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Editorial
The Banks County News
December 1, 1999
Shop
at home during this holiday season
The day after Thanksgiving
signals that the shopping season is in full swing. Banks Countians
are fortunate in that they do not have to travel very far to
find all of their shopping needs.
The outlet stores at Banks Crossing provide a wide selection
of merchandise. Other stores in Homer and throughout our county
also have gift items.
The stores that are in Banks County provide many valuable things
to our citizens. In addition to providing jobs for our residents,
the stores also send plenty of sales tax revenue our wayboth
for county government and county schools.
This shopping season, do your shopping in Banks County. In addition
to those stores located throughout the county, also check out
the outlet stores that are in Banks County, those located next
to the new Wal-Mart store that is under construction. Shopping
locally will help our county continue to grow.
Letter
The Banks County News
December 1, 1999
Air
quality still an issue
Dear Editor:
In case you thought you heard all the bad news on air quality,
think again. We learned about smog from cars and the big utilities,
but nobody mentioned our local EMCs.
EPD is about to issue permits for diesel-powered generators to
take care of the summer load when rates are at their highest
- as a money-saver for the EMCs. The trouble is, these little
rental generators have no controls to take care of the nitrogen
oxide (NOx) emissions, the very thing that makes smog so deadly.
The head of EPD's Stationary Source Division said that no emission
controls would be required until the spring of 2003, to match
what Atlanta is doing for its smog control.
Permit applications have come from many nearby locations: Forsyth
County (Sawnee EMC - many sites in Cumming), Hall (Flowery Branch),
Gwinnett (Buford), Jackson (Jackson EMC) and Union (Blairsville).
Each unit is small, but there are so many of them, and other
EMCs could still apply.
The public does have an opportunity to learn more and to make
comments, by writing a specific request for a hearing. Address
Jimmy Johnston, program manager, Stationary Source Permitting
Program, Air Protection Branch EPD, 4244 International Parkway,
Suite 120, Atlanta, Ga. 30354. Letters must be received by December
10. It takes a certain number of letters to get a hearing, but
EPD never says what that number is.
For more information, call Mr. Johnston at (404) 363-7000. Good
air is getting hard to find.
Sincerely,
Adele Kushner, President
Action for a Clean Environment
Alto
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Column
By Angela
Gary
The Banks County News
December 1, 1999
 'No, we're not twins'
or 'Do I look 52?'
An annual holiday shopping trip on Friday
led to more of the usual "Are you twins?" questions.
My mother and I get these questions at the grocery store, at
the mall, at the post office and on the sidewalk.
It didn't help matters on Friday that Mom and I had on matching
red turtle neck shirts and denim shirts with Frosty the snowman
on them. We like to wear Christmas clothing for our annual day-after-Thanksgiving
shopping excursion and we found the denim shirts at a good price.
The only reason that the "Are you twins?" comment annoys
me is that I'm afraid that it means I look 52 years old, which
is how old my mother is. I don't care if we look alike or not,
but I don't want to look any older than my 32 years. Everyone
assures me that I don't look old. It is just that my mother looks
so much younger than she is. The comments still lead me to mutter
things such as, "Yeah, we're twins. I was just born 20 years
after her" or "She's 52 and I'm 32. Did you really
think we are the same age?"
Actually, I wouldn't mind if we did look alike. I think my mother
is beautiful, but I don't think we look alike. It's just that
we both have black fuzzy hair, which is the first thing most
people notice. I keep telling her that it is an insult for both
of us to be mistaken for twins. She is two decades older than
me and I'm 20 pounds heavier than her. Either way, someone is
insulting one of us when they think we are identical twins.
What's even more strange is that some people see my mother and
tell her, "Oh, you're that woman that writes for the paper"
or "I love your column in the newspaper." I can accept
the fact that we might look like twins (because of the hair thing),
but how could people think we are the same person?
Other than the usual "twin" comments, we had fun shopping
Friday. I don't know if it was curiosity, boredom or insanity
that led two of Amanda's friends to agree to accompany us on
our annual day-after-Thanksgiving shopping excursion at dawn.
I always enjoy this holiday tradition with my mother and sister.
We have plenty of time to sleep off the Thanksgiving turkey on
Thursday afternoon, so we are able to get up early the Friday
after to head out shopping.
We always try to get to the malls when the stores open, which
is sometimes as early as 6 or 7 a.m., in order to beat the crowds.
Some people aren't able to get up at 5 a.m. to go shopping, so
it isn't as crowded early in the morning as it is in the afternoon.
Some people may think this is crazy (columnist Mary Ann Robinson),
but others know the fun of heading out with loved ones in the
wee hours of the morning hunting for bargains.
Anyway, Amanda's two teaching buddies, Amoreena Hart and Christy
Hardy, joined us for this year's excursion. They are great friends
and wonderful teachers, a combination that leads some people
to extreme jealousy.
I had five envelopes with our names on them filled with coupons
I had spent an hour clipping out the previous day. Needless to
say, Amanda's friends found out just what she means when she
says her sister is organized.
It was a pleasant day and we were ready for lunch by 11 a.m.,
which is when all of the sleepy-heads were coming into the malls
to shop. Of course, I finished my Christmas shopping back in
the summer, but I still enjoyed looking for those early morning
bargains. One thing about shopping early is that you can shop
for yourself on the day after Thanksgiving.
We caught a bit of attention due to our outfits for the day.
Amanda, Christy and Amoreena all had on matching gray shirts.
We thought it would be easier to spot each other in the crowd.
And Mom and I had on the matching holiday outfits.
Angela Gary is editor of The Banks County News and associate
editor of The Jackson Herald.
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