Opinion Page
THE BRUNSWKX&ffiEACON
Edward M. Swcatt and Carolyn H. Sweatt Publishers
Edward M. Sweatt Editor
Susan Usher News Editor
Rahn Adams & Doug Rutter .-...Staff Writers
Johnny Craig Sports Editor
Christine BaJIou ....Office Manager
Carolyn H. Sweatt Advertising Director
Sue Barefoot & Timberley Adams Advertising Representatives
Tammie Galloway & Dorothy Brennan Typesetters
William Manning Pressman
Brenda Clermr.ons rhoto T&Jmician
Lonnle Sprinkle Assistant Pressman
Clyde and Mattle Sioui. Phoebe Cleiiiniuii? Circulation
PAGE 4-A
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12. 1989
Proud To Call
Holden Beach Home
The past few weeks have been
difficult ones on Holdcn Beach.
The process of recovering from
Hurricane Hugo has been a slow
one. Each day the island looks a lit
tle bit better than it did the day
before.
But the truth is, Holdcn Beach
will never be exactly the same. It
will remain. 2 family bcach for years
to come. There's no question about
that. But the hurricane has changed
the face of thai island forever.
Ixx)king back on the evacuation
and everything that followed, I can't
help but feel proud to call Holden
Bcach home. The town employees
and town board members worked
llicir you -know- whats off.
When I think of Hurricanc Hugo,
I picture Henry Thompson digging
through four feet of sand to locate a
water meter, Gary Dancy manning
the roadblock at the foot of the
bridge in the pouring rain, or one
homeowner helping another retrieve
a set of steps washed away in the
storm surge.
Though some of the board mem
bers experienced substantial person
al loss during the hurricane, they all
kept level heads throughout the
emergency. They deserve a lot of
credit for the way they handled
themselves and the business cf the
town. It all goes back to Mayor John
Tandy.
A former football coach, Tandy
rallied his team and orchestrated
what sports fans might someday call
one ot the greatest comebacks in
history.
Often in times of crisis, officials
react as if they are running a two
iiiiuuie offense. But under Tandy,
Holden Beach stuck to 3 solid game
plan in starting the island on its way
to recovery.
Granted, there were a few fum
bles and dropped passes along the
way. As the mayor himself often
says, "I don't care how good a job
you do. You can always do better."
There should have been better
communication with the property
owners huddled on the mainland
side of the bridge the morning after
the hurricanc. And some of the pco
Doug
Rutter
)
*
>
7 /
pic who were allowed on the island
that morning really had no business
being there.
But in general, the town handled
the emergency remarkably well. I
was on the island by 10:30 on the
moming after. And I believe the
town board actcd very responsibly
in keeping the property owners off
the beach until later that afternoon.
Ocean Boulevard was in no shape to
handle the traffic.
Mayor Tandy described the island
as a "World War 11 battle zone."
From what I saw and can recall
from watching old war footage, it
was an appropriate analogy.
The law enforcement personnel
also have to be commended, starting
with the town's own police force.
Often criticized in the past, the de
partment did an outstanding job
handling this emergency.
Whenever I pulled up to the fool
of the bridge ? no maOci what time
of day or night ? I was always greet
ed with courtesy and respect More
than that, though, officers did the
job they were charged with and
turned people away if they had no
right to be on the island.
Of course, the help supplied by
the Highway Patrol, Division of
Motor Vehicles and National Guard
didn't hurt I've never felt safer on
that island than I diu uuiing ihe two
weeks following Hurricane Hugo. I
don't own any property on Holdcn
Beach other than my personal
belongings. But if I did, I would
have felt very good about the pres
ence of law enforcement.
The island has a long way to go
before it returns to normalcy. But if
town officials and employees stick
to the work ethic they established in
the wake of Hugo, people will
always be proud to say they have a
home at Holden Beach.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Calabash Area Answered
Call For Help After Hugo
To the editor.
In the days following Hurricane
Hugo, several people approached
me with concern for the victims of
this disaster. With this in mind, an
emergency meeting was called
Sept. 25 at the Calabash Fire
Department to discuss the organiza
tion of a relief program.
This meeting was attended by
several people representing various
organizations, churches and com
munities in and around the Cal
abash area. Some of these included
the VFW, Elk's, Fire Department,
Rescue Squad, Carolina Shores of
ficials and Calabash business asso
ciations.
It was decided that a relief drive
would take place from Tuesday,
Sept 26 through Friday, Sept. 29,
with Friday being the delivery date.
The Calabash Fire Department was
chosen as the collection point
On Tuesday, local radio and TV
stations began broadcasting our
message to the community. The call
for donations of money, clothing,
canned goods, bottled water, baby
supplies, blankets, linens, towels
and other items was answered im
mediately. Within 24 hours we had
enough supplies to fill a large cov
ered truck that was donated by
Roland Athan.
This load was transported to Mc
Clcllanvillc, S. C., Wednesday by
Bob Crocker, Bill Oxford and Andy
Revella, all members of the Cal
abash Volunteer Fire DepL The
United Way in Georgetown, S. C.,
was the controlling agency for the
McC!c!iar.villc area. Our efforts
were more than appreciated.
Back in Calabash, supplies and
donations were still pouring in; by
late Thursday afternoon we had an
other full truckload of food and
clothing. On Friday this truck load
was taken to the small town of
Summerton, S. C. The supplies
were received by the Summerton
Relief Center and the Red Cross
personnel in charge were very
thankful and wished to express their
gratitude to the people of the Cal
abash area.
To date, the relief program has
delivered two large truck loads to
two separate disaster-stricken areas
and has collected over $3,000 for
the victims.
1 would like to thank all the won
derful people who worked to make
this relief program such a success.
The overwhelming response by ihe
generous people of Calabash and
surrounding communities should be
commended. When the call for help
is made, Calabash is here to answer.
R. Douglas Simmons, Mayor
Town of Calabash
Write Us
The Beacon welcomes letters to the editor. All letters must be signed and
include tne writer's address. Under no circumstances will unsigned letters be printed.
Letters should be legible. The Beacon reserves the right to edit libelous comments.
Address letters to The Brunswick Beacon, P. O. Box 2558, Shallotte, N. C. 28459.
What A Wonderful World It Can Be-With Glasses
It finally happened. 1 had been
told that it I kept it up, I'd go blind.
As it was, 1 only did it until I needed
glasses.
What 1 was doing was abusing
my eyes ? those two baby blues that
used to be so sharp that I didn't have
to use binoculars to girl-watch on
the bcach. A pair of mirrored sun
glasses was all I needed to spot an
attractive birthmark at 50 paccs.
Now ? without the help of these
old glasses I got a couple of weeks
ago ? I have a difficult time even
telling the difference between the
bathing beauties and their boy
friends who I'm sure will soon be
kicking sand in my bespectacled
face.
Yes, I'm kind of embarrassed
about my new glasses ? possibly
because my wife now refers to me
as her "speckled" husband. The only
joke worse than that is the one about
the optometrist who fell into his lens
grinder and made a spectacle of
himself. Yuck, yuck, yuck.
My bewilderment is somewhat
ironic, because I spent most of my
childhood wishing I'd catch the
same disease that caused my older
brother to need glasses. I wanted to
look cool just like him and have to
wear one of those neat clastic glass
es straps when 1 played ball.
After kindergarten class one day, I
even went to the eye-doctor with my
brother and prompted him as he read
the eye chart ? which possibly ex
plains why he left the optometrist's
office wearing the bottoms of two
Rahn M"? - f
Adams IK J
Coke boules.
I guess thai was what I was really
afraid of ? that the doctor would
check me out, then just shake his
hcau sadiy and ask if my landlord
would allow me to keep a secing
eye dog in the house.
Thai fear almost came true a few
weeks ago when I had my eye exam.
The optometrist's assistant told me
that perfect vision is 20/20 and that
mine was 20/100. 1 misunderstood
and thought she said 2,100.
She probably thought I was crazy
when I asked how far 1 had to go
before I was legally blind, i figured
I'd at least try to gel an extra income
tax deduction out of the deal.
Over the years, I've worked hard
at ruining my eyesight 1 read in the
dark. I lie on the living room floor in
front of the television set to watch it.
And, the clincher, I have a job that
requires me to spend hours on end
staring into a computer display ter
minal.
The doc said my eyes got used to
focusing on the computer screen for
long periods and bccanic so mus
cle-bound" that they don't refocus
on distant objccts. You've heard of
Bcae Davis eyes? I've got Arnold
Schwarzenegger eyes. Try to write a
song about thai.
I've known for some time that I
needed glasses. My first clue was
when I started having trouble driv
ing home at night and began turning
into my neighbor's driveway more
often than I did my own. On long
trips, my wife had to act as naviga
tor since I couldn't decipher most
road signs until I was almost even
with the tumofls.
And then there was the trouble I
had with traffic signals on Rest
aurant Row in Myrtle Beach, S. C.
To a near-sighted person who
doesn't wear glasses, recognizing
stoplights on that neon-infested
stretch of road is like playing a life
or death version of one of those
"How Many Presidents Can You
Find In This Picture?" puzzles.
"Didn't you sec that the lijht
back there was red?!" my wife
screamed at me once after I zipped
through a busy intersection without
so much as slowing down. I pon
dered her question for a few mo
ments and then came up with the
brilliant reply, "What light?"
As if thai incident wasn't enough
to send me crawling to the optom
etrist, the final realization that I
would soon be inducted into the
Four-Eves Hall of Fame came dur
ing a murder trial I covered recently.
I knew I needed glasses when I
waiched ihc defendant foi his reac
tion to the jury's guilty verdict and
STAFF PHOTO BY BIU. FAVE*
PERHAPS WE'LL LEARN from our recent storm some better ways of dealing with nature.
Dealing With Nature
BY BILL FAVER
If any good thing ever comcs out of a storm such
as we experienced, perhaps it is that it forces us to
deal with nature. We so easily isolate ourselves, en
joying the beauty and the good things, and not really
dealing with how we relate. We
ignore how our actions interfere
with natural rhythms until we are
forced to acknowledge the results
after much devastation.
Will we now have a better
understanding of the dynamics of
the seashore environment, or will
we scoff at those who are "against
development?" Will we be more
faver willing to acknowledge the needs
for setbacks and restricted zones
or will we continue to insist on our rights to use our
land any way we want? These and many other similar
questions will be dealt with for many months. No
doubt we'll end up about where we arc, with maybe a
bit more awareness because of the closcncss of this
storm.
We arc making progress, though! Since the late
sixties and early seventies when Earth Day and re
lated events gave a boost to environmental concerns,
we have begun to realize resources arc not unlimited.
We now see the need to recycle, to do something
about our vast piles of waste, and to preserve land as
wilderness and habitat for endangered species. Our
local governments arc beginning to seek alternatives
for landfills and some arc requiring recycling of
bureaucratic paper!
And, though Exxon gets the blame for the
Alaskan oil spill, we know in our hearts we all share
the blame. Our lifestyles call for oil and the very
existence of demand, supertankers, fragile environ
ment, and profits for shareholders made the oii spili
inevitable at some time and place. And we fool
ourselves to the point of thinking Exxon or anyone
else can clean it up. That it happened when it did,
where it did, and under the circumstances only gives
us excuses not to face the truth.
We deal with nature almost every day, if usually
only remotely. We are often removed from direct
contact and seldom see the consequences of our ac
tions. Storms such as Hurricane Hugo bring us face
to face with reality. Perhaps we'll learn and be better
off for it!
Fall's Not The Season It Used To Be
Fall is festival and fish season in
the South Brunswick Islands.
There's no doubt about it
Never mind September and the
King Classic. Just look at October.
It's brimming over with activity.
Somewhere in the back of my mind
I have a vision of what the coastal
country should be like after the
summer season. In this vision the
entire community falls deeply into a
restorative stupor, with a sign that
reads, "Do Not Disturb Until East
er".
Mind, I'm not complaining. As a
teen-ager growing up in Brunswick
County, I was just like the rest,
mouthing, "But there's nothing to
do in this burg."
Ha. These days I keep hunting for
what I seemed to have loo much of
back then ? large blocks, well, even
short blocks ? of peace and quiet at
home. No wonder mothers don't
understand teens. They work at
cross- purposes.
Now the leaves may be turning to
Susan . W
a a a *
shades of crimson, bronze and gold,
but we're not going into hiberna
tion. No sirree. This month alone we
have the Oyster Festival, the
Festival By The Sea, the Dixon
Chapel Oyster Roast, the U.S. Open
and the Arthur Smith King Mack
erel Tournament.
Add to that (this goes beyond fes
tivals and fish) a production by the
Brunswick Players, a dedication at
Brunswick Community College,
several art shows and concerts, Fri
day night ballgamcs and all the rest
of the stuff going on, and you have
Usher
r
one busy place.
Anyone these days that tells me
they have nothing to do is asking for
trouble, bccausc I won't hestitate to
tell them what some of the choices
might be. You don't have to be a
"joiner" to find plenty to gel in
volved in.
While 1 wouldn't mind a little
more rest, it's great that there is
always so much to do without hav
ing to slip off to Wilmington or
Myrtle Beach.
With only a limited amount of
time for pursuing fun, these days I
have a new but pleasant problem:
Choosing between several events on
the same day and time.
If you'd asked me 20 years ago,
the answer would have been a
quick, sarcastic snort and an "You'll
never see that day, not here."
Well, that day is here. Enjoy the
diversity of entertainment and op
portunities of fun that abound here.
We can rest later.
couldn't even see his face across the
courtroom.
All in all, the folks who have
noticcd my new specs have been
kind to me with comments like,
"Your glasses are very becoming"
and "They make you look intellectu
al." 1 take those types of remarks as
compliments, even though I can't
help but wonder if people are indi
rectly implying that 1 looked ugly
and stupid before.
1 could end this column by gush
ing about l?ow great the world looks
to me now and how I'm deeply
indebted U> ?ny cyc-doc tor for teach
ing me how to spell new words like
"EKUFABIROV." %
Instead, I'll just close by saying,
I'll be seeing you...as long as I'm
wearing my glasses.
LETTER
Former Principal
Dusts Off Paper
After 7 7 Years
To the editor
Recently the President, for the
sccond lime in history, called a
summit of all 50 state governors.
This time it was to emphasize the
mess ihai is out of control in so
many of our public school systems
in the United States.
*
During October, 1978, 1 was ask
ed, as a school principal, to write a
paper for a state principals' organi
zation and to present the paper at
one of our state meetings.
I offer it again 11 years later. The
paper was entitled: The Decline (Of
Educational Standards ) And The
Rise (Of The Welfare Slale)...A
Paper On The Degenerating Stand
ards in Public Schools. ..To Earn Is
To Own ? Independent. ..To Take
The Dole Is To Be Own
ed ? Dependent...
I want to prcfacc this paper with
a very important statement in order
that the context will not be misun
derstood: public or social assis
tance, i.e., welfare of some type is
an absolute necessity in all soci
eties, states and nations. The initial
implementation of welfare in the U.
S., was to assist the unemployed,
aged, infirmed and children. The in
tent was to use the measure wisely
to assist people in maintaining a
sense of security and dignity.
It all began with the Social
Security Act of 1935. The act was
conceived in good faith, but as in
many other eases, worthy programs
enacted with good intent have since
been used and abused politically.
This paper pertains to the misuse
and abuse of government programs
and the consequenccs as reflected
in the public school systems of the
nation.
During the early and middle
1960s the New Frontier of JFK and
The Great Society of LB J ushered
in a binge of spending and intrusion
by the federal government into the
lives of the American people un
precedented in the history of our
country. The traditional American
values were attacked by the social
scientists of the well-heeled Eastern
establishment liberals in the myopic
belief that no longer was production
of wealth a problem: all that re
mained was how and to whom to
distribute the abundance of Amer
ica.
The belief was contrary to the
work ethnic and sound economic
principles of free enterprise that had
built America into the greatest
country in the recorded history of
man.
What ihese misguided, and per
haps politically motivated profes
sors were saying is, "Yes Virginia,
there is a Free Lunch;" the feds can
provide everything for everyone.
During the construction of the
Welfare State, very few were ask
ing: where is all this to come from?
When asked, the stock answer was:
from the increased productivity of
the American worker. These social
crusaders, with all their intellectual
expertise, were blatantly ignorant of
the one most important facet of ev
ery social endeavor: human nature.
People can be motivated to help
members of the community who arc
really in need, but when they stand
in line at the supermarket and watch
able-bodied people purchase more
expensive cuts of meat with food
stamps they they, the hard working,
taxpaying workers can afford, there
is going to be resentment or even
hostility toward the welfare recipi
ent. Eventually the workers will re
bel or give in and join the "smart"
welfare group.
So, this whole "something-for
nothing" mentality altered the
American society and, naturally,
found its way into the public school
system of the country. Why should
the educational standards remain
high when motivation for a better
way of life through learning and
hard work was no longer necessary;
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