Newspaper Page Text
THURSDAY. NOVEMBER 12. 2020 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 5A
To the Editor:
The country is doomed.
I’m glad I’m old.
Richard Marsh
To the Editor:
Never have I been so proud
to be from Pickens County as
I was when I viewed our
election results. Eighty-six
percent of my friends and
neighbors voted for Donald J.
Tramp. We voted for pro-life,
pro-second amendment and
pro-religious freedom.
And while we cannot con
trol the blatant voter fraud in
Pennsylvania, Michigan and
perhaps even our own state,
it's good to know we have the
wisdom to try to elect men
and women that stand for
Christian values. I am certain
that almighty God will bless
each of you for your efforts.
Dave Ray
To the Editor:
As a retired veteran and
14-year resident of Pickens
County, it is disheartening to
observe that increase crime
may be coming to Pickens
County.
I know we are not im
mune from any crime but
when it affects veterans it is
tndy intolerable. In less than
one month the Pickens
County Veterans Memorial
Park has been vandalized.
The first vandalism was
minor but concerning. But
when part of the fencing is
damaged this now becomes
more concerning.
What is next destroying
the marble headstones or the
Bricks of Honor that we
honor for all veterans? This
veterans park was built not
only for veterans but the citi
zens of this community. We
have over 3,000 veterans liv
ing in Pickens County you
should be a concern. If we do
not have any more respect for
this veterans park then we
need to look at ourselves.
We are in troubling times
throughout the country. Do
not let this become the norm
for Pickens County. Please
treat this veterans park as sa
cred ground for those who
served and died for your free
dom. If you see anyone or
any type of vandalism please
contact our local law enforce
ment.
Frank Leist, US Army
Retired SGM
To the Editor:
Heartfelt thanks to all our
O QUALITY
SYNTHETIC
RUBBER”*
WE MAKE AUTOMOBILES RUN,
PLANES FLY AND INDUSTRIES PRODUCE.
COME JOIN OUR TEAM AND GROW WITH US!
Local automotive & industrial
manufacturer in Jasper
(since 1952) now hiring for
key machine operators.
*$500 SIGN-ON BONUS*
*Requirements will apply
MOLDING OPERATORS
*2 nd & 3 rd Shifts
*Pay up to $20.50/hr.
*Plus Shift Premium
MIXING OPERATORS
*l st & 2 nd Shifts
“Pay up to $20.50/hr.
*Plus Premium for 2 nd shift
GREAT BENEFITS AND INCENTIVES!!!
Medical, Dental, and Vision Insurance
40IK Retirement Plan
Company Paid Life Insurance
Short-Term and Long-Term Disability
Safety Eyeglass Plan
Gym Membership Subsidy Program
Paid Time Off and Perfect Attendance Program.. .and more!
Please contact Jessica Bramlett at:
ihramlett@nco.net
or at
706-692-2417
For more information about our company, visit www.qco.net
We are a dmg-free and EOE workplace.
Notice of
Public Hearings
The Town of Talking Rock
Council will hold public
hearings on the 2020 FY
Proposed Budget on the fol
lowing dates and times:
November 19, 2020 @ 6:30 p.m.
December 3, 2020 @ 6:30 p.m.
All public hearings will be
held at Talking Rock Town
Hall, located at 4675 Hwy
136 W, Talking Rock, GA
30175.
The proposed FY 2020
budget will be available for
review on November 19,
2020 at 6:00 p.m. and De
cember 3, 2020 @ 6:00 p.m.
Please call 706-253-5515
with any questions.
Letters to the Editor
friends in Pickens County for
the many responses of love,
respect, and gratitude you
have expressed for Don K.
Russell as he went to be with
the Lord. The family deeply
appreciates your understand
ing during this coronavirus
time for viewing the service
on November 4th in person,
on live streaming, or on
YouTube.
He is now at rest at the
Georgia National Cemetery
in Canton. Memorial gifts
may be made to the North
Georgia Boys and Girls Club.
The Don K. Russell family
Pickens GOP recruiting
volunteers ahead runoffs
All eyes are on Georgia.
Pickens GOP has a hard push
to get republican candidates
re-elected in two separate run
off elections in December
and January.
The Pickens County Re
publican Party is recruiting
republicans and conserva
tives to help re-elect Lauren
"Bubba" McDonald as Geor
gia Public Service Commis
sioner in the run-off election
on Dec. 1, 2020, and to re
elect Senators David Perdue
and Kelly Loeffler to the US
Senate in the run-off election
on January 5, 2021. Georgia
is the national battleground
determining control for the
US Senate. Pickens GOP is
actively coordinating with
the Perdue and Loeffler cam
paigns and Commissioner
McDonald to bring them to
Pickens County for a Meet
and Greet. Pickens County,
geographically located in the
center of north Georgia and
represented in the 9th and
14th districts, will serve as a
staging location for north
Georgia Republicans and
conservatives to get to know
the candidates, ask questions,
and coordinate efforts. De
tails for this event are forth
coming. Volunteer
opportunities are available
now to coordinate rides to the
polls, make phone calls, door
knock in neighborhoods,
train as poll workers and poll
watchers, and donate money.
For more information on
how to defend conservative
values and to keep the US
Senate Republican majority
in 2021 visit
https://www.pickensgop.com
/contact.
Thelma (Bay) Cagle
To the Editor:
Due to COVID, UGAand
Ga. Tech will not play each
other this year in football
(after the Florida game, Bull
dog fans may just wish the
season was over) but I be
lieve we need to keep the
Clean Old Fashioned Hate ri
valry going so I would to
offer a few jokes from my
personal collection over the
next few weeks.
Here’s the first. Back in
2015, a local bank experi
mented with the possibility of
adding a new talking ATM
machine. It was designed to
reply in the English language
according to your I.Q. After
you inserted your ATM card,
the machine would ask your
I.Q. If you answered 145,the
machine would initiate a dis
cussion about the theory of
relativity. If you answered
118, the machine would dis
cuss the U.S. stock market. If
you answered that you only
had an I.Q. of 59, the ma
chine would reply, ‘‘How
bout them Dawgs?”
If anyone wants to re
spond, I welcome good,
clean back-and forth banter
on college football.
Greg Land
Letters Welcomed
“Letters to the Editor ” is an
important public forum in the
community and the Progress
welcomes and encourages these
letters. Letters addressing issues
will be accepted but not those
expressing a personal grievance
directed toward another individ
ual. Letters OVER 400 WORDS
in length will not be considered
for publication. All letters must
have a full name with address, e-
mail and phone number given
where the author can be reached
to verify information.
The contact information is
never published.
Letters may be e-mailed to
news@pickensprogress.com.
Call 706-253-2457 to discuss
this further.
Take measures to prevent Prediabetes/Diabetes
Ask any primary care
physician associated with
Piedmont Healthcare and
they will tell you that one
medical condition they see
far too often is diabetes.
In the United States, more
than 30 million adults have
diabetes and another 84 mil
lion have prediabetes. In
Georgia, almost 34% of the
adult population has predia
betes, and 12% — or nearly 1
million people - have been
diagnosed with diabetes.
Those numbers are made
even more alarming when
you consider this: According
to the American Diabetes As
sociation, two out of three
people with diabetes die from
heart disease or stroke.
“It is important for people
to be aware of their personal
risk factors for diabetes,” said
Moiz Master, M.D., a physi
cian with Piedmont Physi
cians of Jasper and Chief
Medical Officer at Piedmont
Mountainside Hospital.
“They should also know that
making lifestyle changes can
reduce risk factors and lead
to better outcomes.”
Diabetes is a group of dis
eases or conditions where
there is too much sugar in the
blood. Prediabetes means a
person’s blood sugar is
higher than the normal range
(70 to 100), but still below
the diabetic range (126 and
higher). A fasting blood glu
cose level of 100 to 125 indi
cates prediabetes. Diabetics
have a resistance to insulin,
which regulates blood glu
cose levels. The more sensi
tive your body is to insulin,
the better it is able to regulate
blood glucose.
“It is important to main
tain annual physicals and
keep an eye on blood sugar
levels, particularly for people
as they age,’ said Dr. Master
“People should also be aware
of symptoms of both type 1
and type 2 diabetes, which
can include excessive thirst,
frequent urination, blurry vi
sion and numbness or tin
gling in the hands and feet.”
The incidence of Type 2
diabetes, and other associated
diseases, can be reduced by
making the following
lifestyle changes:
Eat healthier: Food af
fects blood sugar, blood pres
sure and cholesterol. It is
important to eat more fruits
and vegetables, lean meats,
and whole grains, drink water
instead of soda and sweet tea
and choose food that is low in
sugar, salt, calories and fat.
Improve fitness'. Everyone
should strive to be active for
at least 30 minutes a day.
Walking around the block or
doing yard work counts as
physical activity, too.
Stop smoking: Your doctor
can guide you to many differ
ent cessation programs and
you will see your health im
prove in many different
ways.
Plan medication'. When
prescribed medication related
to diabetes, blood pressure or
cholesterol, it is important to
take the medication as di
rected by your doctor.
“According to the CDC,
80 percent of adults with pre
diabetes don’t even realize
they have it,” said Dr. Master.
“Without taking any action,
many of those cases will be
come Type 2 diabetes. People
need to see their physicians,
get screened, and make the
lifestyle changes that will
keep them healthy for years
to come.”
For more information on
diabetes, visit
piedmont.org/diabetes.
How small businesses can capitalize on Black Friday
Millions of small busi
nesses have had a difficult
year in 2020. As the novel
coronavirus COVID-19
spread across the globe, gov
ernments all over the world
took unprecedented measures
to prevent the virus from
claiming more lives. Public
health measures like social
distancing undoubtedly
saved lives, but small busi
nesses bore the brunt of the
economic impact of such
measures.
According to the National
Bureau of Economic Re
search, the number of active
business owners decreased
by 22 percent from February
to April 2020. A Brookings
analysis of Opportunity In
sights Economic Tracker data
found that, compared to Jan
uary 2020, small businesses
in North Dakota, Washing
ton, D.C. and Hawaii experi
enced a 60 percent decline in
revenue between mid-March
and mid-May. In the wake of
such challenges, many small
businesses have been forced
to shutter. For those that have
managed to stay afloat, the
upcoming holiday season
could prove vital to their sur
vival.
Black Friday is the day
after Thanksgiving and
marks the unofficial begin
ning of the holiday shopping
season. It’s a day when con
sumer spending annually
reaches into the billions of
dollars. For example, Adobe
Analytics reported that Black
Friday shoppers spent a
record $7.4 billion in 2019.
Capitalizing on Black Friday
in 2020 can help small busi
nesses generate a substantial
amount of revenue in a year
that has been chock full of fi
nancial challenges. The fol
lowing are some strategies
small businesses can employ
to make this Black Friday as
lucrative as possible.
• Connect with the locals.
In recognition of the eco
nomic challenges faced by
small businesses in 2020,
local chambers of commerce
have gone to great lengths to
encourage residents to shop
local as economies have
slowly reopened. Residents
have responded to such ef
forts, and small businesses
can do their part by making
concerted efforts to connect
with locals in advance of
Black Friday. Advertise
Black Friday sales in local
newspapers and join your
local chamber of commerce
in encouraging shop local ef
forts on Black Friday.
• Open early. In an effort
to promote social distancing,
some big box retailers have
announced changes to their
Black Friday strategies.
Those changes may include
more limited store hours and
later openings. Local small
business owners can capital
ize on such strategical shifts
by opening their stores early
on Black Friday without
compromising social distanc
ing guidelines. Place a sign
outside your store that high
lights your early opening but
also reminds customers of
your mask and social distanc
ing policy. Thank customers
in advance for adhering to
your policy and for bringing
much-needed revenue to
your business.
• Optimize your mobile
site. Lines are the norm on a
typical Black Friday, but they
might be even longer this
year as small businesses min
imize the number of people
they allow in their store at
one time. By optimizing their
mobile sites in advance of
Black Friday, small business
owners can ensure shoppers
waiting online have access to
what’s inside the store even
before they enter. That can
make it easier to wait on line
and ease customers’ concerns
about spending too much
time inside the store.
• Emphasize your status as
a small business. The pan
demic will no doubt compel
many Black Friday shoppers
to avoid crowded malls and
big box stores in 2020. Small
business owners can use their
status as small businesses to
their advantage by reminding
customers their showrooms
are small and easily con
trolled.
Small businesses may be
struggling in 2020. But Black
Friday is a golden opportu
nity for small businesses to
recoup some of the revenue
they’ve lost in a challenging
year.
"/Mam/ a a mall thing baa been made large
by the right hind of advertising. "
— Mark Twain
Contact the Pickens County Progress
for advertising ideas at 706-253-2457
Friday,
November 13th
9 - 11 AM Que sti 0ns?
at 7 0S-2$l
Mount Zion
Baptist Church
1036 North Main Street, Jasper, GA 30143
Provided by the
Pickens County
Health Department