Newspaper Page Text
THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS. WEDNESDAY. TANUARY 2.2008 - PAGE 5A
119 Sign Up For City's
'Safety Check' Program
Elderly Citizens Receive Daily 'Check Up' Calls
people making the
Almost 120 elderly Commerce
area residents receive a tele
phone call every day checking
on their welfare — and sum
moning help if they need it.
Those people are partici
pants in the Community Safety
Check Program conducted by
The Standards Group and fund
ed by the city of Commerce
for about $100 a week in a new
program started in 2007.
The company called every
phone number in Commerce
offering what, to the recipi
ent, was a free service. The
idea was that for 90 days the
company’s personnel would
call each subscriber between
8:00 and 10:00 each morning,
checking in. Calls could also
be arranged to remind people
to take medications or to check
up on latchkey kids. After 90
days, the calls would be com
puterized, but that didn’t hap
pen for Commerce.
“Because of my relationship
with Bob (Sosebee, Ward 4
councilman and a childhood
friend), I did not turn the call
ing responsibility over to our
Vancouver call center,’’ said
Randy Murray. “So we have
actual
calls.’’
If the recipient is not home,
the call center tries to reach a
neighbor or relative; if that fails
or the person cannot be raised,
police are summoned.
The Commerce program has
resulted in 43 calls where there
was no answer, and in six of
those cases, the company sum
moned law enforcement offi
cers to check things out. To
date, Murray said, no real emer
gencies have surfaced.
“Down the road in Lavonia, we
had a stroke victim and a heart
attack,’’ Murray said. “It hasn’t
happened in Commerce, but we
will have them in Commerce, I
promise you.’’
Perhaps the biggest benefit,
he says, was an unintended
consequence of the program.
“Those seniors who live alone
love to have someone to talk to,
someone to call these people
every day and let them know
that somebody loves them,’’
Murray said.
The company send out
Christmas cards to subscribers,
and they’ve helped out in other
non-emergency areas, such as
finding and summoning plumb
ers or finding people to bring
groceries to shut-ins.
“You just don’t realize how
many people out there have no
friends or relatives who ever
call them,’’ Murray commented.
“It’s amazing. And the people
are so nice.’’
Jefferson also joined the pro
gram. The signup process will
start this week, Murray said, at
the suggestion of Councilman
C.D. Kidd.
“I handed out 1,100 bro
chures at the GMA’s Mayor’s
Conference in Atlanta,’’ said
Murray. “C.D. Kidd was the only
official in the state that actu
ally took that thing, read it and
called us up on the phone.’’
The company is offering a
new service to its subscribers
at no additional cost to the city.
It will offer to alert them to
police, fire or other community
emergencies in the area.
“We’re trying to find some
thing for everyone, something
for all the seniors in town,
and we think that will fit the
bill,” Murray stated. “It is value
added at no cost to the city.
We’re putting it together now.”
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Thanks To Ladies Who
Helped Daughter In Wreck
Editor:
To whoever the ladies were
who called me when my
daughter was in the car wreck
on the Commerce Road:
I thank you with all my heart
for taking the time out of your
busy day to stop and call me
and then wait on me to get to
the wreck and be by my side.
I apologize as to the (thing)
I said when I got out of the
car. We don't need to go into
that but you both know what
I mean.
That's not me and I should
have watched my language.
Again I thank you with all
my heart, I don't know who
you are. I didn't even get your
names.
I think if you all had not
been there to hold me up I
would have passed out. Most
people would have drove on
by, but you didn't. I will never
forget your kindness.
My daughter has a broke
wrist and cuts and bruises;
other than that thank God she
will be fine.
God bless you for your con
cern, and your kindness. We
need more people like you in
this world.
Sandra Anderson,
Tina's mom,
Nicholson
— The Influence Of A Teacher
Cont. from Page 4A
the South Yankee, but Yankee as
in the way the descendants of the
Mayflower and longtime residents
of rural New England spoke. It was
the “correct” dialect. She spoke it.
She inoculated me with it and it
took. Not only was she a good
speech teacher, it seemed as if
she knew all the interesting, excit
ing things going on in the world.
There was never time to be bored
because there was always another
class a grade or two ahead of you
in that one room that was doing
something you had not learned
yet, and you listened in. Miss
Foley walked on water, I was sure,
and I promised myself one day I
would be a teacher, too.
Miss Foley married after I left
the school. She went on to become
one of the most recognized teach
ers in the state, and won many
awards for her talent and inno
vations in education. It was her
inspiration that gave me the will
to keep the most important reso
lution I ever made. I became an
educator.
Claire Gaus is a retired educator
and volunteers in the community
in a number of capacities. She
lives in Commerce.
Staff-Produced
News Photos
Available Online
MainStreet Newspapers
Inc. offers staff-produced
photos from its five news
papers available for the
ordering of prints online
at its web site, main-
streetnews.com. Based in
Jefferson, the company
owns The Commerce News,
The Jackson Herald, The
Madison County Journal,
The Braselton News and The
Banks County News.
Access to the photos cata
logue is available from a but
ton on the mainstreetnews.
com web site. The photos
are hosted by DotPhoto
Inc., a firm which special
izes in making prints from
digital photographs and
which manages photos for
a number of newspapers
across the country.
There will be approxi
mately a one-week lag time
between the time photos
are published and their
availability at the online
site.
Those who don’t have
Internet access in their
homes may visit area pub
lic libraries that offer the
service.
No. 2
Story
Lots Of Activity
Kept Downtown In
The News In '07
The second most significant
story in the Commerce area
was the resurgence of the down
town, highlighted by the renova
tion of Spencer Park.
That project was under way as
the year began and culminated
in April when Southeast Toyota
Distributors sent dozens of vol
unteers to the park to install the
landscaping. SET also donated
$25,000 in cash to the project.
The DDA received a Georgia
Downtown Association award
for the project, largely because
of the private contributions of
cash, materials and labor that
allowed the city to bring the
project in at about half of what
was budgeted.
The park would be the center-
piece of the downtown activ
ity, hosting a large City Lights
festival loaded with good music
and food, a concert after the
Christmas parade, a “Movie
in the Park,” WJJC’s live Bill
Anderson broadcast on the sta
tion’s 50th anniversary, but it
was by no means the only thing
going on.
Commerce banks donated
$21,000 to fund a facade grant
program to encourage the reha
bilitation of building exteriors,
several of which took place or
were started during the year.
Chris Bray’s renovation of
her South Broad Street build
ing into two commercial spaces
and an upstairs apartment was
completed.
“There was an increased
interest in buying buildings,”
noted Hasco Craver, execu
tive Director of the Downtown
Development Authority. “There
was an increase in volunteers.
We had stronger committees,
and increased volunteerism on
all of our activities.”
The DDA had an active
year too. It acquired the for
mer Collins Cleaners build
ing, which it will rehabilitate
for meeting space, but also as
a public restroom. It also did
extensive renovation to the inte
rior of the Commerce Cultural
Center, and Craver thinks the
Atlanta Opera’s decision to
stage part of the opera “Cold
Sassy Tree” next Tuesday might
AA Meets 5 Times Weekly
The Breezy Knob chapter of
Alcoholics Anonymous meets
five times a week at 69 Central
Avenue in Commerce.
Meeting times are at 8
p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays,
Thursdays and Saturdays and
at 6:45 p.m. Sundays. Meetings
consist of open discussion.
3 W-1 D3? > Ewra Bridge Fkwy.
IftlTl SLT^: ■ I'/AlWmtl
of Commerce
$roo
5°°OFF
Ticket O1 s 20P° Or More. Valid with coupon Mon.-Thurs. only.
La Hacienda Commerce
173 Steven B. Tanger Blvd.
706-335-7458
La Hacienda Jefferson
605 Athens Street
706-367-5095
The Original Mexican Restaurant! Not affiliated with any other restaurant.
m
Thinking about a
new career?
Evening classes are starting January 8 for:
Real Estate Salesperson
at the Knoblock School, LLC
1215 South Elm Street, Commerce
next door to Hodsdon Realty
You do not have to drive to Atlanta anymore!
706-335-3381
www.knoblockandassoc.com
The Knoblock School is a Georgia Licensed Real Estate and Appraisal School
treach
ore
k)EW AWD USED FUewirU££,
vwrrfzessES, e±oraiw&,
Houseuotp goods, ere.
335-6084
2!S3 N.Elro Commit GA
Your p&ircnage helps prgvicfe for these in need.
Chris Bray’s (third from left) renovation of an upstairs apart
ment and two storefronts was a major private initiative in the
downtown.
be one result.
“If they came in and saw a
bunch of heavy duty trash bags
covering the windows, I don’t
know if they’d be as inclined to
come,” he said.
The long-awaited directional
signs were installed during
2007; 2008 could bring a mall-
type kiosk or two to help pedes
trians locate places of interest
in the downtown.
WJJC Radio’s North Elm
Street building is undergoing
renovations of the interior and
exterior. Next door, the exte
rior of Dr. Elaine Beck’s office
is under renovation, and the
30-year-old facade of Giftworks
at the Joy Shoppe was removed
in late December for an upcom
ing renovation.
In conjunction with Better
Hometown Jefferson, Craver
started the “City to City Farmer’s
Market” last spring. Although
the number of vendors was
never huge, on most Saturdays
vendors sold out of produce
within a couple of hours. The
event took place in the parking
lot across from Craver’s office
on an every-other-Saturday
schedule through the summer.
Craver sees the activity
increasing in the new year.
“Hopefully, this coming year
we’ll have some really neat
stuff,” he says. “We’ve got a new
spring entertainment series,
'Fridays After 5:00’ that is par
tially funded by a grant from the
Georgia Council for the Arts.”
Craver hopes to have three
to four “performing arts-type
events” on alternating Friday
evenings in Spencer Park. He’s
looking at bands to bring in,
and is working with Windstream
to get the park Wi-Fi.
On the private side, Craver is
the conduit for bringing pros
pects into town. A restaurant
reportedly plans to relocate
from the south end of town
into the downtown, and a new
restaurant is negotiating for
another building.
CLASSIFIED ADS
26,500 READERS
S10 PER WEEK
706-335-2927 • 706-367-5233
MasterCard • VISA
Save $3
by placing ads online at
classified@mainstreetnews.com
Ip rrtirtlflrffll Lltff FfcKhtr * 1
histirtfidijr, W( misi
Lo't-Cichf. lik, Rjss LA mu
Mrwrf4.IWT-HflE.It0i
Our
classifieds
are M
online
at
C
,<y
£
$
f
9
Log
On
Today!
The only local GM dealer offering Saturday Service
COOLANT EXCHANGE & COOLANT
FLUSH WITH OIL CHANGE
*1 4 g95
For most vehicles
HOME OF $14.95 OIL CHANGE
Hwy. 441 in Commerce
706-335-3196
800-798-7435
www.wayneneal.com
SERVICE HOURS:
M-F 7:30-6:00 • Sat. 8:00-4:00