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♦ 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 mngi J&S&ttSL bhhb 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 (\ j L P) M) mK A f Jk •• "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 f+'r-.'SBfTTtt!** ><•/■ --\ v -.:**«*“ “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. U lr : 1| ||. -*B 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.