Opinion & Editorial

Love thy Neighbor: Who, or what, is the enemy here?

Who benefits if we hate each other? In what community structure does hate work? Power struggles. Endless violent conflicts. And the occasional sporting event. Is this the kind of environment you thrive in? A community is like a family.

From the Desk of Dink NeSmith: An uncle’s lucky coin toss was a win for our family

With a flip of a coin between two bachelors, she came into our family. And I don’t remember a time when Aunt Edith wasn’t in my life. I was 6 years old in 1954, when Edith Usry married my mother’s younger brother, Billy Vines. He and his older brother, Joe, were my heroes.

Our View: Supporting the arts is necessary

Last Saturday there was a free public reading of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town at the Sautee Nacoochee Center. The “performance” was followed by some questions from the audience. The most striking insights didn’t come from the adults in the black box theatre — they came from a 10-year-old boy.

Our View: Lessons from Lincoln for today

Candidates in cities across Georgia, including here in White County, are qualifying this week for municipal elections, signing their names to paperwork that will put them before voters in the fall. This is a small but critical procedure, the beginning of democracy in action.

Paul's Perspective: Things seen and unseen

In our church, an integral part of the service involves the recitation of The Nicene Creed which begins, “We believe in one God, the Father almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.”

Notes from the Grillo Pad: Apparitions and vapors at TMU

Brad Hughes drifted like vapor through the White County News office. While in town on other business, the editor/publisher of the Early County News in Blakely stopped in for a visit. Alas, I was otherwise occupied, probably photographing a prize tomato, something like that.

Wandering Wordsmith: We came, we rocked, we were in bed by 11

By Denise Etheridge Music and memory go hand-in-hand. I was reminded of this last month. My husband and I don’t usually venture out on a weeknight, but this time we accepted an invitation to join friends for a concert at the Boot Barn in Gainesville.

Our View: Pride runs deep on Friday

The Friday night lights will come to blazing life tomorrow night for the White County Warriors as the first whistle of the high school football season cuts through the late-summer air.

Dink NeSmith: Reconnecting with old friends

What’s one of life’s most enjoyable surprises? For me, it’s reconnecting with old friends. For days now, I’ve been basking over the reunion with more than 100 unforgettable acquaintances. One by one—without saying a word—they spoke to me. And I still hear what they had told me years ago.

Paul's Perspective: In search of cool

By Paul Kimball As we lumber into August, it might be wise to remember that these are the enigma months – the paradoxical days between August and October that toy unmercifully with our desire to leave behind what has been and look with hopeful expectation to what is to come.