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& EDITORIALS
Declare among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard;
publish, and conceal not. - Jeremiah 50:2
2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 winner: Editorial Page excellen
2019, 2018 winner: Best Headline Writing
2019 winner: Best Community Service
2019 winner: Best Layout and Design
2019 winner: Best Serious Column - Don Daniel
RVs, & Jack Fletcher
After yet another smart aleck quip from the back row, my 7th
grade math teacher Mr. Fromm would sigh and tell me, “Will, it’s
not what you say, it’s how you say it.”
I suspect Mr. Fromm was attempting, in vain I’m sure, to curb the
class clown (me) from disrupting his algebra lessons. But his com
ment comes to mind watching commissioners trying to address the
very real problem of squatters living in the
woods in RVs, campers and probably a few
shanties in Monroe County. I support what
they’re trying to do, but the way they’ve
gone about it has gotten them into needless
trouble.
Commissioners have been talking about
addressing the problem for over a year.
Growing impatient, they imposed a new
property maintenance ordinance in January.
Only commissioner Eddie Rowland voted
against it. He apparently read the 30+-page
ordinance and noted his own property
would now contain multiple violations. So
commissioners abruptly - and rightly - rescinded that overly strict
ordinance.
As is our duty, we reported for taxpayers what their government
had done, and then undone. A few people were outraged. Then
commissioners held a public meeting in High Falls and debated
the issues for a few more hours. Then commissioners debated the
issue at their next regular meetings for a few more hours. Then the
social media $#@&-storm ramped up. Finally, commissioners said
they realized living in RVs and campers has already been illegal in
Monroe County since 1985. So they voted 3-1 to start enforcing
that law in 90 days. Then they voted to take a survey. This is a little
bit like getting married and having three kids, and then undergoing
premarital counseling. That horse, as they say, has left the barn.
In hindsight, commissioners could have quietly sent a letter to
code enforcement officer Jeff Wilson and told him to enforce the
existing law against permanent living in RVs and campers.
I’m all for open government. Open debate is great. And it has
shone the light on the fact that commissioners do need to update
their ordinance to allow people to live in RVs and campers in cer
tain situations, such as when they have plenty of room and privacy
or to temporarily live in them while visiting family or friends.
A survey is a nice bone to throw constituents to try to mollify
hurt feelings. But it’s no way to make county policy. Everyone has
opinions. We elect commissioners to sift through the consensus
of the community and make decisions on policies. Our founding
fathers never believed in nor encouraged pure democracy. It’s no
way to govern.
Commissioners have actually landed on a pretty good outline of
a policy. Address the worst of the RV s and campers. Focus their
enforcement on the most blighted properties. Draff laws that al
low some RV and camper living if done properly. With inflation
skyrocketing, more and more people are having trouble finding
affordable housing. That’s a serious problem. But allowing people to
live in vehicles which are, by their manufacturers’ own admission,
not for permanent living, is not the solution. Commissioners may
have created some of their own problems, but kudos to them for
addressing this thorny issue.
• ••
Monroe County is likely down to single digits in the number of
World War 2 veterans still alive after the death of Jack Fletcher on
Sunday. Fletcher was a Monroe County legend who was awarded
the Purple Heart in the Pacific. I went and interviewed him two
years ago for his 95th birthday. I always enjoyed hearing him talk
with his encyclopedic knowledge of Monroe County’s history
and people. He went on for 2-3 hours that day and I enjoyed it
thoroughly, but I was on deadline and had to get back to the office.
‘Why are you leaving so soon?” he asked. “Come back and we can
finish the interview!’ One neat thing I learned is that Fletcher met
President Herbert Hoover at the White House in 1931.1 dare say
Fletcher was likely the last person alive to meet Hoover during his
presidency.
Forsyth barber Lee Smith told me that Fletcher had the largest
feet in Monroe County, wearing size 17 shoes. Eddie Moore of For
syth said Fletcher and his wife Martha were some of the first people
he and his wife met when they moved here in the early 1990s and
visited Forsyth UMC. They saw them later that day at lunch at the
Farm House Restaurant and Mrs. Fletcher sat down with them and
said “tell me about yourselves!” The Moores would go on to rent
a home from the Fletcher the first 7 years they lived here. Moore
recalled when he finally built his own home on Montpelier Springs
Road, Fletcher came out for a tour. Moore said he was so proud of
the home. Fletcher was too, but the former Georgia Tech student
noted one problem. He pointed to a part of the roof and said “you’re
gonna have some trouble there.”
Moore thought to himself, an architect designed the home. He
shrugged it off as an older man trying to flex his wisdom. But it
turned Fletcher was right, laughed Moore. Moore said he spent
thousands of dollars over the years trying to fix that awkward
corner of his roof, and only last year finally got it fixed 21 years later.
Wise. Warm. An American patriot who loved Monroe County.
Rest In Peace, Jack Fletcher.
DRAWING ON THE NEWS by AF Branco
REECES PIECES by Steve Reece
The scam artist who hit the road
T jiere isn’t much that feels
worse than losing money on
a scam. In addition to losing
your money, you feel stupid,
and even worse, you vow never to trust
anyone again. According to government
statistics, nearly $6 billion was lost due
to fraud last year. This is an increase
of more than 70% over 2020. Scams
involving imposters account for over
$2.3 billion of that stolen money.
During the coronavirus pandemic,
fraud was especially prevalent. In
Monroe County alone, 700 Forsyth
businesses got forgivable loans totaling
$24 million under the Paycheck Protec
tion Program (PPP) during the COVID
shutdown. While most recipients ap
peared to be actual Forsyth businesses
that needed help during the nationwide
shutdown, others seem suspect. For
instance, 20 of those 700 busi
nesses were apparently run by
former state inmates who used
300 Patrol Road, the Tift College
home of the Department of Cor
rections, as their home address.
And one $20,000 loan went to a
Union Hill Drive taxi business
that didn’t exist.
I’m embarrassed to admit
that I also have been scammed
a couple of times in my life. The most
recent incident was back in early De
cember when I got a call that a violinist
had set up shop in the Ingles parking
lot playing incredible music. He had
a speaker powered by his car battery
blasting out songs like “Perfect” by Ed
Sheeran and his music fit perfectly with
the holiday season and many Ingles
shoppers were posting videos of his tal
ent on social media.
People watched in amazement and
dropped money in the tip bag of this
young man who should’ve been in a
concert hall but instead was standing
in the middle of a parking lot touching
their souls. He was also touching their
wallets as it turns out.
The Romanian man had two small
children waiting in a nearby van with
no mother in sight. He agreed to an
interview which was extremely difficult
because he knew only five words of
English. Even so, it was a great holiday
feel-good story which was refreshing.
Because of his wonderful music and the
two babies in the van, I also dropped $20
into his bag and left to write my story
which was subsequently printed
in the Reporter. I apologize for
that story.
Soon I started seeing posts on
Facebook claiming the violinist
was a fraud. I was even told he
got into a skirmish with a man
at the Publix in Macon who
had tried to expose him. The
gig was up when he put his
violin down to punch the man,
and yet the “live music” kept playing. I
spent the next few weekends searching
for him at the different locations where
he had been spotted but I never found
him and saw no further posts about
him.
Then, last Saturday, I got a tip that
there was yet another violinist entertain
ing folks at Ingles and I wasted no time
in putting on my boots and heading
over to see his show. I easily found him
jamming away next to a Toyota van with
his plump wife standing nearby their fat
baby at her side. My camera was rolling
before I even got out of the car.
He was putting on quite a demonstra
tion with that ragged-out violin, smiling
for the camera with that tip bucket at his
feet. I also noticed he kept turning away
whenever I zoomed in on his fingers
that were obviously not playing the
music I so loudly heard.
At the end of his song, I introduced
myself as a reporter from the local paper
and asked if I could interview him and
he responded in Spanish that he was
sorry, but he couldn’t speak English. I
responded back in Spanish that wasn’t
an issue because I was extremely fluent
in his mother language. After his initial
surprise that I was bilingual, he agreed
to give me a couple of minutes.
He became immediately defensive
when my first question was why his
fingers weren’t matching the music he
was playing? He stuttered and said he
was playing with the background music.
When I asked him to perform without
the background music, he answered that
wasn’t how he did his show.
I then called him out and told him I
thought he was a fraud. His wife quickly
joined loudly with his denials, and with
both shouting, things were starting to
get out of hand, so I asked my girlfriend
who was standing nearby to call the
police. She asked for the number, and I
reminded her it was 911. She’s blonde.
Apparently, the “musician” knew the
English word “police” and immediately
started loading up while I was demand
ing to know why he was trying to scam
my friends and neighbors. He told me
to calm down and refused to be further
interviewed and jumped into the driver’s
seat. Before closing the door, he held up
a Bible and told me that it was his guide.
I told him he needed to read it more
often and he was gone before CpL Kim
berly Barnett arrived with her crew from
the Forsyth Police Department.
Steve Reece is a writer for the Reporter
and a known crime fighter. Email him at
stevereece@gmail.com.
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
CAROLYN S CORNER by Carolyn Martel
Church more than rites, robes, bells & smells
CHARLES STANLEY, the great Atlanta
preacher, once asked God why more
people don’t come to church? God an
swered and said, “Because they’ve been!”
That’s really a sad critique of the modern
day church isn’t it? With that said, I see
a divine stirring taking place in many in
dividuals. God is moving across this land
and He’s looking for those who are hungry
for His presence in their personal lives,
homes and yes, in their churches!
NOT LONG ago, I had conversations
with three different people
about church attendance. One
young lady called me and said
she didn’t feel comfortable in
church. Her concern was there
was too much of man and too
little of God in church services
these days. Another lady la
mented that she had not been
to a church service
in a long time. She
expressed her desire to
get back in church, but
she wasn’t sure where
to go. Then a relative asked me if we could
discuss some theological issues that were
on his mind. I thought to myself, “God
what is going on?” Why are people reach
ing out to me, and asking questions about
church attendance and the Christian faith?
Since I didn’t initiate any of these conver
sations, I came to the conclusion that these
were divine appointments orchestrated by
God.
ONE THING that each of these people
had in common was a hunger for God.
Right now, you too, may be hungering for
more of the presence of Jesus in your life.
If you are like me, you also have a longing
for our nation to turn back to God and
to see a revival sweep across
America. Are you with me on
this? But there is no short cut
to revival, or for Jesus to show
up in our lives the way we want
Him to. There’s only one thing
we need for revival to take place
in this dry and thirsty land. We
need God to show up! But, Jesus
is not going to come and
manifest Himself in the way
we long to see Him, unless
it’s on His own terms. As
the young lady said, “I want
to see more of God and less of man in
church.” I get what she’s saying. Jesus must
be preeminent in His own House!
CHURCH ATTENDANCE for some,
has become nothing more than the
outward observance of religious tradi
tion. English Bible scholar, translator and
clergyman J.B. Phillips referred to religion
as,“rites and robes, bells and smells.” I
understand his viewpoint. Those who
are truly seeking God are not moved by
religious formality. The spiritually hungry
are not seeking religion, but a vibrant
relationship with Jesus Christ. They want
to experience and know the supernatural
presence of God in their lives and in their
churches. But it only comes one way! It
only comes when repentance and broken
ness drive us to our knees! It only comes
when Jesus takes front and center stage
in our churches and not our programs,
music, rituals and liturgies.
NEVER FORGET dear reader the
assurance found in Hebrews 11:6, “For he
who comes to God must believe that He
is, and that He is a rewarder of those who
diligently seek Him.” This faithful promise
of God, awaits individuals and churches
alike, who sincerely seek Him with all their
heart.
Carolyn Martel is the retired advertis
ing manager of the Reporter. Email her at
carolynmartell @bellsouth.net.