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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
ON THE PORCH by Will Davis
Mayberry had jobs...
H ow fast is Monroe County growing?
The census bureau said recently that Monroe
County’s population singed by 3 percent, over 700
people, in just 12 months in 2020-21, the latest
numbers available. That pushes us ahead of long-time competi
tor Jones County. Monroe County’s population rose to 28,712
on July 1,2021, according to the latest U.S. census estimate. The
same estimate said Jones County has a population of28,400. So
Monroe has now officially passed Jones in population, according
to the census.
I remember when I first moved to Monroe County in 2007
being envious of Jones County. They seemed to be growing more
and certainly had more businesses than we did. I always figured
that being on 1-75 with a quick drive to Macon hurt our ability
to grow our business community. And Jones had long had more
residents. But now, that, and time, have cured me of my Jones
County envy. I mean I’ll take 1-75 over Gray Highway any day.
What a cess pool of traffic and crime it has become.
But Jones County also provides a word of caution for us.
County commissioners there slapped a moratorium on new
homes several years ago. They’re pretty restrictive about growth.
And now it seems they are getting left behind economically.
We’ve reported that a big-time manufac
turing company was considering bringing
a big-time plant to Monroe County this
spring. There was talk of 1,000 jobs. But
homeowners in the western part of Monroe
County mounted a fierce resistance and may
have killed its prospects.
“I’ve never been more disappointed in
Monroe County’ one county official who
was working on the deal told me.
p. There’s a lot of talk among the Not In My
Backyard (NIMBY) crowd about prevent
ing Monroe County from turning into
Henry Coimty. Well I have good news.
It’s not gonna happen. As a former Monroe County building
inspector told me, as long as the county doesn’t have a sewer
system, new home lots must be at least 1 acre. The problem with
Henry County is too many people in too small of an area. Henry
County’s infrastructure allowed small lot subdivisions and apart
ments. The city of Forsyth has some water and sewer capacity.
But not much. And Monroe County has no sewer. As long as
that’s the case, we will not become Henry County.
The bigger worry for me is the likely loss of $ 11+ million per
year in property and sales taxes when and if Plant Scherer gets
shutdown by the communists currently running our country and
media. They hate capitalism and progress, so they want to kill
coal plants. They’re insane. Environmentalists are like watermel
ons: green on the outside, but commie red on the inside. Yet we
allegedly elected them. So here we are.
Recent protests scared off the potential manufacturing plant
that would have been a huge help in replacing Plant Scherer.
Hopefully the failure has taught county leaders they have a
solemn duty that is critical to our county’s future. We did a story
a year ago about how Putnam County prepared for the loss of
its coal plant, Plant Branch. County leaders there told us they
were able to cushion the blow by doing two big things, a) saving
money and b) growing. But the message out of West Main Street
(county administration) lately has been a) spend money and b)
stop growth.
It is time for county leaders to make the case in every setting
for industrial growth in Monroe County. People need to know
how much their taxes will be going up if we don’t replace Plant
Scherer. Speak at civic clubs. Talk to your neighbors. Submit guest
columns to (wince here, Mr. Chainnan) this newspaper.
County officials should work with their zoning board and
development authority members to lay a ground floor of support
for new jobs and industries. You can’t build a successful commu
nity of just bedrooms. If everyone is commuting to work, fewer
and fewer people will know one another. You see, everyone here
says they want us to be Mayberry. And so do I. Do you notice
that the people ofMayberry all had jobs in Mayberry? What
kind of show would it have been if Andy, Barney and Aunt Bea
got up early every day and drove 90 minutes on 1-75 to work in
a big-city high rise. Then they got home at dark just to crawl in
bed? Not much of a community huh? “The Andy Griffith Show”,
the best TV show of all time, would have been cancelled after one
show.
It’s said that the late county commissioner Jim Ham sometimes
remarked that Monroe County without Plant Scherer was Han
cock County. That’s Sparta It’s one of Georgia’s poorest counties,
with some of the highest property tax rates. Maybe instead of
worrying about becoming Henry County, we should worry
about becoming that.
www.MyMCR.net
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
OUR STAFF
Will Davis
Publisher/Editor
publisher@mymcr.net
Tammy Rafferzeder
Business Manager
business@mymcr.net
Steve Reece
Reporter
stevereece@gmail.com
Diane Glidewell
Community Editor
news@mymcr.net
Donna Wilson
Advertising Manager
ads@mymcr.net
Amy Haisten
Creative Director
mymcrgraphics@gmail.com
Official Organ of Monroe
County and the City of Forsyth
50 N. Jackson St., PO Box 795 • Forsyth,
GA 31029 • Periodicals Postage Paid at
Forsyth, GA 31029- 994-2358
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Deadlines noon on Friday prior to issue. Comments featured on opinion pages are the creation of
the writers, the do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Reporter management.
Publication No. USPS 997-840
DRAWING ON THE NEWS by AF Branco
REECE’S PIECES by Steve Reece
Farewell to my brother David
Steve Reece, right, and his late brother David.
D avid was my guitar-playing
partner and my fishing
buddy. We shared songs
we sometimes wrote while
sitting in a wet tent next to a swamp.
In the good times, we’d get together
and jam all weekend. Those were good
times. He was my brother.
We shared our childhoods stay
ing mostly in trouble and even ran
away together a couple of times. I was
only nine and he was seven when we
decided once to head to Kansas. We
walked a couple of miles out of town
and hitched a ride on a motorcycle for
a couple of more before a U-tum was
made and we were taken back to our
dad who was waiting with his wide
leather belt ready in his hands.
We had another brother who was
between us in age, but he never went
along with our schemes. He had his
own schemes going. We were three
motherless boys who had the run
of the Oklahoma countryside every
weekend, swimming in nasty cow
ponds, learning how to smoke nasty
cigarettes, and walking for miles down
long dirt roads. Once we found a
couple of electric cattle prods in an old
barn and spent the afternoon shocking
each other using them as swords. We
even staged a rodeo once out in a cow
pasture we came upon, but the cows
didn’t cooperate all that much.
When my dad finally remarried, he
left us six children with his new bride
almost immediately when he received
an assignment for Clark Air Force
Base in the Philippines Islands. For
two years, we lived with a woman who
began as a stranger to us but gradually
became our mother. She was a hard
woman, as hard as our dad, but that
was a good thing because she would’ve
never survived the antics of a house
hold full of Reece boys and a couple of
Reece girls.
When we became teenagers, I
bought a guitar with my newspaper
route money and David and I took
turns learning chords and driving the
rest of the family crazy. It was a cheap
guitar with rusty strings but that didn’t
dampen our desire to learn. Our rock
rf roll was just beginning, and we
were there with a little country music
thrown in to keep my old man happy.
When we became men, the three
of us older brothers all got into the
construction business, framing new
houses, remodeling, and a lot of roof
ing. David and I did a lot of projects
together and he even went to Holly
wood with me for a while when I was
building movie sets. Only once did we
all three work together and that was a
disaster for the books.
I was the oldest of the three brothers
and I once got the horrible idea to put
together the Reece Brothers Construc
tion Company while we all happened
to be in Atlanta at the same time. My
brother John must’ve thought I said
destruction instead of construction be
cause he turned our first and only job
into a disaster. At that time in Atlanta,
all homes were being built on the sides
of hills since those were the only lots
available. That meant every house
had a deep basement built of concrete
blocks on top of which we would build
the floor system.
Usually, there’s a heavy steel I-beam
that must be set in the middle of the
structure which supports the floor
joists. So, with
David waiting on
the concrete wall
at one end of the
house and me on
the other, John
lifts the steel beam
that was chained
to a forklift and
swung it around in
a quick swoosh and
completely knocks
out the concrete
wall David was
standing on. I took a
leap before it swung
back around to me. In a panic, John
pulled the handles in the opposite
direction and in doing so rammed the
beam directly in the center of a huge
transformer that powered the entire
subdivision. There were no cellphones
back in those days and we had to drive
to the nearest phonebooth so our boss
could tell us to leave and never come
back.
We separated for a few years after
that. I lived in Los Angeles, David
went to Florida and John caught a ride
to Maine. David worked as a high-
rise window washer for a few years in
Miami until one day a rope broke and
he fell four stories and landed on top
of a concrete awning. He somehow
survived the fall but spent a few years
in a rehab center to recuperate which
he never fully did.
He finally relocated to middle
Georgia as I did a few years ago and
we rekindled our old jam sessions
and began to play every weekend. We
made a lot of music videos during that
time and posted them on Facebook.
I’m so glad we did that. I said goodbye
to David on April 6 after he lost his
bout with cancer. He was my brother
and I miss him. My childhood is truly
gone.
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
God-given passion
T
he other day
I was watch
ing the History
Channel docu
mentary series,
“The Food That
Built America.”
The success of
Orville Reden-
bacher was the
featured story.
Redenbacher
became fa
mous for
perfecting
light, fluffy
gourmet
popcorn.
Although it took him
decades to achieve success,
he discovered at a young
age that being passionate
about what you do gives
you energy, focus and the
willpower to overcome
obstacles. Developing and
selling the best popcorn
on the market was
his passion.
WHEN I think
of people who
are passionate
and enthusiastic
about what they
do, I think about
my former
boss, Will
Davis. As
most of you
know, Davis
is the Publisher/Editor
of the Monroe County
Reporter. Davis has had
his share of challenges
over the years, including
makes a difference
opposition from a bevy of
critics. But he never gives
up! His passion motivates
him to publish one of the
best papers in the state.
Kudos to his talented staff
as well!
WE ALL recognize
passion when we see it. I
admire all of our hard
working business owners,
and the sacrifices they
have made to own and op
erate their own business.
I also salute our teachers,
healthcare workers, fire
fighters, law enforcement
and pastors who work
long hours to serve oth
ers. Your dedication and
incredible work ethic does
not go unnoticed.
No matter what your
profession or job title, a
guiding principle found
in God’s word says it all,
“Whatever you do, work
at it with all your heart, as
working for the Lord, and
not for men” (Colossians
3:23). Bottom line: Focus
your energy and passion
on what really matters!
In your daily routine
and workplace, visualize
yourself as working for
the Lord. Always do your
upmost to honor Jesus in
all you do!
Carolyn Martel is the retired
advertising manager of the
Reporter. Email her at car-
olynmartell @bellsouth. net.