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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.