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publish, and conceal not. - Jeremiah 50:2
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ON THE PORCH by Will Davis
City council priorities
W U1 that was awkward.
Forsyths dty council on Dec. 20 decided to put
some new blood on its Downtown Development
Authority (DDA), which is charged with helping
downtown grow.
Forsyth dentist Dr. Stan Hickman asked not to be reappointed,
citing too many commitments. Cason Ogletree has moved and
so couldn’t be reappointed. The term of De
nise Buff, owner of the 1823 Artisan Guild,
is also set to expire at years end.
Councilman Julius Stroud really really re
ally wanted Shayla Baron, owner of the new
party store in town, to be appointed. His
motion passed.
Another councilman wanted to appoint
Glenn Watson, owner of the Red Clay
Vagabond, to the DDA. That was approved,
but Stroud opposed it.
Finally, councilman John Howard mo
tioned to appoint Amy Knight, owner of
Cotique Boutique on the Forsyth square, to
fill the final seat. That too was approved.
But then Stroud went further. He wanted to change the city
ordinance to require that the District 1 county commissioner,
currently Lamarcus Davis, always be on the DDA. City attorney
Bobby Melton noted that state law requires DDA members either
to live in the city or own a business in the city. It was noted that
Davis does not currently meet either requirement. Mayor Eric
Wilson went a step further. He noted that under the county’s new
commission districts just approved, three of the five commission
ers will now represent part of Forsyth. While District 1 still covers
most of the city, that might raise the question of why pick that
commissioner.
“That makes no sense,” Stroud said of the new map.
Stroud said the city and county are talking about working to
gether more, including One Monroe meetings. He said he thinks
the change is a good way to show good will toward the county.
“Were kind of handcuffed with state regulations,” replied coun
cilman Chris Hewett.
Nevertheless, council voted 5-1 to move forward with changing
the city ordinance to appoint the District 1 commissioner to file
DDA. Only councilman Mike Dodd opposed. Mayor Wilson
pointed out they can only have 7 members so someone will have
to be removed to make room for Davis.
The debate over the DDA resumed about an hour later when
the mayor asked for public comments. That’s when new DDA
director Frank Wilder approached the microphone and told
council that Baron had already said she could not serve on the
DDA board.
“You should have interrupted me,” Wilder was told.
At that point, council decided to go ahead and re-appoint Buff
to another term. Before they adjourned, one councilman asked
Wilder: ‘Anybody else you know that doesn’t want to be on
there?” to laughter from the audience.
Meanwhile, councilman Melvin Lawrence said he’s hearing
complaints about how few Christmas decorations the city put up
this year, especially on Martin Luther King Drive.
“Fm not sure if we ran out of material or what,” said Lawrence.
It was noted that city manager Janice Hall, absent from the
meeting with COVID, had mentioned they were out of light
bulbs on a lot of decorations. Mayor Wilson suggested they con
sider switching to LED lights which are less problematic.
Councilman John Howard said he’s received complaints too,
adding that callers are “pretty distraught about it”.
“We pay taxes too, how come we don’t have any decorations
down MLK,” Howard said was the message he was getting.
“Maybe don’t put so many out so you don’t leave anybody out
and they take offense. That’s how you have to look at things.”
And then Lawrence went on to ask whether the city was going
to do something to honor late councilman Dexter King in the
new City Hall. King died almost four years ago in an auto acci
dent. The city has already installed a memorial for King at the city
cemetery. Mayor Wilson said Hall hasn’t forgotten about King
and said they will be doing something to honor his memory.
Also at that Dec. 20 meeting, council voted to change the ad
dress of its new City Hall. Mayor Wilson explained that the postal
service had assigned the City Hall an address of 28 East Main
Street. There’s only one problem. All the addresses on the City
Hall side of the street are supposed to be odd numbers. Hewett
pointed out that his former employer next door, United Bank, is
1 East Main Street. So council voted to change the address from
28 to 23 East Main Street. Mayor Wilson noted that it fits because
the city was founded in 1823.
So there’s your report from the latest Forsyth city council meet
ing.
is published every week by The Monroe County Reporter Inc.
Will Davis, President • Robert M. Williams Jr., Vice President
Cheryl S. Williams, Secretary-T reasurer
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Publication No. USPS 997-840
DRAWING ON THE NEWS by AF Branco
DRIVING MISS SLEEPY
REECES PIECES by Steve Reece
Odd New Year s traditions
c
"V" A "^hile most of us are
% /\ / still reeling from the
1/ 1/ effects of Christmas
T T dinner, which came
way too soon after that fine Thanks
giving dinner, it is now time to start
thinking about another traditional
meal for New Year’s Day. Around
here folks say if you want to make
a lot of coin during 2022, then you
must put away as many black-eyed
peas as you can. Black-eyed peas
symbolize coins, and some cooks
will even drop a dime or a quarter in
the pot while they’re
cooking and whoever
ends up with the coin
in their bowl will
have the most luck of
the coming year. Just
add a couple of ladles
of some black-eyed
peas, flavored with
ham hock, fatback,
or sausage of course, over a bowl of
steaming hot rice to create a dish
that helped make the South famous:
“Hoppin’ John”. My Aunt Shirley’s
recipe calls for adding a couple of
spoons of chow-chow on top. Good
eatin.
Of course, if you want some dol
lar bills to go along with all those
coins, you’ll need to eat something
green like collards, turnip greens
or mustard greens, it doesn’t really
matter which. Some people like to
substitute chard, kale, or cabbage for
the greenery. Personally, I don’t think
the color is quite right and the taste
surely isn’t.
If you really want to get rich, that’s
easy enough, just help yourself to a
couple of big ol’ slabs of golden corn-
bread which, as we all know, symbol
izes gold. If you happen to be lucky
enough to have any Hoppin’ John
left over, then have another bowl on
January 2 when it becomes known
as “Skippin Jenny” and even tastier
than it was the day before.
Forsyth fireman prep the Forsythia
Ball for the New Years Eve celebra
tion on Friday.
One of the reasons some people in
other parts of the world aren’t near as
prosperhorgia is because they don’t
obsearve the same New Year tradi
tions we do, except for Cuba where
they have a version of Hoppin’ John
using black beans and they call it
“Hoppin Juan”. That is if those poor
folks can afford a bowl of rice and
beans.
In Spain they have a tradition of
eating 1 grape for every second dur
ing the last 12 seconds of the count
down to midnight for good luck.
Then with a mouthful of grapes,
when the last page of the calendar
flips at 12 a.m„ they share sloppy
kisses with grape juice running down
their chins and necks. I know from
experience this can be quite fun. In
fact, it’s so much fun that the tradi
tion, which started at the beginning
of the 20th century by a grape grower
who came up with the genius idea
after a bumper crop of grapes, has
now spread to nearly every Spanish
speaking country including Mexico.
While we in the United States cel
ebrate the New Year in normal ways
like shooting off fireworks and pistols
into the night sky, dropping big balls
mounted high in the air, and maybe
drinking a little too much, other folks
around the world put out the old and
bring in the new in interesting ways
we might think are a bit strange.
For instance, in Romania, farmers
spend the first day of the new year
trying to communicate with their
livestock. If they’re successful in car
rying on a conversation with their
cow or pig or whatever, it is believed
that the farmer will have a prosper
ous next twelve months. In Den
mark, folks save up unused plates
through the year to smash against
the front doors of family and friends
on New Year’s Day. The bigger the
pile of broken crockery you find on
your welcome mat, the more luck
you will have. Danes also have an
unusual custom of leaping off chairs
during their celebrating symbolizing
leaping into the new year. And it
might be a good idea to steer clear
of streets in South Africa where they
indulge in the strange tradition of
tossing out old furniture from upper
story apartments.
If you live in Georgia or Alabama
and you really like to party, you
might think about making New
Year’s Eve reservations in Columbus
where after it becomes 2022 in the
Eastern Time Zone, you can easily
make a quick trip of less than a mile
across the Chattahoochee River and
do it all over again in Phenix City,
Alabama where they party down in
Central Time style.
“Times gone by” is the meaning
of the title of the song we tradition
ally sing at midnight on New Year’s
Eve: “Auld Lang Syne, written by a
Scottish poet in 1788. I’ll be up late
this Friday night singing this song
and making sure 2021 is really gone,
witnessing the Forsythia Ball make
its annual drop at the Courthouse
Square. My weather apps say it might
rain and be chilly that evening, but
I don’t care, I’ll be wearing my new
long johns I got from my Aunt Shir
ley for Christmas.
Steve Reece is a writer for the
Reporter and a known crime fighter.
Email him at stevereece@gmail.com.
CAROLYN S CORNER by Carolyn Martel
How can we start the new year right?
H ave you been
thinking about
2022 and what
kind of year it
will be? Realistically,
every new year brings
challenges, possibili
ties, uncertainties and
yes, hope. When
facing the uncertain
ties of the New
Year, what can we
do? How can we
remain opti
mistic and hopeful when
the forecast for America’s
future is not looking very
bright at the moment?
Our growing national
debt, surging crime, the
fear of more outbreaks
of Covid-19 variants
and business shutdowns
are just a few of the ugly
realities we will face in the
coming year.
WE MAY not
be able to control
a lot of things
happening in our
society, but there
are things we can
do as we enter
2022 that will
help in meet
ing the new
challenges that await us.
Here are some suggestions
that will help: (1) pray to
the Lord for wisdom in
regard to any changes He
would have you make; (2)
ask for guidance in setting
realistic goals; (3) rely on
God’s strength to help you;
(4) surround yourself with
positive people who will
help you and encourage
you; (5) don’t throw in the
towel. If you stumble and
fall, get back up and keep
running your race; (6)
keep God at the center of
your life.
NO DOUBT we are
living in troubling times,
but we need not lose
hope when we place our
confidence in the prom
ises of God. Psalm 37:5-7
says, “Commit everything
you do to the LORD. Trust
him, and he will help
you. He will make your
innocence radiate like
the dawn, and the justice
of your cause like the
noonday sun. Be still in
the presence of the LORD,
and wait patiently for him
to act. Don’t worry about
evil people who prosper
or fret about their wicked
schemes.”
It is my prayer that God’s
peace and strength will be
multiplied in your life in
2022.
“So do not fear, for I
am with you, do not be
dismayed, for I am your
God. I will strengthen you;
I will uphold you with
my righteous right hand”
(Isaiah 41:10).
Carolyn Martel retired after 30
years as the advertising manager
of the Reporter. Email her at
carolynmartell @belisouth. net.
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