The New Year didn’t start out so well for Granite Falls. A town preparing to wind up the year with a centennial celebration began it with 15 minutes of national infamy after a Rolling Stone article pegged it the methamphetamine capital of the country.
Kudos to the people of this small but growing town for not sitting around and moping about how unfair the title was. Instead, citizens got together — in droves — and did something about it. Something big. They met with law enforcement to talk about their community’s drug problem, the same problem that plagues practically every other community in the county, state and country. They turned to the Granite Falls Community Coalition, which has been working on the problem for years, and other county groups such as Lead On America, to help root out drug houses where meth was being produced.
Their work was recognized recently with a hefty grant from the U.S. Department of Justice — $100,000 now and a possible $350,000 in the next four years. The grant pays for the coalition’s new boss, Doug Conger, his assistant and supplies and other costs to keep the group up and running and successful.
Conger’s hire is another plus for the city and its residents. His experience as a licensed counselor, small business owner and Granite Falls resident make him a natural for the job. And he has the support of the city, including Mayor Lyle Romack, who bought a two-story house for the coalition’s office, and volunteers who have been fixing it up. Talk about resourcefulness and community effort.
The house, which is just across from the middle school, will serve as a family resource center for parenting classes, support groups and outpatient mental health counseling. And the group is working in tandem with the Granite Falls School District on a drug prevention program that’s already in place in the middle school with plans to expand it to the elementary grades.
Earlier this month the town celebrated its centennial like many small towns do — with local presentations from longtime residents, music performed by school bands and fireworks displays. After all their hard work, people deserved to celebrate. And the city deserves to wind down the year with a fresh, positive reputation.
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