Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

PAGE 6A a • Chris Kfemas Columnist When the stock market is tur bulent, many investors “redis cover” bonds. After all, the thinking goes, bonds are fixed rate investments, so they must be more secure than stocks. And even if a bond’s rate isn’t partic ularly high right now, at least it’s predictable. But are bonds really that solid and stable? Yes - and no. Let’s look at the “yes” side first. When you invest in bonds, you will receive a regular stream of interest payments. And, if you hold the bond until it matures, you will get the full value of your principal back, provided the issuer doesn’t default. And there’s not even much chance of that, as long as you purchase a government bond or a high-quality, “invest ment-grade” corporate bond. But what happens if you don’t hold your bonds until maturity? To begin with, keep in mind that bond prices rise and fall all the time. For example, if you have a bond that pays five per cent interest, and market rates rise to six percent, then no one will want to buy your bond at full value, so, if you want to sell it, you’ll have to offer it at a lower price. Conversely, if mar ket rates fall to four percent, then your five-percent bond will look pretty good to other investors, so they’ll pay you a premium over and above the face value. Consequently, if you buy a bond -with the intention of sell ing it before it matures, you need to be prepared for the ups and downs of the bond market. The only way you can be sure that you won’t lose any princi pal on your bond is to hold it until maturity. One way to do that is to match a bond’s matu rity with your needs. If you think you’ll need proceeds from a bond in five years to help pay for a child’s college education, you won’t want to buy a 10-year bond. In five years, interest rates could have risen higher than what your ten-year bond is paying - so, if you want to sell it, you’d have to take a loss. But if you bought a five-year govern ment bond, or a high-quality corporate bond, you can be rea sonably certain of having the money you need in time for col lege. Be aware that bonds with longer maturities usually - but not always - pay higher interest rates than shorter-term bonds. And long-term bonds carry a higher degree of interest-rate risk; the longer you hold your bonds, the more susceptible you are to interest-rate fluctuations and their impact on bond prices. You’ll also need to be cog nizant of the fact that your bond may be “called” at any time. Bond issuers may pay off princi pal early - or “call” their bonds - when interest rates have fallen. They can then reissue bonds at a lower rate. Some bonds, how ever, can’t be paid off early, so, before buying a bond, find out if it offers this type of “call protec tion.” Since you usually don’t know exactly when you might need to sell a bond, you might want to consider a long-term strategy of building a “bond ladder” con taining bonds of varying matu rities. Bond ladders also offer a degree of income protection: When market rates are low, you’ll always have some higher rate long bonds, and when mar ket rates are high, you’ll have short-term bonds coming due to reinvest. Bonds may not be the perfect safe and sound haven you seek from the stormy stock market - but they still offer some good benefits, such as diversification and regular income. So, if they’re appropriate for your needs, consider adding bonds to your portfolio. Robins Air Logistics Confer and Rockwell Colins sign agreement Jbmx ff§* K . JfF m ' taw —~ji iQ ’ * IHWSR! ** jm Photo by Judy Hall Signing the agreement are (l-r) Harry Gregory, Maj. Gen. Donald Wetekam and Gregory Churchill. By Judy Hall Staff Writer Maj. General Donald Wetekam, Commander of Warner Robins Air Logistics Center (WR-ALC) met Monday with Harry Gregory and Gregory Churchill of Rockwell Collins to sign a Strategic Partnership Agreement. Rockwell Collins, a leader in aviation electronics and com munications, has been in busi ness for more than 70 years. The company provides aviation electronics for many of the world’s aircraft manufacturers and airline customers, as well as a major share of the world’s mil itary forces. Harry L. Gregory is Vice President and General Manager of Rockwell Collins Aviation Services. Gregory is responsible for a global network of Collins service centers providing repair Weyerhaeuser gets into the spirit * ip s |j| Weyerhaeuser’s employee force donated over 100 gifts to deserving youth in the Houston, Macon, Sumter and Peach county areas. Shown above are (l-r) Kelly Mayou, HOD AC children’s coordinator; Tone Iverson, Weyerhaeuser Angel Tree volunteer; Christy Bradberry, HODAC after care coordinator; Cynthia Paster and Betty Bellamy, Weyerhaeuser Angel Tree volunteer. Camellia beauty grows at Massee Lane New camellia beauty is quickly developing at Massee Lane Gardens in Fort Valley. Through the generosity of Mrs. Clare Dodd of Marshallville, Georgia, the American Camellia Society, which has its national headquarters at the gardens, is propagating the pri vate camellia seedling collec tion of Mrs. Dodd’s husband, the late Richard E. Dodd. Known to his friends as “Dick”, the Marshallville, Georgia, resident spent most of his life planting camellia seeds under several acres of pines on his property. The new camellia varieties he developed were, until recently, seen only by family members and close friends. “This collection consists of thousands of new camellia varieties, and more than 2,000 could be show winners” states Tom Johnson, horticulturist for the American Camellia Society. “This collection goes far beyond anything I ever Business and overhaul of avionics for commercial, business and mili tary aircraft worldwide Gregory Churchill is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Government Systems for Rockwell Collins. Additionally, he is a corporate officer of Rockwell Collins. Churchill pro vides leadership for all Government Systems business es. The Strategic Partnership Agreement will form an innova tive and strategic relationship between Robins ALC and Rockwell Collins which will aid them in jointly identifying, eval uating and implementing more affordable and effective support solutions for communications and navigation systems used by Robins ALC. The agreement will help to identify common objectives and expected to see in my lifetime ... much less be in charge of its propagation and cataloging for the future. When considering the fact that it can take up to 20 years for a camellia seedling to bloom for the first time, and that only one camellia seed in a thousand produces a flower good enough to register, it is easy to understand the magni tude of this collection. At Massee Lane over 1,000 vari eties of Mr. Dodd’s camellias qre already propagated, with each one chosen for its unique beauty and capability of being an award winner”, Johnson states with enthusiasm. “Thanks to Dick Dodd’s efforts, the public will be enjoy ing his new camellia varieties for years to come.” Mrs. Dodd has donated a new hybridization greenhouse for the gardens in honor of her late husband. This new green house, in addition to housing the Dodd seedlings, is used as a classroom to teach hybridiza ptnuaton Pirate establish a framework and structure to harmonize logistics initiatives between the ALC and Rockwell Collins. This will aid in providing superior support to the war fighters flown by Robins. This agreement supports the ALC’s objective of sharing gov ernment and industry technical and managerial capabilities to provide the best hardware and services for the best prices. WR-ALC is responsible for worldwide logistics support for the C-130, C-5, C-141 transport aircraft, F-15 fighters, U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, as well as support for remotely piloted vehicles, all Air Force helicop ters, air-to-air missiles, surface motor vehicles, high-technology airborne electronics, and avion ics and electronic warfare requirements. v i L.i aii ryi-jLi li*ii Lt.siii ■< . ii tion classes, grafting, and other aspects of camellia prop agation. To date the new green house houses some four thou sand three-gallon plants propa gated from the Dodd collection, with several thousand more expected in the next few years. As the horticulturist contin ues to propagate the Dodd seedlings at Massee Lane Gardens, the collection will be preserved for the future. It will be located in a special area of the garden, providing a wel come addition for visitors to enjoy. The gardens are located a short distance from 1-75 on Georgia Highway 49, five south of Fort Valley. “A horticulturist could spend a lifetime just working on this collection,” the horticulturist muses. “The American Camellia Society is indeed fortunate to be able to carry on Dick Dodd’s legacy, and his love of camel lias, into the future” states Johnson. snaring God's Gift of Grace It’s Christmas! Tomorrow is a day of celebration around the world because a special baby was bom twenty centuries ago. God loved us so much that He came in human form to show by example and through His teachings how we might live an abundant life. Born in humble circumstances, Jesus walked with us only a few years, voluntarily sacrificing His life on earth for your self ishness and mine, “The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17) So when we celebrate Christmas, we are also cele brating the transform a t ion of God’s agreement with humans from one of legalism to one of grace. Grace.. We’ve all heard the word many times, but do we understand what it means? Unfliterlted fteror is the definition I learned years ago. But even those are words I rarely use. Oh, I understand the “unmer ited” part pretty easily. That means, “You don’t deserve it, Dennis, and you can’t do anything to earn it!” But what about the “favor” part? That’s the unconditional love and abundance of blessings God provides to us rebellious, self-centered human beings! God created us to fellowship with Him, to love Him, and to give honor to His greatness. However, many of us focus our love and adoration on possessions, or other people (such as sports heroes or entertainment superstars), or on pursuing worldly wealth. Despite our misplaced attention, God blesses us with His favor anyway. Christmas gives us a fresh opportunity to rec ognise God’s amazing grace, express our appreciation for it, and reconsider our own behaviors relative to sharing “unmerited favor” with others. Enabling poww is a description Jerry Bridges uses in his book Transforming Grace. When Jesus left the earth, God sent the Holy Spirit to live in us, a “Counselor to be with you forev er.” (John 14:16). “The Holy Spirit strengthens us and enables uS to meet in a godly fashion whatever circumstances cross our paths. God’s grace-that is, the enabling power of the Holy Spirit-is given to help us respond in such a way.” We realize the sufficiency of God’s grace as we become more aware of our human insufficiencies. As we mature, we see more clearly our frailty, our weakness, and our dependence on God and on others. And we appreciate more clearly God’s enabling power to help us choose and execute actions that honor Him. relationship is another description of grace, found in Hiding from Love by John Townsend. God never with holds His relationship from us. He is always reaching out, invit ing us to draw close to Him. Townsend explains that our behav iors, however, sometimes liave the effect of isolating us, hiding from the love of other human beings and even from God. “As we accept God through Christ, we receive the grace that He bestows through forgiveness. Along with this unmerited acceptance and restoration, He also provides people of grace who can come alongside us and enflesh for us the reality of His forgiveness.” Oh, how many times have you and I missed an occasion to serve as just such a person of grace? Too many for me, I assure you! This column is normally devoted to topics of personal and leadership development. Today I chose to address “grace” because each of us has many opportunities to share God’s grape with family, colleagues, customers, suppliers, and community members! People mess up, and sometimes we are too swift to judge and too slow to forgive. God gives grace, and we can, too. God delivers grace to us through Christ’s birth, life, instruc tion, death, resurrection, and subsequent gift, the Holy Spirit. As you and I celebrate a Merry Christmas, let’s reflect on our willingness to share God’s gift of grace with those whom we influence. Serving the Lord -and His people with gladness. dh(M>|K'r2&' jimo.com (478) 988-0237 SAVEMONEY TODAY on Home and Auto Insurance Call for a “No Hassle Quote” “For your Best Insurance Value” www.walker-insuranceagency.com \ Walker [ [lnsurance Agency, Inc. ' 906 Ball Street • Perry, GA SAY GOOD BYE TO CABLE! 2 Room System FREE! (Including Installation) Digital Satellite 800-859-0440 www.RONSTV.com DIRECTV* FEEL THE JOY* Mid Mi otter lor net residential customers who purchase any OIfIECTV System from a participating retailer until l/f 1/03, and commit to pay lot 12 consecutive months ol any TOTAL CHOICE or OPCION EXTRA ESPECIAL package ($3199/mo or atone), plus activate SHOWTIME UNLIMITED programming within 30 days ol equipment purchase Certain restrictions apply See retailer lor details C 20(12 DIRECTV, lik. DIRECTV, FEEL THE JOY, TOTAL CHOICE, and the Cyclone Design logo are Registered Trademarks ol OIRECTV, Inc, a unit ol Hughes Electronics Corp I ... even greater things... Dennis Hooper dhooper2@juno.com F. Dennis Hooper Personal Coach and Collaborator “Is there a gap between where you are and where you want to be?” Hooper and Friends, Inc. DECEMBER 24,2002 Larry Walker (478) 987-8000