The Betterment of Our Community

At this writing, we don’t know who will be our leaders for the next four years (or two years for some local county commission posts), but as you read this we are all breathing a sigh of relief that it’s over.

This election became mighty contentious at times, but mostly it seems like it was mighty long. And, working here by sign alley, I’m hoping by the time you read these words there are NO political signs lining the sidewalk of the parking lot adjacent to The Monticello News lot.

I mean, it started out before the primaries, and people asked if they could put a sign there. I directed them to the property owner, TLW, Inc. Several people told me they talked with Thurman Willis and he gave them permission. Some said they heard he said he didn’t mind anyone putting a sign up. Some, I am certain, didn’t ask or care what the property owner thought.

As a newspaper, we rarely if ever take a stand on local issues, and certainly not a local candidate, so we had some explaining to do at times. But, after a while, it just became too cluttered. I hope as candidates pick up their signs, they’ll also pick up any litter that has cumulated nearby. If we all picked up a few pieces of trash as we walked down the street, our city would be even prettier.

And, the young men who cleaned up after the Deer Festival Saturday night will fervently attest to the multitude of trash that abounded at the close of that festive day. They thought they would make a little pocket money. Afterward, they said it just wasn’t worth it. But, many of us sure appreciate the good job they did.

Cleaning up after the Deer Festival is bad enough. And, with it coming so close on the heels of Haunticello, many of those candy wrappers were still there from Wednesday, not newly littered on Saturday.

Speaking of the mess, it sure seems there’s a lot of activity in this little town in a short amount of time.

As for the newspaper, we only publish about a half-dozen special sections a year, and one of those is the Deer Festival section which was in last week’s paper, and another is the veteran’s section which is in this week’s newspaper.

I, for one, when the Chamber of Commerce meets next week am going to urge the COC to consider moving Deer Festival to the second Saturday, or float it based on the Georgia Bulldog home schedule.

Haunticello will be October 31. That is Halloween. The only time we celebrate it on another day is if it falls on the weekend, and I’m not even sure about Saturdays. So, with the Deer Festival being the first Saturday in the month, it always collides with Haunticello.

If we move it, it will collide with Veteran’s Day. But, those are very different occasions. And, the COC does not have much to do with Veteran’s Day. I don’t know that a change would help the newspaper, but it might be better. The other thing to consider about the Deer Festival is that unless gun season for deer is changed, it has only been in about two weeks when we have our festival saluting the deer.

We would likely have more monster deer to show off, and the hunters more ready to come out of the woods to attend the festival, if we held it a little later. Of course, it is November, and we don’t want to have a frosty deer festival.

Since I’m on the COC board, if you have an opinion, please share it with me, preferably by next Thursday, so I can share it with the others. And, I encourage each citizen and business in this county to join the COC, so we can all work together for the betterment of our community.

Working together, we can accomplish much.