Newspaper Page Text
Page 4 — Wednesday, December 16, 2009, TheTrue Citizen
inions
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The Pledge Of Allegiance
I pledge allegiance to the flag
of the United States of America
and to the Republic for which
jit stands, one Nation under
God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.
★ -A'’*’*- Ir* ★ ★ ★ ★
"Sorry, Rudolph, we're going green this year!"
RFD
Financial resolutions
you can live with
Guest Columnist Jason Alderman
At this time of year, many people pause to reflect on what they’d
like to change about their lives going forward - lose a few pounds,
take a class, spend more time with the kids. Often, these goals
revolve around personal finances.
But if you’ve been battered by economic forces beyond your
control (as many have recently), it may be tough to craft finan
cial resolutions ambitious enough to have a real impact on your
situation - especially if you fear that unforeseen obstacles may
later force you to scale them back or even lose ground.
That’s why I urge taking baby steps - setting small, meaning
ful objectives that provide a sense of accomplishment and that
you can ramp up when your situation improves. Here are a few
examples:
Scale back expenses. If you can’t make a big dent in your
monthly costs, like refinancing your mortgage or selling an un
needed vehicle to eliminate a car payment, look for lots of little
dents that can add up:
• Save $10 a week by having one less fast food meal and to-go
coffee; or rent a DVD instead of going out to the movies - that
might save about $500 a year.
• Lower the thermostat in the winter by 1 degree and save 3 to
5 percent on your utility bill - saving $5 a month equals $60 a
year.
• Drive slower. Each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph costs about
$0.24 per gallon of gas. Properly inflate your tires, keep the en
gine tuned and cut out aggressive driving habits and you’ll save
even bigger bucks.
• Shop around for better home and car insurance rates, and
consider raising low deductibles. (Just make sure your coverage
has kept pace with inflation.)
• Balance your checkbook. Even though many banks have re
cently lowered fees for bounced checks and overdrafts, one a
month at $25 a pop adds up to $300 a year.
Build an emergency fund. Financial experts usually recommend
stowing three to six months’ expenses in an emergency fund.
That’s a good long-term goal, but if it’s not currently realistic,
don’t simply give up without trying - stash some of the cash
you’re saving above, a few dollars each month. You won’t miss
it and might just be saved from having to take out an expensive
short-term loan to cover emergency car repairs or an overdue
electric bill.
Get organized. Even if you can’t afford to pay off all bills in
full each month, at least know where you stand regarding due
dates, minimum payments due and credit limits so you don’t in
advertently rack up higher interest rates or damage your credit
score. If you’re a chronic procrastinator, set up automatic bill
payment with your bank - it’ll save on postage as well.
Stick to your budget. If you don’t have a budget, make this the
year you create one.
Numerous online tools are available to help. For example, Prac
tical Money Skills for Life, Visa Inc.’s free personal financial
management program (www.practicalmoneyskills.com/budget-
ing), features budgeting worksheets and calculators, guidelines
for living within your means, budgeting recommendations for
back-to-school, holiday spending, travel, and much more.
Jason Alderman directs Visas financial education programs.
Sign lip for his free monthly e-Newsletter at
www. practicalmoney skills, com/newsletter.
Looking Back
10 years ago: December 15,1999
Augusta Tech began enrolling students for the winter quarter
at the school’s new Waynesboro campus. Classes were held at
the Burke County Alternative School campus until the new facil
ity was completed.
Former BCHS football standout Michael Youngblood would
be playing for Georgia Southern in the Division 1-AA national
championship game against Youngstown State.
25 years ago: December 12,1984
Midville businessman and former mayor Ben Thurman Jr. died
at the age of 66. He owned Midville Motor Company and was
- See Looking Back, Page 5
nt (Ktiisutt
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Roy F. Chalker
1915-1994
Roy F. Chalker Jr. Bonnie K. Taylor
Editor & Publisher General Manager
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Associate Editor
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tising sales; Lisa J. Chance, page designer; Anne Marie
Kyzer, staff writer; and Tres Bragg, staff writer and ad
vertising composition..
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By Bonnie K. Taylor
General Manager The True Citizen
It’s that time of year when we are making plans to attend many
Christmas celebration events. Most of us have our own Christ
mas programs at respective churches.
Another event you may want to add to your
I n list is “The Winter Rose” by Joseph Martin at
the First United Methodist Church of
Waynesboro Sunday, Dec. 20 at 7:30 p.m.
The choir of FUMC will host singers from
First Presbyterian Church and St. Michael’s
Episcopal Church.
Singers from all churches will unite their
voices in the Christmas cantata, directed by
Cindy McCook and Jean Stanford. Accompa
nying the singers will be Clarke Holtsberry and
Mimi Cohen. According to Jean, Tonya Torek’s
narration adds greatly to the theme of the rose as the symbol of
divine love. She said this cantata profoundly expresses the love
of Christ, the Rose of Sharon.
I’m in agony.
My compulsion has gotten the best of me.
I know better than to do this. I’ve been
somewhat clean and sober for months.
But I’m only human and today I fell off the
wagon.
I’ve overdosed on divinity.
Not the kind we learn about in Sunday
School.
I’m referring to the insidious, addictive, evil
substance that takes control of me every year
about this time.
White divinity. Ninety-nine percent pure,
unadulterated cane sugar with a few chunks of pecan (that’s PEA
like black-eyed and CAN like tin for our Yankee readers) thrown
in for crunch purposes.
There’s a reason it’s called divinity.
It’s Heaven on Earth.
Sadly, it was the one thing that Mama was never able to make.
So, years ago, when I needed my fix, I learned to rely on Aunt
Alice who made some of the best I ever tasted. These days my
neighbor Miss Joanne’s ranks blue ribbon too.
Divinity is one of the reasons Til be digging in the closet for
my fat clothes come January.
I love the Holidays.
I love the feel in the air. The festive nature. The smell of fresh
cut Christmas trees. Picking out just the right gift. Christmas
music, though I wish it didn’t start right after Labor Day.
I love it all, but especially, of course, the food.
The Holiday Season is the only time that I allow myself to
overindulge without guilt. Too understand that you need to know
how the Holidays work to me.
Sometime around Halloween I make an subconscious decision
that the Holidays have begun. After all, somebody has to eat all
of that left over trick or treat candy. Then comes Thanksgiving
and Christmas with the multiple gorge fests that quite rightly ac
company them. Then, on December 31st I vow to myself that
beginning the next day, NO MORE. The Holidays are over. Get
back to eating semi healthy. Of course that all goes out the win
dow about thirty seconds into the New Year when somebody has
popped open a bottle of champagne and trays of snacks are being
passed around. Okay, so perhaps the Holidays are not quite over
after all. One thing leads to another and, before I know it, it’s
Memorial Day. After all, doesn’t the lauding of our fighting forces
merit eating ourselves into a stupor just like the other Holidays?
About then is when it happens.
I wake up from the months long calorie induced semi coma
and realize that it’s less than a month till the annual family beach
trip and that I have to lose some tonnage before I strike the shore.
My extended Holiday Season comes to a screeching halt and
for a few short months the guilt returns along with the spinach
salads.
Everyone is invited to attend candlelight communion service
at Botsford Baptist Church on Christmas Eve at 5 p.m.
This service and Easter Sunrise Service are the two most memo
rable holy events of the year to me.
Get in the real spirit by beginning Christmas Eve with com
munion.
On Dec. 17, the historic Bark Camp Church will be host for
the annual Christmas service at 7 p.m.
McBean Baptist Church will present a live nativity from 6-8
p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 18 and 19.
The annual Christmas cantata will be presented on Sunday,
Dec. 20, at the 11 a.m. service
Green Branch Baptist Church will present “Giving Hearts ... A
Gift Without a Price” at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 19.
Everyone is invited to attend all area church services.
Being back in the South, where every woman and most of the
men, can cook like Paula Deen, makes it even worse.
With all due respect to my adopted homeland of thirty years,
folks Out West can’t hold a whisk to Southern Holiday cuisine,
so the years I didn’t travel home for Christmas things were a
little easier.
One year I was invited to Christmas dinner with some friends.
I knew from past experience that the lady of the house, who would
prepare the meal, was, frankly, a terrible cook. I’d dined with
them a few times before and was not able to come up with a
single reason that I couldn’t join them that year. So, bravely, I
crossed my fingers, gritted my teeth and went in.
Inexplicably, I was asked to say the blessing.
“ Don, would you please give thanks for the meal?”
I doubted that the Lord wanted to be responsible for what we
were about to receive so I half jokingly suggested that we start a
new tradition.
“ Why don’t we wait till after we’ve eaten so that we can be
more honest and accurate with our entreaties to Him.”
Needless to say, my attempt at humor missed the mark and I
was never invited back.
Now THAT was something to be thankful for.
Not all of the western cooks were that bad and in fact, many of
the ladies I worked with took pity on my bachelorhood and plied
me with Holiday treats aplenty.
Cookies. Pies. Cakes. Candy.
The stand alone, without a doubt best was the fudge made by
my friend Debbie in our dispatch. I got a double batch several
years in a row till she up and got married.
Her fudge wasn’t divinity but it was divine. Mouthwatering.
I’d say grace over it any time.
Resistance to such delights is futile.
So, bring on the Holidays.
No lettuce till May.
Amen.
Don Lively is a retired police officer and freelance writer. He
lives in Shell Bluff. Email Don at Livelycolo@aol.com.
We welcome your letters
Letters to the editor of The True Citizen are welcomed and en
couraged. These are pages of opinion, yours and ours.
Letters to the editor voice the opinions of the newspaper’s read
ers. The True Citizen reserves the right to edit any and all por
tions of a letter. Unsigned letters will not be published. Letters
must include the signature, address and phone number of the
writer to allow our staff to authenticate its origin. Letters should
be limited to 400 words and should be typewritten and double
spaced or neatly printed by hand. Deadline for letters to the edi
tor is Tuesday at 9 a.m.
Email Letters to the Editor to: lisaj@thetruecitizen.com.
Don Lively
DIVINE INTERVENTION