Opinion

A couple of months back I received a kind invitation from the Hilton Jackson Hotel for Pam and I to be a guest for a one- or two-night stay.

We had looked and looked for the best time to take advantage of the offer. We decided since we would be going that way already on the weekend of August 14-16 to move Emma into the dorm at Southern Miss, it would be the best weekend for the brief getaway. My mom was kind enough to drive to Holly Springs and keep Erin, and Andy immediately had his weekend planned – staying with friends in Jackson.

He once weighed 400 pounds, was facing diabetes and cirrhosis of the liver and was told he had five years to live if he kept his eating habits.

“You have to change your life,” he said. “I turned it around. I learned how to eat better and I learned how to exercise.”

Chef Luis (pronounced Loo-ey) was recently appointed by the Hilton Jackson Hotel to enhance its food and beverage offerings under a new health and wellness umbrella. He is the former executive chef for Mississippi governors Kirk Fordice and Haley Barbour.

With their mom’s permission, the girls stayed home from school Friday and we drove to see my sister in Missouri.

For a while now, it’s been iffy making plans, with Pop’s health and my older brother’s eye problems. Then, my younger brother developed liver problems, so things were looking iffy again.

However, I decided since they were both grown men and I’ve given up all kinds of quilting events, etc., with Pop and one brother, that this weekend was going to happen! And it did!

Do you recycle? The thought comes easily to me, for I was reared in a family with parents and grandparents who had all gone through the Great Depression, and you never threw anything away! I remember how vexed my grandmother would be when I would waste notebook paper for drawing. She would remind me that in the one-room school she had attended, children drew on a slate.

Letters To The Editor

R.D. Ford’s gun:
Dear Editor,

A medical doctor in Brownwood, Texas, has in his possession a gun that had a return address inserted in it with the name: R.D. Ford, Holly Springs, MS (Sheriff & Tax Collector).

The doctor would love to know when R.D. Ford (if those are the correct initials) served as sheriff and any information about him -- if he is still alive or when he might have died.

Thank you for any help,

Beth Everett
Brownwood, Texas

Response to health care:
Dear Editor,

I had to chuckle when I read the letter “Health care bill is bad.” The other day while watching the evening news I saw how people were completely out of control, yelling, screaming, and even fighting about the health care bill, and I wondered if they had all the facts. Like Mr. Clyde Ellzey, perhaps not.

He admonished everybody to “Wake up! The health care bill is bad for everyone. Don’t be fooled, I have seen it.” I wonder what he saw. He didn’t say he read it and understood it. He saw it. Kind of reminds you of some weird television show where one person sees nothing but doom for everyone because he/she didn’t have all the facts.

It would be wonderful if all the citizens of America would decide to re-focus in spite of present situations and come togethzer, listen to what is being or has been presented by their senators or representatives, and “really look” at the health care bill.

By that I mean, if you really have access to this bill, read it and jot down your questions as you go through each section, and then get answers from the right people.

Then ask “Is it good that we continue on as we are with rising health care costs, skyrocketing medicine; and poor persons not receiving the quality of health care they truly deserve because they cannot pay?”

My guess is we, as citizens, would want to see a change in health care.

Paula Clark

Cemetery upkeep:
Dear Editor,

I read the article last week about the cemetery and had to see it for myself. It looks so unkept. My Dad (Tom Jones) was in charge of it many years ago and would be ashamed of it’s current condition. I understand the rain issues and find it hard to believe the problems occurred this recently due to rains.

Mr. DeBerry spoke of not wanting to fill positions until the new supervisor was hired. The issues of grounds and building maintenance still need to be done, with or without the new hires. Why did you not contract this out for a temporary time, just to maintain what needed to be done? It does not go away; it only gets worse when neglected.

Then, the new hires must be trained (if there is any training required for the job).

He also made reference to cars in his lecture on the upkeep of Hill Crest. The service we have paid for is for the burial plot and also a fee for opening and closing the grave.

He needs to research other cities and find the fees they are charging. i.e... cities comparable to Holly Spring’s size. Compare and then raise the fee accordingly.

The monthly maintenance fee statement was ridiculous and arrogant. No place does this.

This division needs to be run like a business. The employees need to follow the rules and if they don’t they should be disciplined and even terminated.

Mr. Miller seems to not know what his authority is in this matter. He stated he does not know how to treat employees who miss work abusively. This should be very simple. He used the word abused when speaking of the issue. That employee is abusing their job and should be disciplined accordingly. Why are they abusing their current position addiction, personal reasons, or it’s just the way it’s been for years?

Mr. Miller also let us know that the employees cut, weedeat, replace flowers and upright knocked-over stones. The flowers are not getting picked up and replaced because ours were destroyed at my parents’ (Tom and Katherine Jones) gravesite. The stones that are to be uprighted are due to the employees knocking them over with the mowers. They don’t care what happens to each so long as they get it cut.

I grew up running the hills there and find it a wonderful and peaceful place to be. My children are 8 and 5 and love to roam around looking at the gravesites too.

It’s a shame the workers and the mayor don’t feel the same pride and love for this place.

This is a place we should be proud of and let people know about so they can explore and read the head stones to learn more about. We could have pamphlets for people with maps and points of interest so they could find the joy many of us have had there over the years. This should be a place of pride, not just in April during the Pilgrimage.

Mr. Payne touched on an issue -- are the employees who are there working like they should? Sounds like Mr. Miller does not know if he can discipline an employee if he are not performing his job. If a handbook is needed for performance please, revise it soon.

Mr. Johnson stated that Mr. Miller should focus on the city as a whole, but a big part of his responsibility is the cemetery; and until it affects someone on the board it will be an issue pushed aside.

Mr. Mayor, if the current staff cannot handle this task of grounds maintence, please consider contracting to a private company who would be responsible for it.

Then the current open positions would not have to be filled, the employees with missed work issues could be disciplined and other positions would not have to be filled. They would be lost through attrition. This could pay for the contract company.

Tina Van
Arlington, Tenn.

Please take time to remember our local “heroes” who are serving in war zones around the world.

If you’d like to add a name to this list, please contact The South Reporter, Attn. Linda Jones, P.O. Box 278, Holly Springs, MS 38635; 662-252-4261; or email: south@dixie-net.com


Thursday, August 27, 2009
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