About The Lee County ledger. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1978-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 13, 2019)
The Lee County Ledger, Wednesday, February 13, 2019, Page 7A No Greater Tyrant Than A Bad Neighbor Special to the Ledger By Kate Scarmalis So I am toying with a rake in my front yard, making motions to repair the ruts in it left behind by Hurricane Michael, when a voice called out to me. “I am coming over to pick a bone with someone.” The voice was not unfriendly, but business like, as this neighbor has always seemed to me. “Oh, my. What did I do this time?” I replied, leaving him an opening for whatever was bother ing him. This neighbor has always been good to me, even so much as allowing me to have my tree guys pile up cut up branches on his property after the storm. The lot is heavily wooded, so he graciously agreed to allow me to do so. No good turn goes unpunished, as it has been said. Michael left me with four gigantic trees down on my property. In desperation, I hired one of those out of town tree companies. They piled the logs high and wide on my neighbor’s lot. I really appreciated the favor. Ms. ABAC Special to the Ledger Caitlyn Lawton, a student at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, will compete for the title of Ms. ABAC along with 20 other contestants at the 50th annual pageant on Feb. 21. The event begins at 7 p.m. in Howard Audito rium. The winner will receive a $500 academic scholarship. The theme of this year’s contest is “The Golden Anniversary.” The pageant is sponsored by the Ag Business Club. Lawton, a crop and soil science major from Leesburg, is sponsored by friends and fam ily. She is the daughter of Russell and Vicky Lawton. Admission is $10 per person. Tickets can be purchased from any Ag Business Club officer, in the Donaldson Din ing Hall the week of the event, or by calling Dr. Audrey Luke-Morgan at (229) 391-4807. Participants will compete in casual and evening wear. They will also be judged on a writ ten essay and an inter view with the judges. Mike Chason, Direc tor of Public Relations Emeritus, will serve as Comes the problem: In the mess was a huge stump that the tree guys left behind. When I say huge, I mean huge. It was so large that I could lay down across the stump and have room for a dog to lay at my feet. As fortune would have it, the stump was left on my property, not across the street on my neigh bor’s land. However, when the clean up crew from the county removed the tree waste, they man aged to push the stump across the road to my neigh bor’s side of the street. And my neighbor just did not want it there. I can’t say I blame him. The stump is incredibly large, with roots spurt ing out everywhere. We all swim in the same water. To be the type of person who would dump a load into the water, polluting it for everyone, is not a person master of ceremonies. All proceeds from the Ms. ABAC pageant will benefit the American that I am comfortable in being. Such behavior is the mark of the narcissist. I recognize it well. I mar ried that and dumped that load a long time ago. John was the best 200-pounds that I have ever lost. So, here I am, a Baby Boomer who learned the Golden Rule at her Grammy’s knee. So that gigan tic tangled root will not leave my mind until that stump is no more. This weekend past brought a pathetic sight: my landscaper and myself trying to drill holes into the stump and to fill them with Stump Out to melt the eyesore out of existence. It’s going to take many months, but that canker in my mind’s eye will eventually melt from existence. Grammy taught me well. The situation brings to mind an old story. “A woman died and was taken to heaven. The angel wanted her to see hell, so they stopped there first. Hell had a lake of nutritious stew, but the people had only 12-foot spoons and so were frustrated when they tried to feed them selves. So the people were miserable and hungry. Then the woman was taken to heaven. Amazingly, heaven was exactly the same, with the same stew and 12- foot spoons; but here the people were happy and well-fed.” Cancer Society Relay for Life and ABAC’S 2019 National Agri-Marketing Association Team. Of course the moral of the story is that those in Heaven have learned the way of love; they feed each other. Others, without the grace of rec titude, starve themselves in full view of those around them. For years I went to school for an education, but true learning came at my Grammy’s knee. She was an unswerving fol lower of the word of Je sus. As I stated earlier, she taught me well. The parable of the angel and the woman ex emplifies how the good Christians should live their lives. From Jesus we learned, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Love. . .hmmm. . .tough standard to live up to. Well, we do try. If not love, then we at least show some consid eration. Maintaining peace in the neighborhood is something like an imitation of our nation’s wartime policy of Mu tual Assured Destruction (MAD). Specifically, if one neighbor violates peaceful conditions, then all hell breaks loose. Revenge, not love, becomes the rule. However, in nearly ev ery neighborhood, there is always that one who violates others’ rights to peaceful existence. Some people simply do not give a damn what others think of them. They let their dogs bark nonstop. They let their yards go to pot with junk every where. You can hear their kids’ booming noises which approximates crude musical configura tions of a sort. They create all sorts of havoc and fumes from engine noises, night and day. Their kids are a night mare from hell. They sprinkle their own form of “love” over the neighborhood quite liberally. They must not see themselves as others do. They see themselves through a very special lens indeed. Are these people so hateful? Some are, indeed. Those who live to stir up drama, who purposely act to make others miserable, these are the types who may starve in Hell. Not all are so actively evil. Many just keep on, keeping on. In full ignorance of the effect they have on others, they continue to culti vate misery in their own neighborhoods. On Sundays they flatten their knees as proof positive of their own righteousness, then promptly put the blind ers back in place as they drive home. Note of Appreciation The family of Travis Jones would like to express our deepest ap preciation to the nurses and doctors at Phoebe Putney for the care that There is always at least one in every neighbor hood. A bad neighbor is a misfortune. A good one is a great blessing. Kate Scarmalis re tired from teaching in the Lee County School System. She has a B.A. in Foreign Languages, Elementary and Gifted Education, and an M.A. in Forensic Psychology Travis received. We would like to thank everyone for your thoughts and prayers. It has meant so much to us. Travis Jones’ family Finnicum MOTOR COMPANY “ Where a handshake still means something ” Quality pre-owned vehicles at affordable prices! Finnicummotorcompany.com 229-446-9960 TAXRETURNS Personal • Corporate Partnerships • Estates Trusts Tim Hunter CPA /CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT CONSULTANT (229)759-1040 www.timhuntercpa.com Letters Policy The Lee County Ledger welcomes - indeed encour ages - letters from our readers on matters of interest for the community Have a complaint? See a problem that needs correcting? Have the solution to a prob lem that others haven’t seen yet? Feel some person or group deserves praise and isn’t getting it? Please write us and let everyone share in your viewpoint. We do request that all letters be signed and accom panied by the writer’s street address and telephone number. We reserve the right not to print any letter. Letters not signed will not be printed. Letters may be edited for space. Address your letter to Editor, The Lee County Ledger, P.O. Box 715, Leesburg, Georgia 31763 or bring them by our office. Need Tree Service? Let us take care of all your tree service needs! FREE QUOTES! Need Firewood? You pickup or we deliver! $100 - 5x10 trailer load Branch Out Enterprises Kerry & Chele Branch 229-364-9423 • 229-499-2619 L Winsupplv OF ALBANY PLUMBING • KITCHEN & BATH Russell Shirley Manager 2150 Gillionville Road Office (229) 888-8088 P.O. Box 3889 Fax (229) 888-9200 Albany, Georgia 31706 rcshirley@winnelson.com winsupplyofalbany.com This Week’s Super Buys! Family Pack T-BONE STEAK *4.99 8 Lb. Bag RUSSETT POTATOES 3.89 ^eesbt/,^ 216 Walnut Ave. hometown US 19 N. Leesburg 759-6286 Need A Hearing Aid? Why should you see Ralph Jackson? Irust Honesty t NTEGRITY ERVIOE THIS 3s Wh H Wou (Skoose Ralph Jackson! OPEN MON.-THURS. 8:30am-4:30pm; FRI. 8:30am-3:00pm When it’s time to take that first step, take it with someone you can trust. Let Ralph Jackson help you hear again! Ralph Jackson Hearing Aid Services, Inc. Albany & Southwest Georgia's Most Experienced Hearing Aid Provider-Since 1966! 2015 Palmyra Rd., Albany 22Q-A32-0053 www.ralphjacksonhearingaidservice.com SoundChoice LCES Tackles Hunger With the Super Bowl on everyone’s mind, Lee County Elementary School participated in its own “Souper” Bowl. Staff and students collected well over 1000 canned goods in an effort to tackle hunger in our community. These items will be donated to a local food pantry for distribution. On the last day of collection, staff and students wore attire to represent their football team. Leesburg Student Competes in Pageant February 21 Kate Scarmalis Letter To The Editor
