OPINION
THE CHAMPION, THURSDAY, THURSDAY, JAN. 2 - 8, 2020 • PAGE 4
It seems not so long ago that with
much anticipation, the world was on edge
on New Year’s Eve 1999 as we entered a
new century. There were predictions that
the internet and power grids throughout
the world would shut down, that com
munications with air traffic could be
impacted and clocks would stop working.
It created what became known as Y2K
hysteria for many.
In preparation for the possibility
of catastrophic failures on Y2K, TIME
magazine management set up a generator-
powered “war room” in the basement of
the Time & Life Building filled with com
puters and equipment ready to produce
the magazine in case of a catastrophic
breakdown of electricity and communica
tions, according to then-assistant man
aging editor of TIME, Howard Chua-
Eoan.
My wife and I threw financial caution
to the wind and bought a bottle of limited-
edition Dom Perignon champagne telling
ourselves that it may be the last bottle
of champagne we would ever enjoy. We
ended up pouring it down the drain. Ap
parently, our champagne tastes are not
enlightened enough to appreciate the vin
tage delicacy.
And now 20 years later we have en
tered the decade of the 2020s. So much
has happened at home and abroad in those
20 years, that it deserves a recap.
Perhaps one of the most significant
occurrences, particularly for the United
States were the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist
attacks on the World Trade Center, The
Pentagon and a plane in mid-flight over
Pennsylvania, which combined took the
lives of an estimated 3,000 people. As a
result of the 2001 attacks, the U.S. de-
How quickly
clared war and invaded Afghanistan in
an attempt to overthrow the Taliban-led
government.
In 2003, the U.S. invaded Iraq and
toppled Saddam Hussein; protests fol
lowed worldwide and an eight-year war
followed.
Facebook was formed in 2004
by Mark Zuckerberg as a way for Har
vard students to communicate with each
other.
The year 2005 brought the wide
spread devastation of Hurricane Katrina,
which wreaked havoc on New Orleans
and much of the Gulf Coast of the U.S.;
It was also the year YouTube was intro
duced to the world.
In 2006 Pluto was no longer con
sidered a planet after the International
Astronomical Union created the first
formal definition of a planet. Those who
memorized the names of planets with the
acronym “Many Very Early Men Jumped
Straight Up the North Pole” were forced
to remember the planets’ names in other
ways.
The iPhone was introduced in 2007
by Apple; there have since been 12 newer
versions of the iPhone.
Barack Obama became the first per
son of color to hold the office of president
time passes
of the United States in 2008.
The largest oil spill in U.S. history
occurred in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010,
in addition to the introduction of the iPad
and Instagram.
The year 2011 brought a 9.0
earthquake in Japan that triggered a tsu
nami and the meltdown of the Fukushima
Nuclear Power Plant. Also in that year,
the population of the world exceeded
seven billion.
Vladimir Putin was elected presi
dent of Russia for the third time in 2012
and the Sandy Hook Elementary School
shootings resulted in the deaths of 26 peo
ple, forever changing security measures at
most public schools in the United States
In 2013, terrorist attacks oc
curred in Boston and Nairobi; Pope
Benedict XVI resigned placing Pope
Francis as the newest pope and Typhoon
Haiyan killed nearly 6,150 people in
the Philippines and Vietnam.
The worst Ebola epidemic in re
corded history occurred in West Africa
in 2014, infecting nearly 30,000 people
and resulting in the deaths of 11,000 as
DeKalb County’s Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention fought diligently
to find a cure.
Also in 2014, Malaysia Airlines
Flight 370 disappeared from radar en
route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur;
there were 239 people on board the plane,
which was never located. The shooting of
Black teenager Michael Brown by police
led to violence and unrest in Ferguson,
Missouri, and other locations throughout
the nation.
The heads of China and Taiwan met
for the first time in 2015 and
the U.S. and Cuba resumed diplomatic
relations. Also occurring in 2015 was
the church massacre in Charleston,
South Carolina, in which nine African
Americans were killed during Bible study.
Later in 2015, a shooter killed 49 peo
ple at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
The year 2017 brought elevated ten
sions between the U.S. and North Ko
rea after the country tested a hydrogen
bomb and conducted a series of ballistic
missile tests. Charlottesville, West Vir
ginia was the site of a rally protesting
the removal of Confederate statues
throughout the U.S. during which a White
supremacist rammed his car into a crowd
of counter-protesters injuring 19 and
killing one. Later in the year, 58 people
attending a country music concert in Las
Vega were killed in a mass shooting.
The first monkeys were cloned and
first genetically modified humans were
reported in China in 2018. The first
summit between the U.S. and North Ko
rea and the first crossing of the Korean
Demilitarized Zone by a North Korean
leader also occurred in 2018.
Perhaps the biggest story of 2019
was the ongoing political bickering in
Washington that led to the third impeach
ment of an American president as Donald
Trump was charged with obstruction of
Congress and abuse of power. The two
previous impeachments were against An
drew Johnson and Bill Clinton.
The 21st century has certainly
brought life-changing events to most parts
of the world. We can only hope that the
2020 decade will bring peace.
Georgia, there is a Santa Claus
“For every dollar donated, FODAC
provides $10 in medical items. Since
1986, FODAC has collected, repaired
and distributed more than 50,000
wheelchairs, ’’ from brochure q/Triends
of Disabled Adults & Children (FODAC).
Whether you are a believer or not, the
spirit of Christmas and the holiday season
is quite real, and thankfully it continues to
manifest itself in many ways, discernible
to the senses and as real as you or
me. Father Christmas, Kris Kringle,
Santa Claus and other names and legends
are based in the history and tradition of
giving and doing for others, selflessly and
in honor of Christ and others whom we
worship.
In 1986, an aging Vietnam era
veteran began repairing wheelchairs in
his garage. First as a hobby and then as
a calling, as he realized more and more
veterans were surviving the variously
defined engagements and wars—some
minus a limb, some with serious head
trauma, but many returning home with
immediate needs—and not always finding
a V.A. and medical network ready to help
them. Ed Butchart and his wife Annie
humbly began the organization Friends of
Disabled Adults and Children (FODAC)
by giving away repaired wheelchairs
and used mobility assistance equipment.
FODAC is now a nonprofit serving 20
states, 94 Georgia counties and filling
nearly 9,000 equipment requests last year,
‘One Man’s
Opinion’
BILL CRANE
bill.csicrane@pail.com
with an annual budget approaching $9
million.
Ed supplemented his income in
retirement, as well as his giving mission,
by being Santa Claus during the holiday
season at Stone Mountain Park and other
venues and holiday gatherings. Friends
of FODAC helped launch a modest
thrift store to support this work and
Ed launched a holiday fundraiser—
with supporters at the Stone Mountain
Memorial Association (SMMA) and
Herschend Family Entertainment—to
hold a Santa breakfast at the park focused
on their pediatric clients. Disabled
children who might have felt left out of
some of the joys of the holiday season
had their own day with Santa, Mrs. Claus
and the elves; a bountiful breakfast buffet
and day at Stone Mountain Park, donated
by the SMMA; as well as area retailers
providing toys and gifts for each child.
We began our connection with
FODAC this way in 1994 with our then
two-year-old daughter Barclay at the
invitation of then WSB Radio Money
Editor Mike Kavanaugh. Mike would
interview Santa (Butchart) each fall
around Thanksgiving on WSB, and the
pair would plug the modestly priced
Santa breakfast—still FODAC’s largest
annual event fundraiser. This year at
the Stone Mountain Evergreen Marriott
Conference Center, the Summit Ballroom
was filled to overflow and FODAC’s first
Santa sell-out. Next year we move to the
bigger ballroom.
Kavanaugh left the stage early with
his spirit of Christmas and Hanukkah,
but not before recruiting WSB-Radio and
Traffic Reporting legend Captain Herb
Emory to co-emcee. Emory brought
good humor and cutting up with the kids
to the event and began a tradition of the
children singing Christmas carols to wrap
up the celebration. At this stage, I moved
from an attendee to playing elf to Captain
Herb, as he often had to leave a bit early
to head to a Toys for Tots event often
scheduled on that same mid-December
Saturday.
But unlike applying for disability
benefits from the V.A. or Social Security,
FODAC’s application process is one
page and it’s lifetime membership fee
is $25. After paying the membership
fee, if the member, a family member or
close friend is impaired or in need of
mobility equipment, one simply goes
to FODAC’s headquarters in Tucker
or arranges for the durable medical
equipment to be delivered, often at no
cost. There is no charge for the use of
the equipment. FODAC only asks that
when there is no longer any need for
the equipment, it is returned to them for
repair and reuse.
After Kavanaugh and Captain Herb
also left us all too early, our friend
and colleague Glenn Burns, chief
meteorologist for WSB-TV’s Action
News, took over as emcee. Bums has
a warm and engaging manner with
FODAC’s clients, sponsors, families
and guests, and I think he is part of the
draw that made this year’s breakfast a
sellout. As this was our family’s 25th
FODAC Santa breakfast, and it is the
season of giving, also know that those
interested can still contribute online as
well at FODAC.org.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah
and Kwanza and all the best wishes for
this holiday season and New Year to you
and yours.
Bill Crane also sen>es as a political
analyst and commentator for Channel 2’s
Action News, WSB-AM News/Talk 750 and
now 95.5 FM, as well as a columnist for
The Champion, DeKalb Free Press and
Georgia Trend. Crane is a DeKalb native
and business owner, living in Scottdale.
You can reach him or comment on a
column at bill.csicrane@gmail.com.
