Beech Tree News Network

I’ve been a resident of Morgantown and Butler County for over 30 years and my roots go pretty deep. My late husband and I have lived and worked here, raised our children here, and have a tombstone here. I see so many things about our town that I like; but, I also see a few things that I don’t like.

A few things about Morgantown and Butler County that I like are randomly listed below:

1. Honor and respect for God and our country are common here. We respect God’s Word and have been taught Biblical values. We also enjoy showing our patriotism and honoring the men and women in our military branches. I am thankful for these attitudes.

2. Our county is blessed with natural beauty. We have rolling hills and the Green River flowing through the landscape. The foliage is beautiful, and wildlife is plentiful.

3. The people are “good folks.” Generally, people here are honest and straight-forward. I like being able to accept people at face value.

4. We have business and industrial leaders who want to be in Butler County and who are providing jobs for our people.

5. Our Emergency Medical Service, our city police, our county sheriff’s department, and the volunteer fire departments provide excellent service, 24/7.

6. Our local school system employs many who care whether children learn. These people are from Butler County and surrounding counties. I am thankful that the majority of these educators and support personnel care about our children.

7. The city park provides great opportunities for family fun.

8. The public library provides excellent services. I particularly like the children’s summer programs.

9. Driving time to just about anywhere in our county is minimal. We only have some degree of driving congestion around the schools’ opening and closing times.

10. Our locals live in various small communities; but when asked, we generally say we’re from Butler County. I believe this shows our sense of cohesiveness, our roots. I like this attitude.

As we all know, nothing’s perfect. Sometimes we see things that we’d like to change. Some of the things that I don’t like about our city and county are:

1. We need more job opportunities: many of our residents are unemployed.

2. Litter on the sides of our roadways is too common. Littering shows a lack of pride in our city and county and maybe a lack of concern for our environment.

3. Too many of our young adults don’t continue their education after high school. Our children are smart and, with training, would be better able to compete for good jobs.

If we compared what we like or don’t like about our hometown, I’m sure each list would look a little different. But, my ‘like’ list far outweighs my ‘dislike’ list. As my late husband and I have often said, Butler County has been good to our family. It’s home – by choice.