Opinions & Ideas
THE HOGANSVILLE HOME NEWS
usPs 62o-o4o
A €rimes lJubliatimt
Millard B. Gdmu, President
Mn HALZ
PU BLISHF2tADVERTLSING DmE£R
JOHN KtWKENDALL
ASSOCtATE Ptrmasrro
RoB Pd
ASSISTAN'r EDITOR
JArNE
BUS'SS MANAGER
Phone (706) 846-3188. Fax (706) 846-2206
P O. Box 426
Hogansville, Georgia 30230
Small Businesses
Have Big Impact
In rural areas like most of
us livein, therearenobigchalns
stores, only locally owned and
operated small businesses.
Sometimes, until one doses, we
really do not realize how much
these businesses mean to us as
an individual and to the com-
munity as a whole.
Small business is the leader
in job creation and a leader in
the world's economy;because
it's the embodiment of the
entrepreneurial spirit striving
to realize the American Dream.
Small-business owners are to
be commended for their for
their personal achievements
and contributions to our econ-
omy and our community.
business is so important to our
day-to-day lives and our com-
munity. Wthout the small busi-
nesses, our community would
certainly hurt etmatmfically.
While small business is an
economic powerhouse, but it
still knows you by your first
naHle.
WHAT'S GOOD for small
business is good for America
and for Georgi
Yet most people don real-
ize how sigrnficant a role small
business plays in our overall
economy."
Here are a few.
• Small business is
sible for 51 percent of the pri-
vate sector share of the nation's
gross domestic product
• Small business provides
most of the on-the-job training
and exposure to the labor force
for new entrants. They're also
more likely to employ younger
workers, older workers, for-
mer welfare recipients and
women
• The typical small-busi-
ness owner earns around
$40,000
• Roughly seven out of 10
small business owners start
their business with less than
$20,000
• Small business produces
SS percent of the nation's inno-
vations
• More than 75 percent of
all businesses in the United
States and in Georgia employ
between one to nine peo01e.
Nearly 99 portent of all
employers sign paychecks for
one to 100 employees.
THE ACCOMPLISH-
MENTS of ourocal small,
business owners toch each of
us. It's the small,business
owner who employs odf neigh-
bor, it's the small bdsiness
owner who sponsors our chil-
dren's little league team, and
it's the small-business offner
who is a member of the local
Rotary Club or Kiwanis volun-
teering to help our neediest cit-
izens.
Our local inerchant on
Main Street or sole-proprietor
working out-of-her home is
part of the community fabric
that makes up our commercial,
civic, and social omters.
You can see how small
PRESIDENT BUSH pro-
claimed this week, May 5-11 as
Small Business Week: Where
America Works.
For 39 years, America has
celebrated small businesses as
the engine driving our econo-
my, employing more than half
of the private workforce, while
creating three of every four
new jobs in Americ
Let's all take the time to
thank a small-business owner
this week for his or her com-
mitment to our commurtity and
taking the risks to keep alive
and well the premise of hope
and opportunity for a brighter
future.
Let's also remember how
important it is to support our
local businesses.
For without our supporL
the small business would fail,
and as you can see, that is not
acceptable, especially in the
rural communities that we live
in.
When I spe of smallbusi-
nesses, that memm the conve
ience store on the corner, the
resmta-ant that serves those
vegetablesandlmmburgers we
all eoy, the local py,
the furniture store, the florist
and so on and s6oa Evm dawn
to this newspaper youam read.
ing,
5ome people say it cost
more to shop but that
is not true. It cost lessto shop
Iocall-y.
The reason is simple. For
each dollar we spend at a local
business makes our local ecc
omy stronger. Those few pro-
riles we spend in sales tax at
home keep our roads in
condition, our governmmat
moving, recreation fields in
good shape
So remember, when you
spend a few more dollars at
your hometown merchmt, you
are in reality making your
community a better place to
live, work and raise a family.
Please support our local mer-
chants.
THE HAPHVILLE HOME NEWS is published weekly by the Star-Mercta'y
Publishing Company, a division of Publicatkms, at 3051 Highw,
Manchester, Georgia 31816. USPS 620-040. Subscription rates by mail: $18 in
Tvoup, Harris or Medwether Coaanties; $26 a ye elwhere. Prices include all
sales xes. Periodical W,tage paid at Hogansville, Georgia 30230.
FoR suascml,r[oNs (706) 846-3188 or v, Tite to Circulation Manage, St
Mercury Publications, P. O. Box 426, Manchesler, Geovgi 31816.
PT.tgsl': Send address c 'hanges to P. O, Box 426. Hogansville. GA 30230.
STAW
Publisher and Advertising Director ............................................................... Mike Hale
Associate Publisher and Editor ........................................................... John Kuykendall
Business Manager ................................................................................ ..layne Goklst
Assistant Editor ...................................................................................... Rob
StaffWriters .......................................................................... Bryan Geter. Billy Bryant
Assistant Advertising Manager. ................................................................. laurie Lewis
Advertising Sales ........................................................................................ IAnda
Comling ................................................................. Dewayne Rowers, Valinda lvery
l_egals ........................................................................................... : .......... hy
Pressroom Manager ........................................................................ Wayne
P-re,room .......................................................................... David Boggs, Coileg
COmT OCS
President .............................................................. ............................. .Millm'd B. Gtitms
Vice President ............ : ..................................................................... S.
Secretary. ......................................................................................... Laura Grimes Corer
Treasurer ....................................................................................... ly Grimes
Legal Counl and Assistant Secretary .............................................. James S. Grimes
PAGE 4 - HOGANS HOME NEWS - MAY 9, 2002
Say Kind Words, No Matter
A minister in England got
into trouble recently for
preaching a funeral and say-
ing the departed was mean,
never did any good, and
"won't be missed."
Most ministers wouldn't
say anything like that at a
funeral for a mass murderer.
The tradition at funerals
is to go soft on the guest of
honor, although he or she
might have been a terrible
scoundrel in life.
But why is that? Why
should we pretend a person
who has just died was not the
rascal he or she was, if that
happens to be the case?
I remember when Loot
Starkins died back home. He
was a miserable old tightwad
who beat his dogs. Growled
at smallchildren, wouldn't go
to church because he
despised people, arid, on top
of all that, he was a
Republican.
Struggling to find a few
kind words to say about Loot
at his funeral, the minister
offered, "We should all
remember we can find some
good in everybody."
A man stood up in the back
of the church and replied,
"I.x)ot Starkins didn't have a
good bone in his body. He
owed me a hundred bucks and
I know damn well the old fool
died just to get out of paying
me ."
There also is the matter
of the minister comforting
the family by saying the loved
one has gone on to a better
life in heaven.
The preacher back home
used that technique for Virgil
Crabtree's funeral, but every-
body knew Virgil Crabtree
couldn't have gone to heav-
en.
He made and ran bad
moonshine, got into a fight
every Saturday night at the
Moose Club, cursed on
Sunday, and refused to bathe
regularly.
The preacher might as
well have been honest about
it and told the family what
they already knew anyway,
that Virgil couldn't have got-
ten through the Pearly Gates
with a gold American
Express card and written rec-
ommendations from three of
the original disciples.
There's an old story that
allegedly is true and it also
tells us that honesty is the
best policy at a funeral.
Some years ago, the radio
announcer for the
Chattanooga Lookouts, a
minor league baseball team,
had some time to kill before
broadcasting a game in
Memphis, so he rented a car
and began driving around the
countryside.
He came upon a white-
frame church where a funer-
al was in progress. The
announce, fortified with a few
beers, went into the church
and took a seat in the first
pew.
Several of the deceased's
friends were called to the
pulpit to say a few words of
remembrance. The preacher,
figuring anybody in the front
row obviously was close to
the casketee,
announcer forward.
"I must
announcer began.
know the
judging
so far, he must
well-respected
individual.
"Obviously,"
" I can add
already has been
long as I'm up here i
say a few words on
the {
'q'ell it all,
all.
BY SPECIAL
MENT TrH HIS
DEDRA, THE HOME
CARRYING
COLUMNS
GRIZZARD
ING AND
BEING
OF
BOOKS AND
AVAILABLE
THROUGH BAD
PRODUCTIONS,
191266, ATLANTA
History, Science Books or Bi
What should we hold to as
absolute truth? Should our
children be led to believe the
Bible is right so long as it
agrees with their science and
history textbooks? Is evolu-
tion a valid scientific conclu-
sion but creation only a fee-
ble explanation offered by
ignorant Christians? In our
world today we often hear of
so-called intellectuals, schol-
ars and experts who try to
explain away the Bible as
something that could not pos-
sibly be true.
There are those who may
go so far as to acknowledge
the Bible as a religious guide
but not trustworthy in other
more scholarly areas. I will
be the first to admit that the
Bible is not a science book;
however, I do contend that the
science found in the Bible is
absolutely and perfectly
accurate.
The Bible is not a history
book as such, but the history
found therein is absolutely
and positively correct. The
Bible is a history book in that
it gives us HIS story.
We must understand that
the Word of God should be
our absolute authority. Even
in the "LnteUectual" world of
eienee, the Bible is the final
authority. From the Word of
God we can find several
instances where the Bible
stated true scientific fact
while the popular scientific
opinion of the day stated
something else.
We all have studied in
school that Columbus
believed he could reach the
East by sailing West. There
were some that actually
believed he would go so far
and fall off the edge of the
Earth because it was flat.
Long before the modem sci-
entific community actually
discovered the Earth was
round, the Bible recorded in
Isaiah 40:22, "It is he that sit-
teth upon the circle of the
earth." Would you believe it
if someone came up to you
and said the Earth rested
upon the back of a giant tur-
tle? In ancient mythology
some actually believed that
the Earth was resting upon
the shoulders of a strong man.
We know today that is a silly
myth, but long before scien-
fists discovered the Earth
was suspended in space,'the
Bible had already said in Job
26:7, "He stretcheth out the
north over the empty place,
and hangeth the Earth upon
nothing." Have you ever
looked up in a clear cold night
sky and gazed at the stars?
Scientists from long ago did
just that and believed they
could number them. It is
recorded in scientific histo-
ry that men gave all kinds of
estimates as to their number.
Those numbers vary from
about 1000 and up. If they had
only read the Bible, they
would find as we know today
that the stars are without
number. Jeremiah 33:22 says,
'"As the hosts of Heaven can-
not be numbered..."
I mentioned all that just
to say this, the Bible is his-
torically and scientifically
accurate. When our children
come home from school, par-
ents should take enough inter-
est in their children to sit
down and find out what they
are being taught.
Our children must come
to realize that they can always
trust what the Word of God
says. If the Bible and the sci-
ence book disagree, teach
them the Bible is correct and
the science book wrong.
Instead of judging the Bible
by the science book, judge the
science book by the Bible.
If we hold to any of the
Word of God as accurate, we
must accept the whole Word
of God as aeurate. It is not
for man to pick and choose
what he is to believe about
the Bible. It is all right or we
cannot believe any of it. May
I submit to the reader that the
Bible, based on its own claims
and the proofs of its accura-
cy, is indeed without fault,
error or
not claim
but I believe it. To
ma
ask this
understand how all
mobile works or
brain functions?
not, but
automobile will
where you need to
your brain
of your body
should.
The point is'l
because we
stand all
n't make one
cising faith in
it comes
book, the history
Bible, I will choose
every time! Why
ao
to the
in
is
next
the
1952
seasoo i
Dunson
has
ing all
voters
OUff err
this
(Appa
'turn
price
$1.oo
the
vacine
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