Stony Creek's own Keith Blowe, Vice-Chairman of the Sussex County Board of Supervisors, was recently interviewed by the Virginia Association of Counties. Read the excerpt and follow the link below to view the full interview.
Keith Blowe: Serving in our Armed Forces all over the world was truly a humbling experience for me. I was honored to have the opportunity to work with and lead our young soldiers, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen. They demonstrate every day what true sacrifice is by helping and serving others in far-away lands while their families go on without them. About five years before our retirement we decided to come back home and take over the family farm. Once we returned home we were greatly disappointed in the progress the County had made in regards to basic necessities such as broadband, libraries, grocery stores and recreation facilities throughout the County. I began going to Board of Supervisors meetings and serving on various community boards to support my community. As a trained strategic planner in the military it became clear that our county did not have a clear plan and vision of how to move the County forward for the future. As the scriptures tell us – a people without a vision will perish. My overarching goal was simply to help our County make our community a desired place to live, work and play as opposed to having to go to other areas to obtain what I consider to be basic necessities. It was and is totally unacceptable for me that daily we send our young military members to undeveloped countries and within 24 hours we can communicate (talk & video) from one end of the country to the other but right here in Virginia, 45 minutes from the State Capital, our citizens cannot maintain a phone call without interruption or have access to broadband internet service at a reasonable price. This was the primary reason for me running for elected office.