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♦ SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2007
Daniel F. Evans
President
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Reaching a half million?
Last October, more than 431,000 people
poured through the gates of the Georgia National
Fairgrounds & Agricenter for the 17th annual
fair.
Let’s assume that 10,000 of those were from
Perry.
The rest - the other 421,000 - were visitors
to our city. The
financial and
public relations
impact of the
fair for the City
of Perry is incal
culable.
Assuming the
skies stay dear,
it’s just possible
that the 18th Georgia National Fair will bring in a
half million people this year.
Many things combine to make the fair a suc
cess. There’s the pure old-fashioned fun of it, with
midway rides, funnel cakes and cotton candy.
There are big-name concerts and all kinds of
free musical shows, magic shows and entertain
ments. There’s the Georgia Living Show, which
gives artists, photographers, cooks, needle
workers, gardeners and crafters a chance to
compete for the state’s top prizes.
There are showcases for businesses and for
Georgia’s agricultural heritage, along with the
FFA and 4-H competitions that were the real
reason the facility got built in the first place.
Executive Director Michael Froehlich and his
staff work year-round to make this event one
of the biggest and best in the southeast, and to
appeal to all ages and interests.
We thank everyone involved for their dedica
tion, their attention to innumerable details, and
their sheer enthusiasm.
That goes for everybody from the administra
tion to the Faircracker volunteers, from the crew
that cleans up the fairgrounds every night after
closing time, to the 4-H kids showing their prize
hogs, from the midway workers to the quilt
stitchers, the Young Farmers with their food
booth and the Perry Kiwanis Club, which always
co-hosts the big Saturday parade.
It’s a great show for Georgia and it’s Perry’s
pride.
See you there!
Letters to the editor
Hopeful chambers will look to the future
As a past chairman of the Perry Area Chamber of Commerce
and a current member of the Perry Chamber, I am hopefpl
that the business communities of Perry and Warner Robins will
look to the future.
The mission of the Chamber of Commerce is to serve the
Business Community. That role can be many things depending
on the community, but the time for the city of Perry to think only
of itself as a small town has passed. The business community
- to stay competitive in the world of internet competition - must
network outside of their comfort zones and reach out to the rest
of the world.
Businesses moving into Houston County - need to be able to
reach all the residents of Houston County - not just a few “town”
businesses. I do not know of many counties that do NOT have a
consolidated chamber that represents all the businesses of their
area (outside of the Metro Atlanta).
If I was moving to Houston County and wanted to set up a new
business, I would rather work with a Houston County Chamber
than having to track down both the Warner Robins and the Perry
Chamber in order to establish and network my business within
both growing communities.
The time for consolidation is now ... and the communities need
to think of the future - not just for the comfort of the known situ
ation of today! The committee has worked hard to examine all
the aspects of the issues - and recommended the consolidation
-therefore; I will be supporting their decision!
Linda R. Easterly, Kathleen
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
newspaper 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
“The financial and
public relations
impact of the fair for
the City of Perry is
incalculable.”
Santa, sessions and seasons
I write this column very early on
the morning of Oct. 1. I’ve just
gone out to get the daily news
paper to which I subscribe, and for the
first time since early spring, I wear a
light jacket. It feels good in the crisp
morning air. Wonderfully, it feels like
fall is here, at last! Another season in
Perridise.
When I was young, and I mean
really young, and before I started to
school, the benchmark for my year was
Christmas. I was early in life an ardent
admirer of Santa Clause. What a great
person was Mr. Claus. How long before
he was coming again? It always seemed
sooo long - even if it were just a few
days.
The necessitated wait was always
rewarded in the end. Perhaps I didn’t
get what in my heart I wanted, but I
did get something exciting and special.
Yeah, when young, my year revolved
around Dec. 25.
Then, it was school. When does it
start? When will we “get out”? Will I
get a couple of new shirts and some
new pants to wear to school the first
day? Who is my teacher going to be?
And, as I moved up to high school,
what subjects will I take?
And, then to UGA. Where will I live,
with whom will I room, what will my
schedule be, etc.? Yes, my life then
revolved around school and school cal
endars.
"Oh, you'll be better soon...you can't afford to be sick!"
Modern Math, other timely topics
Weeks fly by. Another week in
the history books, with some
interesting topics to discuss.
H It has been almost 40 years since
“progressive” educators came up with
new ways to teach English and math
ematics. They said they were moving us
into a new era, ready for young people
to become part of the computer gen
eration. Instead of teaching traditional
English and traditional math, they sub
jected students for several years to
Modern Math and Roberts English and
deprived them of the kind of education
they should have received.
| Modern Math was the most con
voluted and ridiculous way to solve
problems that ever has been devised.
Because my son was trying to learn this
new kind of math I. along with several
other parents, attended night classes
at his school. I never understood what
they were trying to do and I knew that
the old fashioned way of adding two and
two made more sense than the way they
did in Modern Math.
■ Now, so many years later, United
States Supreme Court Justice Clarence
Thomas has revealed that Modern Math
set him back, as it did every student
subjected to it. He said that he had a
hard time when he had to study alge
bra without having been taught basic
arithmetic.
H I never have understood why the
educators, who sit on their pedestals
and set curricula that local school sys
tems must use, believe that every few
years they must screw things up with
Larry
Walker
Columnist
lwalker@whgb-law.com
And then I was out of school and
into my law practice, but it wasn’t long
(seven years) before I was elected to
the state legislature.
Then it became the second Monday in
January through March and April, and
in the latter years, even into May. The
legislature defined my calendar. And
our lives, the Larry Walker’s families’
lives, to an extent, revolved around the
legislature.
It was always nine months, or less,
before we would be “back in session,”
and I would be there for three our four
months, and we planned accordingly.
Ask Sen. Ross Tolleson about this. I’ll
bet he and Sally do the same thing.
So, I went from the myth of Santa
Claus to the myth of the great impor
tance of what I was doing in Atlanta.
And, I went from 2 or 3 years old to
62 years old with a secure lynchpin
around which my calendar revolved.
And, then it was over. And, there was
nothing to define my calendar. Or was
there?
Foy
Evans
Columnist
foyevansl9@cox.net
cockamamie ideas that never seem to
work. Why not stick to tried and true
methods of teaching basics, such as
reading and writing and arithmetic? In
the end, they go back to them., until
someone comes up with another bright
idea.
| These people ask for, and receive,
more money to “improve education”
while sometimes screwing things up for
an entire generation of young people.
■ Recently, I talked with a mother
whose son attended elementary school
while they were teaching these two
discredited courses. She told me, “I saw
what was happening and I taught my
son regular arithmetic, including the
multiplication tables, and real English,
including (horror of horrors) phonics.
He is nearly 50 years old and still tells
me how glad he is that I did that.”
| How about the woman who killed
her four children and claims it was
because her father abused her? It’s
always someone else’s fault.
| Hillary wants to give each child
$5,000 when it is born If this comes to
pass those women with a house full of
children living off the government will
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HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
It’s the seasons. The wonderful sea
sons that we have here in God’s part of
this beautiful world.
And, we’re just getting to one of
my favorite seasons - fall or autumn.
Apd it’s quail hunting, the Georgia
National Fair, football, big-open fire
places with roaring fires, pull -over
sweaters, the magnificent colors of
the fall leaves, and football on Friday
nights and Saturday afternoons.
Yes, it’s one of my favorite seasons.
It’s right up there with winter, spring
and summer. And, it reminds me of
how fortunate we are to live in middle-
Georgia with it four seasons each year.
Don’t you folks in Houston Springs
agree?
So, I like all the seasons. Still, fall
is special, because I know that with
fall’s coming, it won’t be so long before
Santa Claus comes.
And, after that, shortly after that,
just a few days, the legislature will con
vene in Atlanta. But, I forget. It’s no
longer Santa and Sessions that define
my calendar - it’s Seasons - the won
derful seasons that God has given us.
My calendar is now defined as God
intended, and thank God for it.
FOOTNOTE: My inspiration for this
column came from one of my favorites,
Barbara Langston. “Always positive
Barbara” told me at church last night
that I should write a column on fall.
Well, Barbara, here it is - such as it is.
be encouraged to go to work produc
ing more children. The men in their
lives apparently believe they do their
duty when they get a woman preg
nant. Forget about responsibility for the
results of their carnal activities.
| I don’t buy all the alarm over glob
al warming. The earth’s temperature
has increased 1 degree centigrade since
1900. This trend may continue. But
many reliable scientists point to the fact
that the earth has gone through cycles
of cold and hot for millions of years. The
present hysteria seems to be overkill.
| And what effect will it have on
global warming if Americans give up
their present way of life to reduce car
bon emissions? The effect would be
minimal. For the United States to agree
to regulations that will harm our econ
omy and way of life without other coun
tries - especially China, which produces
more pollution than the United States
- also doing the same thing would be
economic suicide. .
■ Who will be the real beneficiaries
if the state of Georgia adopts a sales tax
to do away with property taxes? Before
getting on the bandwagon, it would be
wise to think this through. Will you
really be a winner?
| Can you remember when any
one using the word “ain’t” was con
sidered to be uneducated, ignorant or
a dumb southerner? Now the word is
used regularly on radio, television and
in ordinary conversation by the most
educated. Surely, the rest of the nation
is catching up with us.