of our nation’s founding, the War for American Independence, and the early years of our Republic.

A couple of weeks ago, the original cast members of Hamilton performed the title track via Zoom on a program hosted by John Krasinski called SGN (Some Good News).  They did so mainly to cheer up one of Hamilton’s young fans.  In case you haven’t seen it, you may do so by using the following link: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cqvVL8IurMw&t=25s.  Zoom and similar platforms have helped many of us maintain a degree of normalcy while we practice social distancing.  Hopefully we will all have “some good news” and perhaps even fond memories of how we continued to conduct business or stayed connected with friends and family through Zoom or similar video platforms during the COVID-19 crisis of 2020.

Some unexpected, positive developments have occurred.  A physician friend who treats those who suffer from addiction told me that because of social distancing, it became necessary to conduct counselling sessions via Zoom.  The sessions were so successful, because of the benefit of seeing the patient in the setting of their home, that he believes future treatment options may include more telemedicine than existed pre-COVID-19.

There are also early indications that new ways of doing business will emerge too, in agriculture (where the farm to table movement will continue to develop, which is good news for area farmers) and other sectors.  The extreme measures that have been adopted to “flatten the COVID-19 curve” will likely relax soon as we gradually approach a return to normal life.  Whether in business, medicine, wellness or development of systems to detect and contain future viruses, let’s hope that we learn lessons that will make us safer and better neighbors, Tennesseans and Americans in the future.   

Copyright, April 20, 2020, Steve Darden and Rebecca Henderson

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