Friday, October 27, 2017
Lake Oconee News
Page A5
Letters to the Editor
For the record
Letters must be signed and include your full address and phone number for verification; only name and town are printed.
Submissions may be edited for content and length. The deadline is 1 p.m. Monday. Send to news@lakeoconeenews.us
Madison is a small and picturesque town
Reading letters and adver
tisements in the paper seem
to suggest that some think
Madison is a town doing little
right, with its economy and
quality oflifeatriskif changes
are not soon made.
I see something quite differ
ent. When my family moved
here 23 years ago, Madison
was a wonderful town. Today
it is even more so.
We now have Town Park
alongwiththehistoricpreser-
vation and new development it
fostered. Until the city stepped
in, this was a blighted area.
Because ofthe park, nearly 40
businesses have located there.
Assessed property values
increased from $2 million
to over $21 million. We have
more shopping, restaurants,
quality housing and a superb
venue for outdoor events. Our
historic downtown is more
vital.
Anequallyimportanttrans-
formation is occurring in the
West Washington gateway,
another previously blighted
area of the historic district.
Even with the Great
Recession, wekeptmost of our
local industry and expanded
it. When businesses were
lost, new ones were generally
found. Our interstate inter
change businesses have bur
geoned. Newprofessional and
retail establishments have
been built from the interstate
to downtown. Increasingly,
we are a destination for wed
dings and the film industry.
Madison’s 4.5 percent unem
ployment, down from 11.2
percebt in 2010, is below the
state average.
Since 2004, our tourist
industry has grown over 60
percent in spite of the reces
sion. In the last six years,
tourist expenditures are up
30 percent. Our town has
been recognized as the “No.
1 Small Town in America,”
among the “World’s 16 Most
Picturesque Villages,” and by
Southern Living as one of the
special towns in the South.
During the recent com
prehensive planning process,
dozens of residents attended
city meetings to share ideas,
concerns, and priorities. In
the last decade, 40 acres has
been permanently protected
for greenspace and parks,
four times that which was
protected during our first
200years. Floodingproblems
are being addressed; needed
housing initiatives, under
taken. We have some of the
region’s lowest taxes.
Since 2007, city staff and
volunteers secured $4 million
in funding to achieve our
goals andkeep property taxes
down. Officials from cities
around Georgia regularly visit
Madison to learnhowwe have
accomplished what we have.
All this does not happen
by chance. It occurs because
of vision, hard work and
commitment by dedicated
leaders and city employees;
because citizen volunteers
work week in and week out to
make Madison abetter place;
because city government
does listen to its citizens and
does work with the private
sector and other government
agencies.
Are city staff, the mayor,
and council perfect? Of course
not. We all disagree with some
of their decisions. They make
mistakes. They are human.
Is there much which needs
to be done to make Madison
even better? Absolutely. Yet
,show me a town in Georgia
of 4,000 which has accom
plished more than we have.
What I see when I look at
Madison is not a town about
to lose that makes it special,
but a town other cities point
to and say, “I wish we could
be more like them.”
David Land
Madison
Response to letter by Mr. Giesler
Let us take afewmoments
and comment on Mr.
Giesler’s letter of afew weeks
past. His statements regard
ing Democrats supporting
slavery and the Ku Klux
Klan shows a spectacular
ignorance of simple histori
cal time line, basic facts and
milieu.
The generally accepted
first Democratic president
was Andrew Jackson. Today
we often see Donald Trump
sitting in front of a large
portrait of the seventh pres
ident. (Future test question:
Why would our Republican
president want the first
Democratic president’s pic
ture in the Oval Office?)
There were Democrats in
the North and the South;
just like there were Baptists
and Methodists in the
Northern and Southern
parts of the “United” States.
By the 1850’s, Southern
Democrats were strongly
pro-slavery and also by far
the largest political block.
Northern Democrats were
ambivalent regarding this
question and were more
concerned about business
and industrial expansion.
In the northeast there was a
small but very vocal group of
Evangelical Christians who
were anti-slavery.
In 1854, they founded
something called the
Republican Party and in
1856, ran Gen John C.
Fremont for President.
Democrat James Buchanan
won the election and the
stage was set for the I860,
campaign. By this time
Methodists, Baptists and
Democrats had split. The
word ‘Southern’ now had to
precede these nouns.
The I860 election broke
downlike this: Firstplace,A.
Lincoln-Republican; Second
place, F. Douglas-Northern
Democrat; Third place,
J. Breckenridge-Southern
Democrat; Fourth place, J.
Bell - Constitutional Union
Party.
So there it is. For the next
100 years you couldn’t find
a Southern Republican if
your life depended on it.
Solid South meant Pro:
segregation, Jim Crow and
White only office holders.
The exciting elections were
the Democratic Primaries.
There Dems could duke it
out.
The General election
was just for the national
candidates.
After the Civil War, the
Republican Party morphed
into a party that strongly
supportedbigbusinesswhile
the Democratic Party looked
more toward the working
man. This is an over simpli
fication, but it can serve as
an over-arching definition.
The solid Democratic
South was the South of
Nathan Bedford Forrest
and the KKK. The solid
Democratic South began to
crumble after WWII.
It was angry that
Democrat Harry Truman
integrated the U.S. military.
Strom Thurmondand others
broke and formed the States
Rights Party, also known as
Dixiecrats. Thurmond ran
for president and carried
four Southern States.
Through the 50’s and 60’s
the National Republican
Party and Northern
Democrats moved ahead
with basic civil rights. This
caused Southern Dems to
double down on “segregation
forever” and Confederate
battle flags began to appear
on state banners.
1968 was a pivotal year
for the modern Republican
Party. Nixon won the elec
tion, but Alabama governor
George Wallace won 56 elec
toral votes on the American
Independentticket. National
Republicans saw a chance
and came up with their
“Southern Strategy.”
Now then, why would
a famous California gov
ernor kick off his 1980,
presidential campaign in
Philadelphia, Mississippi?
Speakingto ajubilant crowd
at the Neshoba County fair,
Ronald Reagan let it be
known that he didn’t care
for the Federal govern
ment. When he said he was
for states rights, scores of
Confederate flags waved.
Boisterous Republicans in
the South? That scene was
100 percent impossible 25
years earlier.
The answer to the above
questions: Neshoba County
was the site of the murder of
three voter rights activists 16
years earlier. Conscientiously
or sub-conscientiously,
the word was out. Vote
Republican and certain
groups will be “saved.”
So there you have it. It’s
the “Mad Hatters Tea Party.”
One pill makes you larger
and, one pill makes you
small. Up is down and down
is up.
The modern Republican
Party has absolutely nothing
to do with the I860 party of
Lincoln.
And Strom Thurmond
was never a modern
Democrat. He was amodern
Republican and a 1920,
Southern Democrat.
Keep Calm and Study on.
Billy Scholly
When I was a child, from
the time I was old enough
to sit on the floor and play
with my toes until far past
the time I put on my first
coatofmascara, Ihave loved
records.
I thought it was magical
thatlcouldputablackround
disc on my little phonograph
player and soon music or
wordswouldbeplaying.This
absolutely fascinated me. If
you ever run into Tink, ask
him to show you one of his
favorite photos. He always
has it close at hand. My
husband enjoys plundering
through boxes of old things
to find pieces of me as a
little girl. Somewhere, he
found a black and white
photo of aplump 3-year-old
clutching an old 45 record
in my pudgy fingers. My
head is flung back joyously
and I am laughing. In every
photo from my childhood, I
am either laughing merrily
or grinning happily with
twinkling eyes.
And, too, in most photos
of a childish me, you can
count on seeing a piece of my
petticoat trimmed in lace.
“Why are you always
showingoffyour petticoat in
photos?” he asked, laughing
as he gazed at the ensemble
of white blouse with a Peter
Pan collar, a jumper, lace-
trimmed socks and black
patent shoes.
I shrugged. “I liked my
petticoats. They made me
feel pretty.”
Without fail, every photo
- andTinkhas afewofthese
he can share, too - I have
bobbed red-brownhair with
bangs that are too short and
crooked. They are at least a
half inch longer on one side
that the other.
“And your bangs are
Dixie Divas
always crooked.” Helaughed
again.
“Because Mama cut them
and if she couldn’t find her
regular scissors, she’d just
use her pinking shears.” It’s
a good thing that my hap
piness didn’t depend on me
being pretty because those
bangs were plenty ugly.
So, this child with crooked
bangs, a happy personality
and petticoats longer than
her dresses, loved records.
As soon as I could read, I was
equally fascinated with the
record jackets. Whenever I
got a new one, I would sit
down and read every word
written on theback. In those
days ofvinyl records, it often
included what was known
as “liner notes” which was a
couple of paragraphs about
the album and sometimes
included a story about the
artist or the songs.
Faithfully, I read who
produced the album, which
musicians played on the ses
sion and, importantly, who
wrote the songs. Sadly, this
is something that has been
lost to downloaded music
and even CDs. Musicians
and songwriters are rarely
credited and these are the
powerful punch behind any
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Continued from A4
spoilsports say are going
to far, it says here it is just
fine for adults (especially
females over 21) to have fun
on Halloween.
However, it has been a
bit chilly at night lately. It
probably isn’t appropriate
to wear scantily clad items
- like silky-satiny Freudian
Slips - after dark and ring
my bell looking for candy.
However, if you feel the
urge, Dr. Unnerstan is
accepting newpatients with
insurance.
Find us on
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Oconee
News for
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Ronda
Rich
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