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THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2007 -- PAGE 11A Library's 'Bluegrass Country Christmas' Set For Tuesday The Commerce Public Li brary’s annual “Bluegrass Coun try Christmas” program, featur ing the Dyer-Franklin Family, will take place next Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. in the library’s meeting room. This yearly event has been helping to launch the Christmas season in Commerce for 13 years, summoning the sense of the divine in the midst of every day life with bluegrass Christmas carols that are both reverent and down-home. This year, as usual, they will be performing with a backdrop of colorful quilts by the Cold Sassy Quilters that also lend a homespun touch. “Georgia is blessed with these wonderful native arts,” says Li brary Director Susan Harper, “and they come together at Christmas in a unique and mem orable way.” “Bluegrass Country Christmas” is a warm family night of music and fun for all ages. It includes homemade refreshments, and there is usually a jam session at the end. And all who would like to are welcome to bring a can of food for the library’s canned- food drive. Canned Food Drive Off Like A Rocket Staff members were astonished and grateful to see the library’s canned-food drive take off like a rocket, with a barrel of food already delivered to the Banks- Jackson Emergency Food Bank. “We understand that the need is especially great this year,” says library staff member Carolyn Cook, “so we’d like to see if we can fill this barrel again.” The li brary is forgiving overdue fines at the rate of a dollar a can, but donations are welcome from ev eryone through Dec. 15. Santa And Mrs. Claus To Appear The library’s Story Hour Christ mas Party is scheduled for Tues day, Dec. 11, at 4 p.m. and will feature a puppet show, refresh ments and a visit from Mr. and Mrs. Claus. All children and their parents, friends and caregivers are invit ed. New Titles On The Shelves New Nonfiction takes the spot light this week, beginning with “Lion in the White House: A Life of Theodore Roosevelt,” by Aida Donald, a brief biography of a large subject, which fellow biog rapher Doris Kearns Goodwin calls “vibrant, captivating, enter taining and inspiring.” Also on the subject of a former president is Stephen Berry’s “House of Abraham: Lincoln and the Todds — A Family Divided by War.” The spate of World War II books continues with Rick Atkin son’s “The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944.” At kinson was hailed by critics for “An Army at Dawn,” which won the Pulitzer Prize. “The Day of Battle” is its sequel — the second book of an intended “Liberation Trilogy.” Additional important nonfic tion includes James Brady’s “Why Marines Fight,” Sally Be dell Smith’s “For Love of Politics: Bill and Hillary Clinton — The White House Years,” which fea tures an old and strange photo of the two on its cover, and “The Terror Dream,” by Susan Faludi, which explores Americans’ reac tions to 9/11. Coming Up Tickets Are Available at the library’s front desk for the “Holi day Stars Quilt” on exhibit behind the library’s front desk. Proceeds will benefit the Building Fund. Kidsercise: Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. Children’s librarian Catherine Harris leads a program of activities for the 18-month to 4-year-old set (and for their par ents). Mommy and Me: Fridays at 10:30 a.m., a lap-sit story time for infants 6 to 18 months old and a parent, grandparent or caregiver. Sign Up For Yoga: Yoga class es will begin in January. Contact the library for more information. CONGRATULATIONS You won the election. We accept the outcome and we congratulate you. Having made that statement we feel compelled to respond to the vicious attacks made on Paul Vickery and the questioning of our creditability as a group from Mark Beardsley. We make the following observations: The Commerce/Jackson Concerned Citizens Inc. AKA C.A.V.E. People (citizens advocating value and ethical) government, are alive and well. We will demonstrate the creditability issue in this article. After such a negative and destructive campaign we take this opportunity to summarize the election issues and comment on campaign ads for future reference and to demonstrate THE TRUTH in the hope future political campaigns will focus on the real ISSUES NOT ON CHARACTER ASSASSINATION. Our first observation is over 61 PERCENT of the register voters FAILED to vote. That could partly be due to the negative destructive campaign that was waged. Low voter turnout was certainly to the incumbents advantage. We accept the outcome but we don't believe a little over four hundred votes in the mayors race is a landslide victory when 61 percent of the voters stayed home. If you don't like the message being delivered you kill the messenger. The vicious swift boat attack ads in the Commerce News were terribly disappointing. We will comment on the following item of an attack ad to demonstrate the UNTRUTHFULNESS, UNFAIRNESS and MEANNESS of this swift boat attack. It is stated that Paul Vickery purchased an 8 to 10 year supply of grader blades at one time. This is true. They were USED grader blades that were purchased to be installed as buffers to protect natural gas pipes above ground, not for grading streets. They served that purpose well and there was nothing sinister or wrong by using them. The ad gives the illusion of misdoing. Paul's position was basically liaison between department heads and the mayor and council. The mayor and council form of government gave little authority to the position Paul Vickery held. If things went well, the mayor and council received the credit, if they went badly Paul got the blame. HOWEVER ALL CHECKS that were written were APPROVED by a FINANCIAL DIRECTOR who was a member of the city council and the ENTIRE COUNCIL AND MAYOR received monthly list of checks written for their scrutiny. Paul Vickery was interviewed by the GBI, as were other employees, and Paul took and passed a polygraph test with flying colors and was found innocence of any wrongdoing. There are other questions the attack ad raises. We can't address all of them here but we will if the attacks persist. We would ask anyone who has questions concerning Paul's tenure with the City of Commerce to give him the same opportunity anyone would want for themselves. ASK HIM in person about any question you may have. Give him the opportunity to respond, instead of attacking him without hearing his position. The ad was full of negative commentary from a hostile and biased editor, and full of incomplete, untruthful and misleading information which was designed to impugn his character. Paul is a decent and honorable man who has shown great courage in facing such unfair and cheap personal attacks. Even though he knew these attacks would come, he refused to withdraw and refrained from using personal attacks himself against his opponent and members of City Hall. THE RECORD WILL SHOW THE HARDY ADMINISTRATION WAS IN OFFICE DURING THE LARGEST THEFT OF CITY FUNDS IN THE HISTORY OF THE CITY OF COMMERCE. You have won the election but you have lost the respect of many people. the biblical admonition, "He who has no sin, let him cast the first stone," is still applicable. PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN GLASS HOUSES SHOULD NOT THROW STONES. Now about creditability. The definition of creditable from webster's new collegiate dictionary, "WORTHY OF BELIEF". Commerce Garden Club Sets Rules For Christmas Decorating Contest The Commerce Garden Club Council is sponsoring the 2007 Christmas Door Decorating Contest. The contest is open to residences and business in the Commerce area. Contestants will be judged Thursday, Dec. 6, between 6 and 9 p.m. To enter the contest, you must contact Elizabeth Benton Scalise at 706-335-7435 before Monday, Dec. 3. Categories and rules for the contest for homes and business es are as follows: Door and Mailbox - fresh: Decorations must be 100 percent fresh materials such as vines, fruit, berries, twigs, pods and boughs. No artificial materials should be used in this category. Mailbox only - fresh: Same rules as Door and Mailbox fresh. Whole House - fresh and permanent: In this category, 80 percent of the materials must be fresh, but permanent materials may be included. Dried materi als may also be used. Door and Mailbox - perma nent: Artificial or permanent materials may be used as well as dried materials. Mailbox only - permanent: Same rules as Door and Mailbox permanent. Lights - traditional or novel ty categories: Three awards will be made in this category: “Most Elegant,” “Most Unusual” and “Best Traditional.” All entries must be well lighted for night judging. A panel of out- of-town judges will view the en tries. For more information or to en ter the contest, contact the coun cil at 706-335-7435. Children's Playhouse Give-Away Is A Fund-Raiser For Habitat House The Jackson County Habitat for Humanity is selling tickets on a one-of-kind children’s play house to raise funds for the con struction of the county’s eighth Habitat house. The 10 by 8 playhouse features a front porch with carriage lights, and dormer windows with win dow boxes filled with pansies. Construction of the house was su pervised by Stan Beeco, owner of Beeco Construction and a Jackson County Habitat board member. “Each house we build, even tak ing into account donated materi als and volunteer labor, requires about $45,000. We felt that the The date has been confirmed. The Atlanta Opera will stage a performance in at the Com merce Cultural Center featuring exerpts from an opera about — Commerce. The performance is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 8. Four vocalists and a pianist will put on a 55-minute show of excerpts and highlights from the operatic version of Olive Ann Burns’ novel, “Cold Sassy Tree,” which is set in Commerce. Representatives of the Atlanta Opera visited the cultural center last week and approved it for the performance, according to Hasco Craver, executive direc tor of the Commerce Downtown Development Authority. playhouse would be a great way for us to use our Habitat building experience to make something that children would enjoy and their families would be proud of, and in doing so help build a real house that will provide a family in need with a decent place to live,” said Jackson County Habi tat president Gordon Wilson. The house is on display in front of the Jefferson offices of Jack son EMC on the Commerce-Jef- ferson Road. Tickets for the house are $10 and can be purchased at the fol lowing locations: in Jefferson at Jackson EMC, Mattox Feed and “They received a grant (to per form “Cold Sassy Tree”) and one of the stipulations is that they have to do arts outreach,” Craver said. “How better to do community outreach with “Cold Sassy Tree” than to go to Cold Sassy itself and perform in Commerce?” The Atlanta Opera is coming free of charge, but there will be an admission fee, says Craver, The price will be set in the near future. “That’s a very small price to pay to have something very neat like that (the opera) here,” Crav er said. The Atlanta Opera’s full per formance of “Cold Sassy Tree” will take place in February. Seed, Trinity Tire, Jefferson Tire, Sugar & Spice, Bright Beginnings, Verizon Wireless, Living Jackson magazine and Doggie Style’n Professional Pet Grooming; in Commerce at Northeast Geor gia Bank, Athens First Bank and Trust and McDonald Ace Hard ware; in Braselton at Hometown Community Bank and Trust and Northeast Georgia Bank; and in Talmo at CAM Realty Group, or by calling or emailing Bonnie Jones at 706-367-6114, bjones@ jacksonemc.com. The drawing will be held Dec. 15, in time for the playhouse to be delivered for Christmas. RECYCLE THIS NEWSPAPER Newspapers and magazines can be recycled at Keep Jackson County Beautiful's recycling bins behind First GA Banking Company — in the Lanier Tech parking lot, South Elm Street, Commerce. CLASSIFIED ADS 26,500 READERS $10 PER WEEK 706-335-2927 • 706-367-5233 MasterCard • VISA Save $3 by placing ads online at classified@mainstreetnews.com Opera Confirms Date, Site Of Commerce Performance Mark Beardsley accuses us of having lost creditability, but it is not our creditability that is in question. From a campaign ad of mayor hardy we quote, "They say we have "massive debt' on the water plant, yet the income from this department pays this debt on time, every time and because of our investment in the water plant, we have water and are able to share our water with neighboring communities. Are we willing to sacrifice our quality water to pinch pennies, is this what they want?" end quote. This statement is simply incorrect and misleading The Truth. The massive debt ($14,000,000.00) is on the sewer plant. The Hardy administration had nothing to do with the water supply. Bob Waters' administration is responsible for having the lake built which is the source of water. $14,000,000.00 (fourteen million dollars) is a lot of pennies, plus the interest it incurs. The principle payment will be due in the future which will increase the need for revenue. The reason the debt is paid on time every time is because the water and sewer rates have risen along with the cost of sewer and water tap fees. We now ONLY pay the interest. When principle payments are due the real impact of the situation WILL BE FELT. In a political ad, Mayor Hardy asked if we (the citizens group) wanted to "give away our schools?". We support the school system, children and teachers. We have never made any negative comment about the school system. THIS WAS A SCARE TACTIC USED TO GAIN VOTES. We advocated the mayor and council pay their own retirement and health insurance along with retreat and convention expenses instead of the city and direct the money the city would have paid to the school system, which is an item that was never acknowledged. You said there was no platform offered. IT IS RECORDED IN THE PAGES OF THE COMMERCE NEWS We advocated keeping the Commerce Police Dept. off of 1-85 not making them a revenue machine. We advocated having side streets improved and directing government to improve the lives of the citizens inside the city limits. We advocated expansion of city limits be halted and competition with other jurisdictions, utility providers and private investors to stop. We advocated not placing the citizens of the City of Commerce at financial risk by providing infrastructure in an aggressive growth policy. Minimize the use of outside contractors. Grant no building code variances to out of town developers. TO SUGGEST NO PLATFORM WAS OFFERED IS FALSE AND MISLEADING Mark Beardsley has attacked Clifford Slater and Donald Wilson. This tactic of insult, belittlement and intimidation has been used for years on anyone who expresses different opinions. This contributes to a hesitancy of citizens to seek public office. Mark Beardsley suggests that the mayor and council act like a kindergarten class. If you don't agree with me I won't play with you anymore. Donald Wilson was elected to serve the citizens of ward 2. He was not elected to bow mindlessly to the whims of the mayor and other council members. He has and should do what he believes best represents his constituents. He has represented them well for years and he will do that for years to come. Mark Beardsley should strive to bring unity and not strife. Donald Wilson is a faithful public servant. Mark Beardsley asked what Clifford Slater has done for the community. He has been in no civic club. Civic clubs are wonderful organizations. They offer the opportunity for public service and social and political advancement. They are not the only means available for public service however. Clifford Slater and the citizens group have donated blankets in the winter, electric fans in the summer, built wheel chair ramps for the handicapped, replaced roofs for the elderly and all at no cost to the recipient. Clifford Slater has donated time, money and material to these projects. Under any definition this is certainly community service. Mr. Slater and the citizens group have provided these services out of love and concern for our community. Clifford Slater and the citizens group replaced the roof on Rev. Harold Crawford's home. Mark Beardsley took a picture and wrote an article in the Commerce News about this project and described Rev. Crawford's home as dilapidated. Rev. Crawford's wife has recently died. Rev. Crawford and his family cared for his wife during her long and expensive sickness. She was legally blind, lost a limb to diabetes and required dialysis several times a week. Rev. Crawford maintained his radio ministry during her illness and served his Lord and Savior as best he could while attending to his sick wife. You don't have to live in a certain section of town or be in a particular social group to be classified as a citizen of Commerce. There are No second class citizens in Commerce. This arrogant, demeaning, condescending, and hurtful comment made by Mark Beardsley is uncalled for. We are all God's children. We call on the editor to stop being divisive and use the power of his position to bring healing and unity to our community. If democracy is to survive it is necessary for ideas to be debated and political policies questioned. It is not demeaning personal attacks, it is not about political policies. Democracy is an expression of ideas and thought and it is the foundation of our country. We are all citizens of Commerce. we breathe the same air, drink the same water, pay taxes and utilities. There are no second rate citizens. We hope Mayor Hardy's administration is successful and the citizens of Commerce have great benefit under his administration. He is our mayor too. Because we have aired our concerns and disagreed with certain polices- makes us no less of a citizen. THE FUTURE WILL DETERMINE WHAT POLICIES WERE BENEFICIAL FOR COMMERCE AND WHICH WERE NOT. WE ARE THE COMMERCE/JACKSON CONCERNED CITIZENS INC. AKA C.A.V.E. PEOPLE (CITIZENS ADVOCATING VALUE AND ETHICS ) IN GOVERNMENT. We are advocates for the welfare of widows, the elderly, families on fixed incomes, business owners, city employees, working people and the betterment of all the citizens of commerce. Paid For By Jackson-Commerce Concerned Citizens