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By Grover Johnson
Old eyesore gives
poor impression
A good question comes from JAMES McKINNEY of Shady Grove.
He wants to know what, if anything, is going to be done with the old West
Building Supply edifice?
It’s a real eyesore and is obviously disappointing when the broken
windowed, vandalized place is seen when coming into Courthouse
square from the south on 9E. Visitors might get the idea that the whole
City is in such shape.
Good question, James.
We don’t know what the plans are for the building. Maybe some ofyou
know. If you do, call or write us and we’ll get the information out to
folks. By the way, James is not the only one who has commented on the
same subject in just about the same way.
•••
Long time music buff, JACK AYRES, of the Baldridge Shore area,
wants to know where he can find decent quality record albums. Since
major music outlets stopped carrying records, it’s hard to find them in
decent shape.
You’re right, Jack There are a lot of us that think albums are much
better than tapes or CDs. Maybe some of the larger flea markets in our
area have them.
If anyone knows of other sources, let us know. Good vinyl IS getting
hard to find.
•••
This item from DAN ORR:
When asked about the recession and its possible cures, Dan re
marked, “The best way to begin to get over these hard times is to vote
the Republicans out of national office in the next election.” According
to Dan, this is only a first necessary step in what’s going to be a slow
process.
•••
An observation on the recently past holiday time, according to KAYE
RHOMBO, employee at Huddle House:
“Surprisingly, the holiday spirit was there, even in these hard, lean
times. It all goes to show you, when it comes down to it, people care
about people. Everyone was happier than I expected, and even though
money was scarce, the “I care” and “I love” factor was still there.” Just
goes to show you, hard times or not, we can enjoy, love, be close and
have a good time.
•••
Another one for the Pet Peeves Department:
808 STALLINGS, from over towato the Two-Mile Creek area, says
that the lay-out and painted lines of the parking lot at the new Lakeland
Shopping Center are poorly planned and very conducive to causing
accidents and near accidents.
“The lines are hard to see and the thoroughfares are much too
narrow for safe, efficient driving. At the cross section stops, instead of a
painted stop on the ground, signs should be erected also so they won’t
be missed.”
You’re not the only one with concerns about this area, Bob. We’ve
heard essentially the same remarks from quite a few other readers.
In the same line of thinking of driving safety, APRIL CROY, of the
Sawnee area, thinks there should be a red light at the intersection of
Highway 20 West and the road crossing it going by the Sawnee Elemen
tary School.
April says: “This is a very dangerous intersection and I have seen
some very bad wrecks there. My brother was fatally injured in an
accident there two years ago.” We agree with April, that area is in need
of some kind of safety feature, especially since the school is right there
also.
•••
Not long ago, while waxing philosophical about life, the future, and
goals and other such important matters, JAN ADAMS, of the Pilgrim
Mill area, made this astute observation on wishing and planning life
away:
“Life is something that happens to you while planning the future. It’s
best to live each day to the fullest and enjoy things in the present as well
as think of the future.” Excellent advice, Jan. You are an astute lady.
•••
808 PHARR, of the 306 Connector area, made these comments
recently on the necessity of future planning in our area for population
and business growth:
“We know it’s going to steadily increase (the population). I just hope
we don’t become totally saturated with growth and not plan for it I’d
hate to see happen to our county what has happened to the north
Fulton area around Roswell. We need to preserve the beauty of our
area as well as be able to welcome newcomers to a unique lifestyle
here.”
You’re right, Bob.
“If it’s handwritten, type it
“It it’s typed, copy it
“If it’s copied, file it
“If it’s Friday - Forget it!”
(For comments concerning information in this column or to offer a
suggestion, telephone 889-0782. Grover Johnson’s column ’Round, the
Mountain is a special Wednesday and Sunday feature of the Forsyth
County News.)
Sawnee Sam borrows from LEE
ANNE JOHNSON, of the Ducktown
area, this set of rules for getting
along at work in the office:
“If it’s the Boss, look busy
“If it rings, put it on hold
“If it clanks, call the repairman
“If it’s a friend, take a break
“If it talks, take notes
OpEd
Pro-life messages preached today
By Michael J. McManus
Special to th« Fortyth County New«
The President declared today as
“National Sanctity of Human Life
Day,” and 30,000 to 40,000 pastors will
preach a pro-life message.
Perhaps an equal number who be
lieve in the right of a woman to have
an abortion, that was legalized by the
Supreme Court almost exactly 19
years ago, will ignore the day or
preach on the other side of the issue.
In an interview this week, Vice
President J. Danforth Quayle made a
suggestion that both sides ought to
consider - an issue on which they
might actually agree: the importance
of the neglected “adoption option.”
“I have a twin brother and sister
who are ten years younger than me,
Southern Exposure
The battles on the home front
What a difference a year can make.
War weighed on the minds of law
makers last winter with the crisis in
the Persian Gulf. But after two
months of town meetings and conver
sations with voters back home, law
makers are now returning to Wash
ington with something else to ponder:
jobs, jobs, jobs.
“They’re worried about the future,”
said Rep. Tom Bevill, D-Ala. The war,
he said, has “faded into memory.”
In Louisiana, Rep. Jimmy Hayes,
also a Democrat, agrees.
Hayes said he encountered “a great
deal of hostility” from residents who
are angry that Washington didn’t
make the economy a higher priority
sooner.
Hayes said the residents of his dis
trict have been feeling the pinch for
years. “Only now when you have jobs
lost in the Northeast and the far West,
it seems like people care,” Hayes re
ported his voters telling him. “There’s
huge resentment,” Hayes added.
Accessible and affordable health
care is also a common concern among
constituents, say many lawmakers.
About 200 Democratic House mem
bers held town meetings on health
care last week Bevill said he faced an
overflow crowd of 425 in Gadsden.
So, what now?
There’s already a bevy of tax-break
proposals and health-care reform
bills on the table. President Bush will
unveil his plans later this month dur
ing his State of the Union address.
WAR DRUMS
There is something of a split in
Washington these days over whether
a lawmaker’s position on the Persian
Gulf war will still carry weight with
voters on Election Day.
Some analysts say the public’s
memory is short and the economy is
the overriding concern now, pushing
the war deep into the background.
This view is most often espoused by
Democrats since many of their House
and Senate members voted against
what turned out to be a politically
popular action against Iraq.
On the other hand, GOP political
advisers contend a vote against the
war can still be made into a force in
the campaign as voters’ memories are
refreshed through effective ads. GOP
pollster Ed Goeas describes it as a
“devastating” vote.
The bottom line: A vote against the
war will most likely still be an issue in
some campaigns, especially those of
Southern Democrats, but it will not be
the dominant topic it was once pre
dicted to be.
PINNING DOWN VOTES
What does North Carolina have in
common with a liberal senator from
Minnesota?
Wrestling and voter registration
drives.
Huh? Well, it actually makes sense.
Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., is an
alumnus of the University of North
Carolina, where he was a member of
the wrestling team.
Wellstone is also working with
Americans for Democratic Action, a
liberal interest group, in organizing a
voter registration drive for New York,
California and North Carolina.
“We’re trying to get a message to
We Respond
What do you consider the single
most pressing problem facing Cum
ming and Forsyth County in the
New Year?
•RESPONSE:
Animal Control. People need to un
derstand it involves more than being
able to allow their pets to run free.
Mr. and Mrs. B.E. Ridgeway
•RESPONSE:
All the higher taxes by state and
county governments.
L.R. Edmondson
who are adopted. They have been a
great brother and sister. They are
adopted when they were 10 months
old,” he said.
“It’s been a very rewarding, sub
stantive, wonderful experience for
the whole family for my mother and
father, for my brother and sister, and I
am very close to them. Without adop
tion I would never have known them. I
would have had only one brother.
Now I’ve got two brothers and a
sister!”
Sadly, however, adoption is the ne
glected option.
In 1970, there were 89,000 adop
tions of U.S. children unrelated to the
parents, vitually all of who were ba
bies. Naw just 51,000 are adopted,
only 24,500 of whom are babies (oth
ers are older or are foreign-born).
Yet in this same 20 years, the num
young people that they can make a
difference if they get involved in the
voting booth and in the community,”
said Amy Issacs, national director of
the ADA
The first two states are being target
ed because of their large populations
and upcoming Senate races there.
North Carolina was picked, in part,
for “nostalgia,” Issacs said.
This is the first voter registration
drive the group has organized in 20
years, and it’s named after A 1 Lowen
stein, a former member of Congress
from New York
Lowenstein, now dead, also gradu
ated from the University of North Car
olina. He too was a wrestler.
(Southern Exposure, the weekly col
umn of political tidbits, is compiled by
Sean Loughlin and Carl Hulse in the
Washington Bureau of the New York
Times Regional Newspaper Group)
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Timber Co.
We Buy
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Timber
Saw Logs<
Pulp
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781-9788
Night Numbers
265-3353 or 265-2072
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FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS-SUNDAY, JANUARY I*. 1992-
ber of out-of-wedlock American births
has soared from 399,000 to one mil
lion-a quarter of all births!
Thus, adoptions have plunged from
a fifth of all births to unmarried moth
ers to an infinitesimal 2.5 percent of
them!
Meanwhile, abortions tripled from
586,000 in 1972 to 1.6 million.
Vice President Quayle believes the
adoption option makes more sense:
“Young women that are pregnant
ought to be made aware of the attrac
tive features of adoption. One, there
area a lot of very good parents out
there...who could offer good homes to
children who ought to be placed.
“Two, raising a child is a tremen
dous responsibility. If you take a sin
gle, teenage parent - I’m not saying
that she can’t do it But the chances of
this baby having a better opportunity
is with two parents. Adoption would
be, in many cases, a preferable
choice.”
Who would be most likely to agree?
Surely, the pro-life advocates.
Yet, almost none of those counseled
by pro-life groups choose adoption! Of
the 200,000 women counceled by the
Christian Action Council, only 3-4 per
cent relinquish for adoption. Of the
400,000 who come to Birthright’s cri
sis pregnancy centers, only one per
cent yiedl to adoption.
Planned parenthood does as well or
better! But that’s not much - only 15
infant adoptions per 1,000 abortions!
What sense does it make for any
teenage, unmarried girl to keep her
baby - as 300,000 did last year? She's
twice as likely to end up on welfare
and 50 percent more likely to never
marry. One study found 85 percent of
such children end up in poverty vs.
only two percent of adoptees.
Don Marengere, an adoptive father,
created an organization in Royal Oak,
Mich called “The Adoption Option” to
changge public attitudes. He told
“Our Sunday Visitor,” a Catholic
newspaper: “The media, particularly
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Health Views
Keep Stretching For
Better Looks And
Health
Before sports - Always warm
up - and loosen up - before
any vigorous exercise or sports.
And cool down afterwards. Sports
warmups concentrate on making
muscles directly involved in the
sport more pliable, thus helping to
prevent injury. (For example, run
ners benefit from warmup exer
cises for the legs, hips and big
muscle groups that they’ll be put
ting to work.) While warmup
stretching is no substitute for last
ing flexibility training, it has been
shown to increase a joint’s range
of motion from 4to 18 percent for
90 minutes or more.
Choosing Stretches De
veloping more flexibility is
good for everyone. (For exam
ple, older people can use mild
stretching exercises to reverse
joint stiffness and increase
range of motion on the par with
younger people, studies now
show.) But, make sure you
choose stretches that fit your
age and specific needs. Re
member that flexibility doesn’t
spread automatically through
the body. Each muscle needs
attention but usually some
more than others. However,
don’t forget that when you
stretch one side of the body,
stretch the other side as well.
Take it easy - Flexibility is progres
sive. You can’t gain it all in one day. So
begin slowly and move ahead at your
own pace. However, make your ses
sions regular - at least three days a
week or more. Pick a time and place
where you won’t be interrupted -
through you’ll probably like some music
or possibly a television show to go
along with your stretching. Don’t ever
rush the stretching. If you can’t stretch
all your muscles in your allotted time, do
a few at a time.
Do you have a question for Dr. Purpura? Send your question to:
BROWN CHIROPRACTIC CLINIC
1330 Atlanta Hwy.
Cumming, GA 30130
Your name will not be u—d
Ethics & Religion
television often portray adoption as
second best” Mother who give their
babies a better chance in life are por
trayed as heartless.
This feeds negative peer pressure,
friends of the young woman who say,
“How can you give away your baby?”
Marengere says “So much pressure is
put on them to keep their baby, or to
abort it” Therefore, the more selfless
emotional, hard decision to do what is
best for her child.”
“We never hear a sermon about
adoption from the church,” he assert
ed. “We always hear that abortion is
wrong But that is where it is left. No
alternatives are given. And when you
think about it who was the first re
corded adoptee in the world? Moses.
Isn’t Joseph the adoptive father of Je
sus Christ? Adoption has been around
a long time.
“I’ve got the perfect American fam
ily, Without adoption, I couldn't be a
dad,” said the father of two adopted
kids.
Why don’t pro-life groups introduce
pregnant women to men like Don
Marengere, and ask the Vice Presi
dent and his adopted brother and sis
ter to make public service announce
ments to help make adoption
acceptable?
The Federal Government contrib
utes to the counseling of a half million
pregnant women. But the counselors
sneer when they hear the President
say “We must change from abortion to
adoption.” Maybe they should seek
other employment Counselors open
to adoption get a 40 percent adoption
rate.
(Michael J. McManus is a nationally
syndicated columnist. Do you agree
or disagree? Send responses to col
umns addressed to him in care of The
Forsyth County News, P. O. Box 210,
Cumming, Ga 30130.)
WM . ■»*** mI
a / r
V fte j
Dr. Mike Purpura BS DC.
A public service from:
BROWN CHIROPRACTIC CLINIC
887-7234
Warm up Warming up
increases your circulation
and the temperature of your
muscles, making them
more pliable. (You can even
increase flexibility slightly by
taking a hot shower.) Try
warming up your muscles
with a little aerobic exercise
say five or ten minutes
jogging in place or pedaling
a stationary bicycle before
your stretch.
Keep breathing Hold
ing your breath or breathing
irregularly can tense up
your muscles and defeat the
purpose of stretching.
Breathe normally and
slowly, going into a stretch
while exhaling.
Listen to your body
Flexibility is individual and
even changes from day to
day. So don’t compete with
another person or even
push yourself too hard. Your
body will tell you how far
you can go at any time.
But keep going! Keep
stretching for better looks and
health.
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