Sometimes that disconnect is hard. As small community journalists we meet our subjects who we eventually realize are our neighbors. So covering them we will have some sort of an emotional connection.
Sunday, during the intermission portion of the Taste of Talent, I knew there was going to be a presentation given to honor the life's work of Ronnie Beith who sat unknowing this was about to happen. When she realized what was happening, her face became so beautifully moved that I too stood there with tears in my eyes listening to the praise lauded on this most deserving and humble neighbor to all of us.
Mayor Doug White even declared it Ronnie Beith Day.
Always.
She and her late husband Bill looked at the city of Franklin as a blank canvas awaiting a masterpiece. And that's what these true artists of hometown small community/big mind visionaries worked hard to do - create a masterpiece.
Now Ronnie is going to call me later and assure me that it isn't just her and Bill, that it takes a lot of people to pull off seamless events... and she is correct. But it is also true that a talented choreographer, a smart coach or a champion of people is needed to corral all the pieces together and make everything a success.
That is Ronnie Beith through and through.
She tirelessly works and even when she wasn't allowed to work during the pandemic, she just quietly and nonchalantly made sure things did not get lost or forgotten.
So when I caught wind she was going to be honored at the Taste of Talent finals, I changed my plans in order to be a witness.
And her hand is most certainly in this masterpiece of Franklin, Pennsylvania.