Newspaper Page Text
♦ WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2007
4A
Daniel F. Evans
President
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
TV experience sours
Got milk? Apparently you’re going to need it
if you’re an actor planning on cursing in a big
screen movie modified for TV play.
Take one we saw this past weekend. The plot
revolved around one man killing another’s best
friend. When
they finally met
for the final
showdown,
amidst a laun
dry list of heat
ed lines, one of
them calls the
other a “milk
man.”
That’s right. A “milkman.” How scary is that?
No, it didn’t take a whole lot of imagination to
know the word the man used was a far cry from
your local dairy bottler. In fact, the word of choice
was used simply because it blended well in the
voiceover. The word actually used - it didn’t
take much effort to read the person’s lips, either,
which is another issue in itself - had something
very bad to do with someone’s mother.
Bad, very bad indeed, but what really got our
goat runs a lot deeper than that. The voiceover
was just one problem among many.
Another is the puzzling fact Hollywood seems
to feel the only way we can be entertained is if
their movies have curse words in them to start
with. And more important than that - the very
heart of this editorial - is the fact they believe
it’s OK not to voiceover use of the Lord’s name
in vain. In this one particular movie referenced,
it was plainly spoken four times.
It really doesn’t matter how you feel about God
or religion here. If the ultimate goal is preventing
our children from being subjected to inappropri
ate words we don’t want them to use later on in
life then why aren’t “GD” references at the top of
the list for removal?
If you can call a villain a milkman because he
killed your friend - tacky as it is - why can’t you
just call him a “goober dunker” in later referenc
es? That is at least something that really “does
a body g00d”...
Letters to the editor
Team Houston Coalition message
First and foremost, we thank the Warner Robins and Perry
membership for participating in an exercise that has united
our chambers like never before.
You have given us the opportunity to consider a vision for the
future of business in Houston County. While this vision embraces
the never easy course of change, the status quo can make for an
uninspiring path to irrelevancy.
Our community’s future success lies in the collective strength
of our already established assets via the hard work of those that
came before us. Now is the time to bring those assets together
to achieve the competitive advantage needed for long-term eco
nomic success. All the right blocks have been laid in place.
A united business front would cement the foundation on which
to build our future and carry out a vision for Houston County that
will stand up to the challenges of the 21st Century. Together we
can ensure a Houston County that provides the best education,
the best business environment, the best infrastructure, the best
Air Force Base, and the best economy; a Houston County that
speaks with one voice, where the youth and leaders of tomorrow
will find a permanent home to raise their children; and thanks
to the long term investments made by this community and the
people who lead it, a Houston County strong enough to overcome
and prosper no matter what hurdle put before us.
We are a small young committee, but we have big hearts and
this is a big idea. Our businesses, by working hard together, can
make good things happen for all the right reasons.
It has been a privilege serving our respective chambers and
all of Houston County, but there isn't one of us that wouldn’t step
aside tomorrow in order to see this through.
We gladly accept all of the responsibility, ask for none of the
credit, and would do all over again if called upon. So, thank you
again and please cast your vote, not against the past, but for our
future.
Team Houston Coalition Committee
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. Letters should not exceed
350 words and must include the writer’s name, address and
telephone number (the last two not printed). The newspa
per reserves the right to edit or reject letters for reasons of
grammar, punctuation, taste and brevity.
Foy S. Evans
Editor Emeritus
Don Moncrief
Managing Editor
"And more important
than that is the fact
they believe its OK not
to voiceover use of the
Lord's name In vain."
BELIEF
mm mm m mm ■ ml ■
Wan shapes RAFB, city
Some friends who have lived here
for many decades were com
menting on the fact that the
population of this area has grown so
much in recent years that most people
have no idea about how Robins AFB
came to be located here or the city of
Warner Robins came into existence.
The base, which opened 66 years
ago, reflected President Franklin D.
Roosevelt’s belief that the United
States would become involved in World
War 11, while most of us had no idea
how close we were to involvement.
Roosevelt already had begun a pro
gram to give this country a large pool
of airplane pilots. For several years
any young man who wanted to be a
pilot could receive training and get his
license free, with the federal govern
ment footing the bill. I learned to fly
on this program in Macon during the
spring and summer of 1941. When the
U.S. went to war there was a valuable
pool of trained pilots for the Army Air
Corps to fine tune for its own pur
poses.
Roosevelt knew there would be a
need for a supply depot for the Army
Air Corps in the Southeast. Rep. Carl
Vinson from Milledgeville was one of
the most powerful members of the U.S.
Congress as chairman of the House
Naval Affairs Committee. His influ
ence assured that the new material
base would be located in Georgia.
"Newt must be crazy. Who'd want to be their own boss when
they could have 250 million people telling them what to do?"
The overextended family
It hasn't always been like this - has it?
Rewind the clock to 1950.
Most middle class families
were maintained on a single
income. Back then, men could sub
stantially provide for their families,
and oftentimes did so without a college
degree. Divorce rates were lower. Out
of-wedlock pregnancy was infrequent.
Fathers did not spend three hours a
day in the car, fighting traffic.
Communities were more self-sustain
ing entities then, successfully provid
ing the “work-life balance” ideal that
baffles modern society. Although there
were commitments such as church,
sports, school and other common fam
ily involvements, life on the whole
seemed to be quite manageable and
most families did not seem to live with
the stress levels common today.
Fast forward to 2007.
Many families struggle to survive on
a single income because the cost of liv
ing is too high. Both parents feel forced
to work full time jobs, and often have
to commute outside of their communi
ty - sometimes very far outside - to get
to work. Families wake up incredibly
early in the morning to get their day
started on time. Children are dropped
off at school as much as an hour early
so the parents can make it to work.
The cycle picks up again when par
ents leave their jobs for the day, begin
their commute home and race against
Foy
Evans
Columnist
foyevansl9@cox.net
Rep. Vinson represented the 6th
congressional district. He already had
brought so much “pork” to his district
that he made sure that the new base
would be located in Rep. Tic Forrester’s
3rd congressional district. However, it
was located in the northeast comer
of Houston County, just across the
Echeconnee Creek from Bibb County.
Political and business leaders in
Macon foresaw the value of having
the base nearby and raised the money
to purchase land at Wellston and then
donated the land to the Army. There
was a sawmill owned by Albert Hudson.
Fred Carter, with whom I worked at
the Macon Telegraph, owned several
hundred acres. C.B. (Boss) Watson was
a large property owner in the area. I’m
sure there were others who sold their
home places to make room for the new
base. The base was named for Brig.
Gen. Augustine Warner Robins, a pio
neer in materiel management, who died
before the base opened. Fortunately,
the base was in operation when the
Randy
Hicks
Columnist
Georgia Family Council
other parents who are trying to get
their kids from school to the various
extracurricular activities such as soc
cer, ballet, piano, and the like. Then
it’s home to prepare dinner, do the
dishes, help the kids with homework,
bathe the kids, get them to bed and
catch up on everything else that needs
to be done, such as laundry, bill paying
and preparing for the following day.
This routine is a typical one for many
married couples, especially couples
with kids. Is there any time left for the
marriage? Not often.
Additionally, in these types of rou
tines, many parents feel guilty about
the amount of time they have to work
and often try to make it up to their
children through money and gifts. And
this only adds to the financial pressure
many couples feel - the most common
cause of stress in marriage.
And it’s no secret what happens when
the patterns of “busy-ness,” financial
“One voice can ma/e a
(////('/ e//(e
f|:;. ',■& . Jp-;- S
HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
U.S. was attacked by the Japanese on
Dec. 7, 1941.
There was no housing in the area
for the thousands of workers attracted
to the base, where personnel totaled
something like 25,000 during its peak
years. The government constructed
apartment complexes on each side of
• Watson Blvd. They were built of brick
blocks and had concrete floors. With
just one row of brick blocks between
each apartment, residents could hear
what went on next door.
While these apartments (nearly a
thousand of them) served their pur
pose during the war, religious lead
ers objected to them after the war
and wanted the government to tear
them down. Rev. Vernon Brown, pas
tor of Second Baptist Church, coined
the phrase, “You can’t grow a family
through a concrete floor.” In 1953 a
tornado destroyed most of the apart
ments south of Watson Blvd.
During the war a Macon real estate
firm built more than a thousand frame
houses to rent to base workers, but
there were less than 50 privately owned
homes in the entire area.
Because of the economy created
by the base’s payroll a little commu
nity of businesses popped up along
First Street (mostly bars) and a few
others scattered along Watson Blvd.
and on Commercial Circle, where the
See EVANS, page
stress and disconnectedness become
the norm. Spouses begin to feel ignored
and unappreciated. Alienation, resent
ment and emotional fatigue occur. As
time goes on in this cycle of overexten
sion, marriages begin to crack, break
or fall apart altogether.
I’ve written before about the need
for couples to prioritize their lives in
a way that leaves time for each other.
Today, I’ll say it this way: Your mar
riage will leave a lasting impression
on your kids. By living out your priori
ties, you’re telling your children - and
your spouse - what’s important to you.
Ralph Waldo Emerson is said to have
coined the statement, “What you do
speaks so loudly I cannot hear what
you say.”
If we say family is important and our
marriage is our top relational priority,
we need to back it up, or others will
know we’re not being honest - perhaps
even with ourselves. So, wl/at will it
take to prove that we mean what we
say? I’d suggest saying less and show
ing more. In an era that sees so many
families overextended, I think there
are two lists of things to do to demon
strate how important our family is to
us. The first is perhaps the easiest, or
at least it’s the most intuitive, the most
“commonsensical. ”
■ Make time for each other.
See HICKS, page p 4