Unless you are living under a rock, by now you’ve surely heard of Garner, North Carolina, thanks to 17-year-old Scotty McCreery who is one of two finalists vying for the American Idol title. And some of you might be thinking that Garner sounds familiar or you might even recall why it made national news nearly two years ago.
It seemed a bit ironic that the town of Garner’s best news in recent years — Scotty’s advancement to the final round of Idol — was featured on the front page of yesterday’s The News & Observer while the town’s worst news was featured on the front page of section B. Perhaps more ironic is that the final closing of the snack production plant in Garner will take place next week as many of us in North Carolina wait to see if our local star is named the big winner.
