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PAGE 8A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. MAY 13. 2004
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Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor:
The upcoming ballot will ask us
if we support a county-wide land
use ordinance. In essence, the ques
tion on the table is simple. Will
Pickens County choose to direct its
own fate as development moves
northward from metro Atlanta? Or
will the it proceed like it has in
Cherokee and Cobb counties - like
a brush fire out of control? It’s not
a question of giving anyone control
over our land. We will have the
opportunity to designate how our
land is classified, and a process to
change the classification.
The point of the whole program
is to keep developers from building
whatever they want, wherever they
want - to preserve the beauty of our
mountain landscape and the charac
ter of our culture as we accommo
date the inevitable development
coming our way. Pickens County is
in a position to both benefit from
the coming growth and control its
effect on our lives. It is said that
Pickens is a county of “choice.”
Chosen by the people who were
born here. Chosen by the people
who have moved here. I hope that
we will all become acquainted with
land use as it is being proposed,
and consider voting for this well
thought out plan.
John M. Nardo
Dear Editor:
RE: Donald Rumsfeld must GO!
The torture we are seeing in the
pictures from abu Ghraib prison are
appalling.
The fact that our Rumsfeld was
informed by the Red Cross and
Amnesty International of these
atrocities last year and waited until
the pictures were published to
inform congress or the public is
even worse than the atrocities
themselves, in effect condoning
them.
He should be impeached. If Mr
Bush were a real president, Rums
feld would be long gone!
David Sewell
Dear Editor:
On Wednesday, 5-5-04, my
daughter disappeared from her
driveway at 162 Crystal Creek
Drive. She is 22 years old, a diabet
ic with Downs Syndrome.
She is 4 ft. 7 inches tall with
blonde hair. My wife called 911
sometime after 5 p.m. and within 5
minutes the Jasper Police came on
site.
A couple of hours later there
was an incredible amount of people
already searching for Jessica. Heli
copters were flying over and search
teams were scouring deep woods.
They found Jessica about 8 p.m.
and she was over a mile deep in the
woods and she was shaken but all
right.
To the Jasper Police Depart
ment, detectives, firefighters, res
cue workers and wonderful neigh
bors we, the Leverette family, say:
Thank You. God Bless you all for
the care and love you all displayed
on finding our baby girl Jessica.
The people of Pickens County are
tops.
I am proud to live in a place
where Angels are so abundant.
Sincerely,
Rick Leverette
Dear Editor:
At times, the phrase “Thank
You” is just not adequate. After the
tremendous amount of kindness
and support shown by the commu
nity of Pickens County and area
businesses, I am amazed.
Following the events of the
March of Dimes WalkAmerica on
Saturday, April 17, 2004, a number
of area businesses and individuals
deserve a public THANK YOU for
their dedication to the human spirit,
community service and, most
importantly, the health of babies.
Our sincere thanks to each and
every individual, company and
organization who came out and was
a part of WalkAmerica this year.
With the support of the Pickens
County community, we raised over
$25,000 in the Name of Healthier
Babies!
With our heartfelt gratitude and
appreciation,
Lori Randolph
Senior Community Director
March of Dimes
Dear Editor:
Thank you Rosemary Wigington
for your uplifting and educated
response to Mr. Jerry Biddy’s arti
cles. Maybe Mr. Biddy should say a
prayer for “those” he’s “concerned”
about instead of passing judgement
on peoples’ political beliefs, per
sonal lives and choices.
Michele Chandler
Dear Editor:
Thank you Rosemary Wigington
for your letter printed in the May 6
Progress. You very effectively
addressed an example of self-right
eous, closed-minded political parti
sanship which too often substitutes
for informed political debate in
these times.
The problem exists on the
extreme right and the extreme left.
It is dangerous for people to con
clude that either major political
party has exclusive possession of
truth. You have inspired me to be
more watchful that creeping abso
lutism does not distort my own
political thinking and debate.
Sometimes we all may slip into the
practice of hurling campaign sound
bites at each other and calling it
informed debate.
Assuming your teaching is as
well thought out, your students are
very fortunate.
Tom Carlson
Dear Editor:
Over the past few months, I
have read numerous letters to the
editor expressing anxiety concern
ing the change and growth of Pick-
ens County is undergoing.
Although opinions differ about how
change should occur, all agree it is
important to maintain our present
quality of life. Whether one views
growth as blight or a blessing, its
arrival is inevitable and careful
planning is necessary to preserve
the pristine beauty we enjoy. On
the front page, March 11, 2004,
“Commissioner Newton told
Chamber members, ‘We’re going to
have growth and we need to desig
nate where it goes. It doesn’t need
to be in the residential areas — it
needs to be where the infrastructure
is. That goes for the county now.
We’ve got to look ahead. We need
to look ahead 10 to 15 years down
the road and prepare. We need to
make this a place our children and
grandchildren will love...’” Many
of us would love to see Pickens
County become the type of com
munity our children and grandchil
dren want to remain part of after
they are grown; however, many
leave vowing never to return
because there is nothing for them to
do here. In another headline article,
April 29, 2004, “Virlyn Estes, of
M.E. Realty, said, ‘Unfortunately
or fortunately, this will bring a
Riverstone (in Cherokee County)
style of development here. In the
next five to ten years, Jasper will be
out here. It will be unbelievable
what will happen.’” If Pickens
County is destined for change,
options that will meet the social
and recreational needs of our
teenagers need to be explored and
pursued in an aggressive manner.
A theatre, bowling alley and
skate-park would contribute to the
fun and joy teens derive from life
while growing up in Pickens Coun
ty. There are large tracts of land in
this county along Hwy. 515 that
could easily accommodate these
types of businesses. If there is room
for Home Depot, Kroger and five
liquor stores in Pickens County,
there should be room for establish
ments that provide entertainment
for this age group.
Our older teens with licenses are
always 20-40 miles from home on
the weekends and when our
younger teens want to go to the
movies or bowling, we have to
drive to Canton and wait for their
activities to end. Failure to draw
businesses that appeal to teens into
the county will continue to allow
the revenue generated by them to
flood over the county line into
Cherokee and Cobb counties.
Teenagers have more disposable
income than their parents do; to
understand the power of their
spending we need to look at some
facts. A study conducted by
Teenage Research Unlimited, the
nation’s premier market-research
firm focusing on the teen market
for the past 20 years, found that
American teens ages 12 through 19
spent $170 billion in 2002, an aver
age of $101 per week. These find
ings were published in the Pitts
burg Post-Gazette, in an article
written by Karen McPherson, post
ed on the Internet Saturday, Dec.
20, 2003. In the year 2000, the US
Census Bureau reported 1,423
teenagers between 15 and 19 years
of age residing in Pickens County.
As of July 1, 2001, the Pickens
County Chamber of Commerce
website listed the population of the
county at 24,776. Using these num
bers, teenagers account for 5.75
percent of the county’s population.
Allowing for the fact that the entire
$101 per week is not spent on
entertainment and reducing it to
$50 per week, we can estimate the
amount of revenue leaving the
county to be approximately
$71,150 per week or $3,699,800
annually. “Commissioner Newton
also stated in the March 11, 2004
article that according to some pro
jections there could be 160,000
people in Pickens County by the
year 2050.” Assuming teens remain
5.75 percent of the population,
there will be 9,200 teens residing in
Pickens County. Using the same
figure of $50 a week, not taking
inflation or increase in minimum
wage into account, the amount of
revenue leaving the county could
be as high as $455,000 weekly or
$23,660,000 annually.
While the county is actively
engaged in the stage of commercial
and retail development, the types of
businesses drawing the income of
our teenagers out of the county
need to be considered in plans for
future development within the
county. Attracting new businesses
along Hwy. 515, which is in the
city limits, is a function of City
Hall and citizens who would like to
see establishments that would pro
vide a safe, fun environment for
our teenagers should call Mayor
John Weaver at 706-692-9100 and
let him know that we want this for
our children. The addition of a
bowling alley, theatre and skate-
park in Pickens County will pro
vide a recreational environment for
our older teens, keeping them clos
er to home. Parents will remain in
this county for their shopping
needs, instead of running their
errands in Canton, while waiting to
pick up their younger teens. The
income generated by the citizens of
Pickens County will remain in the
county and can be utilized for infra
structure improvements, advance
ments in our school system and
expansion of the recreation and
parks department. More important
ly, we will show our teenagers that
we value them and the things that
are important to them.
Sincerely,
Nora Echevarria
Dear Editor:
Last week’s letter was submitted
by Mo Fountain. It was NOT sub
mitted by Moss L. Fountain.
Sincerely,
Moss L. Fountain
Letters Welcomed
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Progress.
New A TM Location
To Better Serve You.
We are pleased to announce
Our new ATM in the Hill City
area. It is conveniently located
on Hwy 53 W in the parking lot
of the Amoco.
This is our way to continue
our goal to give customers the
best service possible, 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week.
Be watching for other locations soon!!!
15 Mountainside Dr.
Jasper, GA 30143
Community Minded
Just like you!
Member
706-253-9600
www.communitybankofpickenscounty.com
FDIC