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jggk aw jw an up hh| ml mh| am fL 'Mf HBMi H|gk I JBSk B iim ■■««■■■ m - ' ■iiiiiuuiiiun ♦ SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2007 4A Daniel F. Evans President Editor ind Publisher Julie B. Evans Vice President A wake-up call for old-schoolers Many of us can remember as young children sitting in hard metal chairs as the Sunday School teacher taught us the Word. No frills. No spills. No bells. No whistles. Just him or her, the Bible and lesson, and us - one-on-one so to speak. Later, we would sit in church and listen to the preacher. Or at least attempt to listen to the preacher - for a bit, anyway. Exchanging the softness of a cushioned pew often provided just enough comfort for a nap. Hey, we were young. We squirmed. We fidg eted. We got our ears thumped but we have to say overall the message was received. We came to meet the Lord. Today, from what we’ve seen - meaning there may still be some churches that aspire to the “traditionalist” method out there - it’s a party for our children in comparison. Only “party” is a bit of a strong word. There is a plan. There is a “big picture” - the same big picture as always, and that is to teach children about Christ. But children today when they attend Sunday School - and many of our churches have Children’s Church where the younger ones leave for a Sunday School-type environment fol lowing the singing - do so differently than us. They have cookies and Kool-aid - we were allowed sometimes to get up and get water. They have games. They make crafts. They draw. They color and so on and so forth. Once again. It isn’t done helter-skelter. It’s structured and done so with religious themes. And the children still typically hear - or learn - a Bible story. But, it doesn’t sit well with many of those - many of us - who grew up on metal chairs, and if you attend church enough, you’ll hear that. But, on the other hand, there is considerable debate as to: What do we know? There are numerous examples in the Bible where the per son in the Bible had to be “creative” to get his or her message across. Think of David and Goliath. If David had used traditional methods - we assume a sword or spear - would he have been able to slay Goliath? And Jesus himself didn’t exactly come into or leave the world by traditional methods as we know them. So, here’s to all the Sunday School and Children’s Church teachers everywhere. You keep doing what you’re doing, and we thank you for it. Perhaps those of us from the older generation just sat on those metal chairs too long. Our butts have yet to wake up. Letters to the editor : t Progressive taxation fairest system The Republican Party no longer has a monopoly on fam ily values nor is it as much fun for their members to attack former President Bill Clinton. Of course we in Georgia have our own Newt Gingrich whose track record on fidelity is nothing to brag See SYSTEM, page $A Alternatives to trashy toys I would like to make a suggestion to all the parents and grandparents who are concerned about the recall of toys and other imports from China, although I wouldn’t hesitate to include a few other countries in a boycott which See TOYS, page HOW TO SUBMIT: Letters should not exceed 350 words and must include the writer’s name, address and telephone number (the last two not printed). The newspaper reserves the right to edit or reject letters for reasons of grammar, punctuation, taste and brevity. We cannot guarantee that a letter will be printed on a specific date. There are three ways to submit a letter to the editor: E-mail it to hhj@evansnewspapers.com, mail it to The Houston Home Journal at 1210 Washington St., Perry, GA 31069, or drop it off at the same location between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Poy S. Evans Editor Emeritus Don Moncrief Managing Editor Nothing much to write about It’s been one of those weeks that I sometimes have: I can’t think of a good single subject about which to write, so I will just give you bits and pieces of several. Here goes. ■ How about the opening football weekend? Georgia, Georgia Tech, Perry High School, and Westfield were all winners. It’s been a long time since that has happened. In particular, congratu lations to the Perry Panthers. What was the score? Perry 30, Hawkinsville 9! I’m going from memory, but I’d wager that’s the largest margin of vic tory, ever, by Perry over Hawkinsville. Could it be that the Panther devotees, are in for an exciting season - perhaps, even some championships? ■ While on the subject of sports, what about the Warner Robins Little League team? I have never seen Middle Georgia as united as it was in pull ing for these young men. Two things greatly impressed me, beyond their obvious skills: 1) their sportsmanship; and, 2) their mental knowledge of the game. I never saw them make a men tal error. They always threw to the right base, backed-up the right man, etc. Congratulations to these World Champions and their coach! ■ Interesting announcement from what I assume is, once again, the Houston Home Journal. This vener able paper is going to a twice weekly publication with particular emphasis on local folks and happenings. I believe this is a great move that will be well received. Way to go, Danny and Julie, we’re with you! ■ Buddy Roper brought me some old ar says \ ,0-year ) ( See, I thought it X ,t... J ( had been lon 9 er ) Is reform plan the right move? Speaker Glenn Richardson’s plan to “reform” the Georgia tax code is becoming the topic of conversation .among many of my friends. At first blush, the idea of eliminat ing property taxes completely gets a thumbs up. But, as my friends, who are retired military or civil service employ ees, talk about it among themselves, they begin to have questions that need to be answered. Nobody likes property taxes. But property taxes support local govern ments and local school systems. A statewide sales tax on everything, including services, to pay for all gov ernment services, on all levels, in the state of Georgia looks like a blessing. However, the Richardson plan, though still to be completely fleshed out, is not receiving universal support. Georgia’s city officials, through their statewide organization, have gone on record opposing it. Georgia’s county commissioners are taking a “wait and see” position. My friends say that they see big landowners and other big property owners as receiving a windfall at their expense. The local elected officials with whom Larry Walker Columnist lwalker@whgb-law.com "How about the opening footbal weekend? Georgia, Georgia Tech, Perry High School, and Westfield were all winners. It's been a long time sines that has happened." Houston Home Journals (1976, which doesn’t seem that ‘old’ to me!) that he got from ‘Miss’ Maggie Ruth Dorsett’s house. Lots of interesting information in the Bicentennial Edition dated July 1, 1976. ‘Miss’ Ruby Hodges had an article about the Home Journal being 106 years old in 1976. Wouldn’t that make it 137 years old, now? This edi tion also had a History of the City of Perry from 1824 to 1970. Examples of the ‘history’: Perry was incorporated in 1824; the Methodist Church was orga nized in 1826; streets were formally Foy Evans Columnist foyevansl9@cox.net I have talked express the fear that if all taxes go to the state capitol and then are disbursed back to the cities and counties and school boards there could be real problems. They don’t like the idea of going to Atlanta with hat in hand to ask for money to provide local services that their constituents are demanding. “I would look silly if I had to tell my constituents that I bad to ask the legislature for money to fix potholes in streets or improve police or fire protec tion,” one city official told me. “My constituents expect me tc respond to their needs immediately, not wait until I can justify to someone in Atlanta that the money is needed.” The legislature does not convene for another four months. Speaker Richardson has been making public appearances explaining what he has in ■ f,'- -. HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL laid-off in 1846; the first street lights, 11 kerosene lamps, were installed in 1889, the same year that Perry Loan and Savings Bank (now the Bank of Perry) was established; Penn-Dixie Cement Corp. (Now Cemex) began operation in 1925; and, in 1969 the Perry-Houston County Hospital had its opening. Lots of interesting infor mation and articles in this edition. Thanks, Buddy. I enjoyed looking at these old papers. ■ On a more serious note, Perry lost four of its best citizens, recently, in a span of just a few days: Jim McCown, an interesting man with many accom plishments, left us, unexpectedly. Connette Gayle, one of Perry’s great ambassadors, passed away. B. Cullen Talton died, and Charles Nelson also passed away. Charles and Cullen had big and long-time Perry fami lies. Cullen’s was a grave-side service, which was the most-attended of this kind I have ever seen. To me, this large crowd was a tribute to Cullen’s being nice to everyone and never speaking ill of his fellow-man. Jim, Connette, Cullen, and Charles, Perry will greatly miss all of you. ■ Congratulations to Eddie Wiggins for having a bridge named for him. More importantly, thanks to Eddie for all he has done for Houston County and for so long. Truly, Eddie is one of Houston’s most outstanding citizens. ■ Congratulations to Bobby Glover for his 20 years of service as a Perry City Councilman. Bobby, who is truly a “man of the people,” recently See WALKER, page 6A mind. There is plenty of time for him to win support for his overhaul of the state’s tax structure and Rep. Larry O’Neal of Warner Robins is one of the legislators with the job of developing an acceptable plan. I like the idea of waiting to pass judg ment. It is premature to take a position on something about which so little is known. It upsets me when I read about American soldiers and Marines being prosecuted because they killed civilians in Iraq. We send these young men into a hos tile country, where enemies dress as civilians and hide among women and children, awaiting an opportunity to gun down Americans. Telling the Americans to wait and shoot only after being shot at is invit ing them to commit suicide. Many instances already have been recorded where soldiers and Marines have done just that. They have learned that to survive they must fire when they sus pect they are subject to attack by enemies. Seeing some of these brave men charged with murder because See EVANS, page 6A