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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. 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