Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 12A
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS W»dn«»d«y. August 18,1999
Opinion
Chamber’s historic choice
for new headquarters
is a good one
lor years the Cumming/
Forsyth Chamber of
Commerce has searched
F
for a long-term home. That
quest is nearing an end.
Chamber officials announced
last week they have a contract to
buy a residential property in
Cumming with major historic
significance as a new headquar
ters. The Chamber’s choice
couldn't have been better.
At a time when so much of
Forsyth County is giving way to
land clearing and new construc
tion, having the Chamber
housed in the city’s oldest home
offers a unique opportunity for
historic preservation while at
the same time cementing the
ties of the present to the legacy
of the past for the city and coun
ty-
The old Strickland home
place on Kelly Mil) Road has
strong ties to the history of
Cumming, having been the
home of one of the city’s first
civic and community leaders.
The home seems to attract lead
ers, having served as the resi
dence for Mayor Ford Gravitt
and his family for the last two
decades. The Gravitts loving
renovation and restoration of the
home has resulted in a facility
which will be perfect for the
Chamber's needs.
There is no question that the
Chamber needs a showcase sort
of headquarters, one that will
make an impression on those
Letter policy
Do you agree? Do you disagree? The Forsyth County News welcomes
letters on current events and issues of the day. The following is the let
ter policy of the Forsyth County News:
Letters must be signed. For verification purposes the street address
and telephone number should be included on the letter but will be with
held from publication. Neither will this information be available to the
public. The Forsyth County News reserves the right to edit letters accord
ing to length when necessary.
Mail letters to:
Forsyth County News
P. O. Box 210
Cumming, Ga 30130
CARTOONISTS'VIEWS ON THE NEWS
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who visit the Chamber either as
emissaries of potential employ
ers hoping to locate here or sim
ply as newcomers to the com
munity looking for information.
The historic homeplace will
fit the Chamber’s immediate
needs nicely, with spacious
rooms for offices and a facility
for holding gatherings and spe
cial events. In addition, the
grounds are spacious enough for
outdoor gatherings, and there is
ample acreage to handle any
future needs. Chamber
Chairperson Donna Wade’s sug
gestion that one day a new
Chamber office may be built
with the existing home kept as a
welcome center is one that has a
certain appeal.
The Chamber and Mayor
Gravitt are to be commended for
working together to make this
transaction a reality. It truly is
one of those rare win-win situa
tions that allows an important
community need to be meet
while at the same time preserv
ing a facility of historic impor
tance.
To fund its new purchase, the
Chamber kick off a building
campaign in the near future. We
hope that all of those who live
in Cumming and Forsyth
County will recognize the need
for a new Chamber headquarters
and the importance of preserv
ing the city’s oldest home for
future generations and will give
generously.
space ■
Celestine Sibley was credit to the news
profession, and to all of mankind as well
Celestine Sibley was different from many
of us who ply this trade. She viewed the
human condition with optimism. She saw
politicians as mostly warm-hearted and often
gentle souls who were dedicated to serving
the commonweal. She thought of trial
lawyers and most judges as witty and nice.
She liked and admired nearly every governor
she met. She was the best reporter I ever
knew
Sibley, as many of us called her, died
Sunday at her beach home in Dog Island, Fla.
At 85. she had written columns for 55 years
for The Atlanta Constitution. She was author
of 25 books. Sibley was possibly Georgia’s
best known and most beloved journalist.
She was often at her best when reporting
breaking news. Sibley could cover a natural
disaster one day and a complicated tax debate
the next, and do both with equally amazing
skill. No writer could even approach her com
petence in icporting a court trial, whether it
was a ritzy divorce hearing or a grizzly mur
der case. But she was more than simply an
aggressive and talented reporter; she was a
caring human being.
When I arrived with my German bride in
tow at The Atlanta Constitution in 1956,
Sibley was among the first persons to greet us
and try to make Reny, who barely spoke
English, feel at home.
“I was wearing a red dress with a blue
sash. I thought it looked terrible and cheap.
And I felt very self-conscious,” Reny said,
recalling that afternoon nearly 43 years ago.
“Celestine said it was the prettiest dress she
ever saw. I will never forget that.” When
Reny heard the news of Celestine’s death
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Sunday, she sobbed, though Reny. ill herself,
had not spoken with Sibley for a long time.
When I served briefly as her city editor,
Sibley was easily the best and most depend
able writer on the staff..
She was especially talented at getting
information from the state Capitol. Elected
officials trusted and admired her. They often
confided to her personal secrets they would
never dare reveal to another reporter.
“You could tell Celestine something, and
she didn’t go out and try to cut you up. and
have fun doing it," Speaker Tom Murphy said
the other day at a ceremony honoring Sibley.
Still, she got news that no one else could
get. If you told her that Representative So
and-So was a no-good s.o.b. who beat his
wife and starved his children, she would
shake her head in sadness not so much at
learning of So-and-So’s private sins as at your
insistence on telling her the seamy side of his
life.
She thought of Gov. Zell Miller as a great
governor with a superior wit and keen under
standing of his constituents, while others of
us viewed him as quick-tempered, poll-driven
politician who was hard to get along with.
She believed the late House Speaker
George L. Smith II was a true gentleman, an
intellectual and a student of the democratic
process. Other reporters may have agreed that
he was a gentleman and a smart fellow, but
they usually saw him as more despot than
Democrat.
Sibley was not a great admirer of Jimmy
Cater. She thought he was a bit too pious and
not always truthful. But she was genuinely
fond of his late mother, Miss Lilllian, and
sympathized with his wife, Rosalynn.
If a youngster should ask today how to
become a successful journalist, 1 would tell
him/her: “Be like Celestine Sibley. Be kind
and try to be understanding. Think what your
audience is like and what they want you to be
like.”
The Bob Woodwards and Matt Drudges
may be the cutting-edge media icons of the
moment or even the decade. The go-for the
throat instinct and the who-cares-who-gets
hurt style have served their breed well.
But, in the end. it is the Sibleys who will
endure. Her touching, insightful columns will
resonate for decades. Her big breaking stories
will be remembered. Her kindness, compas
sion and goodness will persist.
She is a credit to the state and to her call
ing as a reporter. I feel honored to have
known her.
•••
Bill Shipp is editor of Bill Shipp 's Georgia,
a weekly newsletter on government and busi
ness. He can be reached at P. 0. Box 440755,
Kennesaw, GA 30144 or by calling (770) 422-
2543, e-mail: bshipp@bellsouth.net, Web
address: http./Avww. billshipp.com.