Newspaper Page Text
“I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy,
as cause for withdrawing from a friend." - Thomas Jefferson
• Opinions
• Community
Views
• Good Old
Common Sense
The Progress
Editorial
November 19,2020
From the Staff
Be Loyal to Local
with holiday spending
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
This fall I needed new arrows for my
old wooden recurve bow. I enjoy shooting
at a target in the backyard and the arrows
used make a lot of difference. Before
March of 2019,1 would drive over to the
Bargain Bam for advice and arrows. Al
though it sounded like a second-hand
store, they had a knowledgeable staff on
all things hunting and fishing along with
a wide selection of outdoor products.
Longtime residents will be familiar with
what they sold as the Bargain Barn had
been in business since 1961 and was a
competitor of Cabela’s and Bass Pro
Shops when the Jasper store was at its
peak.
Now, I’ll either need to drive out-of-
town or order online and “chat” to get my
questions answered.
With retailers, if a community doesn’t
use them, they lose them and the Bargain
Bam closed in 2019. People occasionally
mention that we need a book store here, to
which I remind them we had one, a nice
one, right on Main Street. Nickell Books
is long gone also.
With the Bargain Barn, the book store,
and quite a few other specialty stores, you
often ran into higher prices than what’s
online. With free shipping and hassle-free
exchanges, it’s hard for local mom-and-
pop stores to compete against the likes of
Amazon.
This year digital companies have ex
tended their domination of the American
economy, as people staying home found
they could do more online and e-compa
nies, to their credit, stepped up to fill the
need.
Consider that in August, it was reported
in the NY Times that “The stocks of Apple,
Amazon, Alphabet (Google), Microsoft
and Facebook, the five largest publicly
traded companies in America, rose 37 per
cent in the first seven months this year,
while all the other stocks in the S&P 500
fell a combined 6 percent.”
Those massive companies have seen
their stock prices continue an upward tra
jectory, most either doubling this year or
close to it.
No one should begrudge them the suc
cess. It wasn’t luck, they earned it. They
made shopping while sitting in sweats on
your couch ridiculously easy with two of
the companies, Facebook and Google,
driving you to products you never knew
existed.
But as we enter this holiday shopping
period, I ask our readers to consider the
impact of where they shop? [First, a little
caution is warranted. Who knows what
will happen next with so much turmoil in
the world? Now is not the time to max our
credit cards.]
The underlying question: Are you
going to help online retailers make even
more money or do you want to support the
businesses of this community?
When you shop, remember that what is
spent by everyone in the community at
area stores and restaurants, makes an im
pact right here at home. A jump in local
spending allows some of the businesses to
keep a full crew or offer bonuses or in
some cases, just keep the doors open.
On the other hand, all the 2020 holiday
spending by Pickens residents wouldn’t be
a drop in the bucket to the biggest online
retailers.
Instead of insisting on the lowest price
possible, how about enjoying the small
town atmosphere of shopping with people
you know? We realize that some arrows
and other specialty products simply are
not available here. But we all need to re
alize that if we don’t support our neigh
bors in their businesses even fewer
products will be available here.
Furthermore, the big national compa
nies are going to take what you spend back
to the corporate office and divide it out to
shareholders, being sure that billionaire
owners are compensated in the millions.
Here, the money you spend (hopefully)
is re-spent at other local businesses, buy
ing tires, paying HVAC repairmen and
having parking lots resurfaced, running
ads in the newspaper, paying property
taxes and providing sales tax to help our
schools and governments.
Worst of all, a closed local business is
a sad sight, a morale killer for the whole
community and does nothing to benefit
anyone.
Now is the time to support your com
munity - loyal to local as the saying goes.
No matter how nice the online offerings
may be, there’s no way those companies
are employing your neighbors, supporting
a church building fund or helping with
medical expenses of someone here.
And it’s unlikely the owner of any of
them will stop and speak to you.
Tell us your thoughts with a letter to the editor. E-mail to news@pickensprogress.com
See letter submission guidelines on the Letters to the Editor page or call us 706-253-2457.
The Simple Man is back!
■t hear
Packed full with over
60 brand new stories
from award-winning
columnist Caleb
Smith, All I Hear Is
Banjos will be sure to
leave you laughing.
Is Banjos
The Ballad of a Simple
Man
j|
By. Caleb Smith
Offering a unique look
into the life and
culture of a small,
north Georgia town,
this book will make
you laugh, make you
think, and maybe
make you think twice
before undertaking
your own DIY
household project.
* Copies for sale at the Progress
Available at Amazon.com
(USPS 431-820)
Published by Pickens County Progress, Inc.
94 North Main Street, Jasper, GA 30143
(706) 253-2457 FAX (706) 253-9738
www.pickensprogressonline.com
DAN POOL
Publisher/Editor
Published each Thursday at Jasper, Pickens County, Georgia. Entered
at the Post Office at Jasper, Georgia. 30143 as Mail Matter of Second
Class. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE PICKENS
COUNTY PROGRESS, 94 N. Main St., Jasper, GA 30143.
One Year’s Subscription: $39.59 in Pickens County and in Gilmer,
Cherokee, Dawson and Gordon counties; $50.29 in all other Georgia
counties; $59.92 out of state.
Ponderings of a Simple Man
By Caleb Smith
Simple Man
on Holiday
Hiatus
Caleb Smith, the Simple
Man columnist, is taking
some time off to deal with
what will begin as holiday
chores, but likely devolve
into full-fledged emergency
situations.
Look for his column to re
sume in a few weeks.
If you spot a
mistake,
contact our
editor.
dpool@
pickensprogress.com
706-253-2457
WEATHER
By William Dilbeck
HI
LOW
RAIN
Nov.
10
68
63
.05
Nov.
11
76
58
.60
Nov.
12
62
49
.00
Nov.
13
66
38
.00
Nov.
14
67
38
.00
Nov.
15
61
43
.01
Nov.
16
58
38
.00
dEHfce ikljool
we need to laugh!
OTHER VOICES
Seriously,
By Mary Migliaro
We are living in difficult
and disturbing times. The
year 2020 will most likely go
down in U.S. history as one
of the most distressing years
of all. If the old saying,
“Laughter is the best medi
cine” is true, then we really
need some laughter and now!
The truth is that laughter
really can make us feel better.
While a good sense of humor
can’t heal all ailments, it can
reduce stress and provide
other benefits according to
the Mayo Clinic. Short-term
effects enhance your intake
of oxygen-rich air, and stim
ulates your heart, lungs, and
muscles. Laughter can also
stimulate circulation and aid
muscle relaxation, both of
which can help reduce some
of the physical symptoms of
stress.
A good, hearty laugh re
lieves physical tension, leav
ing your muscles relaxed for
up to 45 minutes after.
Laughter decreases stress
hormones and increases im
mune cells and infection
fighting antibodies, thus
improving your resistance to
disease. A good laugh trig
gers the release of endor
phins, the body’s natural
feel-good chemicals, that
promote an overall sense of
well-being and can even tem
porarily relieve pain. Laugh
ter also improves the function
of blood vessels and in
creases blood flow, which
can help protect you against
a heart attack and other car
diovascular problems.
Did you know that laugh
ter burns calories? Okay, so
it’s no replacement for going
to the gym, but one study
found that laughing for 10 to
15 minutes a day can bum
approximately 50 calories—
which could be enough to
lose three or four pounds
over the course of a year.
Laughter may even help you
to live longer. A study in Nor
way found that people with a
strong sense of humor out
lived those who don’t laugh
as much. The difference was
particularly notable for those
battling cancer.
Many of us feel there is
really nothing to laugh about
right now but we can create
opportunities to laugh. Pick a
few of the following and try
them out.
•Watch a funny movie,
TV show, or YouTube video.
•Share a good joke or a
funny story.
•Check out your book
store’s humor section.
•Goof around with your
kids.
•Do something silly and
laugh at yourself.
Get your whole family in
volved. Have a joke night or
funny story night. Let every
family member come up with
several jokes or a funny story
to share. You might even
make it a progressive funny
story by allowing one family
member to start a silly story,
then stop and pass it to the
next family member who
must keep the story going. If
you have a way to tape or
video it, so much the better
so everyone can look at the
creation again and again.
Go to your local library
and check out funny videos
or books of jokes to share
with each other. Make a
game of it to see who gets the
biggest laughs.
Here are a couple of
things not to do. Don’t dwell
on the negative. Try to avoid
negative people and don’t
dwell on news stories, enter
tainment, or conversations
that make you sad or un
happy. Many things in life
are beyond our control—par
ticularly the behavior of other
people. While you might
view carrying the weight of
the world on your shoulders
as admirable, in the long run
it’s unrealistic and unhealthy.
Most importantly, don’t
go a day without laughing.
Think of it like exercise or
breakfast and make a con
scious effort to find some
thing each day that makes
you laugh. Set aside 10 to 15
minutes and do something
that amuses you. The more
you get used to laughing each
day, the less effort you’ll
have to make. Here’s to more
laughter for all of us!
[Mary Migliaro, M.Ed. is
an educator and Parent Men
tor. She may be contacted at
maiymigliaro@aol.com.]
Correction
In last week’s story, “Ken-
nesaw man arrested for van
dalizing local businesses” -
The suspect had an Ellijay
addresss. Jasper Police
found both Ellijay and Ken-
nesaw addresses during the
investigation and provided
the Kennesaw one in their
media information.
All other parts of the story,
including charges, remain as
originally presented.
LOCAL COUPLE LOOKING
FOR A HOUSE IN THE
PICKENS COUNTY AREA
UNDER $225,000.
WE ARE NOT INVESTORS
PRE-QUALIFIED
CAN CLOSE IMMEDIATELY
SCOTTHEIMLER@GMAIL.COM 470-633-6692