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WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 2008
THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS
PACE 5A
Letters to the Editor
Homer mayor speaks at CVB meeting
Banks BOE ‘does PC two-step again’
Dear Editor:
I suppose the old adage is true -
the more things change, the more
they stay the same. The latest vic
tim to be thrown under the bus by
our esteemed, “always the teacher,
never the student” school board is
longtime and faithful educator, Lori
Rylee.
Ms. Rylee, whose record is cleaner
than most operating tables, has been
dragged before the court of public
opinion and hysteria over a case that
could have only been conjured up in
one place - a child's imagination.
Yes, I am saying it - this was made
up, contrived by the collective men
tality of children.
Let me also say that this was prob
ably not done in malice or spite. We
must realize that for all our attempts
to grow our children up too fast,
they simply do not have the same
take on reality and understanding of
Dear Editor:
When someone is caught red-
handed stealing and told to unload
the items and then let go, it is just
wrong. We have had a lot of stealing
in this area lately and it seems to me,
if I am correct, that a thief is a thief.
These people had been stealing from
this place for two days before they
were caught on the third day and
they just let them go.
environment as we adults do. The
disturbing thing is that this appears
to be evident in the parents as well.
When I hear a parent make a com
ment like, “when a hundred kids
have the same story then it must be
true,” I cringe. This just means that
there are a hundred immature minds
embracing the same misconception.
If we went through the school at the
beginning of a day telling the stu
dents that the president was visiting
campus in three days, it would be a
firm reality by lunch time!
Consider that the source prob
ably does not have the capacity
to distinguish fact from fiction -
not because of anything evil, but
because their minds have simply
not logged enough hours of use to
distinguish (dare I say discriminate)
between the two.
Let's now balance that with the
near spotless record of a fine, well-
What I want to know is why? If
someone gets caught at Wal-mart
stealing, they go to jail but not if
they are caught at someone’s home.
What are they saying to the thief-
go ahead and steal from everyone in
our county, it is all right. We will not
do anything to you but do not steal
from any stores because you will go
to jail.
Do we have to protect our homes
liked, well respected administrator
and colleague who has served Banks
County schools for over 13 years
and maybe, just maybe, we might
look at this in a different light.
But now to the truly sad part
of this story - the Gregory Hines
tap dancing skills of our intrepid
school board who are more than
willing to appease any conflict of
this sort by simply sacrificing or
pressuring the teacher in question to
crawl away under the cover of night.
These are teachers and administra
tors whose education qualifications
(i.e. degrees) run circles around our
current crop of board members -
most of which don't have college
degrees themselves. Yet they get to
pass judgment on fine educators like
Lori Rylee.
Sincerely,
Don Hays
Commerce
by any means possible? Do we have
to stand guard with our guns so
thieves do not take what we worked
hard for all our lives? Seems that
way to me because Banks County
will not. They will just let them go.
People of Banks County, what do
you think?
Sincerely,
Emily Ray
Commerce
process.
Maybe one day, someone will
wake up and have all of the answers
to the mysteriousness of dreaming.
Until then, we will all just have to
sleep on it.
Sherri Stephens is a contributing
columnist for The Banks County
News. E-mail comments about this
column to charmbug5@hotmail.
com.
BY SHARON HOGAN
Homer Mayor Doug Cheek pre
sented the program at the month
ly meeting of the Banks County
Convention and Visitors Bureau on
Wednesday, June 25, at the Holiday
Inn Express.
Cheek highlighted some of the
recent changes to the downtown
Homer area as part of the city’s
streetscape project. Cheek said the
city received a $500,000 grant for
this project.
One mile of Ray Street was paved.
New benches and trash cans have
been installed. The fountain area
has been re-done. New banners are
up in the downtown area. Some
new sidewalks and curbs have been
installed. Crosswalks are in and the
street lights are up, Cheek said.
Cheek said new flags and a new
flagpole have been installed in front
of the historic courthouse.
Cheek also highlighted some
of the events held in downtown
Homer. The annual Sunday School
celebration has been going on for
135 years in the downtown area.
The city will hold its annual Labor
Day Lestival on Aug. 29-31 on the
lawn in front of the historic court
house. Cheek said the courtroom
upstairs in the historic courthouse
will be used this fall while the cur
rent courthouse is being renovated.
A farmers market is being held
every Saturday in the downtown
area. At the farmers market each
Saturday a local church sells food
to the patrons.
Cheek said the new Homer Lire
Department is about one-half com
plete. He urged everyone to go by
and see the new building.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business at the meeting
on Wednesday:
•the members approved the
monthly income of $18,579 and the
monthly expense of $7,088 for the
CVB presented by Sherry Ward.
•Chairman Mark Valentine
announced Brenda Miller of Wells
Largo Mortgage Company as a new
member.
We will have to sleep on it
I was sitting on the sofa in my
pajamas, thumbing through a
new catalog while waiting for
my green tea and kelp facial mask
to dry, and that’s when I heard a
knock at the door. I hesitated about
answering, knowing whoever was
on the other side wouldn't recog
nize me with a green face.
When I opened the door, there
stood a television crew, and Ed
McMann. He was holding a giant
check and balloons, and blowing
an air horn! Just before fainting,
I screamed, “I know I must be
dreaming!” I was — the sound of
the air horn was my annoying alarm
clock blaring from across the room.
Dreaming has been a puzzling,
yet fascinating, topic of interest for
many throughout history. After all,
humans spend one third of their
lives sleeping. This means six years
of sleep during an average lifetime.
Dreams are unique in that nobody
else can have your emotions, same
experiences or identical back
ground. In dreams, the rules of
sherri
Stephens
reality do not
apply. The
average person
usually dreams
three to five
dreams per
night, totaling
around two
hours of sleep
time.
Whether
you believe it
or not, every
one dreams.
However, studies show that five
minutes after the end of a dream,
half of the content has already been
forgotten. After 10 minutes, 90 per
cent has been lost. And get this —
during snoring time, no dreams are
taking place.
So why do we dream? One theory
suggests that it is a natural response
for our bodies, a way to cleanse
and release all of the emotions
that were held back throughout the
day. Others believe that it is just
a biological necessity of the sleep
Concerned with thieves being ‘let go’
DOWNTOWN HOMER UPGRADES
Homer Mayor Doug Cheek spoke to members of the Banks
County Convention and Visitors Bureau at the monthly meeting
on Wednesday about the changes and upgrades being made in
downtown Homer as part of the city's streetscape project.
Photo by Sharon Hogan
•the group received a report that
the new banners are up thanks to
Gene Hart, Banks County Board of
Commission Chairman.
•the members were presented a
copy of the TV commercial for
JBTV 54 for the CVB.
•Sherrard White announced the
upcoming car show to be held from
9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct.
4, at Denny’s. White said 2,000 fli
ers have been distributed about the
event. Car show sponsorships are
available for $25 each. White also
said door prizes are needed.
•White also announced the
upcoming Chocolate Lair to be held
on Nov. 10. He said Brenda White
is working to get a bakery owners
to serve as a judge along with Mike
Duncan and Gene Hart.
•Valentine announced the tax
free holiday scheduled for July 31
through August 3.
•White announced the monthly
car show held at Denny’s from
10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the second
Saturday of each month. A car
show is also held at Commerce
Crossing from 5 to 9 p.m. on the
second Saturday each month.
•Valentine told the group that
Ward is the Banks County fund
raising chairman for the Northeast
Georgia district of the State YMCA
of Georgia and is a member of the
State Council of the State YMCA
of Georgia.
•Ward said the Banks County
Entrepreneur Committee is still
active and the county has achieved
the entrepreneur friendly status.
•Ward said the CVB is working
with the Banks County Chamber of
Commerce to host a meeting of the
One Georgia Authority in Banks
County.
•Cheryl Smith, Georgia Economic
Development Commission, was
in attendance. Smith conducted a
class prior to the regular meeting.
•Alecia Andrews announce the
upcoming Art & Antiques Lestival
scheduled for 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., on
Aug. 2 and 3, at the Commerce
Crossing shopping center.
The next monthly meeting of the
CVB will be held at 2 p.m. on
Wednesday, July 30. The location
will be announced at a later date.
Bike ride to benefit BCHS football
The Banks County Leopards
Coach's Club and Indian Creek
Cycles will host a benefit motor
cycle ride Saturday to benefit the
Banks County High School football
program.
The ride will start at 10 a.m.
at Indian Creek Cycles, Banks
Crossing and go through neighbor
ing counties. The cost is $35 per
bike and $15 per additional rider.
Participants will receive a T-shirt.
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