The Commerce news. (Commerce, Ga.) 1???-current, June 01, 2016, Image 4

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The Commerce news., June 01, 2016, Image 4

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Newspaper Page TextPAGE 4A THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS • THE COMMERCE NEWS WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1, 2016 Editorial Views The perennial challenge of downtown Say it ain’t true! There are problems related to parking in downtown Com merce. For the umpteenth time — though the first in a year or two — The Commerce Downtown Development Authority heard about complaints of (gasp!) mer chants or their employees parking in front of downtown businesses. The DDA and the city have tried numerous remedies over the years. They instituted two-hour parking back when the city had parking meters; offenders either erased the chalk marks or moved the vehicle to another space and, on the rare instances when they were ticketed, ignored the tickets. Various DDA exec utive directors talked to offenders, used newsletters, handbills and peer pressure to try to shame them into compliance, tried to educate offenders as to the dam age they do to their own businesses, those of other businesses and how tak ing up parking spaces encouraged shop pers to go elsewhere. The city built and improved off-street parking areas, got standardized signage and made maps indicating the location of off-street park ing available to merchants. Yet the issue persists. The problem is twofold: chronic offenders are too lazy ignorant or selfish to care about how their actions hurt other businesses; and the city is unwill ing to spend the money it would take to institute and enforce a parking plan that could alleviate the problem. That’s the way it’s been in downtown Commerce since the automobile replaced the horse and buggy. That’s not to say there are not some successes. Some business own ers who’ve parked on-street change their ways. Sometimes the owner of a business does not realize his or her employees are using spaces needed by customers and will correct the situa tion, but in a market like the downtown where there is always turnover among businesses and personnel, the same problems keep coming back. In addi tion, it is not unusual to hear from a would-be customer that the customer went elsewhere simply because he or she could not find a convenient parking place near the downtown business he or she wished to visit. At the same time, merchants sometimes grumble that a prospective customer who would not walk 75 feet from the nearest parking spot to the store drove out to Walmart or the outlets where parking is plentiful, but often requires customers to walk much further. Human nature doesn’t change. There will always be some people who just don’t care that their actions have a neg ative affect on the community at large, people who consider nobody’s interests but their own. The city and the DDA have invested a lot of time and effort over the years to improve parking options in downtown Commerce, and there are more options, but convincing people to use those options, to be considerate of others and mindful of the economic value of a parking space is an ongoing challenge. Unless otherwise noted, all editorials are written by Mark Beardsley. He can be reached at mark@mainstreetnews. com. The Commerce News ESTABLISHED IN 1875 USPS 125-320 P.O. Box 908 Jefferson, GA 30549 MIKE BUFFINGTON CoPublisher SCOTT BUFFINGTON Co-Publisher Mark Beardsley. Editor THE COMMERCE NEWS is the legal or gan of the city of Commerce and is pub lished every Wednesday by MainStreet Newspapers Inc. Periodical postage paid at Jefferson, Georgia 30549. Subscription Rates Per Year: $25 POSTMASTER send address changes to THE COMMERCE NEWS, P.O. Box 908, Jefferson, GA 30549. Reflections on Memorial Day I awakened at 7:30 on Memorial Day giving little thought to the meaning of the day focused instead on when and how I might accomplish a few work-related tasks. But sitting on the patio, enjoying coffee, the sounds from the woods and yard and yet another beautiful spring morn ing, I could not escape the significance this day should hold. Too often, Memorial Day is just another feder al holiday, punctuated by programs at which the few who attend are reminded of the “ultimate sacrifice” made by those who died in the armed forces, programs that somehow never resonate with me—possibly because I never served in the military and lost no friends in war. In a post-911 era where no public prayer can be uttered without a plea for the protection of the “men and women in harm’s way” or remembrance of those who “died protecting our freedom,” I often wonder about how many of those lives were lost not protecting our free dom, but pursuing foolish, even immoral foreign policy. The Vietnam Conflict and the Iraq War come to mind. And then the truth hits. That doesn’t matter one whit when a soldier, sailor or airman dies in service of his or her country. Those doing the fighting, whether on the beaches of Normandy or the suburbs of Baghdad, are serving their country. They deserve remembrance, honor and respect. One of the greatest war crimes of the Viet- It's Gospel According To Mark By Mark Beardsley nam Conflict was that many of those returning from the hell of combat experienced insults and abuse from elements of the anti-war crowd. America did not win that war, but those who served in it demonstrated as much valor, deter mination and resolve as those in any war, and whether they volunteered or were drafted, they served. We owed them respect and, yes, gratitude, and they did not get it. We owe the same to our future veterans, the men and women who enlist in the Armed Forces today. They sign up for various reasons — educational opportunities, job stability a chance to travel and service to country. They do not seek combat. Yet each one understands that they may go into battle and if that is their lot, they will acquit themselves with honor. They will risk their lives for their country; the least we can do is use their service wisely. Let us not be led by our political leaders into an immoral bloody cauldron like Vietnam or an anger and ego<lriven invasion like Iraq. We must not let the President and Congress spend the lives of our service personnel on the whims of national fer vor and never without considering the potential cost in lives, families shattered, bodies broken and minds mined by the brutality of war. Memorial Day and Veterans Day pregrams are appropriate, but another productive way to demonstrate our gratitude — indeed love—for those who served and are serving is to keep relentless pressure on our leaders to improve the level of service rendered by the Veterans Administration to those whose service resulted in wounds or injuries that require lifelong care. Those who go off to war should never have to question the availability and quality of care if they need it. The men and women of the Armed Services are there for us. We must be there for them. Support for our armed forces is a greater commitment than a bumper sticker. It requires far more than twice-a-year patriotic programs. It demands that we have the backs of our military personnel with the same conviction with which they stand behind us — 24/7,365 days a year. That’s how we honor their sacrifices. Mark Beardsley is the editor of The Com merce News. He lives in Commerce. A gallery of historic echoes My sister and I were still going through our parents’ things - papers, photos, mementos - when our brother died. Now we have his things to go through as well. But “go through” is perhaps the wrong phrase. I t’s tmer to say that we wander through the letters, pictures, and clippings, wondering what to do about them. Recently my sister handed me a small flat box; the top says Neiman-Marcus in silver letters. “How about having a look through whatever’s in here?” Emily said, so I took the box and put it on the back seat of my car and forgot about it. But it kept popping into my field of vision until I brought it into the house. But deal with it how? I’d like to say that it’s the most amaz ing collection of family “stuff” you’ve ever seen, but now that I’ve peeked inside, really the box’s contents are just a microcosm of all that we’re supposed to be processing. What follows is a sampling of what I’ve found so far, under the red lid. First, a letter from my brother to our parents, written 50 years ago, telling them that he is not going to continue with his college education, because he has “a hunger to see new things, to feel new places under me.” I can only imagine the impact of those two pages. Beneath the letter, a copy of my Aunt Edith’s resume, and below that a 1911 Commerce News clipping of my great-grandfather Gober’s obituary, which A Few Facts, A Lot of Gossip II By Susan Harper includes a mention of his four years of ser vice to the Confederacy “in the cmel war.” Next, an anonymous and incomplete description of “some of the most exciting memories of my childhood,” followed by a description of the Flovilla & Indian Springs Railroad. “I can close my eyes,” the writer says, “concentrate, and hear the sound of the steam whistle of the little locomotive as it approached its destination.” I believe the writer was my grandmother, Mera Gober Trawick, whom some of you may still remem ber as Samanthy. She wrote for this paper for many years, and I recognize not only her style, but her typewriter, an old Royal that muddied its d’s and m’s and s’s. Further excavation brings “A Compendium of the Military Movements of Lt. John G.S. Ham Leading Up to the Vicksburg Cam paign,” written by an anonymous descen dant. What’s amazing is how Lt. Ham’s “Butts County Invincibles” of the 30th Regiment moved around: from south Georgia to Savan nah to Jacksonville, FL, to Wilmington, NC, to Charleston, SC, to Jackson, Mississippi, where after not quite two years’ service the poor man died of gangrene following the amputation of his leg. Inside this folded-up compendium is a small black-and-white photo of a house in Gainesville where my father’s family lived while he was a cadet at what was then North Georgia College. The roof, the shrubs, and the yard are all covered in snow. You can see how it is. My brother’s letter is 50 years old; my grandmother’s cherished memories are from a childhood that took place 120 years ago; my great-grandfather and my great-great uncle went to war 155 years back. Yet all of them rise up through their words and are as present to me as if we were all fond acquaintances. Maybe it’s our family’s love of storytelling and oral history, or their proclivity for writing, that makes these people so vivid and present to me. All I have to do is lift a lid, unfold a piece of paper, and I am flying back through time, in a gallery of echoes. And loving it. Susan Harper is a retired editor, lecturer, and local library director who currently serves on the Jackson County and Piedmont Regional library boards. Life's lasting impressions Memorial Day and Veterans Day always tug at my heart. The only connection I have to the armed forces is that both of my grandfathers served in World War II. Yet, I feel that all men and women who serve are part of an extended family because they serve our country. I’ve always been fascinated by the stories of soldiers I’ve read in books or watched in movies and want to immediately thank anyone who has served in the armed forces. Over the years, a few incidents made lasting impressions on me that instilled a stronger sense of patriotism. And, as I age, I am more aware of the sacrifices previous soldiers made and how lives are forever changed when a fami ly serves in the military. At my grandfather’s funeral in 1991, those in attendance were reminded that his service in the Navy was honorable and brave during World War II. An American flag was beautifully draped over my grandfather’s casket. At the con clusion of the ceremony, the flag was folded per fectly and handed to my grandmother who held it and stroked it with a gentle and loving touch. My grandfather never discussed his service with me, and I regret that I was an uninterested teenager who never asked him about it. Maybe I have a desire to learn more so I can better appreciate the lives of both of my grandfathers, Osceola Pinckney Gilbert, Jr. and Theodore Edward Smith, Jr. Another lasting impression is from two visits to Arlington Cemetery. A beautifully manicured place of reflection, a memorial of heroes, and a reminder of the huge sacrifice still give me chills as I recall my first look at all the headstones per fectly placed. The changing of the guard cere mony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier can also be witnessed during an Arlington Cemetery visit. During my first visit as an eighth grader I was intrigued with the uniform, the precise steps the soldiers took, and the reverence in the ceremony. But, as a 43 year old woman, I was tearful about the meaning of the tomb and the fact that there are many soldiers who are never identified. I can’t imagine the pain and anguish parents had not knowing what happened to their child. During a two-month visit to Europe when I was 10, we visited the Dachau concentration camp. Not fully understanding where I was, I was still hurt by the thoughts of what took place there. I remember seeing my grandmother cry during a video showing the torture inflicted on the prisoner. I buried my head in my dad’s shoulder during most of the movie. I remember walking through the barracks where the Jews lived and not understanding how humans could be treated with such hate; I remember how quiet and sad everyone was during the tour. Books and movies about war also leave lasting impressions. My two favorite books are “Night,” by Elie Weisel and “All the Light We Cannot See,” by Anthony Doerr; two different stories about the same war. Weisel’s story is about a Jewish boy in a concentration camp. Having visited Dauchau, I absorbed every word of his book. Doerr’s book was beautifully written combining the two lives of a French blind girl and a young German boy. This Memorial Day my husband and I watched “Unbroken,” the life story of Louis Zamperini who was a POW in Japan during World War II. As I watched the movie on a day to observe the sacrifices of those who gave their life, I am very emotional about what the past and present heroes in our world have endured. Their stories and what little I know about their service continues to leave lasting impressions on my heart. Tricici Massey is marketing director for Northridge Medical Cento: She lives in Com merce.