John H. Thurston, Jr. has lived in Emerson Valley for over sixty years. He has been an active member of the community since back when he was in high school, often volunteering at the church or helping clean up the litter around town. In November 2019, he was elected to the City Council, finally allowing him to have a voice in how the town he loves so much should be run.

Miriam Rook, President of the Raven Club, has decided to throw a banquet in his honor. Mr. Thurston joined their ranks in 1989, and has been a valued member of the organization ever since. Before his bid to run for the City Council, he spent seven years as their Treasurer. Mrs. Rook told the Gazette that Mr. Thurston’s victory was a proud moment for her.

“I’ve known John for many years,” she said. “He joined the Club only a year or so before I was officially inducted. My father had allowed me to sit in on meetings well before that, though, so I was very familiar with John, even before I was able to actually participate. We became quite close, and when I took over as President, I knew I wanted to have him by my side on the board. Since he was always really good with money, it made cents (sic) for him to be our Treasurer.”

(Note: After that quote, Mrs. Rook made it clear that the last sentence was meant to be a pun. Since we were speaking over the phone, I chose to render the quote with the spelling of the word intended to make the pun work. I apologize to all the readers out there. Please forgive me.)

Every year, Mr. Thurston can be counted on to help organize the holiday festivities in town, especially decorating Main Street and putting together the Eggnog Run. As that is one of my favorite holiday events, I have much personal appreciation for Mr. Thurston’s efforts. He was also instrumental in setting up the new animal shelter in Emerson Valley. In fact, it was the agonizing experience of going back and forth with the town’s bureaucracy that caused him to want to run for office.

“I spent hours and hours almost every day for three weeks trying to get all the proper paperwork together so the City Council would approve the shelter,” Mr. Thurston stated. “Every time I thought I had everything, I’d go to submit the paperwork, and the next day, they’d come back and tell me I’d missed this form or that, or I didn’t use the proper version of a certain document, because for some reason, even though the difference between a 37-A and a 37-B is literally one item, I still have to do it all over again. It was infuriating, and my exasperation with the whole process made me realize that the only way to change things was to get on the City Council and do it from the inside.”

In addition to everything Mr. Thurston has done for Emerson Valley, he has also been a partner at the law firm Thurston, Everett & Dolan. He became a real estate lawyer shortly after graduating law school, and went to work at the firm his father helped create.

“It was great getting to work with Dad like that for three years before he passed,” Mr. Thurston reminisced. “Obviously, he was a huge influence on my life, and being able to work beside him, seeing him in his element—it was wonderful. I just wish he’d been able to live to see me get on the City Council. I know he would’ve found it hilarious that I would willing subject myself to that kind of torture.”

Another major facet to Mr. Thurston’s campaign platform had to do with law and order. He was very vocal about the perception that Emerson Valley had started to get a bad reputation due to a rising crime rate, as well as the apparent lack of results under Sheriff Oliver Price.

“Everything I said during the campaign is truly what I believe,” said Mr. Thurston. “The town has become riddled with unsavory characters and an unsafe atmosphere. People here never used to bother locking their doors, because they knew nothing bad would happen. Now, everyone bolts themselves inside and set up state-of-the-art security systems that make their homes seem more like a fortress than a private residence. Things definitely need to change around here, and I know that I’m up to the challenge of tackling these problems. I just hope the sheriff cooperates with us.”

The banquet for Mr. Thurston is to be held on Saturday, February 8th at 6:30 PM at Raven Hall. The event itself is by invite only, but Mrs. Rook has said that they will be opening the doors of Sherman Hall, a larger facility owned by the Club, where the public will be free to come see an exhibit being presented that documents Mr. Thurston’s achievements. The Sherman Hall event will begin at noon and end at 5:00 PM.

-William Cooper, Human Interest, Emerson Valley Gazette