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Talk of the Towne
What's going on with all the trash on Bells
Ferry Road? The same trash has been there for months with lots more accumulating.
Who cleans up this road and when? Don't you think this is a disgrace to
our community? Please help spread the word to get this road cleaned up.
It's an important roadway for Towne Lake.
We welcome your views on topics vital
to the Towne Lake area. The content of this column is reader-provided
and focuses on issues affecting the lives of Towne Lake area residents.
The opinions expressed in this column are those of the individuals submitting
their views and are not necessarily those of "The TowneLaker." Please
limit your comments to 50 words or less. Any comments more than 50 words
may be submitted as a "Letter to the Editor." Let us hear what you have
to say at editor@townelaker.com or (770) 517-8210 ext. 555.
Can You Spare
the Time
to Strike Out Hunger?
Cherokee
County Senior Services will hold the 8th annual Meals-on-Wheels Bowling
Challenge at Cherokee Lanes to help strike out hunger among the frail
elderly.
"We are going to be calling on businesses
all over the county, asking them to sponsor teams of their employees to
bowl for our seniors. The league has always been a lot of fun in years
past and has raised over $50,000 for Meals-on-Wheels" said Sharon Smith,
Volunteer and Home Delivered Meals Supervisor for Cherokee County Senior
Services.
Sponsorship for one team of four people for
the 12-week league is $528. The agency welcomes non-company teams as well
and would like to have a complete roster of 20 teams by May 21 in time
for the league organizational meeting held that night. Bowling starts
Tuesday, June 4 and will continue each Tuesday night at 6:30 for three
games of no tap bowling (9 pins down counts as a strike), culminating
in an awards banquet the 12th week. Participants are encouraged to raise
money in addition to their bowling fees, and awards will be given for
money raised and for bowling success.
To enter your team in the challenge or to
donate funds, call Sharon Smith at (770) 345-7440.
Junior Service
League Volley for
a Cause a Big Success
The Junior Service League of Woodstock and
title sponsor ARCO held its Seventh Annual "Volley for a Cause" charity
tennis tournament at the Eagle Watch Tennis facility, March 8 —
10. Eagle Watch tennis pro, Dick McSween, was the tournament director.
Many local companies sponsored the tournament. The partnership level sponsors
were as follows: Galyans, Wilson, Williams Orthodontics, Chevron, O'Brien
Productions, Gleichman and Debranski LLC, Advantage Marketing, Chick-fil-A,
Harlin Diamonds, WellStar, Thad Baird and Tyler Baird, and the Eagle Watch
Tennis Association.
Despite a rainy weekend, the tournament was
a great success; more than $5,000 was raised. The money raised will be
given to charities that support projects for needy children of Cherokee
County. A special thanks to the dedicated tournament participants and
the many sponsors. The tournament winners were Kurt Hedberg, Don King,
Meyer Skalak, Rick Stargel, Mike Crandall, Rocky Salet, Bob DeCan, Hideki
Fujii, Bobbi Hedberg, Deanna King, Carol Copeland, Ginny Schwartz, Patty
Bonk, Missy Haggerty, Betsy Lamier, Elizabeth Lamb, Leigh Birdsong, and
Shelly O'Malley.
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Letter to the
Editor . . .
Dear
Editor,
The next time you're in one of those famous
Atlanta traffic jams or you complain about how bad the traffic is around
here, remember to blame the traffic on those people who support the Sierra
Club extremists and the Northern Arc Opponents — it's their fault.
These people need to complain about everything
that relates to our cars and the freedom we have to drive them. These
people also do not have any viable solutions to address the traffic needs
of our growing populations.
Oh, they propose solutions that make great
sound bites, especially if they're trying to get elected. But most of
their solutions simply will not work — unless you want to give up
a lot of your freedoms, like driving your car.
Some propose more public transit. But do
these same people use the existing public transit system every time they
go to the airport, go Christmas shopping at Lenox, go to a Brave's game,
or go to a GRTA (Georgia Regional Transportation Authority) Meeting, a
session at the Capitol, or a Commission Meeting? I doubt it.
Heck, I'll bet many of them own several cars
themselves, which doesn't jive with their "no more roads" mentality. If
they'd only use the mass transit system, surely they could get by with
only one. (Could this be just a little hypocritical on their part? We
all know how much our own anti-arc chairwoman loves to drive her car —
check out her travel vouchers.)
The fact is that public transportation simply
does not work unless you have very high population density — like
New York City. But some of our elected officials continue to cram mass
transit buses down our throats and they continue to waste our tax dollars
pursuing foolish mass transit fantasies. When will they learn?
Some other "anti-arc folks" propose "improving"
existing roads as a traffic solution. Sure, existing roads should be improved
to handle the needs of our growing population, but our existing roads
are also the "arteries of our human life." Along these old country roads,
we have built our schools and hospitals, our churches and synagogues,
our residences and businesses, and our community life. The next time you
drive down Hwy 20, imagine if that road was expanded to three times its
current width. Even an improvement of this magnitude would only half-way
do half-the-job. This would be considered a great success for many of
those in government, but it doesn't meet the standards I'd like to see.
Trying to make Highway 20 do the job of the
Northern Arc would cut the heart out of our existing communities.
And finally, there are some people whom have
proposed that we do nothing and wait. Well now — that's an interesting
plan to handle difficult problems.
These anti-arc extremists need to realize
that limited-access, interstate-type roads are extremely critical for
many, many different reasons — not the least of which is the safety
of our citizens.
Our current system of interstates becomes
log-jammed when a single snowflake falls. Imagine what they'd be like
if a true emergency occurred. A reliable system of interstate roads, with
alternate routes, is an absolute necessity to insure that our emergency
personnel can properly place their equipment to assist our citizens in
times of need, especially if ever the unthinkable happened. Are we properly
prepared today? NO!
These roads are also critical for you to
exercise your freedom to drive your car to be with your loved ones whenever
you please, especially in times of emergency.
Think about that the next time a simple little
fender-bender turns the top-end perimeter into a parking lot.
— Steve Marcinko
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