Newspaper Page Text
Start new year
giving thanks
I ’VE NEVER been one
to make resolutions but I
do take time at the start
of each year to look back over
the past year and give thanks
for my blessings. It’s so often
in our hectic
lives for us
to focus on
what is going
wrong in our
life. Instead,
we need to
give thanks
for the good
stuff. Among
my many
blessings
the past
year were:
•The good health of the two
precious babies in our fam
ily. My nephews, Jake, 7, and
Grayson, 1, are both continu
ing to grow and learn and have
been healthy. Sure, they get
plenty of colds but nothing seri
ous. A healthy baby is one of
the most wonderful blessings
of all. They continue to make
us laugh and smile every day.
•Parents who love and sup
port me in all that I do. A
strong family support sys
tem is something that many
people do not have and I
don’t take mine for granted.
My parents are a blessing.
•My sister and brother-in-
law who are always there
for me whatever I may
need. The requests may
seem strange but they help
me out whenever I ask.
•A close group of friends
at work who are like a sec
ond family. Most folks spend
as much time with their co
workers as anyone else. It is
a blessing when you work
with a special group of people
who care about each other.
•Many people at the meet
ings I cover and other events I
go to for the papers who help
me out, answer my questions
and give me the information
I need. It’s a blessing when
people help you out as you
go about doing your job.
Everyone has people in
their lives that are a true bless
ing. Don’t let all of the stress
of your life take away from
these special folks. Thank
God every day for your bless
ings and treasure them as a
new year gets under way.
Instead of focusing on all that
is wrong in your life, look for
all that is good. At church on
Sunday, pastor Brian Stowe said
in difficult times we should ask
“What am I supposed to learn
from this?’’ instead of “why
me?” That is so true and is such
a blessing to me. I have repeat
ed it several times this week
and thought about things in
my past that may have seemed
tragic at the time. What was I
supposed to learn from these
things? That is something good
for everyone to think about.
Angelo Gary is editor of
The Banks County News and
associate editor of The Jackson
Herald. She can be reached
at AngieEditor@aol.com.
ACS Relay for Life
kickoff set Jan. 22
The 2009 Jackson County
Relay for Life campaign will
kick off Thursday, Jan. 22, with
a program at the Jefferson Civic
Center. The theme is “Hometown
USA: Hope Starts Here.”
Refreshments will be served
at 5:30 p.m., with a program to
follow at 6 p.m.. Jim Joiner and
Priscilla Daves, the honorary
chairmen, will speak, and there
will be a slide show from last
year’s relay, said Sandra Fite,
relay committee member.
“We would love for anybody to
come who might have an interest
in the relay, even if they don’t
have a team,” Fite said. “Those
interested in having a team can
come and sign up. Those teams
returning from 2008 are also
invited to attend.”
This year’s relay goal is to
raise $245,000, to have 250 sur
vivors involved and to have at
least 55 teams participating.
Inside: Historical Society to meet Sunday — page 2C
January 14,
2009
0 The Jackson Herald
Jmewfe
Jana Adams Mitcham,
Features Editor 706-367-8760
jana@mainstreetnews. com
Section C
A WAY OF LIFE
Justin Bratek, a junior at Jefferson High
School, says skateboarding is a way of
life, one he hopes to continue for years.
He wants to let other local skateboarders
know about sponsorship options.
Local skateboarder
tells of sponsorships
and opportunities
J ORDAN BRATEK, 17, started skateboarding
when he was 11 and started getting sponsors
when he was 15, which means he uses the
companies’ clothes and equipment and enters compe
titions for them. He has also won a best skate online
video award for one of his sponsors on the Loop’d,
com network for action sports and athletes (http://
www.loopd.com/members/Bratek/Default.aspx).
An advertisement in action.
A Jefferson High School junior, Bratek is the son of
Sherri Stoner. In the hopes of letting other area skate
boarders know the benefits of sponsorships and the
opportunities out there for the skateboarding sport, he
agreed to a Q&A with The Jackson Herald, - JM
Q: When did you start skateboarding? How did
you get started? Did you teach yourself or skate with
friends?
A: When I was about eleven. But stopped for
a while. I started back up and then started getting
sponsored at 15.1 taught myself. I used to skate with
friends. I actually had my own skate team. But now I
mainly skate alone. I like it better that way.
Q: Where do you skateboard? Did you start out
there?
A: My driveway, actually. Or in my subdivision
street. I like street skating. Yes, I did start in my drive
way. Most skaters do.
Q: What are some of the skateboarding terms?
A: Well, there are a lot. Some terms you may hear
a lot are:
Street, which means skating in the urban or street.
This is the most common form of skating. Vert, which
means skating in a skatepark or bowl. Ollie is how
you get air. Rip tricks are any tricks that you do in
mid-air and the board is flipping.
continued on page 2C
FLYING HIGH
Jefferson skateboarder Justin Bratek, 17, shows some of his
tricks. His favorite is a kickflip. Bratek started skating when he was
11 and started getting sponsors at 15. He has won an online best
skate video for one of his sponsors’ teams through loopd.com.
Photos courtesy of Bratek
Wanted: sermons, speeches
about Obama’s inauguration
American Folklife Center seeks recordings of
sermons, speeches made between Jan. 16-25
ON JANUARY 20, the United States
will inaugurate Barack Obama, the coun
try’s first African American president.
In anticipation of citizens’ efforts to
mark this historic time around the coun
try, the American Folklife Center will
be collecting audio and video recordings
of sermons and orations made between
Friday, Jan. 16, and Sunday, Jan. 25, that
comment on the significance of the inau
guration of 2009.
It is expected that such sermons and
orations will be delivered at churches,
synagogues, mosques and other places of
worship, as well as before humanist con
gregations and other secular gatherings.
The American Folklife Center is seeking
as wide a representation of orations as pos
sible. For more information, visit http://
www.loc.gov/folklife/inaugural/.