Newspaper Page Text
Quote Of the Week- “The sleep of reason produces monsters,” -Francisco Goya
• Opinions
• Community
Views
• Good Old
Common Sense
The Progress
Editorial
October 14,2021
From the Staff
A little bit about a lot
Lack of long range plan at Tate
Depot bodes poorly - The county has
been gifted a very expensive, and very
grand, model train set - but you can’t let
that one gift set a course for the entire
building without plan. The county is now
funding interior renovations - to include
the donated train set - but doesn’t have
any solid ideas about how to get the
building open to the public. Not good.
For a brief period in the early 2000s
our current commission chair Kris Stan-
cil served as the chamber director, and
the chamber building housed a marble
museum. It wasn’t a disaster, but it was
a problem - how is your chamber staff
supposed to go to meetings with a bus
load of folks in your museum? One pos
sible plan we’ve heard tossed around is
that they hope to find a retailer to move
in to half of the depot and operate their
business while also answering questions
about model train sets. This isn’t likely
to work any better than when Stancil had
to run a chamber office and museum at
the same time. [Exception being a model
trains/railroad business.] Apian is needed
to keep this project on track for success.
Time to re-think the Marble Festi
val - We have made the observation be
fore in this space that the Apple Festival,
20 miles to the north, clogs local roads
more than our own Marble Festival. At
one time the Marble Festival was the
biggest event in the community, but it
hasn’t kept pace as other festivals in the
region have grown. This marks the sec
ond year in a row the Marble Festival has
been cancelled due to COVID. We say,
ripe opportunity to break a 39-year tradi
tion and rethink from the ground up - lo
cation, time of year, theme, name. Start
from scratch. Maybe there isn’t a better
idea for a fall festival, but a fresh breath
of life is sorely needed for the yearly fes
tival.
Be clear and consistent with water
and sewage capacity - One thing that
has kept pace with growth elsewhere (at
least in the past months) is the desire of
developers to locate residential projects
here. A constant question in public hear
ings is “do we have enough water and
sewage capacity for this?”
With city hall veterans in the develop
ment and water departments, we’ll trust
they are keeping an eye on this. But the
public needs to have confidence that
Jasper has the infrastructure and raw
water supply for the growth. There is a
moratorium of sorts in place on develop
ment here - plans in the pipeline are still
active and it’s hard to tell how many
those may number.
We’d encourage Jasper City Hall to
present ironclad numbers often, not just
when the questions about water supply
and sewage capacity arise.
Being outfront and upfront for all who
care to listen, we’ll know where we
stand. Furthermore, presenting informa
tion on a regular basis prevents any in
sinuations down the road of favoritism
with the resources.
We’ll miss you Becky Denney -
Commissioner Becky Denney has an
nounced her retirement from public serv
ice after more than two terms in office.
Denney was one of the original multi
member commissioners when the county
switched from a sole commissioner form
of government. As a commissioner, Den
ney was a friend to the public - attentive
to needs, responsive, with an eye on the
bottom line for taxpayers. She was con
sistent, business-minded and level
headed with county decisions, a true
public servant. She’ll be missed.
We’ll miss you too, Simple Man -
When our humor columnist Caleb Smith
first approached us about a column, we
agreed to try a few to see how it went.
And it went very well for four solid years
before announcing this week’s marks his
last regular piece. While Caleb portrayed
himself as bumbling in his columns, he
was anything but. His columns showed
up on time, well-written and funny with
him rarely missing a week. People no
ticed - he was popular here and with
newspaper contests. During his four
years, he never failed to place in the top
ranks of humor writing, winning the
Georgia Press humor column plaque for
first place this past year.
We like having something funny on
our editorial page. Everyone needs a little
levity in times like these.
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.
Ponderings of a
By Caleb Smith
The Rose
Things end. It’s the natu
ral state of nature, and man.
Things begin, they flourish,
then they wither away. We
don’t love the rose less for its
decline, we just enjoy the
season that we have it. And
that’s what I’ve done these
past four years, enjoyed the
rose while it lasted. But even
tually, winter must come.
Bringing to you my hare
brained exploits, sharing with
you a brief glimpse into my
life, has been one of my
greatest joys. The Simple
Man has been a source of cre
ative joy to me this entire
time. It’s helped me deal with
my own issues and to see the
humor in every situation, no
matter how dire. I hope, in
some small way, it has done
the same for you.
But its season has passed.
I regret to inform you that
this will be my last column
for quite some time. The
Simple Man will no longer
be a regular contributor to the
Progress.
It has taken me several
months to reach this decision
and I assure you that it wasn’t
easy. I don’t know how many
(USPS 431-820)
Published by Pickens County Progress, Inc.
94 North Main Street, Jasper, GA 30143
(706) 253-2457
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 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.
people even read my simple
little column, but it has been
a big part of my life for
nearly half a decade. I hate to
bury the Simple Man, but un
fortunately, his time has
come.
To put it simply, I just
don’t have time any more.
Work, school, and home life
have to come before writing
and sadly all four were suf
fering. I can do many things
well, but not all at once, so I
had to choose. And I chose to
kill the Simple Man.
My editor assures me that
I can continue to contribute
on a more spaced out basis
moving forward, perhaps on
a monthly basis. I sincerely
hope that I can.
I’m not stopping doing the
dumb things that somehow
have won me awards, I’m
simply going to quit writing
about it. I hope that I can
drop in, from time to time, to
update you on my exploits, of
which there will be many.
So to close, I wish you all
the very best. I appreciate
and cherish every letter,
every email, every kind word
I’ve received. I just hope you
all continue to see the humor
in life, the little moments that
can either destroy a day, or
make for an interesting story.
In the end, it’s your decision
which is which.
Stay simple, people. I’ll
see you around.
#Ii)e i§>d)ool
PA SAYS THA ONLY
SCHOOL BOARD WORTH
A FLIP lb THA ONE THEY
USE TA WHOOP YA WITH
OTHER VOICES
What’s In A Name?
Are you “against me” if you do not agree with me?
By Dale Sparks
And so it is that nowadays
everybody is concerned with
“labels” or “branding.”
Maybe it’s because of the
public’s need to be identified
with one particular group or
the other. Perhaps a desire for
insecure people to “belong”
to something.
Maybe it’s due to an infe
riority complex about them
selves and the need to be
defined by a group. Who
knows? We could debate a
plethora of different reasons.
Karl Rove once said that
in order to run a successful
election campaign, one must
“be the first to define your
political opponent, and it is
absolutely critical to do it in
a negative vein. Vilify the op
ponent by all means neces
sary.”
This is how our nation has
been reduced. When you
can’t debate the issues, attack
personally.
Some people even use la
bels in a negative way to
slander folks. A few weeks
ago I was in a conversation
with a local citizen activist
who was talking about his
disgust with our current Pres
ident. In the same sentence
he called him (and I quote) a
“fascist, liberal, communist,
socialist, and a dictator”
among many other names
used during the course of the
conversation, which, I am
sure all meant to convey a
negative image.
Popular public opinion
has been successful in mak
ing these labels negative.
Why is “liberal” now con
sidered a bad word? When
did this happen? For that
matter, why is Socialist or
any of the other labels bad?
All these labels may be dif
ferent and I may not agree
with them, but is that justifi
cation to vilify them? I think
not.
Did you ever notice that
people with limited factual or
even intellectual means often
resort to slander (in a sense,
name calling) when logical,
factual debate escapes them?
If this does not work then
they use “sensationalism” to
excite a response. This
amounts to little more than
juvenile schoolyard behavior.
God endowed us with the
ability, indeed - freedom for
individual thought. We all
have the capacity for it, but
few exercise the ability to use
it. Is it an irrational fear of
being “labeled” as a “trouble
maker”, “obstinate”, “not one
of us”, or just a simple desire
to conform?
Do we fear to admit that
the “other side” may actually
be right about something?
That someone else outside of
our particular group may ac
tually have a good idea, even
if it is not recognized by our
“group”? Are we so close-
minded that we cannot recog
nize anything other than our
own ideas as being worthy of
consideration?
Fear ensues when inse
cure people are threatened.
Fear is also a great means of
control. When fear is the mo
tivation, all logic, reason, and
abstract thought are dis
placed.
Does someone become
our enemy simply because
they happen to have a differ
ent opinion than we do? I
think not.
Without a doubt, there is a
right and a wrong. There are
even a few “absolutes” in the
universe. But, I find it hard to
respect anyone being double-
minded or any who fear to
take a stand. In fact, I can
even respect someone
“changing sides” to stand up
for something they believe
in.
There are elements of sev
eral different political disci
plines that I find make sense.
There are also several of the
same ones that don’t. Even
though we are labeled a
“democracy” here in Amer
ica, we live under various
forms of several different
types of government. We say
that we have a democracy,
but that isn’t exactly accu
rate.
If you support public
schools, are you then a So
cialist? If you support your
police force, does that make
you a fascist? Are you a con
servative? Liberal? Democ
rat? Republican?
Progressive?
Are you “against me” if
you do not agree with me?
Even the factions of peo
ple who call themselves “in
dependent” seem to follow a
prescribed political agenda.
Personally, I prefer not to
have a label. I suppose that
allows me the freedom to
support elements or disagree
with any elements of any la
beled discipline I choose.
But of course, that’s just
my opinion, I could be
wrong
[Sparks is a Talking Rock
resident of 24 years and is
semi-retired from the con-
struction industry. He loves
travelling our great country
with his wife and grandchil
dren.]
WEATHER
By William Dilbeck
HI LOW RAIN
Oct.
5
67
63
.40
Oct.
6
73
65
.09
Oct.
7
73
62
1.83
Oct.
8
76
57
.02
Oct.
9
77
57
.00
Oct.
10
77
61
.00
Oct.
11
74
61
.00
SORRY 'BOUT
TOUR, LUCK...