Like An Echo, Outtakes
Outtakes from the most recent edit of Like An Echo. Some of these are beloved but just did not fit the narrative I was trying to say at the moment. I’m sure, as this project evolves and grows in physical and emotional scope, one or two might make a return, trading spots with just as meaningful but more suited pieces.
Near Wayah Bald. Macon County, North Carolina.
Veterans are honored before a Friday night football game. Franklin High School. Macon County, North Carolina.
Under the lights. Macon County, North Carolina.
Kevin Sanchez, 17, moved here from Charlotte, NC in 2nd grade and has lived in Franklin, NC ever since. He is a senior at Franklin High School. “I’ve been in Macon County for 10 years, it’s not a bad place I guess.” Like residents of smaller towns across the country, many make plans to leave if not to just continue their education. “I’m an athlete kind of guy so I look at it from a sports perspective. I’ll try to get a scholarship to play at the next level, I mean if I get one.
Asked if no scholarship is awarded Sanchez has plans to follow his brother’s footsteps and join the US Marine Corps. “It’s just been something I’ve always wanted to do, to serve my country.”
“Farming is my passion, it’s what I love to do. I believe that’s my calling in life, to farm, but at the same time I also have a family to take care of so I do what I have to do to make that happen.
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Joe Deal, 35, is a third-generation commercial farmer from Franklin, NC who has Macon County dirt in his blood that stretches back six. He and his wife are raising the seventh.
Deal has five kids to worry about and often thinks of their future on the farm and in life. “I’d love it if one or two or all five of them decided they wanted to farm for a living. I don’t think there’s any greater endeavor or more noble profession than feeding people or more rewarding or one that truly grows the economy. I don’t want them to feel like they don’t have opportunities. I’d love them to stay close, be able to see my grandkids close.”
Pausing to adjust the bill of a sun bleached NC State hat, his proud alma mater, Deal says he also wants his children to follow their dreams and make the life they want. “I think that would be the goal I have for them.” Macon County, North Carolina.
