Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016
BARROW JOURNAL • BARROW COUNTY NEWS
PAGE 5A
The Wheels On The Bus
What’s wrong with America
Several weeks ago I read on Facebook
that Ed Wall, my most favorite school bus
driver, had passed away.
He lived a long life, and was
loved by many folks in the area.
When thinking of Ed, it takes me
back to the time spent with him
and my fellow students on that big
yellow bus.
We didn’t live very far from the
school, but just far enough away to
qualify to ride. Every morning, he
would stop in front of our house,
and if my brother and I weren’t at
the end of the driveway, he’d wait
a few seconds, honk the horn, and
only after he was sure we weren’t
coming out, would he drive away.
I saw him do it at the homes of
other kids, too, and I know he always
worried about whether or not he had left
them behind. We loved him so much, and
every year at Christmas, we would give
him a bottle of Old Spice cologne.
Sadly, we tortured the poor fella, too.
When we started going to high school,
we’d stop at Statham Elementary first,
and then go on to Winder after dropping
the little kids off.
We’d have to wait at SES for all the
other buses to get there, so the high
school kids could get on. Ed would enjoy
the interlude by chatting and visiting
with other drivers, and once all the buses
were there, we’d start hollering out the
window, “Come on, Ed, we’re going to
be late!”
There were a few students who devel
oped the early habit of smoking ciga
rettes, and in the afternoons, they would
yank his chain by lighting matches on the
bus. Hooo, Lawdy, he’d holler and fuss
at them, knowing exactly who it was, and
knowing they’d do the same thing again
the next afternoon. We didn’t get away
with much on Ed’s bus. He had a magic
mirror (or was it eyes in the back of his
head?) and he seemed to see everything.
Ed used to drive us to our basketball
games on Friday nights, too. Back then,
there was no middle school except for the
Winder students.
The rest of the county elementary
schools went through the 8th grade. My
eighth grade class in 1972 was the last
year of that: the following year everyone
went to middle school in Winder. We used
to play basketball on Friday nights, and
all the schools would play against each
other. Sixth, seventh and eighth graders
were allowed to play on the teams. I
don’t believe any professional ball team
has ever had as passionate and support
ive fans as the folks who came to those
games. Didn’t matter if they didn’t have
a kid playing or cheering, the gymnasium
was the place to be on Friday
nights, and most nights, it was
standing-room-only.
I, my own personal self,
can dribble a basketball, or I
can walk/run... but not at the
same time. So I spent my sixth,
seventh and eighth grade years
on the sidelines with saddle
oxfords and pom poms. We’d
play each school twice a year,
once at home and once away.
Those away games were our
favorite, because it meant we
could ride the bus. Most every
time, we’d stop by the Dairy
Mail on the way home for a
burger and milkshake. Everyone wanted
the back seat on the bus, especially if
your sweetheart was on the same bus.
PDA was not acceptable, but if you were
lucky enough to get toward the back of
the bus, for sure you could hold hands,
and maybe even sneak a quick smooch
every now and then. Funny thing, and I
may be wrong here, but I don’t remember
there being adult chaperones on the buses
with us. We knew what was expected of
us, and except for a little bit of PDA, we
behaved fairly well. Oh, we got a little
rowdy and loud when we won, but that
was to be expected. And Ed was a good
sport about that. He loved it when we
won, too! He was one of a kind.
This week the yellow buses have been
busy, once again transporting our pre
cious babies to school. From the stories I
have heard, even from my own grandkids,
it is nothing like it was when I was in
school. But, few things are. It’s a differ
ent world where bus drivers and kids have
to dread getting on the bus because of the
mean kids. And without other adults on
board, there is really nothing the driver
can do. With so many kids on board, he/
she has to pay attention to driving, and
can’t monitor all the activity going on.
While we are praying for our students
and teachers, let’s remember to pray for
the bus drivers as well. They hold pre
cious lives in their hands every morning
and afternoon, and we entrust those lives
into their care. We need to be careful
driving as well — buses and kids are
everywhere! Hats off to you, drivers! Be
safe out there!
Cathy Watkins Bennett is a Bar-
row County native and a gradu
ate of Winder-Barrow High School.
Send comments about this column to
beneath @ aol. com.
America’s problems look like a smor
gasbord.
We have more aches and pains in
America than Carter has Liver
Pills or the variety of foods found
on a country restaurant buffet.
We can start with our political
parties. It looks like both parties
have decided they want to be rep
resented by the jackass.
The elephant is in hiding and the
jackass isn’t sure who is who.
One’s too far to the right, one is
too far to the left and members of
both parties dislike the others, as
well as half of themselves.
It’s bad enough that we are
fighting with each other but a
scarier fact is that we have allowed our
military and armed forces to shrink to
such a level, our military leaders’ doubt
we can go “toe to toe” in a conflict with
a major adversary.
It seems that Obama sees the United
States as an evil empire guilty of imperi
alism, slavery, and even theft. There are
those that say Obama is simply punishing
this country for our sins, thus the reasons
behind his “fundamental transformation”.
It may be that Obama feels reducing
our military might is simply a way of
punishing us for our sins and will level
the playing field with third world coun
tries.
We have reduced our army to a level
seen in the 1940s and our navy to a simi
lar size that we had in 1917.
In the past eight years we have allowed
the Russians to violate our skies, fly dan
gerously close to our ships and several
weeks ago they bombed one of our mili
tary bases in Syria.
The Chinese have taken control of
several important sea lanes in the Pacific,
North Korea continues to threaten our
country, as well as our Pacific allies, and
our nuclear arsenal is disintegrating.
We have betrayed one of our great
allies in Israel and snubbed our nose at
another powerful ally in Great Britain.
We are doing very little to stop the
genocide of Christians in the Mideast by
ISIS, we telegraph to our enemies in the
Mideast our battle plans, and we promote
a religion which lives by violence and
believes in slavery. In the homeland, the
Obama administration continues moving
forward with Operation Chokepoint.
Chokepoint. managed basically by the
Department of Justice and other feder
al agencies, according to several news
sources, is allowing the government to
decide who can do business and who
can’t.
Legitimate businesses, such
as firearms manufacturers, fire
arms dealers, and coin dealers,
are being told by their banks
that they will no longer allow
them to use their banking ser
vices. These businesses are then
unable to transact business and
are forced to close their doors.
It’s nothing more than intimi
dation in its ugliest form.
If the above isn’t enough to
keep you awake, there’s more.
The American Civil Rights
Union discovered, and has
developed proof, that thousands of illegal
aliens and others have been registered
to vote. While some may not be too
concerned, remember, every illegal vote
cancels a legal vote, including yours.
We are one of the few countries in the
world that hold democratic elections,
giving our citizens the right to vote. We
should never take that for granted.
The election system in this country is
corrupt. In the last election, not only did
voter checks find illegal aliens voting,
they discovered people had voted who
have been dead for years.
To add to the nightmare, take a close
look at the financial situation in which
we find ourselves. Last year the federal
deficit hit a half-trillion dollars.
Citizens Against Government Waste
say the current national debt is around
$19 trillion and growing. It’s estimated
that each taxpayer’s share of the debt this
year will be $160,000.
Obamacare cost the American taxpay
ers nearly $5 billion and it’s estimated we
will spend trillions if we don’t come up
with a better idea.
Meanwhile, we have five million or
more illegals wanting free citizenship
and benefits, thousands of non-vetted
Mideast aliens coming into the country
demanding we accept their culture, Iran
marching toward a nuclear bomb, and a
President intent on destroying history’s
greatest republic.
It’s time to be honest and point a finger,
and not just at the President or Demo
cratic Party. Just what has Congress been
doing for the past eight to 10 years? Aid
ing and abetting?
Jimmy Terrell is retired from a career
in local law enforcement.
Post 163 to host dinner, dance
cathy
watkins
bennett
jimmy
terrell
CASA seeking area volunteers
Court Appointed Special
Advocates (CASA) is look
ing for volunteers for chil
dren in foster care.
CASA volunteers advo
cate for foster children and
help them reach a perma-
day is still special, offer
ing a personalized birthday
greeting card or maybe a
small gift to celebrate and
remind the child that they
are important and they are
worth celebrating.
Piedmont CASA has new
volunteer training classes
starting on Aug. 25.
Visit www.piedmontcasa.
org for more information
and to download an appli
cation.
The American Legion Post 163 in Statham will host a steak dinner and dance on
Saturday, Aug. 13, at the legion headquarters at 1633 Atlanta Highwaty Southeast.
Dinner will be served at 6 p.m. followed by the dance at 8 p.m. The dinner is $15
per plate with the dance costing $5 per person. The band Wildcard will be performing.
The event is open to the public.
See Dr. C.B. Skelton’s column on
page 10A in today’s edition...
nent, safe solution faster.
They also make sure their
assigned child receives
tutoring when they are
struggling in school.
When a child is uproot
ed from their school and
activities, a CASA volun
teer makes sure they get
plugged into activities they
enjoy: maybe it’s joining
the local soccer team or
signing up to participate in
the school play.
Most foster children
spend at least one birthday
in foster care and a CASA
volunteer makes sure that
Headmaster’s
Corner
by
Steve Cummings
ii
CONGRATS TO RICHARD
JIBUNOR! - Athens Christian
School’s Richard Jibunor had
an outstanding track season
as he led the Eagles to a 12th
straight Region Champion
ship and a Second Place fin
ish at State. Richard’s hard
work paid off as he was
recently named the Athens
Banner-Herald Boys Track
Co-Athlete of the Year.
Richard was the Class A
Private State Champion in the
300 hurdles, finished second
in the high jump, sixth in the
triple jump, and was the run
ner-up 400 and 1,600 relay
teams. He also won the city
and area titles in the 300 hur
dles.
Richard also excels in foot
ball and basketball. We wish
Richard the best as he contin
ues his athletic career at ACS.
ATHENS
CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
“Affordable Quality Education Since 1970”
K3-12TH CALL (706) 549-7586
www.athenschristian.com
August 3, 2016 ~ Crossword Puzzle
Across
1. Droop
4. Rested in a chair
7. Thai (var.)
10. Draw out wool
12. Coatis genus
14. Taxis
15. Beige
16. Supplementing with difficulty
17. Capital of Norway
18. A personal written history
21. Cologne
22. Australian flightless bird
23. Lowest freeman; early Eng.
25.18th C. mathematician
Leonhard
28. Cabinet Dept, for homes
29. Languages of Sulu islands
33. More scarce
35. Before
36. Swiss river
37. Actress & director Lupino
38. Edges
41. Thousand Leaves prefecture
44. Soldier hero of Spain El
45. Gains through work
47. To the front
49.1 (German)
50. Price label
51. Barack’s 1st lady
58. Drench with liquid
59. Child (scot.)
60. “Aba Honeymoon”
62. Disappearing shade trees
63. Cricket frog genus
64. Union busting worker
65. A priest’s liturgical vestment
66. Previously The Common Market
67. Upper left keyboard key
Down
1. Point midway between S and SE
2. Genus of birds
3. Personal spiritual leader
4. Japanese rice beverage
5. Eared owl genus
6. Wood oil finish
7. Hyphen
8. Competently
9. Equal, prefix
11. Broad-winged soaring hawks
12. A collection of star systems
13. Be in accord
14. Links subject & predicate
(linguistics)
19. Paddles
20. Asian river between China
and Russia
23. Physicists Marie or Pierre
24. Excessive fluid accumulation
in tissues
26. Dunlap, pageant
titleholder
27. Made again
28. Norse goddess of death
30. A waterproof raincoat
31. Express pleasure
32. Lanka
34. Radioactivity unit
39. Clay blocks for building
40. Linear unit
42. Conductor tools
43. Whale ship captain
46. Queen who tested Solomon
48. Good Gosh!
51. A gangster’s girlfriend
52. Unstressed-stressed
53. Draw through holes
54. Old Italian monetary units
55. Musician Clapton
56. Ceremonial staff of authority
57. Fabrics of camels or goats
58. A very large body of water
61. Basics
CUSTOM
PRINTING
Custom Sheet-Fed
& Web Press Printing
•Stationery
• Flyers
• Bus. Forms
• NCR Jobs
• Invoices
• Envelopes
• Bus. Cards
•Circulars
• Newspapers
•Statements
MainStreet
Newspapers
PRINTING
DEPT.
Located at 33 Lee Street
in Jefferson, Ga.
(706) 367-5233
printing@mainstreetne ws. com
