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I’ve heard everyone under the sun grumble about Cumberland County for one reason or another. They’re upset because taxes are too high, they’re upset businesses aren’t knocking down the door. Pick something and you’ll find a person to complain about it (although that could probably be said for anywhere. I swear, people just love to whine). 

But my question is why aren’t we celebrating the good things? Look at the story in the Herald about crime. I’m gonna lift this paragraph from the story itself. I think it tells the tale better than I could. 

“During 2022, the crime numbers stayed low in Cumberland County. There were no murders, kidnappings, rapes or similar crimes. You can also count on one hand the number of burglaries and counterfeit situations the sheriff’s department responded to. That’s a reverse from the overall trend in Virginia. And the numbers are lower, dramatically so in some cases, than in neighboring Buckingham and Prince Edward counties.” 

Crime is low. The numbers are lower than our neighbors, who aren’t doing too bad themselves. Why aren’t we talking that up? Hey, come to Cumberland, we’ve got a great sheriff’s department and low crime as a result of their hard work. 

And what about our schools? Our sports teams are doing well, our theatre group picked up an international award this year, our superintendent got a regional award for his work and, not to be rude about it, but our schools don’t struggle to be accredited. All of them are, with no conditions. Don’t you think parents want to hear that, when considering a place to live? Hey, if you move here, you’re coming to a district that keeps winning awards on the local, regional, state and international level. You don’t think that’ll influence someone, when they’re making a decision? 

All I’m saying is that we residents need to be talking up all of this stuff. Instead of just focusing on the bad, how about we take time to actually celebrate the good? 

Dennis Deems
Cumberland