About The Sylvania times. (Sylvania, Ga.) 2022-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 14, 2024)
thesy lvaniatimes. com The Sylvania Times Wednesday, February 14, 2024 - Page 7 Editorials & More ... r n Just because someone’s opinion is dfferent than your own, it DOES NOT mean they are wrong. From the Editor’s Desk By Joe Brady, Editor for The Times thesylvaniatimes@gmail.com So, I said I would never do it. Four is a gracious plenty! But y’all, I did it. I think I fell in love with the puppy’s green eyes. I mean have you ever seen green eyes on a dog? Anyway, we now have Winston Churchill living in the house. Oh, that puppy stage. This week I was reminded of some of our past family pets. Grandaddy for instance had a dog he taught to play baseball. Yep, I can’t make this up. Every afternoon Grandaddy would go to the backyard and throw the baseball. As the dog would bring the ball back Grandaddy would yell, Strike 1! Then he would throw again. Strike 2 he would yell. Then Strike 3! Instead of bringing the ball back, the dog would drop it and walk off. I wish I could remember that pup’s name. Then there was Mickey. He was a miniature poodle and the pup I remember most. Grandaddy loved that dog. Mickey went everywhere with him. Now, Grandaddy had always kept bulldogs. So, Mickey’s nickname was bulldog. Every time grandaddy would say bulldog, Mickey would growl like a, you guessed it, bulldog. That poor pup lived to be about 18 years old and had gotten so feeble that grandaddy had to pick Mickey up and carry him outside. We had a funeral in the comer of the yard for that little pup. Mama had a boxer puppy that she loved dearly. Herbie was special because like Mama’s human children, he was bom by c-section and premature. Being sickly, Herbie got chicken and rice twice a day. Somebody ran over him, and I remember Mama crying like a baby. The point I’m trying to make is our pets are members of the family. For those people who say dogs have no soul, maybe you have no soul for saying that. But whatever you choose to believe, it really doesn’t matter does it. My deceased pets meet me at the rainbow bridge. Where yours meet you is your business. Our pets give us comfort. And to most of us, heaven without our precious four-legged family members wouldn’t be a place we care to go! So, love those babies. That’s all for now, take care! LANK Sharon Blank, Library News We have two great reading programs for you to check out! First up is the Smokey Bear Reading Challenge, available from now until the end of November. This challenge is a celebration of Smokey Bear’s 80th birthday, and this challenge is to help all ages (but especially kids) leam how to prevent wildfires and help the environment. To meet this challenge, participants should read three books on wildfire prevention or the environment, and do four activities described in the challenge. This challenge is sponsored by the National Park Service, and can only be done on Beanstack at sjrls.beanstack.com . Second is 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten, a program to encourage early childhood literacy and spark imagination in children too young to enter kindergarten. If you read just one book to your child per day, in less than three years they will have read over a thousand books, and if you let them read three books a day, they will have met the goal of reading 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten in only 11 months! You can sign up your child, even a baby, by either coming to the library and filling out an application or signing them up on Beanstack at sjrls.beanstack.com . We recommend Beanstack, as it’s easier to keep track on the go! If you sign up in the library, we will give your child a bookbag with goodies and a stuffed Book Buddy toy. If you sign up on Beanstack, drop by the library and let us know, and we will give you the bookbag, goodies, and Book Buddy then! Either way, your child will earn a book to keep for every 50 books they read (and yes, re-reading their favorite book counts!) Speaking of reading books to children, do you know about our weekly storytime? Every Tuesday at 3:30 pm we have a storytime in which we will read a story to your child and show them how to do a fun craft or activity related to the story. Do you or your kids love to craft? Bring them in on Wednesdays at 3:30 pm to do the fun in-library craft times! The library will be closed on Monday, February 19 for President’s Day. We will return on Tuesday at our regular scheduled time. Want to know more about what’s happening at the library? Head to www.facebook.com/ screvencountylibrary and click “Like!” to have our updates appear in your news feed. Well, that’s all for now - see you at the library! Pastor Wayne Bragg Rocky Ford Baptist Church Rocky Ford, GA Brilliance of Speech vs. Exaltation m ■ II 1 Corinthians 2:1-2 “When I came to you, brothers and sisters, announcing the mystery of God to you, I did not come with brilliance of speech or wisdom. I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” It is becoming more and more evident today that what folks look for and desire within any organization, whether religious or otherwise, is self-help motivational one liners that make you feel good in the moment. Paul dealt with a culture in Corinth where people wanted to hear and leam the “next best thing.” Whatever philosophically sounded wise and whoever made a deep point on any given topic was given an opportunity to tell. We are dangerously closer to times where people want someone who says great things without the greatest person, Jesus Christ. We see pulpits filled with speakers who have a lot to say and no Jesus or Him crucified to proclaim. There are a few things Paul mentions here that must be taken note of when it comes to the preacher and his task. First, brilliance of speech or wisdom from the world will only get you so far. As a matter of fact earthly brilliance and worldly wisdom end up leading to more emptiness and using sin to stop sin. Earthly wisdom tells us to work really hard and do a lot of good to outbalance all of your bad habits that you do. Speech and wisdom from here is only surface deep and hits a dead end. Second, knowing nothing doesn’t mean Paul was ignorant. It simply meant that Paul only desired to make much and all things about Christ. He didn’t spend his time learning how to debate the wise with worldly logic and sprinkle Jesus in the mix. He spent his time talking about our sinful state and how Jesus Christ could forgive us and save us. He would do everything he could to not know things of this world but to know all that he could about Christ. Christ was his object of affection! Third, Christ and He crucified. Yes, it is nice to be encouraged in church, but the source of our encouragement is not brilliant one liners or saying something inspiring like I’m on the high school football team. My source and our need for encouragement should be in Christ and the Gospel. I need to constantly be reminded about The Savior and His grace. To hear of that sweet story of His shed blood and defeat of the grave. We need to know that as things here on earth become more hopeless, that the Christian lives a life that is hopeful because of what is to come. The point is this, exaltation of Jesus Christ is eternally more important than brilliant one liners or advice that this world has to offer. Paul says it well in 1 Corinthians 1:18 “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is the power of God to us who are being saved.” REP. ALLEN ANNOUNCES 2024 SUMMER INTERNSHIP PROGRAM Congressman Rick W. Allen (GA-12) announced his office is seeking applicants for the 2024 Summer Internship Program, to be offered in his Washington, D.C. office. This program is open to college students and young professionals interested in learning about the legislative process and assisting with the responsibilities of a congressional office. Interns will perfomi a range of tasks including constituent outreach, legislative writing, and more, with the possibility of earning school credit. Summer internships are split into two six-week sessions and all applications must be submitted via Congressman Allen's website by Friday, March 15, 2024. Upon the announcement. Congressman Allen issued the following statement: “Working in a congressional office provides a unique opportunity to gain firsthand experience into how our government operates and network with individuals from all walks of life. In our office, we employ a bottom-up approach to empower others to be the best they can be. Many of our past interns have used the skills gained during their internships to transition into a variety of successful career paths. My staff and I look forward to welcoming these talented young professionals in the coming months.” Those interested in a summer internship can apply on Congressman Allen's website. Please contact Lorene Parker at Lorene.Parker@mail. house.gov with any questions. A WORD FROM JON BURNS, Ga Speaker of the House of Representatives Dear Friends, The past week has been a positive and productive one under the Gold Dome, as we worked together to advance several key priorities and policy solutions forward in the House of Representatives. We also had the pleasure of meeting with a number of constituents, advocacy groups, friends and important organizations traveling to Atlanta to make their voice heard. On Monday, we welcomed many of our great friends and constituents from back home for Effingham Day at the Capitol. I had the privilege of speaking to the group and seeing so many friends and familiar faces in the crowd. Later in the day, we had a productive meeting with Dr. Yancy Ford, our Effingham County School Superintendent, and our school board members to get updates and hear about the exciting progress being made in the district. I want to especially thank Kim Iler, Troy Allen, Brooke Jenkins, Becky Shea and Susan Kraut for making the day such a great success. On Tuesday, we had the opportunity to address the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. I talked about the tremendous success our state has had over the past ten years as the number one place to do business, our job creation and economic development projects, and the tax cuts we are continuing to deliver for families. That success is certainly driven in large part by the more than 1.1 million Latinos who call our state home, and the countless job creators and entrepreneurs who help fuel that success. That evening, we met with the Georgia Forestry Association. Georgia has the number one timber industry in the country, with more than 22 million acres of private timberland accounting for $3.9 billion in exports. As an agribusiness man with a timber operation myself, I know firsthand how important our forestry industry is to our state. and we are continuing to support it every day under the Gold Dome. On Wednesday, I had the pleasure of speaking to the Georgia Agribusiness Council about the importance of agriculture and the policy initiatives we have been working on to support our state’s number one industry. I was especially proud to recognize the Georgia Farmer of the Year, Effingham’s own Bruce Redmond! From passing the Georgia Farmland Conservation Act to investing in our farmers markets to working on legislation this year to ban foreign adversaries from buying Georgia farmland, we are taking a strong stand to support the backbone of our economy and our rural communities in Georgia. On Thursday, we passed out of the House three pieces of great legislation— HB 1015, 1019, and 1021. Taken together, these bills will accelerate the state income tax cut from 5.75 percent to 5.39 percent, double the homestead exemption from $2,000 to $4,000, and increase the child tax deduction from $3,000 to $4,000 per child. These priorities will deliver significant relief to taxpayers across the state, put more money back into their pockets, and continue to boost our economy as the best state in the country to live, work and raise a family—and I look forward to quick passage by the Senate and signature by Governor Kemp We will continue our busy schedule and work on behalf of every citizen in the state of Georgia next week. Thank you for all that you are doing to support us each day during session, and as always, if there is anything our office can assist with, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Best, Speaker Jon Bums Dear Editor, In this world where we hear bad news and criticisms every day, I want to take the time and opportunity to give a BIG shout out to a local service which I just discovered, the Optim Swing Bed facility here in Sylvania. Bom and raised in Screven County, I mshed off from High School to have numerous adventures which led to me many countries around the world. Recently, I returned to a very quiet part of the Middle East (yes, it exists on the island of Cyprus) to finish a book I have been working on for more than 35 years on ancient writing systems. After a few months, I had to leave for a short while because of Visa problems. My sister kindly took me in, and I returned to Sylvania, the first time, really, after the deaths of my parents so very long ago. While here, I suffered a serious fall, requiring hospitalization in the Trauma ICU in Memorial in Savannah. It was they who suggested that I receive further rehabilitation after my release, and of the options given, I chose the Optim Health Care system here in Sylvania. I write this letter today because the treatment I received at Optim here in Sylvania is hands down some of the best I have received in my life. That is no small statement, as I have dealt with health care issues in a number of states across the wide US, as well as in several European countries, including in France, England, Italy and Cypms. From the very first moment, I felt well taken care of, with a staff of VERY kind, very competent and efficient, and very caring people. The warm personal interactions, from the highest-ranking medical personnel to the members of the kitchen staff, made each and every day of my recovery there special. The physical therapy sessions were so beneficial to my recovery that I have chosen to continue with them on an outpatient basis. While in the Optim Health Care Swing Bed program, I observed the staff "go the extra mile", or several of them, working with patients with a wide range of disabilities and problems, treating each of them in the same special way in which I myself was being treated. To say I was impressed is an understatement. To say that I am extremely appreciative is merely the tmth. It is human nature not to recognize the value of what we already have, and sometimes it takes fresh eyes to recognize the tme worth of an institution. Sylvania is extremely lucky to have such a HIGH QUALITY facility in our town. And, as I think many people already know, because of their public restaurant, but I would like to emphasize, the food is DELICIOUS! Sincerely, Bonny Bazemore
