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From the Public Meeting on Feb. 11, 2006
I would like to thank everyone who came to our public
meeting you made it a great success and I appreciate you
braving the cold.
For those of you who did not attend I have the speech and the
power point presentation for you to look over at your leisure.
I am not getting into a letter writing war in the newspaper, I
would like to say to Mr. Bud Jones about his response to my
letter to the editor that he has no idea what Tallapoosa is like
to the people whose income is derived from its economy.
The fight for what is right will continue no matter how long it
takes for it to go through the court system. When the people
in charge commit any crime it has to be addressed because
they are the ones who are in place to make sure the laws are
upheld, it is impossible for them to do that job if they
themselves are law breakers.
meeting you made it a great success and I appreciate you
braving the cold.
For those of you who did not attend I have the speech and the
power point presentation for you to look over at your leisure.
I am not getting into a letter writing war in the newspaper, I
would like to say to Mr. Bud Jones about his response to my
letter to the editor that he has no idea what Tallapoosa is like
to the people whose income is derived from its economy.
The fight for what is right will continue no matter how long it
takes for it to go through the court system. When the people
in charge commit any crime it has to be addressed because
they are the ones who are in place to make sure the laws are
upheld, it is impossible for them to do that job if they
themselves are law breakers.
Opening Speech
Last night I watched the opening ceremonies for the Olympic Games.
I loved seeing not only the pageantry, which was lovely even spectacular but
the people participating, most young and all smiling filming from their vantage
point this event.
With cell phone cameras, video cameras and still cameras they recorded this
moment in their lives so even as their memory might fade they would have
this recorded to take home all over the world to their friends and families.
This is what we do we live in the moment and if we are lucky we have friends
and family to share our ups and our downs. We record our memories so they
are not lost along the way.
I didn’t grow up in Tallapoosa, my husband did as did my children, I didn’t get
to grow up in a small town but I wanted that for my children.
I love all the photos and stories of Tallapoosa, all the glory days of the when
cotton was king and local vineyards produced so much fine wines as to keep
two glass factories in business. A place were the trains stopped and people
came from far places just to visit. I delight in owning not just this wonderful
building but a house from that era as well. I love Tallapoosa and want it to do
well so my grandchildren can love it too.
I love the stories of the days when Tallapoosa high School was here in the
middle of town. When the town was booming and exciting and fun.
I don’t see Tallapoosa as a bad place, but I do see the problems and I know
they need to be addressed. Some people who have been in charge see only
what they want to see, or maybe what just affects their lives. When people
who are my age and older were growing up here they had a great time of it
and they had things to do. The movie house was running a bowling alley was
right in the basement of this building and many places to eat thrived. The bus
stopped here as well as the train making working in Atlanta or other places
easy.
Now businesses that open close when their lease is up, teenagers have nothing
to do, the city pool is way out at the golf course, there are no sidewalks to the
new schools, employment for teens and for adults are in very short supply.
Our young people get in trouble because they have no outlets except seasonal
sports or the school band.
I have talked with a lot of young people and there is nothing for them here
past high school. The talented, smart or lucky ones get to go off to college and
make a living that most likely will not include coming back here except to visit.
The others, those lost children who have dropped out of school, had babies of
their own and work minimum wage jobs if they are fortunate. Most are raising
children who will fall into their parents same struggles.
Then there are the kids who fall into the meth problem we have here, I am
told we are third in the state only Fulton and Decalb (that is Atlanta) have
more of a problem than we do. I have seen what meth does to people I have
watched it take many lives and leave them in ruin it is a problem facing many
towns not just ours.
It takes a village to raise a child and that is just how it use to be, everyone
cared and they looked out for everyone’s children. We have to care now about
the children of Tallapoosa because it is the children that are the future of our
city.
Tallapoosa deserves better than it is getting.
Things are not the same as they were and many people are just not seeing the
real problems.
I am not going to take the offered advice from today’s newspaper, of leaving if
I don’t like it here, I want to be able to stay and have my children and
grandchildren stay and for all of our town to prosper.
I loved seeing not only the pageantry, which was lovely even spectacular but
the people participating, most young and all smiling filming from their vantage
point this event.
With cell phone cameras, video cameras and still cameras they recorded this
moment in their lives so even as their memory might fade they would have
this recorded to take home all over the world to their friends and families.
This is what we do we live in the moment and if we are lucky we have friends
and family to share our ups and our downs. We record our memories so they
are not lost along the way.
I didn’t grow up in Tallapoosa, my husband did as did my children, I didn’t get
to grow up in a small town but I wanted that for my children.
I love all the photos and stories of Tallapoosa, all the glory days of the when
cotton was king and local vineyards produced so much fine wines as to keep
two glass factories in business. A place were the trains stopped and people
came from far places just to visit. I delight in owning not just this wonderful
building but a house from that era as well. I love Tallapoosa and want it to do
well so my grandchildren can love it too.
I love the stories of the days when Tallapoosa high School was here in the
middle of town. When the town was booming and exciting and fun.
I don’t see Tallapoosa as a bad place, but I do see the problems and I know
they need to be addressed. Some people who have been in charge see only
what they want to see, or maybe what just affects their lives. When people
who are my age and older were growing up here they had a great time of it
and they had things to do. The movie house was running a bowling alley was
right in the basement of this building and many places to eat thrived. The bus
stopped here as well as the train making working in Atlanta or other places
easy.
Now businesses that open close when their lease is up, teenagers have nothing
to do, the city pool is way out at the golf course, there are no sidewalks to the
new schools, employment for teens and for adults are in very short supply.
Our young people get in trouble because they have no outlets except seasonal
sports or the school band.
I have talked with a lot of young people and there is nothing for them here
past high school. The talented, smart or lucky ones get to go off to college and
make a living that most likely will not include coming back here except to visit.
The others, those lost children who have dropped out of school, had babies of
their own and work minimum wage jobs if they are fortunate. Most are raising
children who will fall into their parents same struggles.
Then there are the kids who fall into the meth problem we have here, I am
told we are third in the state only Fulton and Decalb (that is Atlanta) have
more of a problem than we do. I have seen what meth does to people I have
watched it take many lives and leave them in ruin it is a problem facing many
towns not just ours.
It takes a village to raise a child and that is just how it use to be, everyone
cared and they looked out for everyone’s children. We have to care now about
the children of Tallapoosa because it is the children that are the future of our
city.
Tallapoosa deserves better than it is getting.
Things are not the same as they were and many people are just not seeing the
real problems.
I am not going to take the offered advice from today’s newspaper, of leaving if
I don’t like it here, I want to be able to stay and have my children and
grandchildren stay and for all of our town to prosper.
| After the opening speech I gave a Power Point Presentation for the gathered group. If you would like to view this please click the link. |