I know there is a million threads on this one, and forgive me if most of the content has already been mentioned. People talk about their communities and keeping the schools in their "communities" open well I have friends and relatives in every town in wise county and Norton. I have always liked to think our community was Wise County. Our county and Norton is smaller and has fewer citizens than most cities. People talk about sports and tradition, well how many people from wise county were pulling for Burton in their run to the state girls basketball title? How many of us have went to a playoff game in any sport when our school wasn't playing? When our teams are out we find ourselves rooting for the other local teams, the teams from our community of wise county. So why would we rather send our kids to run down schools, with no air conditioning, inadequate heating, out dated sports facilities, and so on, instead of new up to date schools. It amazes me that the county can band together and become one on issues such as coal, among others, but act so distant from each other when it comes to consolidation. Bottom line Appalachia, St. Paul and Pound are just parts of the community of Wise County.