Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4A
March 5. 2008
® Reporter
Opinion
Declare among the nations,
and publish, and set up a standard;
publish, and conceal not;
Jeremiah 50:2
OUR VIEW
A lot to love about
Monroe County
W elcome to Forsyth and Monroe County!
If you’re one of the 25,000 visitors in
town for the Forsythia Festival, we
hope you are enjoying your stay and
getting to know what locals have
known a long time: This is about as pleasant a patch
of Middle Georgia as you’ll find anywhere.
For newcomers, we hope you’ll quickly see that
Forsyth is something of a small-town success story
Why is it? We’re glad you asked. It’s because:
• Our schools are some of the best in the state, lead
ing the region in test scores.
• The census bureau has identified Monroe County
as the wealthiest county in middle Georgia.
• We’re conveniently located in “The Middle of
Everywhere,” as we like to say. It may sound trite, but
it’s true. Perched on 1-75 between Macon and Atlanta,
you won’t find a better locale in the heart of Georgia.
• Our lifestyle. Monroe County is growing, but we
still enjoy a slower pace of life conducive to raising
families and building community. Our rec department
is top drawer and our rivers and lakes provide numer
ous opportunties for outdoor recreation.
• Our economy. We’re grateful for Georgia Power’s
Plant Scherer, because Monroe County doesn’t have a
large industrial base. Speaking of Scherer, that plant
has begun a $2 billion (yes, billion) renovation that
will bring up to 1,000 workers to town over the next
two years. And other parts of our economy are starting
to buzz too. The Department of Corrections has begun
the massive project to renovate Tift College and move
its headquarters there over the next three years.
There are two new businesses locating in the industri
al park, an aeronautics industry, Hydraulics
International, and Cherokee Brick. South of town, the
development company IDI has just purchased the
250+-acre park at Rumble Road and 1-75. It plans to
put 3 million square feet of distribution warehouse
space there. Then there are scores of small businesses
locating here, seeing our population growth as an
opportunity to expand. Many new subdivisions are
being built to meet the demand to live in Monroe.
• Our downtown. Have you noticed downtown is
starting to bloom. And that’s not just the Forsythia.
The new windows on the courthouse? Beautiful. Gone
are the painted pieces of plywood that plugged those
lovely arches on the second floor. In their place: cus
tom-made windows that look much better from the
outside, and allow more needed light into the historic
courtroom on the inside.
On top, a glimmering new copper roof. The almost-
renovated courthouse will be on display for the tens of
thousands of visitors expected this week, and we can
be more proud than ever of that handsome old struc
ture.
If the courthouse desperately needed updating, what
can we say about the Old City Hall on Lee Street? It
had wrecking ball written all over it.
But a group of dedicated citizens led by Bill
Bazemore, president of Monroe County Bank and
chairman of the Downtown Development Authority,
had a better idea. They had the vision and patience to
turn the old firehouse and city hall into a handsome
Welcome Center for our city and county.
We could go on, but you get the point. If you’re a visi
tor for the Forsythia Festival, we just want you to
know one reason you might see a lot of smiling faces
this weekend on the square. This is one great place to
live.
is published every week by The Monroe County Reporter Inc.
Will Davis, president
Robert M. Williams Jr., vice president
Cheryl S. Williams, secretary-treasurer
OUR STAFF
Will Davis
Publisher/E ditor
wpdavis@
bellsouth.net
Gina Herring -
Reporter
ginaherring@
bellsouth.net
Trellis Grant -
Business Manager
trellisgrant@
bellsouth.net
Carolyn Martel -
Advertising
Manager
carolynmartel@
bellsouth.net
Wendell Ramage
Contributing Writer
wendellram4@
bellsouth.net
Carole Dixon -
Graphics/Advertisng
forsythgraphics@
bellsouth.net
at 30 E. Johnston St., Forsyth, GA
31029
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Official Organ of Monroe County and
the City of Forsyth
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Publication No. USPS 997-840)
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On the Porch
Farewell, brave and noble
A boy’s heart
yearns for a
cause to believe
in, something
worth fighting
for. And when this boy’s 14
year-old heart landed at
St. George’s Preparatory
School in Newport,
R.I., it found a pre
vailing culture defi
nitely worth fight
ing — against.
Don’t get me
wrong. Perched on
a high bluff over
looking the
Atlantic
Ocean, St.
George’s was
as gorgeous
as it was aca
demically rigorous. Many
faculty members boasted
graduate degrees from Ivy
League schools and lived
on campus with their fami
lies. They devoted them
selves to instructing us
minions in the finer points
of Latin, U.S history and
algebra. The boys wore ties
and the girls, dresses
(though even in those
dresses, northern girls did
n’t like to shave their
underarms, and were
known to dip Skoal). We
went to chapel twice a
week and the school chap
lain was also the baseball
and basketball coach.
Boarding school life was
somewhat like that depict
ed in the movie, “Dead
Poets Society,” only imag
ine a spiritless Ben Stein
as the teacher rather than
an impassioned Robin
Williams.
With athletics every
afternoon and required
study hall each night, St.
George’s taught me to
work hard. And the fear of
being kicked out (and cost
ing my dad a small fortune
in tuition) taught me to
behave — somewhat. For
that I am grateful.
But the culture — the
bedrock beliefs and the
passions of school leaders
and teachers — was typi
cal, smothering New
England liberalism run
amok. Very few students,
and only one faculty mem
ber, dared or cared to risk
a dissenting stand.
Conformity was encour
aged.
Weekly chapel talks were
as likely to be about saving
the endangered three-toed
sloth as they were to
include a reference
to scripture. Earth
Day was one of the
biggest days on the
school calendar.
History teachers
would flail the
United States for
her real and
imagined
sins and
failures,
and the
school had
an elitist disdain for the
common man. Diversity
(a.k.a. white guilt) was the
mantra of the age. One
time the headmaster forced
11th and 12th graders to
listen as two homosexuals
shared about their “life
experiences” and the joy of
“coming out.” The dean of
students was a liberated
woman — so liberated she
kept her maiden name and
her husband lived 300
miles away in Washington,
D.C.
Current Democratic
National Committee chair
man Howard “The Scream”
Dean was St. George’s
most famous alumnus, if
that tells you anything.
Every morning the school
had tall stacks of the New
York Times and the Boston
Globe delivered for stu
dents and teachers. But
the left-leaning newspa
pers didn’t tell the St.
George’s community any
thing it didn’t already
believe.
So you can just imagine
what it was like for a
young southerner to find
himself immersed in this
suffocating, dispiriting
northeastern liberal
regime — for in it we lived,
and moved and had our
being.
But in the St. George’s
library I discovered a mag
azine whose fortnightly
delivery became my lifeline
to reality and to common
sense. It was National
Review, the conservative
magazine founded by
William F. Buckley Jr. in
1955 to challenge the pre
vailing liberal mindset. In
its first issue, Buckley
gamely pledged to take the
fight to the widely held,
but Marxist, view that his
tory was pre-ordained to
hand increasing power to
the state, and thereby,
away from individuals.
Buckley said of his new
publication: “It stands
athwart history, yelling
Stop, at a time when no
one is inclined to do so.”
For that teenage boy in
Rhode Island, National
Review was invigorating —
like a secret message to an
exile from distant family
members. Here I found the
intellectual firepower to
buttress my fledgling
beliefs about America,
about the relationship
between man and the
state, and about what is
right and wrong. Even bet
ter, Buckley’s magazine
belied all the liberal
stereotypes of conserva
tives being stiff, unthink
ing, repressed or racist.
The magainze was fun,
intellectual, mischievious
and inviting.
Buckley had successfully
ridded conservatism of its
parasitic hanger-ons, the
John Birch Society and the
anti-semites. And his
unmatched work ethic suc
ceeded in injecting conser
vative principles into the
mainstream of the political
debate. Along with the
magazine, Buckley wrote a
newspaper column three
times a week that was dis
tributed nationwide, pro
duced his weekly “Firing
Line” TV show on PBS,
gave about 70 speeches a
year and wrote more than
50 books.
But Buckley’s greatest
talent was making friends.
With his blue-blood,
almost-British, accent, his
deep intellect and his
fetish for four-syllable
words, he may have
seemed the snob. But by
most accounts he was a
Buckley
terrific listener and genial
companion. Buckley
reminded conservatives
that while important, poli
tics is not the most impor
tant thing. As Dr. Samuel
Johnson said: “How small
of all that human hearts
endure; That part which
laws or kings can cause or
cure!” For him, politics was
merely the way to preserve
freedom, faith, family and
the arts, gifts given to us
by Providence and by west
ern civilization.
He built a Rolodex full of
allies — the conservative
network — and was instru
mental in giving hundreds
of young conservatives the
opportunity and encour
agement to become writers
and editors and advance
the cause of liberty. His
devlish sense of humor and
quick smile won over polit
ical allies and enemies
alike, and as a conserva
tive he had the rare tribute
of becoming a pop culture
favorite, appearing regu
larly on “The Tonight
Show.”
Buckley, the founder of
modern conservatism, saw
his political and personal
efforts pay great dividends.
The election of Buckley
ally Ronald Reagan in
1980 meant the consera-
tive movement had
arrived. Buckley began it
all with a start-up maga
zine swimming against all
political and cultural
trends, and by the strength
of its arguments and the
personality of its leader, it
now held the most power
ful office in the free world.
Bill Buckley died last
week. He went the way you
might expect: working at
his desk on his next col
umn, some 53 years after
launching National Review.
His life, his winsome spirit,
his courage and his charm,
remain a sterling example
of a life very well-lived.
Words cannot express my
thanks, Mr. Buckley, for
giving this boy’s heart, and
millions of others, a reason
to fight.
Email Will Davis at
wpdiavs@hellsouth.net.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Monroe Co. Muddawgs seeking help
To the editor:
The Monroe County Muddawgs, a
13 and under travel baseball team
has qualified for the 13 and under
AA USSSA World Series in Pace,
Fla. on July 13-20. The cost of this
trip is going to be rather large.
Therefore, we are reaching out to the
community and asking for any and
all help we can get. Please help
these boys to be able to participate
in a chance of a lifetime event. All
donations will be accepted and
greatly appreciated. Donations can
be made to the team account at The
Farmers Bank, P.O. Box 1188
Forsyth, or can be mailed to Ray
Martin at 11 Dillard Rd Forsyth, GA
31029. Thank you so much for your
kindness and generosity.
Ray Martin
Forsyth
After asking forgiveness, time to move on
To the editor:
We agree that Monroe County and the city of Forsyth is
a great place to call home. Given the recent news about
our city officials getting into trouble, we believe we need
to accept what has happened, like you would with a bro
ken vase, and move on. We all have made mistakes in
our lives. We all are trying not to make the same mis
takes again. When one asks God and man for forgive
ness, that’s all one can do. Let us do what we can to keep
a positive attitude about Monroe County, so we may
bring people TO Monroe County, not FROM Monroe
County.
Ralph and Doris Ogletree
Forsyth