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« shadowtrkg wrote on Thursday, Sep 09 at 10:25 PM »
I will make this short and to the point,the comment that was posted from haters 21,your judgement of where to shop is as poor as the english you used in trying to write the comment. I know i probably shouldn't have wasted my time responding to someone that was working with such a small amount of knowledge not knowing right from wrong. I still hope the people don't shop there. Oh! yeah the rate your going you had better save up a little bond money or even better maybe JB's will help out.
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From my column bank, written September, 2003
Have you noticed it? The gorgeous September moon.
There I was standing in the parking lot at Wal-Mart calling to folks who passed by to look at the eastern sky.
A beautiful full orange moon was poised just behind the steeple of West Heights Baptist Church.
It was the second time I stopped people and made them look at the sky. Last June I did the same when a giant rainbow arced across the eastern sky. Now it was the moon.
I just can’t help myself when I see something beautiful, I think others must share in the beauty.
It was more dangerous than usual for me to drive home that night. I kept looking in my outside rear view mirror at the orange moon following me home.
When I got there I called my sister Kirsten.
“You’ve gotta see the moon,” I insisted.
“I can’t see it from the back door,” she replied.
“Then hang up the phone and go outside and look at it,” I ordered.
I don’t know if she followed my orders, but if she didn’t, she surely missed a pretty sight.
This wasn’t the first time the moon has enamored me in the last few days.
One day as I travelled the streets the moon was a pale sphere rising in the east while the giant fire ball sun was setting in the western sky.
That’s a sight you don’t get to see too often, and I was grateful to have caught it.
I realize the sun and the moon are every day sights, but sometimes we get caught up in “living” that we forget to stop and notice the miracles around us.
Our world turns one more day and we are in it. Golden yellow flowers nod in the breeze against an azure sky. The wind whispers to the leaves in the trees high above of the fall that is sure to come.
And the ever changing moon goes from full to half to a deep grin, marking our days, reminding us that life, with its little pleasures, is indeed good.
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INSIDE the PROGRESS
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What would your community be like without a public library?
It sounds a little melodramatic, but just consider what would be lost — a major public service that offers free computer and Wifi access, reference assistance, fax and copy machines, early literacy programs, family game and movie night, Lunching with Books and Lagniappe programs, a meeting room, and, of course, books, audios, DVDs, etc. for both education and recreation.
Even if you don’t personally use the library, you probably know some of the over 300 people a day who do – that’s 106,000 visits to the Pontotoc Library in the past year.
It is no secret that tax revenues have been low – this directly affects the public funding that we receive from both the State of Mississippi and local authorities.
We hesitate to admit that the local library needs a community fundraising effort. We’ve done such a good job of ‘making do’ that we have managed to keep most people from even realizing that we are having trouble making ends meet.
The time has come when we have cut all that we can cut; more library services will suffer if we have to make further reductions.
Regular customers may have noticed:
Fewer staff – two positions have been cut – means longer lines to get help or check out.
More people – especially computer users, who search and apply for jobs, take online classes, or use the library as an office.
Less comfort – some have asked, why it’s so hot, and, do we have to use that loud fan?
And - Where are the new books? - The book budget is gone - we will depend on donations and fundraisers this year.
“What can one person do?”
1. Become an advocate - Join the Friends of Pontotoc County Library – come to a planning meeting after Lunching with Books this Thursday, September 9.
2. Let your aldermen and supervisors know how much this hometown library means to you.
3. Consider a tax-deductible donation, no matter how small, to the Friends of the Pontotoc County Library.
We ask your support as we plan for the well-being of the Library and our community.
Judy McNeece, Director
Dixie Regional Library System
We can’t weaken our city’s fire safety codes
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You know the old saying, the fruit does not fall far from the tree. As I grow older — and as Mayor, it seems that growing old fast is one of the benefits of the job — I have looked up in the skies and asked many questions.
Thankfully, my parents gave me the freedom to learn from my mistakes. Coming from a big family, I had ample opportunity to learn from my brother's mistakes as well as others.
Once in my life I thought money was everything. Richard and I were iron workers in Texas, walking six-inch beams 200 feet off the ground.
We enjoyed the adrenaline rush and money but we grew out of it. We didn't make any mistakes but we saw plenty who did because each mistake was fatal.
Years ago, a building collapsed in Pontotoc and a man who had already expired was trapped. My father (former Mayor Howard Stafford) arrived on the scene and tied a rope around his waist and had the other firemen lower him down into the dark hole as the building shifted and rumbled and he retrieved the corpse.
A few years later, my father stood atop a 10,000-gallon gas tank holding a water hose to cool the metal as gas was boiling inside while the firemen put the fire out around the Standard Oil Gas bulk plant.
Was it luck he survived? Who knows? The question is, do I want to put you or myself in the same position?
The city has adopted building codes and procedures to protect everybody. It is my duty as your public servant to provide safety, welfare and bring additional jobs into our city. We can all agree that regulations stifle the economy, but there must be a balance. There are plenty of examples of towns making mistakes we can learn from. I don't want us to be a learning experiment for others.
The Board of Aldermen does not have the authority to weaken any fire codes. In an effort to encourage and promote growth, the board has dramatically reduced the fees of building a house or commercial building within our city.
Our building inspector makes numerous trips to job sites to inspect construction at no extra cost to you. The building codes have outlines that must be followed for the benefit of all.
Hopefully, you have noticed CVS Pharmacy, Dollar Tree, Dollar General, and if you travel North on Hwy 15, past the new Bank of Pontotoc, you will see construction of Southern Motion, all of which are creating more jobs for the people of Pontotoc. If we can learn from mistakes, why can we not learn from prosperity?
We can not ignore the past, nor can we predict the future of what might blow up or burn down, but we can put safety measures in place to minimize loss of life and/or property.
But for those brave souls who want to live in the past, keep a long rope and a garden hose in the trunk of your car, I might need it one day. Serving you is what the city employees and I do best, and I want to thank you for this opportunity.
P. S. If you get a chance, come by my office and visit or by my house, the pears are ripe and they make great preserves.
