|
Editorial
The Banks County News
June 7, 2000
Leave those signs
alone
It's childish and a waste of time.
But it happens every time an election year rolls around.
Candidates start complaining about their political signs being
stolen or vandalized. The culprits who are guilty of these crimes
should be ashamed of themselves. They also need to know what
a waste of time their actions are.
Tearing down a campaign sign doesn't stop anyone from voting
for the candidate they prefer. Of course, it does hurt the candidate
in that the money they spent for the signs is wasted. Maybe that's
the goal all along.
Let's hope our county residents are too mature to participate
in these juvenile activities. If you support a candidate, volunteer
to help with the campaign. But don't try to do this by hurting
his opponents. And if you see someone destroying or stealing
a sign, report them to the authorities.
Column
By Adam Fouche
The Banks County News
June 7, 2000
I'm going pro in
badminton
Last summer, I made an effort to join the pro Putt-Putt golf
circuit. Unfortunately, that effort died after only a couple
of hours.
But this year, I have a new passion. I'm leaving the green and
I'm putting away my putter. No more windmills and waterfalls.
This year, I'm going pro in badminton.
Now, I think I'm prepared to do this. The first semester of this
past school year, I took badminton at UGA. For fifteen weeks
on Tuesday and Thursday, I went to the Ramsey Center at school
at eight in the morning to play badminton.
For one hour at a time, I went through drills and practices.
I learned the rules, for both singles and doubles play. My teacher,
who had not played badminton ever before teaching my class, taught
us all the shots-a drop shot, a clear shot, backhand, forehand,
underhand, overhand, lefthand, righthand.
I practiced a good bit and got on top of my game. But I didn't
play like the rest of the people in my class. They would drag
in lazily at 8 a.m. and just stand around. Oh no, not me.
I played with heart. I played with passion. I played with determination.
If had to dive on the gym floor, I dove. If I had to leap into
the air, I leaped. If I had to run and slide and put out some
effort, I did it. I was an excellent player.
Last semester, I wanted to take badminton again. But I can't.
UGA won't allow you to take the same course twice, provided you
passed it the first time. And, there is no intermediate badminton,
only beginners. I wanted to play really bad, though.
As last semester moved on, I eventually forgot about badminton.
I didn't have the class anymore, and I just didn't think about
it. But as the weather has gotten warmer, outside sports are
on my mind again.
Recently, I picked up badminton once more. My girlfriend put
up a badminton net at her house. And, oh yeah, I've been playing.
The passion is back, and I'm still good. I've got all the moves
and all the shots I had before. That's right, I've still got
game.
I'm trying to help my girlfriend out too. Lori is a really good
player, don't get me wrong. In fact, she's even taught me a couple
of shots. But, I'm going to get her on my comprehensive training
program, and she'll be a pro in no time. Then, maybe we can go
in as a team.
Next week, at the company picnic, there is supposed to be a badminton
net set up. We are going to have a little tournament. My co-workers
just don't know what they're in for. After I get done training,
and after I get Lori through the training program, we'll be unstoppable.
Guys, you better watch out. I'm hoping the tournament will jump
start my pro career.
I've been practicing hard and I'm searching for sponsors. In
fact, if there are any sporting goods manufacturers out there
who need a big-name badminton spokesman, I'm here. Just call
my agent. We'll get things set up.
In the meantime, I'll be hanging out at the house, practicing
for the big tournament next weekend.
Adam Fouche is a reporter for MainStreet Newspapers.
Letter
The Banks County News
June 7, 2000
Disappointed in
feature article
Dear Editor:
This is in response to the article in last week's Banks County
News about our mobile support team with the fire department.
As a member of Banks County Mobile Support Team, First Responder
and a firefighter, I cannot express my disappointment and outrage
in this article.
There are many members of support team and I feel this article
belittled and alienated myself, along with the other members
who were not mentioned or thanked for their time and efforts.
It takes everyone in the group to make this organization work
with daily operations, scene successfulness and, of course, fund-raisers.
This article to me, as a member, was one-sided and did not paint
the picture I wish it had for everything we have done and hoped
to do. I was proud to be a member of Banks County Mobile Support,
but not anymore.
Sincerely, Starla Smallwood, Commerce
|
Column
By Angela
Gary
The Banks County News
June 7, 2000
Intent was to recognize
group, not individuals
A couple of weeks ago, I saw an announcement in this paper about
the Banks County Mobile Support Group being formed to assist
the fire department during emergencies. These volunteers respond
to fire calls with cold drinks and other supplies. I know that
most of these volunteers have full-time jobs and families which
take up much of their time. They likely also have other church
and civic responsibilities which cuts their free time down even
more each week. I also assumed that the volunteers could use
as much help as possible in their efforts.
As editor, I make news and feature assignments each week. I thought
this would be a great feature to highlight the selfless devotion
of these volunteers and to bring more helpers to the group. I
assigned a feature article to reporter Beth Chester. I asked
her to contact a few members and write about what they do. I
was pleased with her feature and thought it was not only newsworthy,
but might help the group out.
I was shocked to find out that some members of the group were
"outraged and disappointed" because they were not mentioned
in the article. The intent was not to list every member of the
group, although I have no problem doing that. The intent was
to bring attention to the new organization and, hopefully, bring
in more volunteers or even donations.
A look through past issues of this paper or any other newspaper
will show you that a feature article does not have to provide
a list of all involved in order to have an impact or to provide
helpful information. Last week's feature was on Day at the Fort
at Fort Hollingsworth. Many people had displays at this annual
event and many people worked to make it a success. There was
not a list of names of those who had exhibits nor were their
pictures of everyone involved. The reporter who handled that
feature got photographs and comments from several representatives.
In this week's issue, the feature front is on the high school
graduation. It does not include a list of all 88 graduates, or
photographs of all of them. This doesn't mean that they all aren't
very important. We are proud of all the graduates, just as we
are proud of all of the volunteers in the mobile support group.
I want everyone to know that the ladies quoted in our feature
article did not contact us. They did not call us and asked to
be quoted in a story. We contacted them at random and did not
intend to slight anyone. The story was on the group as a whole,
not on individual people. I assume the volunteers are dedicated
and caring because they want to help someone, not because they
want to get their name in the paper. We certainly appreciate
everyone in the group. They are all serving a much-needed role
and are to be commended for volunteering.
Angela Gary is editor of The Banks County News.
Letter
The Banks County News
June 7, 2000
Thanks all members
of group
Dear Editor:
This is in response to the article about Banks County Mobile
Support in the paper last week. As president of the mobile support
team, I feel that the article was very selective with its information.
Our team is made up of lots of people, not just a few. I don't
feel like our team as a whole was properly represented. It takes
every single person in our group for us to be a success.
Most of our group are trained in other areas also. Ten out of
the 12 active members are also nationally certified first responders.
Three of these same members are also firefighters. We are a diverse
group, in which everyone brings something good into the group.
I'd like to thank everyone who was not mentioned in this article
for all of their hard work and time. It is each of you that makes
us a team!
Thank you: Chris Bray, Carence Burks, Kedra Burks, Denise Kreig,
Starla Smallwood, Kyllie James, Perry Smith, Cindi Cheek, Sandra
Evens and Nicole Evens. Thank you for everything you do! Thank
you also to the Banks County Board of Commissioners and Perry
Dalton and the firefighters, whom without your support, we wouldn't
be here.
Sincerely, Jessica Hoyt, President, Banks County Mobile Support
|
