About Lake Oconee news. (Greensboro, GA) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 15, 2017)
A4 Lake Oconee News Friday, December 15,2017 Start the conversation Send us your opinions by Monday at 1 p.m. news@lakeoconeenews.us 11 i| .... trtgf Boys & Girls Clubs provide hope for kids As a community, we have to take responsibility for our children, whether or not they share our DNA. The success of our young people as a whole impacts the world in a greater way than just one household. The No Child Left Behind initiative of the early 2000s was a joke. Trying to make all 50 states - each with its own system of education - fit each square peg into a round hole was ludicrous. Education begins at the local level, and an attempt to reach the kids who are unreachable falls on each community. The problem facing public education is not funding, aging facilities or teachers who don’t care. Teachers would only do the jobs they do because they care. They are public servants on the front line as much as cops in some instances. No matter how good the teacher, classroom or school, how can children succeed without support at home to be sure that they go to school and do the work? The next biochemical engineerwho couldhelp cure cancer may miss the opportunity for a postsecondary education because he or she is born into a circumstance that falls short on resources to get there. Politicians seem to always turn their focus to funding, which is ironic since they typically fall short of meeting the requirements of their own laws for providing a quality basic education. Even at a substandard school, any student can succeed if given the right tools. But, without any support coming from home - and, in some cases, food - public education is tasked with feeding the stomachs, hearts and minds of the children in its care. Who picks up the slack when that isn’t enough? Organizations like the Boys and Girls Club can make all the difference. The CEO of Boys and Girls Clubs of North Central Georgiahas been there. Students in Greene, Morgan and Putnam counties have an advocate and cheerleader if they choose to participate in programs that are funded by their communities. While federal and state funds exist to help these kids, the organizations that pick up the slack left by families rely on businesses and generous citizens for support. When eval uating that impact, supporters should look to the present and future for the real story. Hindsight is always 20/20, and punishing the kids who could benefit from these programs because of the actions of one individual is shameful. Thank you for what you do for our communities, Boys and Girls clubs. Join me in the hibemaculum Pushrod! The covers are all out of whack. To make matters worse, I can’t seem to get the pillows oriented properly so that my neck isn’t bent at an odd angle when I put my head down. One of the pillows has slipped between the headboard and the mattress and is likely to be covered in dust if I pull it out from under the bed. Haven’t vacuumed under there for months, to be honest. As a matter of fact, I hate all these pillows. I need new ones. They’re probably all full of microscopic insects anyway. It’s 4 a.m., and I can’t go T. Michael Stone Associate Editor back to sleep. Just like every 4 a.m. And this is just going to get worse as the winter solstice and my birthday approach. But I’d rather crawl into some hibernaculum than celebrate it. The month of December has long seemed like the entrance to a long dark tunnel to me. When I turned 30,1 sank into a long and unproduc tive period of reflection and angst on my birthday. It has become an annual event. Chicken wing! I realize each year that windows of opportunity are closing all around me. Dreams are crashing to the earth, and the future ahead seems to be little more than days of toil punctuated by empty hours of boredom. I feel myself becoming purposeless, awitless drudge consigned to a meaningless life, a sentient robot spinning and whirring and waitingfor my batteries to die. Merry Christmas! Fetus! I still approach my birth day with a certain amount of dread and resignation. The new number goes up, and my spirits inevitably sink down. Pushrod! I find myself going down the rabbit hole a few days early this year, inviting the misery of the solstice into my brain prematurely - a longnight’sjourneyinto day, to flip the title of Eugene O’Neill’s play. SEE PUSHROD» A8 "We didn't elect them to represent their opinions; we elected them to represent us!" Community newspapers: A vital cog in democracy Buried somewhere in my parents’ house in Watkinsville is a stack of aged newspapers - copies of the Athens Banner-Herald, The Oconee Enterprise and the dearly departed Athens Observer. You see, in my family, community news papers have always been the chroniclers of family lore, of scholastic achievements, of the fleeting fame of youth. In the bottom of that pile, I know, are some of my most prized possessions: stories I wrote as a budding Charles Davis Dean, Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, UGA journalist. The first-ever clip, written in the heat of a June night by a novice intern, told the grippingtale of an error-plagued Little League tilt between Athens Federal and Arby’s.. .or was it Arby’s and Burger King? I can’t recall, but I know that from the moment the Banner-Heraldhiredme on, life has never been the same. I spent a couple of sum mers covering organized baseball in the Athens area 25 years ago, and recall viv idly sitting in the newsroom, watching the real journal ists doing their jobs, and thinking to myself, perhaps out loud, “That’s the best job in the world...” It still is a great job, an important job, a job worth doing well. We’ve all fol lowed the news about the news business, watching the drumbeat oflayoffs at media companies large and small as the digital era ushers in a wrenching transition. Media managers are being asked to do more with less than ever before, with pre dictable results. The somewhat myopic focus on all things digital belies the fact that in com munities all over the coun try, community newspapers are thriving. The reason is simple and timeless: in so many communities the local newspaper remains a viable advertisingvehicle andisthe only source of verified, pro fessionally presented news andinformation. Municipal governance, justice and all of the other news that binds a community together still forms the basic covenant between a town and its newspaper, and whether it’s a local economic develop ment story ora development in the public schools, the newspaper provides cover age people need. It’s quitefashionable these days to be dismissive of the future ofthe press. Its many critics seem all too eager to write it off as some outdated anachronism of an earlier age. I find that attitude troubling, and more than a little puzzling, perhaps SEE DAVIS » A8 Lake Oconee News General Excellence Award Winner 2015-2016 GEORGIA PRESS ASSOCIATION President / Publisher A. Mark Smith Vice President Jo Ann Smith Vice President, General Manager Mark Smith Jr. Vice President, Circulation Matt Smith Vice President Michael Smith Executive Editor Josh Lurie Associate Editor T. Michael Stone Sports Editor Justin Hubbard Staff Writer Dave Brown Display Advertising Manager Vicki Parker Advertising Representative Anjie Brown Advertising Representative Tom Gorman Advertising Representative Michael Payne Advertising Representative Shannon Thompson Advertising Representative Daniel Harwell Eatonton Messenger Associate Editor Lynn Hobbs Lakelife Editor Beverly Harvey Lakelife Associate Editor Hank Segars National Advertising Manager Amy Hood Legal Advertising/Circulation Becky Meyer Graphic Artist Lindsay Pilcher Graphic Artist Mark Brill Business Manager Cassandra Fowler DEDICATION Battle B. Smith EDITOR AND PUBLISHER 1956-1988 Micky Smith EDITOR AND PUBLISHER 1989-2003 ADVERTISING, NEWS AND INFORMATION Lake Oconee 1106 MARKET ST. • GREENSBORO 706-454-1290 Fax 706-454-1292 Madison 195 W. JEFFERSON ST. 706-342-9833 Fax 706-342-9839 Call 706-485-3501 for subscription information Subscription Rates One Year Two Years Putnam, Morgan, Greene counties $35 $65 Other Georgia counties $45 $80 Out of Georgia $55 $95 Postmaster: Send address changes to the ,1106 Market St., Greensboro, GA 30642. Periodicals postage paid at Greensboro, GA 30642. The (USPS 024-046) is published every Friday by Smith Communications Inc., 1106 Market St., Greensboro, GA 30642. All rights reserved. Reprints by permission of the and individual writers only. State and Federal Elected Officials Gov. Nathan Deal (R) 203 State Capitol Atlanta, GA 30334 (404) 656-1776 Web/e-mail: gagovernor.org Sen. David Perdue (R) B40D Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Phone: 202-224-3521 Sen. Burt Jones (R) 407 East Second St., Jackson, GA 30233 Phone:(770)775-4880 Fax: (770) 234-6752 Sen. Johnny Isakson (R) United States Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 (202) 224-3643 Rep. Dave Belton (R) 401-B Coverdell Legislative Office Bldg. Atlanta, GA 30334 404.656.0152-Office dc.belton@house.ga.gov Rep. Jody Hice (R) 1516 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Phone: (202) 225-4101 Fax: (202) 226-0776 Rep. Trey Rhodes (R) Room 612-B Coverdell Legislative Office Building Atlanta, GA 30334 404-656-0325 trey.rhodes@house.ga.gov The deadline to submit letters to the editor each week is Monday at 1 p.m. Send letters and other news to news@lakeoconeenews.us
