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amazing lady!
“Miss” Billie (she was married to former State Representative
Ward Edwards, but we always called her “Miss”) was one of the
most down-to-earth, most caring, humorous, talented, and humble
individuals 1 have ever known. She made eveiyone she met feel
very important. She always noticed the good stuff in people, and
she made you feel loved.
First and foremost, Miss Billie loved her husband, Ward, and
their daughter, Hal lie Ward. As special as Miss Billie made the
rest of us feel, i can only imagine how she made them feel! They
certainly had the best cheerleader in the world,
Miss Billie also loved cats. I can remember visiting her cat-
house lyes, it was a real cathouse with real cats) throughout my
childhood and adulthood. 1, too, love cats, and we loved to talk
about our fur babies. Miss Billie’s cats were special, Most of'
them had some sort of oddity, such as six toes on each foot or no
tail. Years ago, she had a cat with which she had a particularly
special bond, Lucky, I was blessed to receive one of Lucky’s de
scendants, I didn’t ask for him, but one afternoon, when we first
moved back to Butler, Miss Billie showed up at our back door.
She had something rolled up in her shirttail. When 1 opened the
door, she unrolled her shirttail, and there was Sigmund. She
said, “This one looks like Lucky, so I thought you might want
him,” I did! 1 did! And, he was the best cat ever! 1 had Sigmund
for 21 years.
Miss Billie also loved trees. It was a bad day for demolitionists
Miss Billie’s Southern charm, so she saved many trees!
Miss Billie and my daddy w r crc the greatest of friends. They
spent many Saturday nights riding around Taylor County, check
ing out the sights, and they found a little bit of crazy and a whole
lot of humor in the happenings in our little county. They wrote
songs about the things they experienced on these nights, I think
1 may still have a few of them!
Miss Billie was also an artist. The things I remember most arc
the beautiful, unique birdhouses she made. She had hundreds
displayed on “Tabletop ", and they were all unique. My girls grew
up riding through “Tabletop” to see Miss Billie s birdhouses, (They
always hoped she would be outside,} I have one that looks like
The Taylor County News office, and it is so treasured.
I also remember Miss Billie loving potato salad. She and Ward
would have dinner with us at Main’s from time to time t and the
only thing she made certain was on the menu was potato salad.
The Edwards Family was in the funeral business for many, many
years, and in that business, you just have to have a sense of hu
mor. Miss Billie told Mam, “When 1 die, don’t embalm me, just
fill me up with potato salad!”
There are so many huge, wonderful things that Miss Billie ac
complished during her 88 years. These are not the big things.
They are the little things that made her such a special lady.
I miss you. Miss Billie. I know you are in Heaven surrounded
by loved ones, cats, trees, and hopefully making a birdhouse while
enjoying some “tatcr” salad! I love you!
To
The Light
Bob Wade
Gatekeepers
About 18 years ago, the publisher of T/ic Taylor County News
and Butler Herald asked me to write a column for the newspa
per, When asked, “Write about what” she replied, “anything you
want to write about.”
Cambridge Dictionary defines a columnist as “someone who
writes a regular article fora newspaper or magazine. Wikipedia,
The Free Encyclopedia expands on that saying: “A columnist is a
person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article
that usually offers commentary and opinions,,,They take the form
of a short essay by a specific writer who offers a personal point of
view.
This opinionated fellow conducted due diligence regarding the
intriguing question. He admitted to being a terrible speller, had
no formal training as a writer, and knew nothing of the workings
of a newspaper. Additionally, he had little command of grammar.
In high school and college, English was not bis strong suit. Com
pounding those things was the fact he was (and is) fully employed,
had little “free” time, and possessed a thin skin. Those were just
a few of the negatives he weighed at the time.
He became a reluctant columnist.
Later he received some guidance from a retired Alabama news
paper editor. That fellow told him a columnist’s job is to inform
and entertain, not necessarily in that order.
Cambridge Dictionary defines a journalist as “a person who
writes news stories or articles for a newspaper or magazine or
broadcasts them on radio or television.
News journalists and columnists differ dramatically: Who, what,
when, where, and why are facts that never change and accu
rately reporting them in news is crucial to a journalist.
The Associated Press Media Editors (APME) has a Statement
of Ethical Principles. In it are some jewels such as “The public’s
right to know r about matters of importance is paramount. News
organizations have a special responsibility as surrogate of their
readers to be vigilant watchdogs of their legitimate public inter
ests. The good news organization is fair, accurate, honest, re
sponsible, independent and decent. Truth is its guiding principle.
The news organization should guard against inaccuracies, care
lessness, bias or distortion through emphasis, omission or tech-
Scripture Of
The Week
For when we were yet without
strength, in due time Christ died for the
ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die: yet peradventure
for a good man some would even
dare to die. But God commendeth
his love toward us, in that, while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:6-8
King James Version
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(the Sutler Rcralit
PUBLICATION NO. USPS 534-720
ESTABLISHED 1876
OFFICIAL LEGAL ORGAN OF TAYLOR COUNTY
MEMBER OF GEORGIA PRESS ASSOCIATION
“THE TAYLOR COUNTY NEWS AND THE BUTLER HER
ALD” (USPS 534-720) is published every Thursday at 6
South Broad Street, Butler, Georgia by The Taylor County
News and The Butler Herald. Periodicals postage paid at
Butler, Georgia.
POSTMASTER: send address changes to THE TAYLOR
NEWS AND THE BUTLER HERALD, P.O. Box 550, Butler,
Georgia 31006-0550
478-862-5101
Fax: 478-862-9668
e-mail: tcnews@pstel.net
VALORI MOORE
PUBLISHER AND EDITOR
Subscription Rates: $25.00 per year for Taylor County and
adjacent counties. $35.00 per year all others. (Sales tax
included.)
Advertising Rates available upon request.
nological manipulation. The news organization should strive for
impartial treatment of issues and dispassionate handling of con
troversial subjects.”
APME notes, “The news organization and its staff should be
free of obligations to news sources and newsmakers. Even the
appearance of obligation or conflict of interest should he avoided.”
Quora.com tells us, “NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, and Tfelemundo are
under NBC Universal and owned by Comcast, America’s most
hated company.
“ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Corporation, They also own
ESPN, Marvel, Disney Studios, and A&E networks.
“CNN is owned by Turner Broadcasting which is owned by Time
Warner. They also own HBO and Warner Brothers.
“Fox News is under 21st Century Fox (renamed from NewsCorp)
and con trotted by Rupert Murdoch. They also own Sky News and
National Geographic Partners.
“CBS is owned by the CBS Corporation but the majority control
is owned by National Amusements under owner billionaire
Sumner Redstone. Previously, CBS was known as Viacom. Viacom
still exists, but it’s a whole ‘nother thing”
Print media is practically non-existent. Television news appears
focused on entertaining not informing us so there are no ethics
in the newsrooms.
Recently this pundit quit visiting Mickey Mouse’s ABC News,
Viacom’s CBS News, Comcast’s NBC News, and Hollywood’s pow
erhouse Warner Brothers’ CNN, Their “news” is mostly enter
tainment driven by sensationalism. Most do not report the facts
about events, instead they craft stories to tell us what we should
think or play on viewers’ emotions rather than report the facts
about what happened in “newsworthy” events.
On April 17, 2020, theAP titled a story: To air or not air Trump
briefings? Pressure on at networks. It describes today’s news
delivery problem.
It quoted Harvard University government and the press Pro
fessor Thomas Patterson saying, “Journalists have long taken
pride in their gatekeeping role, selecting from each clay's many
developments those that are most deserving of the public’s at
tention and presenting them in a way that helps citizens under
stand what’s at issue.” He continued, “Indiscriminate coverage
of the president’s press conferences sullies this tradition,”
Yep, viewers get “unfiltered” information that forms their own
opinions.
Thomas continued about the entertainment industry's hatred
of Trump’s live briefings, “One is left to wonder why. Is it rat
ings? Is it fear of Trump’s wrath? It certainly is not journalism,”
Live streaming an event is not journalism because the
gatekeeper cannot tell us what he wants us to believe regarding
the federal government’s actions to mitigate the COVID-19 pan
demic, Journalists, the gatekeepers of facts, believe they are the
only people smart enough to understand news.
This columnist believes we the people just need the facts; we
can form opinions and beliefs without gatekeepers’ help. What
about you?
Re-Elect
Greg Brown
Tavlor Countv Board of
m m
Fdi lent ion
District 3
VOTE
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KEITH POOLE
TAYLOR COUNTY COMMISSIONER
DISTRICT 4
BANKRUPTCY
Stop Foreclosures and Repossessions.
Repay Debt at Reasonable Rates.
DON E. SNOW
Attorney
706-647-1722
314 South Green St. •Thomaston, GA 30286
Don Snow is a Debt Relief Agency
as defined in the US. Bankruptcy Code.
The 7-year-old grandson lost his beloved grandfather to
a sudden heart attack. Before the visitation ended, the
young man took one last look at his grandfather lying
motionless in the casket. With both arms and elbows rest
ing on casket’s edge, the young man knew once the casket
was closed, that he would never again see his grandfather.
So he gazed intently at his grandfather, attempting to for
ever etch his features into his memory. As he walked away,
tears streamed down his cheeks.
Everyone entertains these thoughts when precious loved
ones pass. Death ends life with such suddenness and fi
nality. It is a mystery that haunts the soul of mortal man.
It is as perplexing to the learned philosopher as it is the
aborigine in the deepest jungle.
The young man wanted to know where his grandfather
was. Since his grandfather’s soul had disconnected from
his physical body, it was now in God’s hands. Most reli
gions teach there is a life force that survives death. An
cient Greek philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, and
Aristotle believed the soul existed after death. Since God
created the heavens and earth and breathed into man the
breath of life, He could easily resurrect the dead. On trial
before King Agrippa, the Apostle Paul defended himself
by asking, “O King, why should it be thought a thing in
credible that God should raise the dead?” (Acts 26:8)
The Bible contains references regarding resurrection of
the dead, such as Genesis 2: 7, Eccl. 12:7, Daniel 12:2 and
Revelation 20: 11-12. The soul is synonymous to the elec
tric current in an electric light that returns to its power
source when the filament burns out. Philosophers believe
the soul is electro-magnetically connected to the brain so
that once the soul’s life force is removed from the body, the
brain becomes nonfunctional.
“Soul sleep’’ is considered a state of unconsciousness af
ter death. There is no thought, feeling, or awareness. Some
scholars believe that the soul sleeps from the instance of
death until the resurrection. Were the interval between
death and resurrection a million years, it would seem like
a mere second. Matthew’s gospel infers that the dead saints,
who appeared in Jerusalem following Jesus’ crucifixion,
were resurrected from a state of soul sleep. (Matthew 27:
51-53). In describing the rapture of believers, Paul states
that Jesus will come for those “who sleep in the grave” (I
Thess. 4: 14).
However, Christian theology teaches that the souls of‘the
saved’ go immediately to be with Jesus. This is based on
Jesus telling the penitent thief on the cross, “This day you
will be with Me in paradise” (Luke 16: 19-31). Further,
Christianity believes that when Jesus returns, the souls
of the saved (already in heaven) will reunite with their
dead bodies in the grave...before they meet the Lord in the
clouds (I Thessalonians 4: 16-17),
All deadlines for submissions
to The Taylor County News
are Mondays at noon. Thanks!
BETHEL
CHURCH
While we are not currently gathering for
worship services due to Covid-19, Bethel
Church stands ready to help you in any
way that we possibly can, if you need
assistance or prayer, please contact us!
Ways to reach us
Office Hours: 8:00 AM - 2:30 PM, Monday - Friday
478-862-3007
Website: bethelcmc.org
Facebook: Bethel Church Butler
YouTube: Bethel CMC Music and Media
#
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