Newspaper Page Text
June 29, 2016
PAGE 5A
Outside Looking
What is
July 4?
By DON DANIEL
tullaybear@bellsouth.net
ust in case you need remind
ing, our country will be
celebrating our Independence this Monday, July
4. Every Fourth of July, our patriotism should be
renewed. We should be reminded of the sacrifices
that have been made and continue to be made to insure we
are freedom-loving citizens. So celebrate and remember.
Yes, those freedoms are challenged every day by the ene
mies of our freedoms.
We are constantly reminded of the challenges to our free
dom not only by our known enemies, but often within our
own borders. Our Constitution insures us of freedoms via
the Bill of Rights which are just as applicable as they were
in 1776. We need a “renewing” and a revival of what we as a
country and citizens have and cherish (see pages C4-5). The
Fourth of July should be more than fireworks and political
rhetoric that politicians use for self-serving purposes.
It is absolutely appalling that the decorum of our U.S.
House of Representatives was used for nothing more than
ego-serving purposes. House Democrats were led into a dis
play reminiscent of civil rights actions by one of Georgia’s
own representatives. “Full time” elected politicians used the
ruse for nothing more than an attempt to prostitute, if not
to take away, our Second Amendment rights.
AS YOU are aware, the commissioner from district 4 has
tried to change our local government to a county manager
form of government, hoping to get a majority vote for the
change. If you have attended a county commission meeting,
we already have a county manager form of government: We
have five county managers!
Here are a few unattributed commissioner comments from
their last meeting:
“I got more roads than anybody. I don’t get any respect”;
“I got a lot of paper up here”;
“What do we do about stagnation of water?”;
“You’ve got to move water”;
“It is either that or flush it”;
“It’s gonna be cold water”;
“That gives us exposure”;
“I got my gun”;
“Anybody fearing for their life?’;
“You get free harassment up here”.
NOW that elections are over, our secretary of state has
put the county line issue back on his plate. A status confer
ence is going to be held Thursday for him to hear more evi
dence where the county line should be located. Will will be
reporting on the meeting where “the parties should be pre
pared to specify where they believe the true boundary line
lies”. Deciding where the line is going to be is the duty and
responsibility of Secretary of State Brian Kemp.
Don’t get your hopes up. Get ready for us taxpayers to
shell out more lawyering money.
THE City of Forsyth was well-represented at the Georgia
Municipal Association annual convention in Savannah this
past weekend. The mayor, all six city council members, the
city manager and her assistant got to roam River Street
after attending “mandated training sessions”. Their picture
was posted on Facebook and all were smiling.
GOT an email from “my” Commissioner Jared Lovett let
ting me know he had put in a work order to correct the pav
ing section of Blount Road in his district that is a one-way
pig path. He has yet to answer the questions I posed, i.e.
how much SPLOST money was spent to pave the one-lane
road. Wonder what his “work order” will cover and how
much it will cost us taxpayers.
I KICKED over a hornet’s nest when I wrote about stay
ing away from the buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken and
other store-bought chicken emptying the bucket in a plat
ter brought along to the Walker Family reunion. There are
enough home-cooked foods to avoid the store-bought variet
ies of chicken.
I forgot to mention one of the best reunion foods, tomato
sandwiches. My cousin Larry Walker’s wife, Janice, makes
the best tomato sandwiches. She puts them together just
before all the food is laid out on the tables using fresh stick-
to-the-roof-of-your-mouth bread, mayonnaise, salted and
peppered just to my taste and the bread is cut round the
size of the tomato slice. She lets me have one while she is
preparing them in the back of her car. I guess I am consid
ered her official taster.
The Walker family reunion is always held the Sunday
before the Fourth of July and patriotism is always the
theme. We pledge allegiance to the Flag, the youngest
attendee is recognized, the ones who are the oldest and
drove the furthest are recognized.
NO correct answers to last week’s question. So, here’s
another question from last week’s paper: Name one of two
businesses robbed in Juliette? First correct answer after 12
noon gets a certificate for a Dairy Queen Blizzard, dozen
Dunkin Donuts, Whistle Stop fried green tomato appetizer,
two eggs rolls from Lucky Cafe, Jonah’s cookie and a t-shirt
from Forsyth Main Street.
AND this email: “It’s good that our roadways are cut, but
why can’t our “guests” over at the big house on Highway 16
get out and pick up the trash littering the grass first? Yes,
the grass is cut and that’s good but it’s a bigger mess than
before because now instead of large pieces of trash, it’s little
pieces everywhere”.
WISHING Tiffany Andrews, now former CEO of the
Forsyth/Monroe County Chamber of Commerce and
Executive Director of the Development Authority of Monroe
County, best of luck in her endeavors down in Jacksonville,
Florida. She’s being paid to hang around for a while to train
the new CEO and the new DAOMC executive director for
which the board is searching.
Contact Don Daniel at tuUaybear@beUsouth.net or by
phone at 478-994-1312. Listen to The Reporter On The Radio
on Majic 100 on Sunday mornings at 7 or anytime by click
ing on the radio tab at mymcr.net
Reporter
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Monroe County needs better
internet if it’s going to grow
To the editor:
ur family lives
in Creekside
subdivision on
Josey Road.
We built a
house and moved into
the subdivision back in
April 2008. I work for
Armstrong Ceilings and
travel worldwide about
50 percent of the time
and my wife is an attor
ney in Macon.
Up until the past two years
we had all of the infrastruc
ture we needed in Creekside
and both could work from
home during the days or
nights if needed. Within the
past two years something has
seemed to change and con
tinues to get worse with the
AT&T internet service, which
at the time seems to be the
only option we have.
In the afternoons and often
anytime during the day, only
one of us can work at home
and even then with only one
trying to work through one
device it is so slow that we get
frustrated and have to drive
to Macon to work. We have
two children under 5 and they
can barely watch any stream
ing TV due to the poor
data speed provided by
AT&T.
I have called several
times and complained
and always seem to
get the “nothing has
changed” answer
that my wife
and I both
know is
not true. We
like where we
live but have
recently put
our house on the
market because now
we don’t have the infra
structure to work even
part time or in the evenings
from home.
We certainly have talked to
others that go to church with
us and many seem to have
the same frustrations and
some have been told by AT&T
that no service is even avail
able to new home buyers in
the area. We reached out to
our county commissioners to
see if there is anything that
could be done to push AT&T
to improve the infrastructure
to provide needed data trans
fer for the current work envi
ronments. We have had no
response yet.
Maybe there is something
in the works that we don’t
know about. If anyone
can let us know what
we can do as indi
viduals to help
this situa
tion and if
something
is already
in the works it
would be nice to
know about this as
well. You can email me
at JMHill@armstrongceil-
ings.com. We are certainly not
happy that right now the only
option we have is to sell our
house and move so that we
can meet this everyday need.
Jarret Hill
Forsyth
HILL
Carolyn’s Corner
Curse the webs, or kill the spider?
BY CAROLYN MARTEL
ads@mymcr.net
W hile cleaning
house this
week
end, I
noticed
a cobweb in the corner
of our family room.
It reminded me of
a humorous short
story I read years
ago. In a certain
church, an old
deacon always
ended his prayers
with, “And Lord, clean the
cobwebs out of my life!” One
of the men in the church
grew weary of hearing this
same petition week after
week. So, the next time he
heard the deacon pray, “Lord,
clean the cobwebs out of my
life,” the exasperated church
member jumped to his feet.
He couldn’t stand it any lon
ger, so he added, “And while
you’re at it Lord, KILL the
SPIDER!”
I’m not exactly sure what
the old deacon had in mind
when he when mentioned the
cobwebs in his life, but I have
a pretty good idea. Cobwebs
are temporary abodes of spi
ders, which double as traps.
And if you think about it,
the devil and spiders utilize
similar tactics. A spider
weaves a sticky web to
snare his prey. Similarly,
the devil weaves his own
“sticky” traps to snare
man. Scottish author
and novelist, Sir Walter
Scott wrote, “Oh
what a tangled web
we weave, when
first we practice
to deceive.” With
a Ph.D in deception, Lucifer
lured Adam and Eve into a
trap when he tempted them
to eat a “fruit salad” that was
not on the approved menu.
Our first parents found them
selves tangled in a web of
deceit and lies.
From the beginning, Satan
has spun a web of subterfuge,
with the goal of keeping us
from experiencing God’s best
for our lives and the peace
that can be ours when we
cast all of our cares over to
Him. Jesus said, “The thief
does not come except to steal,
kill and destroy.” John 10:10.
Many years ago, when I read
this verse, I believed it; I
accepted it as fact, and then
complained about it. It was a
stressful time in my life when
the devil seemed to be work
ing overtime. I complained to
God. Whining would be more
accurate. But I wanted God
to know all about my troubles
(as if He didn’t already).
Seeking relief, I prayed.
Praying was the right thing
to do, but I was going about it
the wrong way. Maybe that’s
why God interrupted my
prayer with this admonition,
“Stop whining and start win
ning!” From that day forward
I started studying how Jesus
prayed, how He lived, and
how He defeated the devil
every time! The firm, yet
gentle correction of the Lord
cleaned some cobwebs out
of my life that day. I’m also
convinced that a few unwary
spiders may have died from
shock! Amen! Also, kudos to
old deacons who don’t tolerate
cobwebs and neither should
we!
Carolyn Martel is the adver
tising manager and regular
columnist for the Reporter.
E-mail her at ads@mymcr.net.
Fourth
continued from front
Forsyth will host 4th
of July Fireworks
at the Monroe
County Recreation
Department at dark,
but come early to find
a good place to see
the fireworks show
and to enjoy food,
fun and family in the
park.
Vendors will set up
about 5:30 p.m., and
the gate will open
for others at 6 p.m.,
Local merchants
Cotique Boutique
and Dolly’s Rings
& Things will be on
hand. Mr. Turner’s
Food Truck will offer
snow cones, hamburg
ers, hot dogs and
fixings. There will
also be shaved ice
treats and glow-
in-the-dark items
for sale. Spectators
can bring their own
picnics and are
reminded to bring
chairs and/or blan
kets.
Children can enjoy
a bounce house and
giant slide. Hayley
Blackmon, mascot
for raising aware
ness about canine
cancer and Scottish
Terrier rescue, will
be on hand to meet
and take pictures.
Bringing other pets
to the park is discour
aged as they usually
don’t enjoy the noise
of the fireworks near
ly as much as people
do.
Some streets near
the park will be
blocked before and
after the fireworks
to aid in traffic
flow. Members of
the Monroe County
Sheriffs Office will be
on hand to help with
traffic.
The local fireworks
are sponsored by
Collins Family Farm;
Georgia Power;
Ingram Industries;
Cotique Boutique;
Jonah’s on Johnston;
Castleberry Drug
Company; Persons
Bank; Prime Palate;
Monroe County
Reporter; United
Bank and Haygood,
Lynch, Harris, Melton
& Watson.
To continue cel
ebrating the Fourth
of July, check out the
High Falls Lake Boat
Parade at 10 a.m.
on Monday morning.
There is no official
sponsor of the parade
this year--no judges
and no prizes--but
there is sure to be
lots of fun.
Last year 14 boats
decorated in red,
white and blue made
the rounds of the
lake. Those with
boats are encour
aged to show their
creativity and join
the parade. Others
are invited to watch
the display from the
shore.
With Monday being
the Fourth of July,
the Reporter will
have early deadlines.
Advertisements and
other submissions
are due at 3 p.m.
Thursday to appear
in next week’s edi
tion. The Reporter
wishes all of its
readers and adver
tisers a very Happy
Independence Day.
Threat
continued from front
deputy asked him about a
white, chalky substance on his
face. Paul admitted snorting
Lortab pills. After denying it,
he later admitted shooting a
rifle in his backyard as well. He
also resisted arrest, according
to the report.
Inv. Lawson Bittick of the
Monroe County sheriffs office
said they haven’t added any
security at the office due to
Paul’s threat, saying it’s a men
tal health issue.