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4A
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2007
Daniel F. Evans
President
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans Foy S. Evans
Vice President Editor Emeritus
Don Moncrief
Managing Editor
Panther pride
It was good to see Perry High School hon
ored as champions on Monday. The school led
Division 3A in improving student SAT scores,
and the trophy was delivered by Governor
Sonny Perdue and state Superintendent of
Schools Kathy Cox.
It was an occasion of celebration with cheer
leaders and band music, and the Governor
noted that while he has enjoyed athletic com
petiton since boyhood, the real purpose of an
education is still to learn, to succeed academi
cally, and to reach for a bright future.
We’re proud of PHS Principal Albritton, his
talented team of educator and all of the stu
dents who worked to meet the governor’s
challenge.
SAT scores remain the key to college
admissions and are a very good measure of
student’s basic fund of knowledge and abil
ity. They don’t tell the whole story, but a good
score is a good indicator of future success.
We’d like to see more pep rallies for this kind
of championship.
The gift of life
If you don’t think you can make a crucial
difference in the life of another person, think
again, There are times of great emergency
when blood is needed, and this can happen
to any of us, but very few of those of us who
can give, do.
Excuses range from, “I don’t have time,” to
‘l’m afraid of needles.’
Fortunately the American Red Cross has
always been able to find some people who will
take the time and get over their fear of what
is really just of moment of discomfort. It’s the
stranger who will receive that blood - espe
cially in times of medical crisis and natural
disasters, who really knows what a precious
gift it s.
Think about it. The next blood drive in Perry
is at Crossroads United Methodist Church,
Monday from 2 p.m.-7 p.m. You’ll be in very
good company if you show up, and your gift
could be the gift of life.
Letters to the editor
Perdue praised for tax stand
Bravo for our Gov. Sonny Perdue not publicly agree
ing with the abolition of property and ad valorem taxes as
advocated by Macon Rep. Alan Peake, R. Ga., a wealthy
local restaurateur.
This would be part of a Ponzi scheme that would create a
myriad of sales taxes mainly paid by most of us. Our local
school systems would be weakened financially and aca
demically as Atlanta and its bureaucrats would distribute all
the funding to counties.
Our Republican legislature has hired as a consultant for
tax reform an elderly former academic, Mr. Laffer, whose
main goal is the elimination of taxes on our wealthiest citi
zens and their transfer to the rest of us! Fairness is not in
his vocabulary.
A constitutional amendment to achieve all this should be
voted down in November of 2008.
Frank W. Gadbois, Warner Robins
We’ll pay dearly for Hilary’s plan
Here we go again - a “different” healthcare plan from
Hilary Clinton.
I hear that she wants to “mandate” that every American
purchase a healthcare plan. Of course, some of us will
have to pay a lot more than others, as usual. And we’ll
have to pay for the people who continue to have children
that they can’t afford.
Supposedly, she thinks we should be forced to purchase
her plan the same way that we are “mandated” to have
automobile insurance. I can’t believe anyone thinks
See PAY, page 6A
HOW TO SUBMIT:
There are three ways to submit a letter to the editor: E-mail it to
hhj@evansnewspapers.com, mail it to 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.
It doesn't cost nuthin' to be nice
This is for me, a “cut and tape
it” article. But it’s so good, I
wanted you to have the oppor
tunity to read it. It was sent to me by
my friend, Tom Wommack, who is also
a good friend of Danny Carpenter’s.
Unfortunately, I don’t know who
wrote it. I would like to give attribu
tion. It’s a little long, but I urge you to
take the time to read it. You’ll be glad
you did.
At a Touch Down Club meet
ing many years before his death,
Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant told
the following story:
I had just been named the new head
coach at Alabama and was off in my
old car down in South Alabama recruit
ing a prospect who was supposed to
have been a pretty good player and I
was havin’ trouble finding the place.
Getting hungry I spied an old cinder
block building with a small sign out
front that simply said “Restaurant. ”
I pull up, go in and every head in the
place turns to stare at me. Seems I’m
“What do you need?" I told him I needed
lunch and what did they have today? He
says, “You probably won’t like it here, today
we’re having chitlins, collared greens and
black eyed peas with cornbread. I’ll bet you
don’t even know what chitlins (small
intestines of hogs prepared as food in the
deep South) are, do you?"
We're not overbuilt yet, other thoughts
One person, one vote. One per
son, one opinion. So here are a
few more personal opinions on
a variety of subjects:
■ People keep saying that North
Houston County is about “built out”,
meaning there is little room for more
subdivisions. Guess again. Take the
time to ride around Houston County
north of Perry and you might be amazed
how much open land there really is.
Room for thousands of homes. We’re
not overbuilt yet.
■ Last time I looked the national
approval rating for members of the
United States Congress was 11 percent.
About right, in my opinion. Democrats
want to turn our country into a socialist
state. Republicans are wimps and won’t
fight back.
However, here is something hard to
reconcile. Despite congress’ 11 percent
approval rating, most members get
reelected with ease. We don’t approve
of congress’ abysmal performance, but
# we believe that our congressman is an
exception. The same is true across the
country.
So we cannot look forward to any
thing better from congress, because
congressmen all over the country please
VlSlis
Walker S'
Columnist i '
lwalker@whgb-law.com mmSMS
the only white fella in the place. But the
food smelled good so I skip a table and
go up to a cement bar and sit. A big ole
man in a tee shirt and cap comes over
and says,
“What do you need?” I told him I
needed lunch and what did they have
today? He says, “You probably won’t
like it here, today we’fe having chitlins,
collared greens and black eyed peas
with cornbread. I’ll bet you don’t even
know what chitlins (small intestines
of hogs prepared as food in the deep
South) are, do you?”
I looked him square in the eye and
said, “I’m from Arkansas, I’ve probably
eaten a mile of them. Sounds like I’m
in the right place. ” They all smiled as
“I'm sure glad mowing season is over!
I was getting tired of all that yard work!"
iffy jp
foyevansl9@cox.net HHI. _
the people they represent and will con
tinue to adopt the laws that govern us.
Woe unto us!
■ Parents with children in Houston
County’s public schools do not know
how lucky they are. A look at many
other school districts in Georgia (Bibb,
Clayton, Henry, DeKalb, Fulton, for
example) see controversy over school
board decisions and even outright public
disapproval of superintendents, board
members and teachers.
Some seem in disarray, while harmo
ny and concentration on the job at hand
prevail here. However, this does not
mean that 1 give up on my belief that
phonics should be taught in the early
grades throughout the entire school
system.
Unfortunately, I have learned while
talking with several teachers that they
HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
he left to serve me up a big plate. When
he comes back he says, “You ain’t from
around here then?”
I explain I’m the new football coach
up in Tuscaloosa at the University and
I’m here to find whatever that boy’s
name was and he says, yeah I’ve heard
of him, he’s supposed to be pretty good.
And he gives me directions to the school
so I can meet him and his coach.
As I’m paying up to leave, I remem
ber my manners and leave a tip, not
too big to be flashy, but a good one and
he told me lunch was on him, but I
told him for a lunch that good, I felt I
should pay. The big man asked me if
I had a photograph or something he
could hang up to show I’d been there. I
was so new that I didn’t have any yet. It
really wasn’t that big a thing back then
to be asked for, but I took a napkin and
wrote his name and address on it and
told him I’d get him one.
I met the kid I was lookin’ for later
that afternoon and I don’t remember
his name, but do remember I didn’t
think much of him when I met him. I
had wasted a day, or so I thought.
When I got back to Tuscaloosa late
that night, I took that napkin from my
shirt pocket and put it under my keys
so I wouldn’t forget it. Back then I was
excited that anybody would want a
picture of me. The next day we found a
picture and I wrote on it, “Thanks for
the best lunch I’ve ever had. ”
Now let’s go a whole buncha years
down the road. Now we have black
players at Alabama and I’m back down
in that part of the country scouting an
offensive lineman we sure needed. Y’all
remember, (and I forget the name, but
it’s not important to the story), well
anyway, he’s got two friends going
See WALKER, page 6A
never have been exposed to phonics and
they can’t teach what they have not
been taught.
■ Several times this year cities in
Texas have received 8 to 10 inches of
rain in one day. Floods have followed.
Have you ever wondered how we could
cope with that much rain in 24 hours?
Would we be paralyzed with flooding?
Or could your neighborhood deal with
the runoff? It is something to think
about, because the same storms that
hit Texas head this way. So far they
have lost their punch before they get
here. Someday, conceivably, we could be
recipients of some of those downpours.
■ A school in North Carolina has
banned flying the American flag because
they aren’t able to fly flags of other
countries. One country - the USA. One
flag - Old Glory. No flag of another
country. Simple enough. A shame school
officials there do not understand this.
■ The new service road that will be
built between Watson Blvd. and Russell
Parkway parallel to Interstate 75 will
bring to fruition a dream that Mayor
Donald Walker has had for almost a
decade. Once open, it should spur a new
kind of industrial development.
See EVANS, page $A