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PAGE 4A 1910 fTTfi ftfl Mnuaton |Hmne If 2060 Washington St 7I L. 11 * 4 .4*4*, 14, I Watson Blvd. Perry,Ga 4 I ltl> 41 ftl T ff ft Warner Robins, Ga (478)987-1823 VMIV -MM* 4>CW (478)329-9900 “Houston Countv\ f />onl flronn Sinrp 1R70” Esssssszssa Daniel F. Evans President Editor and Publisher Bobbie Parker Julie B. Evans Assistant to the Publisher Vice President Lula Batchelor Accounts Receivables 111 —M—' ■MMHI Sharon Berryhill Advertising Director Jim Hayes Display Advertising Manager Cheri Adams Advertising Sales Bonnie Evridge Advertising Sales CJ Jackson Advertising Sales Barbara Chastain Advertising Sales Betty Goodroe Classified Advertising Manager Sharon Jackson Classified Sales Caroline Little Legal Advertising Manager Emily Johnstone News Editor Judy Hall Staff Writer Luci Joullian , Staff Writer Charlotte Perkins Staff Writer James Tidwell Sports Editor Beverly Ellis Production/Technology Manager John Davidson Ad Design/Page Layout Angel Elledge Ad DesignlPage Layout Luci Joullian Ad DesignlPage Layout Stacey Shy Ad DesignlPage Layout . Billy Townsend Print Operations Manager Wayne Lenderman Press Foreman Michael Land Pressman Jimmy Townsend Mailroom Manager Robert Buckner Distribution Steve Reynolds Circulation Manager POSTMASTER: Send Address Changes To: The Houston Home Journal RO. Box 1910 Perry, GA 31069 The Houston Home Journal, A Periodical, Mailed (ISSN 1526-7393) At Perry, GA. Is Published Tuesday And Thursday For $30.00 Per Year By Evans Newspapers, Inc. 1210 Washington St. • Perry, GA 31069 478-987-1823 Fax 478-988-1181 E-Mail: hhj(«, evansnewspapers.com Web Site: www.houstonhomejournal.com Goon Time To View Our Blessings Tomorrow is Christmas Day. Already writers of all persuasions have told us how terrible it is that Christmas has become so commercialized. This isn’t the first year we have been told that. As a matter of fact, we cannot recall a Christmas in recent times when we have not been criticized for putting too much emphasis on the commercial aspects of Christmas. Maybe they are right. But it will not change next year or the year after or the many years after that. Christmas, as a time to give gifts and enjoy the boun ties we have, is ingrained in the people of this country. But there is more than crass commercialism abound ing at this time of season. Many individuals and organ izations have made super efforts to give gifts and com fort to the needy. Thousands of children and their fam ilies (those who have families) in our area alone will find Christmas Day a time to enjoy because of the efforts of these people. Most of us are blessed with good jobs and a standard of living that is the envy of the rest of the world. We can pause to look at our many blessings and be thankful for them. And we can think about the real reason that we observe Christmas Day. It should make all of us grate ful and humble. Is A Crisis On The Horizon? For many years the trend in public school education has been toward less students in each classroom, with the caveat that this will translate into better educated students. So far, if test results are to be believed, it has not worked out that way. However, both state and federal mandates are requir ing that classes become smaller in the years ahead. A report of a week ago raises concern for the future of quality public school education, unless an answer is found. According to the Professional Standards Commission, which certifies teachers in Georgia, something like 20 percent of prospective teachers taking certification tests failed them. More than half the prospective teach ers attending some colleges failed the test. This, of course, means that the number of students graduating into the teaching profession will lag behind the demand. If this turns out to be true, will there be a need to make a choice between quality teachers in larger class rooms or marginal teachers in smaller classrooms? We are sure that those who make the rules are look ing at this looming dilemma very seriously. Opinions fid (\L Mhwv ■ ‘ V\ \2MJJ CHR,sTMfIs! Do your remember when? I HAVE tried to think of some way to write a column on this occasion that will not be full of the same trivialities and boring recital of the same old things that most people are expected to read about at Christmas time. So I went back in time and have brought up to date some things I wrote on another occasion. Are you old enough to remem ber when: • Children used their imagina tions and played games with each other...and governments didn’t spend bundles of money provid ing them with organized and supervised recreation? • There were no government giveaway programs...and people were too proud to accept a hand out without doing some kind of work for it? • Doctors made house calls...and medical care was affordable? • We were lucky to get to ride in the wonderful, remarkable T model Ford? • We got our water from wells...and went to the bathroom in an outhouse popularly referred to as a “Chic Sale”. • Airplanes were novelties...not the most preferred form of trans portation? • News media struggled end lessly to present the news accu rately and fairly... instead of print ing anything that will sell a paper regardless of how inaccurate or sensational or cruel? During the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, do you ever find yourself wishing that you could rewind the clock and see Christmas through the eyes of a child again? Christmas traditions seem to have been tailor-made for chil dren. Isn’t it fun to see the excitement in a child’s eyes as he or she opens their new Rapunzel Barbie or Pokemon action figure? If I close my eyes and try -real ly hard, I can almost remember this excitement as I sit among a group of adults opening an end less round of socks, martini glasses and George Foreman grills. Of course Christmas is made for children. How many children do you see hitting the malls, struggling to find the Houston Pome Oh, to be a kid again 1 iKHHHI . : v HHk . Fey Evans Columnist foyevans 19@cox.net • Gross meant 12 times 12...n0t the description of something repulsive? • Young people were taught to do simple math in their heads instead of having to turn to a cal culator for the simplest act of addition, subtraction, multiplica tion or division? • You could tell the difference between a boy and a girl by the length of their hair or whether they wore earrings? • The last time the United States got into a real war...and won it? • Before TV. .when radio was king and you had to use your imagination as you listened to such programs as Jack Benny, Fibber McGee & Molly, Fred Allen, The Shadow and the mem orable invasion of Earth by Martians that frightened the entire nation? • Football was a really tough perfect last minute gift; addressing envelopes and lick ing stamps, sending out Christmas cards to every single acquaintance they’ve ever had; or staying up until 3 am to bake some “goodies” for the office Christmas party. I’ve heard many an adult say that they wish the holiday sea son would hurry up and get over with so that life could resume a sense of normalcy. But, then again, I’ve also heard a few adults desperately wishing for more time until the big day so that they could complete their shopping and the countless other errands that must be done before Christmas. Kids don’t have this problem. Their gifts usually consist of a few ornaments or finger-paint game played by 11 men on each team going both ways with no substitutions except for injuries? • There was just one 11-man All-American football team each season? I ' • Basketball players were short enough they had to throw the ball up to score a basket instead of dropping it in? • The United States govern ment balanced the budget year after year? • Japanese cars were called “tin cans” and Japanese radios were a joke? • We were all just plain Americans...not hyphenated Americans? • The word “gay” meant happy...not homosexual? • A lady would not be seen in public unless she was dressed to the hilt, high heels and all? • Gentlemen always opened the door of a car or room for a lady...and stood back to let her enter or leave a room first? • Women in the workplace were a rarity...and then came the arrival of “Rosie The Riveter” who helped build airplanes and changed the workplace forever? • No self-respecting man would be caught dead doing housework? • A well-rounded, somewhat plump woman was the ideaL.not broomstick thin? jm I imil Inaaßftan Luci Joussian Staff Writer ljoullian@evansnewspapers.com ed Christmas cards made in art class. They get two weeks off (which, as all we adults know by now, unfortunately just doesn’t exist for grownups) to sled, play with friends, play with toys and eat all the sweets they can stuff DECEMBER 24, 2002 • Some people thought the moon was made of cheese...and that there actually was a “man in the moon?” • Criminals were not pam pered? • Alleged childhood molestation or abuse were not qsed...and accepted...as legal defenses for adults committing crimes, even murder? • There were no interstate highways? • Businesses could operate without computers...and often with less people? • Baseball players played the game because they loved it and did it better than those multi-mil lion dollar prima donnas now in the big leagues? • Discipline in the schools was taken for granted and parents backed up the teachers and prin cipals? • People could associate with their friends and acquaintances without congress passing laws telling them that they had to add others that they did not know or did not want to socialize with them...or go to prison? • Americans were proud they wei;e bom and living in a country whose constitution guaranteed them that everyone was equal...before there were so many laws making some people more equal than the rest of us? in their cute little faces. They see the holiday season in all its pure simplicity and for all the right reasons - a chance to get toys! Of course, with the mate rialistic bent of our society, even children are becoming a little more jaded about the meaning of Christmas. I’ll never forget when we told my niece Olivia, who was around two or three at the time, that Santa’s elves were watching her eveiy move and that if she pitched a fit, the big man wasn’t going to bring her any presents. Olivia, recognizing the simple fact that grandparents usually come more often and bring big ger presents than Santa, said, “No, it’s OK. Grandpa will just pay the elves money and they will hide their eyes.”