Take a breath, readers.

You’ll need one.

If you haven’t met Beverly Melton you might not understand why a column about her can be one sentence long, but if you have met Beverly you would understand because she’s a dynamo, non-stop, perpetual bundle of flames that she uses in her position as Marketing and Public Relations Manager for Smithfield and Isle of Wight County and these are busy days for her — what with Smithfield’s Olden Days making a return this weekend after a &uot;brief hiatus&uot; of a few years — so bear with her as she’s in a higher gear, if that’s possible, even for her, because there is a lot to do in the final days before the busy weekend, like planning parking for vendors, programs and maps to get printed, sandwich boards to prepare to thank sponsors, even getting water bowls distributed for the pets during their parade Saturday morning, so there’s a lot going on and they’ve been very busy in that office — which, Beverly says, is a &uot;great place to work&uot; but she asks to keep that informational tidbit to ourselves

— which is kind of funny because she said she didn’t even know Smithfield existed before her husband got transferred to the area and Beverly started as a volunteer docent, then moved to part-time docent, then full-time docent, and when town officials came to her and asked whether she’d be interested in public relations, she said, &uot;Sure, I can do that,&uot; and off she went, which makes perfect sense because if you wanted your business or community marketed, Beverly’s enthusiasm is something you’d want on your side because she can get a lot of information out in a hurry — not that she’s mouthy or without thought, mind you, just bubbling over with enthusiasm — and it shows, especially when weeks and months of planning are coming to fruition and so many details have to be wrapped into a single weekend, which, coincidentally, includes a possible unplanned occurrence at what’s being called the First Ever, Re-Inaugural, Pagan River Raft Race at Smithfield Station Boardwalk on Saturday afternoon (and he entire weekend’s schedule can be viewed at www.smithfield-virginia.com/oldendays) but that’s something better seen than described unless, of course, Beverly Melton is telling it.

Whew. We can all breathe again.

PAUL MCFARLANE is the editor of The Tidewater News. His email address is paul.mcfarlane@tidewaternews.com.