DIAMONDS IN OUR OWN BACK YARD
Many years ago I heard or was told the story of the pheasant farmer in
South Africa that sold his small farm in order to go off and search for
diamonds. He wandered the country side for years but never found the riches
he sought. Upon returning home years later, tired and broke, he learned the
very farm he had sold contained a small diamond mine that would have made
him rich. He had neglected to search his own back yard first.
Many of us are guilty of not searching for the riches we seek close to
home. For some reason we feel we must travel great distances to find them.
In the early years of my life I traveled all over the country and down to
the Islands trying to find those “riches.” It took a number of friends
visiting me from other parts of the country to call to my attention to what
our town is all about. I would take them on a boat ride down the river and
they would constantly say to me, “Danny, you don't know what you have here.”
I looked to other towns and places to start another business other then
the one I had here. I didn't realize that all the riches I could want were
right here in my home town. If I had seen with older eyes what was going on
around me I would have recognized the diamonds in our own back yard. I would
have focused earlier on this one mile square town that is just the best
place I can think of the live, work and play. I coined this phrase in 1978
when I worked with Larry Waxberg and produced three one minute commercials
on Red Bank. The title was “Red Bank the Small Town with the big City
Flavor.” It was those commercials shot from the roof tops of our down town
buildings that brought into focus all the things my friends from out of town
had been telling me. We didn't realize what we had here.
From that time on I worked to promote this town of ours as one of the
best in the state. I no longer travel in search of something I am trying to
find. These thoughts meandered through my mind yesterday as I shopped, as I
have for years for Christmas gifts, here in Red Bank. While friends of mine
wander pell-mell from mall to mall fighting traffic, parking and long lines,
I sip wine and snag cookies that are in most of our stores as I shop for
loved ones. And those diamonds are all over the place. I went through 7
jewelry stores in 20 minutes searching for something. From the newest store
in town to one of the oldest…let me tell you…those diamonds are everywhere. |
