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Letters To The Editor Thank you:
Dear Editor, On
Aug. 14 with the heat index climbing to well over 110 degrees, our
75-year-old dad walked out the front door and disappeared. We called
the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department to help us look for him. In
the meantime, we had four-wheelers and people on foot out searching the
surrounding area and nearby neighbors’ houses for any sightings of him.
The sheriff’s office contacted the Marshall County Search and Rescue
Team with their search dogs and the helicopter from the DeSoto County
Sheriff’s Department to come help. We had walked within feet of him and
never saw him and he was too weak to call out for help. He had fallen
and was attacked by fire ants and was overheated and dehydrated. With
God’s grace and the help of all of these wonderful people, the eyes in
the sky found our dad alive in a tall grassy field about 250 yards from
our home. From the time that he had left the house till he was found,
he had been laying in that field for over five hours. If it had not
been for the efforts of so many wonderful people, it might have ended
tragically. They really helped to save him that day. I
know that these people never get the recognition that they deserve.
They train constantly for just such emergencies and deserve our honor
and respect for all they do. We are truly grateful for everyone’s
assistance for helping to save his life that day. Thank you all.
The Tillery Family
Byhalia
Thank you:
Dear Editor: I
would like to express my appreciation to the Marshall County Sheriff’s
Department for going above and beyond to help our community last Friday
morning. On Friday, the first day of the annual
Hummingbird Migration Celebration, I drove out to Strawberry Plains
Audubon Center. It was early, and I had cars following me with people
who didn’t know how to get to the festival. As I
drove along Hwy. 311 from Cousin’s Express to Strawberry Plains, I was
appalled at the litter that was all over both sides of the road (as
well as very tall, uncut grass). As a citizen of Holly Springs, I was
embarrassed to let others see our roads looking so filthy. I knew there
would be thousands of people traveling Hwy. 311 throughout the weekend,
and I just didn’t want them to see our community looking like that. After
several calls to the city with no response, I called the Marshall
County Sheriff’s Department and expressed my frustration. I
received a phone call that very afternoon at 1 o’clock informing me
that a sheriff’s department work crew had picked up all of the trash on
311 from Cousin’s to Strawberry Plains, nine bags full. I am so
grateful to the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department for caring enough
to do something about our trash problem. We
have a beautiful city and visitors travel here quite often. I ask those
in charge of our city and county roads, please work to keep our roads
litter free. I don’t feel they are being cleaned as they should, or it
wouldn’t have gotten this bad. There are streets in our city just like
Hwy. 311 that are filled with litter. They need to be cleaned as well. I
would also like to ask the citizens of Holly Springs and all of
Marshall County to help keep litter off of the streets. We have so much
beauty in our city. Let’s not destroy it with trash. Thanks again, Marshall County Sheriff’s Department, for taking action and helping Holly Springs. Jane Hubbard
Holly Springs Schools can do better:
Dear Editor, The
schools of Marshall County have made progress but, based on recent
state test scores, there are no high performing or star schools in
Marshall County. Currently, out of the eight
schools within the district, four are considered successful at meeting
state standards while the other four are either on academic watch or at
risk of failing. These test scores have only reinforced my belief that
we can do better. This is not the best that we can do. As
a Marshall County School District board member and a person who is
fully committed to education, I will continue to strive for high
performing and star schools in our county. Three of our surrounding
counties (DeSoto, Lafayette and Tate) have high performing and/or star
schools A quality education is the most
significant factor in determining a person’s quality of life and how
productive and competitive a person will be in life and in the
workforce. In my opinion, it is Marshall County’s number one economic
development issue. Companies want to locate where there is a trained or
trainable workforce. That’s why it’s so important to have a quality
education. There are many students who are obtaining a quality education now in Marshall County. However, we can do better. There
are three things that we must do to improve education for the district:
1. Provide better training for teachers and administrators; 2. Continue
to recruit and retain highly qualified teachers; and 3. Increase
communication and involvement between schools, businesses and the
community. I believe that you must listen to the
citizens of each community, because for the most part, schools are a
source of pride for our communities. I’ve decided
to schedule a series of meetings throughout the county and personally
hear from the citizens regarding their beliefs, their ideas, and their
support for a quality education system. They will take place during the
months of October and November. I’m always
mindful of not doing anything to disrupt activities occurring during
normal school hours and, as a mother of two children, I’m also very
sensitive to the daily demands that parents have in child rearing. We will schedule the meetings at times most convenient for the citizens who want to share their views with us. Felicia Anderson-Harvell
School board member
Byhalia
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