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Opinions Matter
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The Monroe County Reporter • April 18, 2018
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ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN by Don Daniel
Yes I am back after
brief medical leave
H opefully you were aware this column has
been absent from this page. Honestly I have
missed you all as I hope you have missed me,
my diatribes and commentaries. I have been
incapacitated due to total knee replacement and the pain
associated with the surgery has been overwhelming since
I am allergic to common pain relief medicine.
I had to miss a couple of county commission and For
syth city council meetings, having to rely on the reporting
of Richard Dumas and Diane Glidwell and depending on
Will to fill in the gaps.
From what I have read and heard, there are a lot of
undercurrents amongst the candidates for the two board
of education thrones with the incumbent chairman get
ting his hackles agitated. There seems to be an attitude
amongst the voters in Districts 3 and 4 that the winds of
change maybe a-blowin. The two incumbents have been
on the BOE a combination of 45 years.
The other part of the political debate was between the
four Republican candidates to represent us under the
Gold Dome. They attempted to convince the over 100
who showed up for the hot air espousal to “vote for me”.
Although I missed the debates, I can tell you what each
candidate promised: No new taxes, what they were going
to do to improve education, you get the idea of generality
promises they made and make. Nothing was specifically
promised to do something for the voters in District 141.
Specific campaign rhetoric about what each would do
for our district would be a campaign vote-getter.
VOTE FOR ME is going to be heating up in direct
correlation to the summer heat index in the county with
Sheriff John Cary Bittick swap
ping his sheriff’s badge for a
U.S. Marshalls badge.
Including Sheriff Bitticks son,
there are five wanting to get the
sheriff’s badge in the November
election.
I DON’T comprehend all
the Vent hull-a-ba-loo about
the School Superintendents
daughter. What did I miss? Why
did it make the Vent and the
news? Shed some light on it for
me so I can make an intelligent
comment.
THIS INTERESTING email: “Forsyth and Monroe
County want to capitalize on their train history but
refused to realize the positive potential a train museum
would have on tourism.”
SCARY: I have been alive during 14 U.S. Presidents’
term(s) in office. Vaguely remember Franklin D. Roos
evelt and visiting Warm Springs while he was president.
HERE’S THE Question for this week: Name two of the
candidates seeking election to the school board. First cor
rect answer after 12 noon on Thursday receives a certifi
cate for a dozen Dunkin Donuts, Jonahs cookie, Whistle
Stop fried green tomato appetizer, slice of Shoney’s
strawberry pie, Dairy Queen Blizzard, Forsyth Main Street
t-shirt and The Pickled Okra drink, chips and sandwich.
THINK ABOUT THIS: Once you’re in heaven, do you
get stuck for eternity wearing the same clothes you were
buried in?
Don Daniel founded the Reporter in 1972. Email him at
mediadr@bellsouth. net.
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Austin (not long in) City Limits
Monroe Countys congressman Austin Scott (R-Ashburn)
held his last Town Hall with his constituents in Forsyth
(at right) on Aug. 20, 2014. Scott defeated incumbent
Congressman Jim Marshall in 2010 after Marshall went
several years without hosting a Town Hall meeting with
his constituents in Forsyth. Scott did attend a chamber of
commerce event last week but did not take questions from
constituents and therefore cannot be considered a town
hall meeting. If you want an opportunity to let Scott know
what you want him to do in Congress, call his Washington
office at (202) 225-6531 and let him know.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Attention grads: Thank you notes work
To the Editor:
’d like to send a word to the
(almost) graduates. At this
happy time of life you will most
likely receive Gifts! Money! And
Love!... from family and friends.
Each gift you receive was chosen
with care and took considerable
time and money to arrive at your
doorstep. Each gift was selected
just for you, and each gift would be
acknowledged with a thank you note
from you! It’s really not hard to write
a thank you note. It might be only
three sentences long and that would
suffice. For instance:
Dear Aunt Grace, Thank you for
the graduation card and the gener
ous check you sent to me. I plan to
use the money towards my college
needs this fall. I appreciate your
thinking of me and hope to see you
soon. Love, A Student.
At least two things happen when
you send a thank you note. It
acknowledges the sender’s effort,
and it demonstrates your good
manners (We know your Mama
would be proud!). A third benefit is
that you just might receive another
gift from Aunt Grace one day!
Now please keep track of the gifts
you receive and do acknowledge in
writing each and every one of them.
P.S. This thank you note require
ment also pertains to wedding gifts,
shower gifts and other kindnesses
bestowed upon you. And sending
a thank you note to your favorite
teacher would also be awesome!
Best of wishes to each of you!
Diane M. Craine
Forsyth
To the Editor:
our blatant
attempt to
politicize a
nonpartisan race
last Monday night was
reprehensible.
You asked candidates
for nonpartisan positions
on the Monroe County
Board of Education for
whom they voted in the
2016 presidential elec
tion. When there was an
outcry in objection from
the audience, you per
sisted with the question,
defending your position
by claiming the response
would reflect the values
of the candidates for the
Board of Education.
Since then I’ve been
thinking about the values
of the president whose
party some of the candi
dates—caught in my opin
ion in a cruel dilemma
with this question—said
they supported.
From my perspective:
• Donald Trump has
treated women as play
things to satisfy his car
nal and psychological
impulses.
• Donald Trump ignores
scientific research, prefer
ring ignorance instead of
uncomfortable truths in
matters that are critical
to those who live on this
planet.
• Donald Trump has,
apparently, a willful diffi
culty in adhering to facts.
• Donald Trump, unlike
good conservatives, has
failed to appreciate tra
ditional procedures in
American politics, show
ing disdain for proven
processes.
• Donald Trump trusts
his own ill-informed
hunches, being unable
intellectually to engage
with those who could
provide him with sound
counsel.
• Donald Trump fails
to support those whom
he has appointed, his
treatment of Jeff Sessions
being nothing short of
scandalous. Loyalty is
something he expects but
does not provide, at times
undercutting publicly his
appointees.
• Donald Trump lacks
self-discipline and control,
tweeting and uttering
comments that are hurt
ful, destructive, confus
ing and semi-illiterate.
In addition, his coarse
language has debased the
standards of political dis
course in our country.
• Donald Trump is lead
ing an administration that
is exploiting our country’s
natural resources for self
ish interests and instant
gratification (for some)
without considering the
future of our children and
grandchildren.
Mr. Davis, Donald J.
Trump may reflect your
values, but he certainly
does not reflect mine.
Ralph Bass
Forsyth
TAKING A LIKENS TO YOU by Dale Likens
Sometimes, you only win by losing
T he proudest day of my life
may very well have been
when I was in sixth grade.
In the sixth, seventh or
eighth grade a young man could
walk through the halls of our school
hailed as the hero of
our school if he could
only become the
champion of one cer
tain event. Yes, every
student in our school
would know who you
were. Why, you would
be so popular and so
well-known that the
entire school enroll
ment would practically
bow down at your feet
if you could just win
that famous tourna
ment held each Spring.
When you loved this
sport, as I did, you couldn’t sleep
even in school. You talked about it
for weeks. You dreamed about it ev
ery night. What was this great event?
Our school Spring Marble Champi
onship!
The principal of our school and
each teacher of the sixth, seventh
and eighth grade participated in this
yearly event. Together, they took
pieces of string and drew eight-foot
circles in the dirt driveway leading to
the side door of our school. Then 10
marbles were planted into the middle
of those circles. Each recess would
be set aside for the most wonderful
tournament of all. The sixth grade
would select its winner first. Then the
seventh grade would select its winner
and finally the eighth grade. It would
take days to select each winner. Each
competitor was matched with an
other student. The following day the
winners of each match would move
on until finally a winner of each
grade was announced. Then the win
ners of the three grades would finally
compete for the greatest
of all championships!
Students gathered
around each circle cheer
ing the players on. The
principal held his mega
phone to his mouth and
shouted those wonderful
words, “Let’s begin!”
I planted my knuckles
to the ring of that circle
and began. Zing! Zang!
Pop! The marbles began
exploding out of that
circle as my marble hit
each of those marbles
inside the circle with
complete accuracy. One victory!
Two victories! And finally, after three
days, I was declared the sixth grade
champ! My classmates were nearly
as excited as I was. I rejoiced in the
proud smiles and slaps on my back
as I passed students in the hall. But
the true victory was still ahead. Last
year’s winner was now in the eighth
grade. A mighty foe he was as he
won the eighth grade championship
with no problem. With a draw from
a hat the seventh and eighth winners
were to play. I would play the winner
for the championship!
Needless to say, last year’s champ
would be my opponent. The crowd
gathered around. The cheers were
loud. One game would decide the
championship. Somehow I remained
calm and focused on the game. The
marbles kept flying. Then, it hap
pened. I blasted the last marble out of
the ring. The principal put his mega
phone to his mouth. “The winner of
this year’s marble championship is
Dale Likens!” He declared.
As the crowd cheered my victory,
two of my classmates lifted me on
their shoulders and carried me down
the hallway of our school shouting,
“Dale’s the new champ! Dale’s the
new champ!”
Then one day a new boy joined
our sixth grade class. Guy Beckwyth
was his name. His clothes were
torn and dirty. For days he wore the
same clothes. Everyone seemed to
shy away from Guy. He was poor! I
knew what poor was because I, too,
was poor. But Guy’s poorness was far
reaching.
One day I asked Guy if he would
like to play a game of marbles.
“Sure,” he said “But I don’t have any
marbles.” I gave Guy enough marbles
to play our game. My class gathered
around and whispered as I couldn’t
seem to hit a marble in the circle.
Somehow Guy beat me. His face
beamed as he gathered the marbles
and placed them into his pockets.
“Why did you let him beat you?”
My friends whispered as we walked
away from the game. “You could
have blown him out. He’s not a good
marble player! You’re the champ of
the school!”
Yes, I was the marble champion of
our school. But the day Guy Beck
wyth beat me in marbles was the
proudest day of my life. God bless!
Dale Likens is an author who lives in
Monroe County.
Kemp dawdles on county line
When Brian Kemp became secretary of state on Jan. 8, 2010, Terry Scarboroughs
survey of the Monroe-Bibb county line was on his desk. The law says it s his job
to do something with it. But Kemp, an ambitious politician who announced on
March 13, 2017 his intention to run for governor, punted. He announced on Aug.
23, 2011 that he was rejecting the Scarborough survey because he can t be sure
its the original line. Unfortunately, the law gives him no such option. So on March
10, 2014, the Supreme Court ordered him to set the line and resolve the dispute.
That was three years ago. The Reporter is devoting this space each week to
counting the number of days Kemp has been on the job, and yet not done his job.
If you want Kemp to do the job which hes sought three times before he gets a
promotion to governor, call his office at (404) 656-2817 and let them know.
3,026 DAIS.
^.without.
^raking a
county line