Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2016
BARROW JOURNAL
PAGE 5A
Spring cleaning
Keep the news in news feeds
When I was a kid, there
were two words that I dread
ed more than any other:
Spring Cleaning.
You know
what I’m talking
about. We had
our chores to do
every week, and
though we grum
bled about doing
them, we even
tually got them
done.
But spring
cleaning chores
are unlike the
regular chores.
Spring cleaning
meant flipping
mattresses, wash
ing windows,
cleaning baseboards, beat
ing the rugs outside, taking
down the curtains for clean
ing, washing out window
sills, cleaning out drawers
and cabinets. It was usual
ly a week-long event. Oh,
how my brother and I hated
spring cleaning.
Some things carry over
from childhood. One of the
things I brought with me
from mine was my loathing
of spring cleaning.
Well, cleaning of any
kind, actually. Whitney's
dad never objected to my
having home parties like
Tupperware, Home Interiors,
etc., because he said it meant
I would give the house a
good cleaning. Now, after
having spent many years liv
ing alone, one might
think that it would be
easier to keep a tidy
house. Well, not so
much for me. I love
having a clean house,
but whenever I clean,
someone comes in
behind me and mess
es it up again. So.
what’s the use. right?
There’s nothing
quite like the feeling
of sitting in a tidy
room with the floor
freshly vacuumed, and
everything in its place.
I just don’t understand
why it can’t stay that way.
Who are these rascals that
leave things out of place, and
put dirty dishes in my sink?
I can understand the cat-hair
tumbleweeds, since I share
my home with three kitties.
But this other stuff, I just
can’t understand. Surely I,
my ownself, am not making
this mess!
One of my least favorite
chores is laundry. Not so
much the actual *doing* of
the laundry, but the fold
ing and putting away of the
laundry. Busy girl that I
am, (I tell myself), I don’t
have time to stop what I’m
doing and fold/put away the
laundry when it comes out
of the dryer. So, it usually
ends up in a nice pile in the
floor of my bedroom. That's
not such a bad thing, really.
Well, until every article of
clothing I own ends up in
the floor of my bedroom. I
know it’s time to do laundry
when I start to see bare spots
on the floor.
I've been home a lot more
this summer than usual, and
one of the things on my to-do
list was to get my laundry
under control. Something
always comes up, though,
and it doesn't seem to get
done. Now that the end of
summer break is coming to
an end, and life will return to
some semblance of normal, I
am finally getting motivat
ed to tidying up a bit. My
laundry is all folded and put
away, and my floor is vac
uumed. For the moment,
my kitchen is clean, as well
as my living room. No, it’s
not spring cleaning, but it’s a
start. Now if I can just keep
those gremlins from messing
it up again...
Cathy Watkins Bennett is a
Barrow County native and a
graduate of Winder-Barrow
High School. Send com
ments about this column to
beneath @aol. com.
cathy
watkins
bennett
Food distribution day set July 28
The Barrow County
Food Pantry in partner
ship with The Food Bank
of Northeast Georgia will
hold a Food Distribution
Day on Thursday, July,
28, beginning at 8 a.m.
The event is held rain or
shine at Holly Hill Mall on
Athens Street in Winder.
This is open to all Barrow
County residents who meet
USDA income eligibility
requirements. Proof of
Barrow County residency
is required and the food
is distributed on a “first-
come, first-served’’ basis.
Sunflower Festival plans underway
The City of Statham will host its 18th annual Sunflower Festival on Saturday, Sept. 17.
Applications are currently being accepted for vendors. Space is limited and vendors will
be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.
The festival committee attempts to not have an over-abundance of the same type of ven
dors, however, there may be some duplications. All interested vendors are asked to make
inquiries early about space for this year’s Sunflower Festival.
Vendor spaces are 12x12. Craft vendor spaces cost $30 without electricity and $40 with
electricity. Food vendor spaces are $55 without electricity and $65 with electricity.
Vendors are responsible for furnishing their own tables and other needed materials. All
food vendors must have an up-to-date fire extinguisher. No refunds are given due to weather.
Call 770-725-5323 for more information or write Statham Sunflower Festival, P.O.
Box 87. Statham, Ga. 30666.
News is a part of our social lives, and
it should continue to be.
Facebook, the mega-social network
ing website, announced last week its
plans to redo users' News Feeds. In an
effort to “build a better news for you,”
Facebook plans to rework its News
Feeds placing more empha
sis on posts from friends and
family.
The changes will likely
impact Facebook “pages,”
resulting in lower traffic and
views for posts. These pages
can be anything from local
newspapers or major national
media groups, to non-profit
organizations or city govern
ment pages.
While there’s nothing wrong
with wanting to show more
updates from friends and family, our
social lives contain more than just
those people.
In many cases, the posts from news
pages are far more relevant to me than
the pictures my friends post of food
and babies.
Often, I'd rather read a story about
something going on around me than
see a status update from a family mem
ber thanking people for wishing them a
“happy birthday.”
Even among relationships with
friends and family, there's more than
what is posted on Facebook. Our rela
tionships are far more complex than a
status update or photo gallery. They
involve memories and pastimes, but
they also involve both local and global
events that connect us all with the rest
of the world.
When friends and family meet for a
reunion or dinner, rarely does the dis
cussion solely focus on something you
saw on each other’s Facebook pages.
You also talk about current events,
interesting news and the things going
on around you.
Facebook is responding to an influx
of stories and postings from its 1.65
billion users. This has created “far too
much information for any one person
to consume.”
But the problem isn’t the number of
posts being made.
The real problem is irresponsible
Facebook users (including myself)
who carelessly accept every “friend”
request they get and “like” every page
they see. When you have over 1,000
Facebook friends and “like” over 100
different pages, of course, your news
feed is going to be filled with updates
you don’t care about. When you place
an emphasis on quantity over
quality, quantity is what you
get.
Facebook users should take
responsibility for their own
individual accounts and their
own News Feeds instead of
having Facebook decide what
interests them.
Individual users can ulti
mately control what they see
in their News Feed, which the
company pointed out in its
release.
If you want to ensure you continue to
see updates from the pages you follow,
go to that particular Facebook page.
Make sure you’ve “liked” the page.
Hover your mouse over the “Liked”
icon then click “See First.” (If you’re
on your phone, click “Following,” then
“See First.”) I do this for the news
pages that I follow, local governments,
public safety groups and my clos
est friends and family. Essentially, it
brings posts from those pages to the
top of your News Feed.
Facebook should be making a stron
ger push to educate its users about
these features instead of deciding what
they think interests them and con
trolling their content.
Facebook doesn’t need to filter News
Feeds. Individual users can do that for
themselves.
Facebook is a powerful tool for con
necting. It is a massive social network
that connects people, groups and ideas.
Our friends and family are certainly
a part of our social lives, but they
aren’t the extent of it. The news affects
our social lives. Current events affect
our social lives. The things going on
around us affect our social lives. We
should all have that news in our “News
Feeds.” But individually, we have to
make sure the news stays there.
Alex Pace is a reporter for the
Barrow Journal. She can reached at
apace @ barrowjournal. com.
Discount spay, neutering services offered
CASA seeking area volunteers
Court Appointed Special
Advocates is looking for
volunteers for children in
foster care.
CASA volunteers advo
cate for foster children and
help them reach a perma
nent, safe solution faster.
They also make sure their
assigned child receives
tutoring when they are
struggling in school.
When a child is uproot
ed from their school and
activities, a CASA volun
teer makes sure they get
plugged into activities they
enjoy: maybe it’s joining
the local soccer team or
signing up to participate in
the school play.
Most foster children
spend at least one birthday
in foster care and a CASA
volunteer makes sure that
day is still special, offer
ing a personalized birthday
greeting card or maybe a
small gift to celebrate and
reminding the child that
they are important and they
are worth celebrating.
Piedmont CASA has new
volunteer training classes
starting on Aug. 25.
Visit www.piedmontcasa.
org for more information
and to download an appli
cation.
Leftover Pets offers low cost spay/neuter
surgeries at the Winder clinic located at 610
Barrow Park Drive.
July clinic days include Mondays, Tues
days, Thursdays and Fridays.
Prices are $85 for female dogs over 25
lbs., $65 for female dogs up to 25 lbs., $55
for male dogs and female cats and $35 for
male cats.
A $5 discount will be given for any
surgery patient no older than 5 months (as
determined by Leftover Pets veterinarian).
All surgery prices include a free rabies
vaccination. There are no additional fees
for in heat or pregnant animals.
Financial assistance is avail
able for any low income Barrow
County resident. Appointments are
required and must be made by calling
800-978-5226.
July 27, 2016 ~ Crossword Puzzle
Headmaster’s
Corner
by
Steve Cummings
EAGLE BASEBALL CAMPS
- We’ve had a great 3 weeks of
baseball camps here at ACS.
The camps have been led
by our Varsity Head Coach,
Allen Osborne, and by our
Pitching Coach, Jake West
brook. Coach Osborne is a
former college coach who
served as the Head Coach at
Wingate University in Char
lotte, and as an assistant at
UGA.
Coach Westbrook was a 1 st
round pick in the 1996 Ma
jor League draft, and picked
up 105 wins in his 13-year
career. He also won a World
Series with St. Louis in 2011.
A big thanks to Coach Os
borne and Coach Westbrook,
who have made these last 3
weeks a great experience for
these kids.
ATHENS
CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
“Affordable Quality Education Since 1970”
K3-12TH CALL (706) 549-7586
www.athenschristian.com
Across
1. Baby or infant
5. Common Indian weaverbird
9. Walk
14. Shiite spiritual leader’s title
15. Mirish
16. Nostrils
17. Confiscate
18. Powder mineral
19. Moss, lace or banded stone
20. Doyle detective
23. New Rochelle college
24. “Case of the Ex” singer
25. Rays or devilfish
28. Cutting implements for
sewing
33. Two-toed sloth
34. Lightly fry
35. Japanese apricot
36. Gargle
38. Consumed food
39. Swats
41. Doctors’group
42. Baseball teams
44. Japanese waist pouch
45. Impaired by diminution
47. A fixed portion of food
49. Gall
50. A block of soap or wax
51. Polite phrase for “What?”
58. Blackberry drupelets
59. Wild sheep of Northern Africa
60. River in Florence
61. Carried
62. Was visualized
63. Giant armadillo
64. Dwarf buffaloes
65. An account of events
66. Avery dark black
Down
1. Morsels
2. Indian wet nurse
3. Cook a cake
4. Retired with honorary title
5. Conductor’s instrument
6. Manila hemp
7. Yellow portion of an egg
8. Curved support structure
9. Reasonings
10. Molten rocks
11. Hillside (Scot.)
12. Leases
13. Point midway between E & SE
21. Mauna_, HI, volcano
22. Leave out
25. Wall painting
26. Colorful Japanese animation
27. Grandmothers
28. Fully satisfied
29. Billiards sticks
30. A citizen of Oman
31. Duplicate or copy
32. Municipality in Philippines
34. Mentally healthy
37. Capacities for work or activity
40. Able to read and write
43. Dark bluish black
46. Loudenville college
47. Seizure of property by force
48. Alias
50. Showing no mercy or pity
51. Sacred picture
52. Hungarian pen inventor
53. Hops kiln
54. Carbamide
55. Dull in color
56. Upon
57. Person, place or thing word
58. Sleeveless Arab garment
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