But come next weekend, when the big boys on racing's Sprint Cup circuit rumble into town to start 10 days of action at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Huntersville folks have a financial incentive to root for an underdog.
In a publicity event staged by Speedway Motorsports head honcho Bruton Smith, mayors and other bigwigs from area cities and towns were treated to lunch at the speedway and subsequently paired — through a blind draw — with drivers set to take part in next week's All Star Race and the Coca Cola 600 Memorial Day Weekend.
If the right man wins one of those races, Huntersville gets a $20,000 zMAX Race to Education award to support education programs in the community. If he wins both, the prize is $40,000. Certainly Huntersville would be more than happy to share with Davidson and Cornelius — towns that didn't take part in the event — so Talkers urge everyone to board the Regan Smith bandwagon.
Now Talkers realize Smith may not be the biggest name in racing, but from a community support standpoint, it could have been worse. Hickory got Kurt Busch and the mayor there is planning on giving Busch a key to the city. Here's hoping that key doesn't also work on any of the town vehicles.
A little late
Talkers are impressed that within hours of the outcome of Tuesday's vote on N.C. Amendment 1, North Carolina State University student Jennifer Halweil launched a campaign to secure signatures on a petition opposing the newly approved amendment.
Before noon Wednesday, more than 60,000 had signed Halweil's petition and momentum was still building. Talkers think it's good younger citizens are willing to stand up for their beliefs and be heard on issues, but it would be even better if, on matters that stir their passions, they showed up at the polls and avoided the need for post-election petitions.
Not too big after all
Talkers are delighted tiny Davidson was not afraid to go where its hulking neighbor to the south was scared to tread.
This week's announcement that Carolinas HealthCare System had secured a Davidson site for its proposed behavioral health center — the same facility that frightened some Monteith Place residents into an ugly NIMBY mob and transformed some usually progressive Huntersville electeds into a skittish lot of backpedaling, excuse-making naysayers a few months ago — represents a major step forward for the north Mecklenburg community in terms of convenient access to quality care for behavioral and emotional ailments.
From presentations and discussions held when the hospital was proposed in Huntersville, it's clear the region needs the services. And recent events that have touched people from all corners of the community have exposed the dangers of the societal stigmas that some proponents of the CHS plan believe led to the Huntersville board's rejection.
Of the four commissioners who voted against the hospital in Huntersville, three have said no more about their decision. But the one who opted to explain his reasons said, among other concerns, he believed the proposed facility was just too big for Huntersville.
In the afterglow of the giant, progressive step announced this week in diminutive Davidson, a village one-fifth the size of Huntersville, it appears the commissioner's analysis was inaccurate. It turns out the proposed facility wasn't too big, but some of the people in the town CHS identified as its first choice were simply too small.
