Newspaper Page Text
♦ SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2007
4A
Daniel F. Evans
President
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Christmas lights starting
to dim?
Is it us, or has the prevalence of houses adorned
with Christmas lights taken a downward - spiral
- over the past however many years? If you were
watching closely you would probably have noted
this as a gradual decline but if you look around
out there today it appears almost dramatic how
things have changed.
It seems like it used to be that you’d drive down
your street and just about every house, if it didn’t
have at least some lights in the yard, at least had
a Christmas tree shining-bright in its window. Not
anymore. We did a hard scouting look around
this week and darkened windows were the vast
majority, not the minority.
There used to be one particular neighborhood
you could always count on - among a handful
that fit that description locally - to have both
sides of the street lit up like Las Vegas.
Today, that section, has a house here, a house
there, but resembles nothing of its former self,
and we can’t help but wonder what has hap
pened. (Note: We’ll try to do a follow-up story to
talk to some of the residents and maybe delve a
little bit deeper into the why.)
We would imagine the fact preparation - at
least from a marketing standpoint - seems to
begin earlier and earlier each year, along with
costs and our lifestyles in general has had a lot
to do with it.
And, of course, we know there are still a ton of
people out there - in their various religions - that
still believe this isn’t what Christmas is all about
anyway. In their hearts and minds - our hearts
and minds - Christmas in the form of Jesus’ birth
is alive as it ever was.
But it sure puts a crimp on the old ways when
you used to load up the family vehicle with the
kids and went out in search of those wonderful
Christmas lights.
That part of the holidays we miss.
Letters to the editor
Goodwill renews its pledge to help
More than 8 million Americans are out of work, and
their families are facing tough times. At Goodwill
Industries, we know that the most effective way to help
people is by providing them with the means to earn a pay
check and support their families long-term.
Over the past five years, your local Goodwill placed more
than 4,400 people into jobs, and generated more than $96
million in new payroll purchasing power. That person might
be the teller at your bank, the teacher’s aide at your child’s
school, or the administrative assistant in your office. And
they couldn’t have made it without the support of people
like you who donate to Goodwill.
.As we approach this busy holiday season, Goodwill
renews our 100-year-old pledge to help people discover
and develop their God given gifts and go to work. With
your donations and year-end financial support, Goodwill
helps deserving people receive a hand-up to the joy and
dignity derived from a paycheck. This holiday
See LETTER, page {A
Election proves referendum necessary
Our local election on Tuesday proved that we should
have a referendum on the sale of alcohol on
Sundays in Warner Robins. The victory of Mr. Williams by
only several votes goes to show that though you may be
the incumbent you need to listen to our citizens. Even if
you don’t believe in the need for Sunday sales you should
support a referendum so that the will of the majority will
be shown. Local ministers and their petitions only serve
to antagonize most of us who believe in the separation
of church and state. The sale of alcohol six days a week
doesn’t appear to bother members of the minister’s faith
so why should it bother them on Sundays? Does it bother
Jews on Saturdays? Just skip going out for lunch on
Sundays.
Frank IK Gadbois, Warner Robins
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
BELIEF
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Of miracles, memories
For a few brief minutes, I was
12 years old, again, and it was
Daddy and Mr. Marvin Dorsett
talking about Perry High’s basketball
victory over (fill in the blank, there
were so many and so often). There they
were, recounting every play and how
the old master, Coach ‘Fessor Staples,
had out-smarted the other team, one
more time, and how (fill him in, there
were so many) had risen to the occa
sion to insure the victory, thus keeping
the title hopes alive and the winning
streak intact.
In fact, let me tell you what it was
and who it was: Matt Arthur, an old
football coach and ex-Georgia football
player, and Danny Carpenter, an old
football coach and ex-Georgia football
player, talking about the old master,
Coach Conrad Nix, and how he had
out-smarted the Tucker Tigers team;
and, how Marques Ivory, seven weeks
injured Marques Ivoly Marques Ivory
with a plate attached to the fibula in
his left leg to help heal a break, had
risen to the occasion to insure the vic
tory, thus keeping the title hopes alive
and the winning streak intact.
Listen, I’m a Perry Panther and was
a member of Coach Herb St. John’s
1959 football team that went to the
Final Four and lost to a very talented
Quitman team on a cold winter night
in Brooks County. I was a player on
the 1959 Panther team that beat the
Hawkinsville Red Devils on a hot,
hot opening game that same season
in the last two minutes in what was
Hawkinsville’s only loss on the way to
a state championship, and in what I
would say, prior to Friday’s Northside-
Tucker game in the Dome, was the
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"I'm not sure about Glenn Richardson...
let’s wait and see if he hits us with that service tax."
Education the most important thing in the world
I have been writing columns for
local newspapers for 59 years and
several hundred of them have
been devoted to public education. Why
spend so many columns and so much
newsprint on this one subject?
My answer is a simple one: In my
opinion, a good education is the most
important thing in the world we can
give to our children. If most recent
analyses of education in our country
are accurate we have been letting our
children down, despite the fact addi
tional money has been poured into
the educational system year after year
without letup.
Listen to politicians and each year
when they run for office or talk about
budgets they harp on the need for
more money for education and “our
children”. This is compulsory if a poli
tician has any hope of getting elected
president, governor or to congress or
the legislature.
All of which calls for one question:
“Are we getting our money’s worth.”
Of all the honors or recognition
that I have received in the last six
decades, the School Bell Award given
to me in the late Sixties by the Georgia
Education Association for my support
of education is one of my most prized.
This is going to be my last column
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“One voice c(/n /nr/ie r/ c//(/cre/H c
Larry
Walker
Columnist
lwalker@whgb-law.com
"And, how I marveled at
how excited I had gotten
over a team I had only
read about prior to the
game/ and how glad I was
to be there and that the
Eagles had won."
most exciting high school game I ever
saw.
So, there we were, the three of us,
riding back from Atlanta to Houston
County, and Matt and Danny were
excited, and Larry was, too. And the
two of them discussed and replayed
and analyzed every play they could
remember, and Larry listened. Oh,
how I thought about Daddy and Mr.
Marvin, or Daddy and Mr. Glea (as in
Glea Gray). And, how I marveled at
how excited I had gotten over a team
I had only read about prior to “the
game,” and how glad I was to be there
and that the Eagles had won.
Now, let me confess. To my mind,
this was the most exciting high school
Foy
Evans
Columnist
foyevansl9@cox.net
on the subject of public school educa
tion. This probably will be welcome to
those whose I have stepped on so many
times
Parade Magazine recently asked
the question: “Can Bill Gates (and
his billions of dollars} fix our failing
schools?”
Gates is spending millions of dollars
in an effort to improve public educa
tion. Recently, he told the country’s
governors that was “appalled “ by
America’s school system and feared for
the future, according to Parade.
Gates’ solution to the problem is
to stress the basics, which are being
ignored. He says phonics should be
used to teach reading.
“When we gave up phonics we
destroyed the reading ability” of chil
dren, Gates said. Reading is at the
foundation of education.
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HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
football game I ever saw. It was a game
where the Eagles came back from a 28
to 7 half-time deficit and won 31 to 28 on
a field goal with 12 seconds left to play.
Yeah, better than the Panther’s 1959
victory over the State ‘Championship
Red Devils. The Ivory performance was
about as gutsy as any I have ever seen.
And, I believe what Danny and Matt
say about Coach Nix - about his work
ethic, attention to detail, fundamen
tals and simple plays, ability to attract
great assistant coaches, and that he is
a football coaching genius. Just exactly
like what Daddy and Mr. Glea used to
say about ‘Fessor.
When the Northside-Tucker game
ended, we had to “wind down” a little,
so we stayed to see the first half of the
Thomas Central Yellow Jackets and
Ware County Gators game. Frankly,
I couldn’t pull for either team, given
their mascot names, but was inter
ested to learn the next morning Ware
County was the winner and thus the
Eagles’ last night opponent in the State
Championship game in Waycross.
Obviously, as I write this five days
before the game, I don’t know the win
ner of the Eagles and the Gators, but
I suspect Northside won and repeat
ed as State Champions. I hope so.
Regardless, Marques Ivory is a champi
on and Conrad Nix is as good as there
is, even if Northside lost. For after all,
even ‘Fessor didn’t win ‘em all.
Thanks to Danny Carpenter and
Matt Arthur, two fine men, for a great,
memorable and exciting evening. But,
more importantly, thanks for making
me remember Mr. Marvin, Mr. Glea,
and Daddy and making me feel like a
youngster, again.
An ongoing theme of my columns
from the beginning has been the impor
tance of phonics to teach children to
read. Anyone who cannot read and
comprehend will be handicapped for
life. I have talked to lower grade teach
ers who had no idea of the concept of
phonics and I have been told by some
school officials that phonics is “irrel
evant.”
I realize that I have been one voice
in the wilderness. I wish that my influ
ence on the subject had been greater.
I am saddened when I read that our
country, which once was in the fore
front of education among the nations
of the world, has fallen far behind
despite spending more money than any
country in the world.
Bill Gates hopes that by spending
millions of dollars in some areas and
suggesting how to improve education
will be effective.
I fear that our country is on a slip
pery slope and, because of many cir
cumstances beyond the control of any
of us, other countries with the attitude
and determination we had half a cen
tury ago will continue to leave us in
their dust.
They have already and there is no
reason to believe that the present trend
will be reversed.