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Page 4A - The Lee County Ledger, Thursday, December 13, 2001 Georgia Forestry Commission Report Selecting & Caring For A Real Holiday Tree Choosing a real tree for the holi days is a fun outing and easy to do. In most households, the holi day season doesn't begin until the family goes to the local lot or tree farm to pick out a Christmas tree. Then, we decorate it! Gifts are wrapped and placed underneath it. The scent, aroma, and the real tree itself are an integral part of family unity as well as the holi day season itself. This tradition continues as more than 37 million families celebrate with a real Holiday tree. The tree should have a fra grance and rich green color. Branches should be pliable and bend without much resistance. Freshness is most important in selecting a tree from a retail lot. Take hold of a branch and gently pull your hand toward your body, allowing the branch to slip through your fingers. Most of the needles should stay on the tree. Lifting and dropping the tree should not result in a shower of green needles. Brown needles that have shed the previous year are okay. If you purchase the tree from a tree farm, none of this is neces sary. They usually let you watch or perform the harvest. Many times you can find a farm that you and your kids can actually cut the tree. Once you've chosen your tree, keep it in a sheltered, unheated area to protect it from the wind and sun until you are ready to decorate it. Before you set it up, make a fresh, straight cut across the base and place the tree in a tree stand that holds a gallon of water and keep it filled. A tree will absorb as much as a gallon of water or more within the first 24 hours and one or more quarts a day thereaf ter. Water keeps the needles from dying and dropping and keeps the branches from drooping. Check it at least twice each week. Water also keeps the tree fragrant. Be sure to keep your tree away from heat - fireplaces, heat vents or heaters, and television sets. Precautions such as these will Newborn Hearing Screening Reaches 91 Percent Of Babies, Says Public Health Ninety-one percent of babies born in Georgia during the third quarter of 2001 were screened for hearing loss before they left the hospital, according to a report just released by the Georgia Depart ment of Human Resources Divi sion of Public Health and the State Advisory Committee on Newborn Hearing Screening. This year al most all birthing hospitals in Georgia began screening new borns for hearing loss, using new equipment purchased by Public Health with part of the state's to bacco lawsuit settlement funds and a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission. Fewer than 30 percent of the hospitals were screening all their newborns in 1998. "I am proud that Georgia has expanded its hearing screening program so quickly," said Geor gia First Lady Marie Barnes, a strong supporter of the program. "I have seen how big a difference early detection can make in a child's life. If hearing loss is de tected, parents and care givers know right away to find alternate ways to teach language and other skills and the child does not lose that critical time from birth to three years old when most of all brain development occurs. All of Georgia's families benefit from this program." "This is great news," adds American Family Radio, heard in Leesburg at 90.3 PM, will air more than 30 Christmas specials during December. In addition, AFR will be playing Christmas music 24 hours a day through Christmas Day. Included will be many musical specials by a host of Christian art ists including Phil Keaggy, Darko, Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, Glad, The Le6 County Ledger ‘EstabCisfecC August 24,1978 P.O. Box 715 (124 4th Street) Leesburg, Georgia 31763 (229) 759-2413 USPS 470-310 Official Organ of Lee County SUBSCRIPTION RATES Lee and surrounding counties $14. 95 year Elsewhere $19. 95 year Publisher Derryl Quinn Editor Jim Quinn Layout and Design Tricia Quinn (USPS 470-310), is published weekly for $14. 95 per year in Lee and surrounding counties, and $19. 95 per year else where by at its offices at the May Office Building, 126 - 4th Street, Leesburg, Georgia 31763. Periodicals postage paid at Leesburg, GA. POSTMASTER: Send address changes on Form 3579 to, RO. 715, Leesburg, GA31763. O Printed On Recycled Paper MEMBER OF GEORGIA PRESS ASSOCIATION help preserve the unique beauty and tradition that only a real tree can provide. The Georgia Forestry Commis sion wishes everyone a "Very Merry & Safe Christmas." The University of Georgia • Cooperative Extension Service ■ jl IT w * flBBjj r Poinsettia Care Doug Collins, Acting CEC Putting Knowledge to^VorkZ 9^ Facts About Masonry Kathleen E. Toomey, M.D., M.P.H., director of the Division of Public Health. "It also shows how public and private providers can work together to make sure that children reach their full po tential." The Georgia legislature passed a law in 1999 to encourage hos pitals to have screening programs in place by July, 2002. The law also required hospitals and phy sicians to educate parents and newborns about the importance of newborn hearing screening and followup, and to submit data to the Division of Public Health about the number of infants screened. It established a State Advisory Committee on Newborn Hearing Screening to monitor the state's progress toward the goal of screening at least 95 percent of newborns. "The screening is voluntary, but fewer than one percent of parents are refusing this service, which means our education is effective," says Toomey. "We hope we will be screening 95 percent of Georgia's newborns by New Year's Day." For more information about newborn hearing screening in Georgia, or to obtain a copy of the first annual report on the program, contact Leslee Pool, coordinator, Newborn Hearing Screening Pro gram, 404/463-2192. Poinsettias will last through the Christmas season if cared for properly. Poinsettia Care Christmas Songs To Air On American Family Radio Janet Paschal, Dallas Holm, Michael Card and many others. Several of the specials are dra mas including Birth In Bethlehem, The Coming of Messiah, One Bethlehem Night, Joseph, Emmanuel Has Come, and Rela tions. A complete listing of the spe cials can be found on the web at afr.net. Poinsettias have become a Christmas tradition. Extension experts recommend that poinset tias be considered more as long lasting cut flowers rather than as house plants. After the blooms fade, simply discard the plant. It is not practical for a consumer to make a poinsettia bloom again. To maintain a poinsettia's attrac tive appearance, it needs to be kept in a friendly environment. A normal house temperature around 70 degrees Fahrenheit is suitable for a poinsettia. A tem perature a few degrees lower will make it last even longer. Tem peratures much lower than 60 degrees Fahrenheit can damage poinsettias. Keep plants away from doors and heater vents. Indirect light in good quantities will benefit your poinsettia. Heat ing and airconditioning dries out the air. This, in turn, dries out your plants and their soil media. Check the soil media in the pot daily. When the media is dry, water your poinsettia until water comes out of the bottom of the pot. If your poinsettia' spot is cov ered with foil or cellophane. puncture the foil at the drain hole in the bottom of the pot to create a hole through which excess wa ter can escape. Place the pot in a saucer to protect furniture. It is interesting to note that it is actually the colorful leaves sur rounding the poinsettia flower that give it its beautiful appear ance. This flowering is triggered by a photoperiod. Photoperiod is the length of light and darkness at a time. This response would occur due to shortening days and lengthening nights in nature. Commercial growers manipulate the photope riod response by regulating the light and dark periods the plants experience in the greenhouse. Last week. I received a phone call from a television news re porter asking about the toxicity of poinsettias. I looked into the sub ject, and found that considerable research had been done on the subject. The research determined that the poinsettia has no toxic ity. For more information, call the Lee County Extension Office at 759-6025. By J.M. Rhodes Member of Chehaw Lodge 701 Leesburg, Georgia WHY I AM A MASON by Rev Louis R. Grant United Methodist Church There are some things I don't remember about the night I took that step toward a rich and re warding experience that has en hanced my life. But there are some things that I will never for get. There was a foundation of trust. . . trust in God as the One to whom I could look for support and counsel..trust in a Brother who could lead me in my blind ness to the light of understand ing. I discovered the reality of prayer as the place to begin be fore undertaking any task. So I began the journey that through the years was to lead me to a new understanding of myself, my fel low human beings and God. On that journey I discovered that I was not searching for some par ticular religious creed that would set me apart from other people. I was in fact discovering some great principles that would en able me to live life at its very best. Principles like faith..hope..charity., wisdom..beauty..truth. I would discover that there is a universal love and respect for all persons of all religious creeds and beliefs. My Masonry would let me stand with my Brothers as an equal no matter what their theology or re ligious beliefs. While Masonry has never been a religion for me, it has set be fore me some very high moral and ethical standards that have supported my religious beliefs. It has also confirmed my duty to “feed the hungry . clothe the na ked, and support the widows and orphans.” While it is impressive to know the extent of Masonry's charitable organizations and agencies that work for healing and health (some say we spend over $1 million a day ), it is much more impressive to see a child walk, or a child see, or a child be nursed back to health from a se vere burn. Most would not have been able to receive such help had it not been for the benevolent concern of some Masons. While this country of ours has felt the impact of leaders who have been Masons, much of what Masonry represents is seen in those men who have lived the principles of Freemasonry in their respective communities. On my journey I have met some of them. These were good men who were better men because they were Masons. None of them will have their names in the books of his tory. but they will always be re membered by those whose lives they touched. They are those who believe that Masonry is not some thing to commit to memory, it is something to live. You never hear it in their boasting..you see it in their living. So the question “Why are you a Mason?” can be answered. It has allowed me to grow personally., to serve my God ..to reach out in concern to my fellow human beings. It has supported my personal faith and work as a churchman. Let no one say you cannot be a Christian and a Mason at the same time. I know too many who are both and proud to be both. LCMS Seventh Grade Students of the Week for December 3 - December 7 pictured on the front row are Justin Karn and Megan Wynegar. Pictured on the back row are Matt Bagwell and Sarah Jeffcoat. Tora, Tora, Snip "Bubba, what do you think they should do with this John Walker Lindh? He's that traitor that became a Taliban and fought against his own country?" "What do I think? That's easy, real short and quick, a bullet in his turban! Mike Spann should have done that when he realized he was talking to a bearded, beaded eyed, turbaned Talibanee-American. Might'a saved his life and the boy's parents the humiliation and embar- rasses they will have to go through." "Swift justice Bubba?" "Better than bringing that piece of California garbage back here to face an O. J. Simpson jury. They would set him free and want to give him a campaign ribbon to boot." "You think so?" "Look what a jury did with O, J.; twice! They should shoot him or hand him over to the Northern Al liance. Either way would solve the problem. If they asked me I would prefer giving him to the Afgans, those folks know how to treat a traitor. The bullet would be kept for last, 'cause in the mean time they would make a Taliban- she out of em. Let him feel what's it's like to be a woman among the Taliban. Then if the Taliban don't kill him, they will." "That reminds me Bubba, its be ing kept a secret but I heard the marines have already captured Usama Bin Mohammad Bin Laden." "Junior, that can not be true. It would be all over the news." "I heard down at the Barber Shop that when the Marines went into Afghanistan, that a ultra secret Marine unit was deployed to cap ture Usama, it's true." "I can believe that a ultra secret team of Marines would be sent into the White Mountains and Tora Bora after Bin Laden, but not that they captured him. That's too big of a news story." "Think about it! Why bring him back and make a myrter out of em, or take a chance that he would get an O. J. jury. Just get in there, take care of him and get out, no one ever the wiser." "There's good logic in that Jun ior. What did they do send in a Seal Team or some Marine Delta Force?" "Kind'a. They sent in a group of Bill Rodham-Clinton don't ask, don't tell Marines with their panty hose in a wad. Now those girls are a lot meaner than any Delta Force. Word is, they caught Usama out riding his horse. Those Marines made a gelding out'a the horse and a Taliban-she out'a Usama. Had to quickly cover him with a Berka, one of those head to toe robes that the Taliban make women wear." "After that and they want to fol low native custom?" "No, no nothing like that. It was the fact that that ole boy made such an ugly woman, they had to cover her face!" Ray Davidson is a syndicated columnist. He can be reached at rayd45@aol.com