Category Archives: Opinions
Real heroes all around us
We hear a lot about heroes in this day and age. Accomplished athletes are seen as idols for throwing around a ball, along with blockbuster fantasies that portray individuals who can fly and use their incredible super-powers to save the universe. However, in the real world, it’s encouraging to know there are humble and hardly noticed heroes all around us. These selfless individuals have no desire to be praised or even recognized. They are a special group of human beings who are not only determined
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Courier Letters to the Editor 4-18-18
Events set for National Day of Prayer
Dear Editor,
A nation that prays together stays together. While our nation has and will always undergo “growing pains,” one “constant” in our nation is prayer. The founders and framers of our nation recognized that God was their strength. This truth is recorded in our nation’s founding documents. Our national monuments all make reference to our need and our allegiance to God. Starting with George Washington,
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What will you do this summer?
Step One around here, the minute the snow starts to melt, is to grab the latest newsletter from the senior center and see what trips are planned. They’re always low in cost, to a great location and someone 
else drives the bus. Some trips include a tour guide at the other end, with lunch planned at a wonderful place with a view out the windows. If your senior center has trips like this, be sure to sign up early. Spaces will go fast.
Here are some more ideas to stay busy this summer:
• Talk to friends and neighbors about daily walking, either early in the
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If you build it, they will come
I’m so excited about the Birchwood Gallery grand opening this Friday and Saturday at the Holly Springs Center. The Birchwood Artisan 
Gallery currently includes the arts and crafts of 42 artisans from our region. And their work is good.
I’ve always wanted a regional marketplace in our end of the state, and now we have one. And that’s not all that’s going on up there.
Like a lot of other people, I was stunned when the elementary school was closed. But the hard work and incredible spirit
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‘Opportunity zones’ could transform communities
Editor’s note: South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster recently designated parts of Easley as an “opportunity zone, based on Sen. Tim Scott’s Investing in Opportunity Act. The Post and Courier in Charleston published this editorial about the dozens of areas around 
the Palmetto State who received the designation, designed to help spur economic development.
A bright idea for spurring investment in economically distressed areas, approved as part of the federal tax reform bill, has the potential to pump much-needed capital into some of the poorest communities in South Carolina and
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Being reunited with our parents forever
I went for a quiet walk the other day, to relax and sort my thoughts like the stacks of messages and notes on my desk. While gazing at the clear sky and breathing in the cool air, it dawned on me that it’s been almost two years since my dad passed away. Honestly, it seems like yesterday. I realize that many people grew up without a father and I’m very sympathetic about that. Thank
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You never know what the day will bring
It’s been years since I traveled to Dahlonega, Ga. The last time was on a geneaology quest with an old friend who was trying to find information about her maternal grandmother.
Well, we did discover records of her relatives. There were five listed in the Lunacy Book at the 
courthouse. Now, I cautioned her not to take it too hard, because years ago malnutrition could mimic signs of insanity. This was before they started fortifying cornmeal, so that explains a lot. But she decided not to follow up on that particular line.
Last weekend I visited Dahlonega again. This time with friends. We went to the Dahlonega Literary Festival and the Science Festival, which were going on at the same time. North Georgia University was running it, and it was excellent.
There were free programs, speakers and lots of regional authors there with their books.
One of the programs we attended was about traces of dinosaurs presented by a professor from
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Letters to the Editor
Thoughts on fools
Dear Editor,
April is known for April Fools Day. With that said, what is a fool? There are many different definitions out there. Here are some for you, and thoughts as well.
A fool is someone who never learns from his mistakes, unlike others. “Wise men speak because they have something to say, fools speak because because they have to say something.” So said Greek philosopher Plato. That was 3,000 years ago. Some things never change, I guess.
A fool delights in his own words. A fool’s voice is loud and boastful, and his words are many. In the wise person’s heart, seldom is he heard and never are his words counted or ever considered.
Fools think they know more than God Himself. Follow the teachings of a fool and find death,
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What would it take for us to believe?
When the holidays of Christmas and the holy week come around, I cannot help but wonder what the general population thinks about the spiritual significance of these events. I realize that Christians are more involved with these celebrations because of their personal connection with Jesus Christ, but we must also admit there are many different levels of commitment and enthusiasm. In the last few years, the big screen has produced several Christian based movies and however you feel about them, at least someone is trying to relay the life of Christ when He physically walked the earth. I saw the
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Newsprint is under attack
There are two things you need to know about newspapers.
Newspapers are important to community life and democracy. Always have been. We at the 
National Newspaper Association think it is important for all sorts of newspapers to survive for the sake of a free society — the very large and the very small ones, the liberal ones, the conservative ones, the middle-of-the-road ones, the ones with no viewpoint but just important news … all of them. Some are our members. Many are not. We defend them anyway. America needs them like we need oxygen.
The second is that even if your newspaper seems to be “online,” the digital copy that you may count on probably couldn’t exist if there weren’t a printed newspaper behind it. The newspaper in print supports all of the other versions economically. So, if the printed version disappeared, you can’t assume all would be well
