Three remembered for community contributions
I suppose every town worth its salt has them: men and women who make things happen, who make a difference, who make life better, if not for all, then for many.
They are, in a sense, indispensable. Without them, community life is poorer, not nearly as robust or meaningful.
Uniontown has had its share of individuals throughout the years who have quickened the pulse of the community. I can think of three or four I’ve known myself. In fact, we just lost one: the great Charmaine Sampson, who died early this month.
I’ll come back to Charmaine in a second.
The idea of indispensibility is entirely subjective, of course. It’s a hard thing to measure, let alone prove.
It’s largely the case that outside the family circle we are mostly replaceable. The bigger the community (and the pool of talent) the less one individual means in the overall scheme of things.
Nations rarely find the loss or absence of one person so crippling that it’s impossible to carry on.
John Kennedy’s death was unbearable. But it yielded Lyndon Johnson and a remarkable period of domestic accomplishment. Scott Fitzgerald died, but then we got John Updike. Joe DiMaggio closed his career, Hank Aaron began his. Valentino gave way to Clark Gable, David Letterman followed Johnny Carson.
(Just the same, it’s easy enough to make the counter-argument. Several instances leap to mind. If FDR had died at the hands of an assassin in Miami in 1932, he would have been replaced by the uninspiring vice president-elect, John Nance Garner. The loss of Abraham Lincoln yielded no comparable replacement. There will never be another Sinatra.)
The absence of one individual in New York City hardly makes a ripple. Put that person in the context of a town the size of Uniontown, and the cause and effect can be dramatic.
Here’s one example. Brent Hawkins left Uniontown for Connecticut years ago. The community has not been the same since.
Brent was a runner. One snowy night hanging out at a local watering hole he and his buddy Don Norman challenged one another to run from Hopwood to the top of Summit Mountain. It was the first Summit Challenge, a grueling affair now staged every spring.
That’s what Brent did. He organized things, and in the spirit of having a good time, he galvanized others.
From all accounts, he’s doing the same thing in Connecticut, fusing fun and function, to raise money for charity and overseeing the recreation program in Litchfield.
Connecticut’s gain was Uniontown’s loss.
Brent was a buddy of mine; Ron Nehls was, too, so maybe I’m biased.
Ron has been gone eight years now; his death was an unexpected blow.
Ron had the most unaffected love for Uniontown of anyone I’ve ever known. He demonstrated that love through deeds, not just talk.
In the late 1980s, it looked as though State Theatre might be finished. There had been several valiant attempts to keep the showplace open. Car dealer Clyde Tewell made a run at trying to make the theater a paying proposition. He brought some really big acts to town, for instance, Ray Charles.
When Clyde bowed out, Ron got the idea of saving the theater by forming a nonprofit that would run the place, not for profit but for community enrichment. Thus was born the Greater Uniontown Heritage Consortium.
Ron was also instrumental in forming the nonprofit that eventually built George C. Marshall Memorial Plaza.
A dynamo, Ron would have stepped up to the plate long ago on behalf of Bailey Park. He loved the place. I remember him talking about a community event celebrating the end of World War II that took place there. Ron would have been appalled at the waste of a valuable community resource.
He would have moved heaven and earth to get kids back on Bailey Park’s playing fields.
What Brent Hawkins has, what Ron Nehls demonstrated in dramatic fashion, Charmaine Sampson had in spades: enthusiasm wedded to a will for action.
Charmaine got things done. She organized, she reached out. A lot of people loved Charmaine; they would have done anything for her because she loved them back and because she believed so strongly in what she was doing.
I got to know Charmaine when she co-chaired the Uniontown Heroes All celebration of the World War II generation. This was back in 2005.
She helped to bring her boss at the time Joe Hardy on board to fund the thing. But that was the least of it. She ran these huge organizing meetings at which she presided with unfailing good humor.
My most lasting memory of Charmaine goes back to the May Day Parade in 2005. From the reviewing stand on Gallatin Avenue she waved and hooted at just about everyone in the line of march. She was having the time of her life, cheering and cheerful. Uniontown never had a better day.
Richard Robbins lives in Uniontown and is the author of two books — “Grand Salute: Stories of the World War II Generation” and “Our People.” He can be reached at grandsalutebook@gmail.com.