Give'em Hell, Helseth

A decade ago I wrote that defiance is perhaps the American virtue. It still is:

Glenn Helseth loves serving up good food at his Carrot Tree Kitchens Restaurant in historic Yorktown — something he’s been doing for the past 11 years. But the government shutdown recently forced the eatery to close its doors.

The National Park Service owns the building he uses, so Helseth was ordered to move out within 48 hours when the government shutdown began last week.

“I was called about 9 o’clock Tuesday morning, Oct. 1,” Helseth told CBN News. “I was told I had three hours to vacate my restaurant. I was shocked and called back to say I can’t quite possibly do that.”

He was granted a three-day stay but eventually closed the restaurant. A week later, in defiance of government orders, he reopened for business. He knows the move was risky, but he considered it well worthwhile.

“I’m willing to go to jail for this,” Helseth said. “If the Parks Service wants to put me in jail because I want to honor the terms of my contract, well, I suppose they have that right.”

Bless you, Mr. Helseth.