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PAGE 4A • THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2007
mion
Editorial Views
Grant Helps Ensure
Legacy Of The Mill
A name out of the past resurfaced this week when
the Commerce Public Library announced that it had
received a $75,000 grant from the Harmony Grove
Foundation.
For decades, Harmony Grove Mills was Commerce's
leading industry in terms of both jobs and influence.
By today's standards, the jobs were not great, but
the mill provided jobs and economic opportunities
for hundreds of families in a town where jobs were
scarce. Over the years, the mill officials created a
foundation with the idea of providing funds to wor
thy causes that would benefit employees.
The grandchildren and great-grandchildren of gen
erations of hard-working mill employees will benefit
from these funds through the expansion of the city
library. Today, there is no mill, the textile industry
fell victim to changing times and a world market,
and the mill building is pretty much just a ware
house.
But many of the men and women who worked at
the mill still live in Commerce, and they know just
how important Harmony Grove Mills was to this
community. The grant from the Harmony Grove
Foundation will help make sure that future genera
tions will be aware of that part of Commerce's his
tory as well.
Democrats Are Right
To Oppose War Funding
President Bush is criticizing Democratic mem
bers of Congress for resisting his Iraq war funding
proposal, saying they should be ashamed for fail
ing to support American troops who are in harm's
way. In reality, Bush should be ashamed for putting
American troops in harm's way under false pretences
and for continuing to keep them there.
George Bush continues to tie the Iraq war to terror
ism, but he sent our young men and women into a
country which had nothing to do with the Sept. 11,
2001, attacks on America, diverting resources from
the hunt for the real perpetrators and inflicting a use
less, cruel war on American and Iraqi citizens alike.
The Democrats may sound foolish to Bush backers
because Democrats don't want to continue the fiasco,
but a commander in chief who, following an attack,
retaliates against the wrong country is worse than a
fool. Five years into this war, the only way America
can win is to redefine the word "victory."
Meanwhile, Americans and Iraqis continue to die
and the Iraqi partisans wait patiently for the inevita
ble American withdrawal, after which they'll settle
things with more mayhem and bloodshed. The only
choice we have is to admit we made a mistake and
get out, or to wait a year, five years or 10 years and
do the same thing. Those American soldiers who
die or who are maimed in the meantime are just
more "collateral damage" from the inept handling
of the whole affair by the Bush administration and,
worse, its failure to recognize, let alone admit, its
mistakes.
Eventually, America must withdraw. What will it
have to show for this war besides lost and wrecked
lives, a ruined economy, devastated international
credibility and increased enrollment in terroris
tic organizations? And the president thinks the
Democrats should roll over and meekly fund this
catastrophe indefinitely?
The problem is not that the Democrats oppose con
tinued funding for the war, but that so many of them
are too weak to stand up to the most inept president
in American history to force him to begin extracting
troops from the worst foreign policy gambit since the
Vietnam Conflict.
Editorials, unless otherwise noted, are written by Mark
Beardsley. He can be reached by e-mail at mark@main-
streetnews.com.
The Commerce News
ESTABLISHED IN 1875
USPS 125-320
1672 South Broad Street
Commerce, Georgia 30529
MIKE BUFFINGTON Co-Publisher
SCOTT BUFFINGTON Co-Publisher
MARK BEARDSLEY Editor/General Manager
BRANDON REED Sports Editor
TERESA MARSHALL Office Manager
MERRILL BAGWELL Cartoonist
THE COMMERCE NEWS is the legal organ of the city
of Commerce and is published every Wednesday by
MainStreet Newspapers Inc. Periodical postage paid at
Commerce, Georgia 30529.
Subscription Rates Per Year: Jackson, Banks and
Madison counties $19.75; State of Georgia $38.85;
out-of-state $44.50. Most rates discounted $2 for
senior citizens.
POSTMASTER send address changes to THE COMMERCE
NEWS, P.O. Box 908, Jefferson, GA 30549.
I took your advice and bought frankincense,
but 1 still believe He’d rather have an iPod,
Don’t Skip Christmas Shopping
Here we are in early
December, and we've already
been listening to Christmas
songs in stores and on the
radio for at least three weeks.
Some of you have been out
there shopping since, well,
who knows? I have one relative
who starts her Christmas shop
ping in January. Perhaps you're
starting to wonder if you're
being sold a bill of goods by
large, nameless corporations.
Is the whole thing overdone?
Commercialized?
Well, as time goes by, I
believe more and more that
there's nothing much new
under the sun. But I decided
to turn to some books (where
else?) for help with this ques
tion. An old favorite of mine
is a book called "The Gift," by
Lewis Hyde, and in it he tells
the story of a married couple,
the Marshalls, who lived
among a band of South African
Bushmen for some time. When
they left, they gave each of the
local women a collection of
cowrie shells to make a neck
lace with. Cowrie shells had
never been seen before in that
part of South Africa, so they
were rare and — to the women
— valuable.
When the Marshalls came
back to visit a year later, they
A Few
Facts, A
Lot Of
Gossip 2
BY SUSAN HARPER
were startled to see that not a
single woman sported a neck
lace of cowrie shells. But as
they stayed and traveled in the
area, they realized that there
were cowrie shells everywhere,
to the Bushmen's farthest tribal
reaches. The shells had been
given as gifts, one or two at
a time, and had spread like
ripples in a pond.
Lewis Hyde calls such a
human "pond" a gift com
munity, and says that gifts are
what create and keep the bonds
between people and among
whole societies.
Hyde tells another story, too:
of a poor couple in a Chicago
ghetto who had a sudden
windfall when someone died
and left them $1,500. They
hoped to use this sum to put
a down payment on a house,
but instead found their new
"wealth" nibbled away in six
weeks by family and friends
whose needs seemed more
important to them than their
dream house.
Of course, says Hyde, they
could have been hard-heart
ed (or "far-hearted," as the
Bushmen say) and refused to
help anyone but themselves.
Would they have been hap
pier? Not likely. They would
have kept the money but lost
the relationships that were the
basic fabric of their lives.
Reading Hyde's book reminds
me that we give and get gifts
everyday of our lives. People
give their time and talent in
thousands of ways, large and
small. They create church bul
letins, build ramps for the
newly challenged, take friends
to the store, carry meals to the
sick, put The Commerce News
on tape for the sight-impaired.
These folks know a great secret:
that giving is a privilege, and
that we all have something to
g ive .
So don't lose heart, ye weary
shoppers. We're blessed beyond
belief, it's true, but we can
share that in a lot of ways, as
long as we have the great gifts
of life and heart and love.
Susan Harper is director of the
Commerce Public Library.
Santa Lives As Christmas’ Spirit
This year's Thanksgiving din
ner will be memorable for me,
not for the usual reasons, but
for a bit of conversation which
was completely opposite of my
own philosophy about Santa
Claus.
My 8-year-old grandson, seat
ed next to me, was prodded by
his parents to declare that he
did not believe in Santa. What
blasphemy. Pleading my own
case in a few sentences brought
no change of heart from the
parents, only stares indicating
their thoughts about my san
ity. For me, St. Nicholas, Santa,
Kris Kringle, whatever you
choose to call him, lives.
Santa lives, not in the sense
of being the mythical being
who listens to requests impos
sible to fulfill resulting in dis
appointment to the petitioner,
but as the mythical symbol of
the spirit of loving and giving.
If Christmas, stated in the sim
plest terms, is not about loving
and giving, then I have my
theology all wrong. If that be
so, then throw out the hymns
and verses which teach us
about prophets, and wise men,
Views
In
Rotation
BY CLAIRE GAUS
and the prophets who brought
gifts to a child. If that be so,
dispense with the idea of peace
on earth, good will to men. If
that be so, get rid of the New
Testament.
If Christmas is not about
God's gift of love and promise,
then obliterate the celebration
from the calendar predicat
ing the superfluousness of the
mythical Santa Claus. Change,
then, the name Christmas day
to "Shopping Spree Day," and
the name Santa to "Daddy
GotBucks."
Unfortunately, the Santa
myth of loving and giving
has been corrupted to the cur
rent reality of market profits
and industrial growth. The
contemporary celebration dif
fers greatly from its origin,
as does the origin of the leg
end from whom Santa Claus
descended. The Bishop of
Myra, a Christian martyr later
known as St. Nicholas, lived
until about 343. After his death
legends about him grew, and
by the Middle Ages his name
was invoked in prayer often.
He became the patron saint
of children, students, Russia,
bankers, sailors, pawnbrokers,
vagabonds and thieves. Most
of all, he became known as a
benefactor of children.
When the Protestant
Reformation declared it
improper to celebrate any
thing having to do with
Catholic saints, St. Nicholas'
name underwent changes.
Call him Father Christmas,
Weihnachtsmann, Pere Noel,
Christkindlein (which eventu
ally became Kris Kringle) and
Sinta Claes (which became
Santa Claus). Call him by any
name, and the spirit of his
Please Turn To Page 5A
It's Gospel
According
To Mark
BY MARK BEARDSLEY
Good Things
Are Happening In
Our Downtown
"Good things are happening in the
downtown," declared Bob Sosebee
during last Wednesday's meeting
of the Downtown Development
Authority, which he chairs.
And, Sosebee is right. Good things
are happening.
The Wood-Johnson Furniture build
ing on South Broad Street has been
bought, and renovations will begin
there soon. The same investor has
purchased a Central Avenue building,
which will require more work but
will also provide another upstairs liv
ing space.
Of course, Chris Bray just finished
restoring two storefronts and an
apartment space. The contractor
who did that job is working on new
facades for the North Elm Street
buildings owned by Dr. Elaine Beck
and Rob Jordan. Lane Morlote and
Linda Wilbanks are planning the
restoration of a building on Central
Avenue. Eventually, they plan to live
in a true loft apartment upstairs. Don
Shubert and Gina and Lee Hagan are
talking about restoring their build
ings' facades.
A couple of people mentioned driv
ing through downtown Commerce
Saturday night, Nov. 17, and notic
ing all of the parking spaces within
a block of Little Italy filled. The Eli
Carlan Band was playing, and the
place was packed. The Common Road
Bakery is doing well and the Opera
House is being renovated.
All of this is taking place with pri
vate investment, encouraged by small
facade grants (with money donated
by local financial institutions) and
assistance from the DDA. It is a
long-term process where progress is
measured one building or tenant at
a time.
The DDA is talking to a couple
of restaurant owners from other
towns who have expressed interest
in locating here. It has put together
a business recruitment package, and
its director, Hasco Craver, is actively
trying to match restaurant entrepre
neurs and buildings — and there are
some good possibilities.
Little Italy has proven that a res
taurant can succeed in downtown
Commerce and that if there is some
thing to do, people will come down
town at night. Imagine what a couple
more restaurants like that would do
to the vitality of the downtown.
The downtown's vitality is a key
indicator to visitors of the viability
of the entire community. That's why
other communities, from Jefferson to
Maysville to Homer are trying to pre
serve their downtowns. Commerce
is a couple of decades ahead and has
more with which to work.
We're a long way from fully utiliz
ing our historic buildings and charm
ing storefronts, and getting there is
a long-term process. The flurry of
renovations just completed, under
way and in the near future is pretty
astounding, given the glacial pace of
economic development progress.
Each new business, each restored
building encourages more invest
ment. Every new venture makes the
downtown more attractive to shop
pers and entrepreneurs and works to
change attitudes about being down
town. Who knows? One day even the
parking issue may be resolved.
But downtown Commerce contin
ues to evolve, and 2008 holds a lot
of promise for even better things.
Mark Beardsley is editor of The Commerce
News. He can be reached at mark@main-
streetnews.com.