Grateful for hospitality
Dear Editor,
A couple or three weeks ago two of my buddies and I were trailering my boat home to Seneca, SC after a fantastic scalloping trip down in Florida. The Waze navigator pulled us off the interstate around Macon, and several miles down the road the check engine light came on. We were looking for a place to pull over as we made our turn at the roundabout near Gray, Georgia. The engine died with a clunking noise, and we were left on the side of the road during one of those heat advisory days.
What followed was truly amazing. We seem to have met half of Gray, Georgia. People stopped by with ice, cold Gatorade, cold water, chips, offers for an air-conditioned ride into town, and even an offer from the Sheriff’s deputy to have the boat trailered to a safer place in their parking lot. Eventually, the truck was towed away, and a good friend came from Seneca with a truck to trailer the boat and us back home.
I will always remember the kindness and hospitality displayed that day by so many of the people of Gray, Georgia to three complete strangers. What could have easily resulted in a bad outcome, ended in a display of humanity rarely seen today.
Sincerely, Bill Kerfoot, MD
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Brewery ordinance
Dear Editor,
I am writing to oppose the brewery ordinance that the Gray City Council will be voting on Sept. 11. I like people and want them to do well and live a good life. Therefore, I have concerns about alcohol because of the harm I have seen that it does to people. As one example, I have a friend whose dad choked on his own vomit while drunk and died. I think everyone reading this knows somebody that has been negatively affected by alcohol.
Alcohol, all things considered, is detrimental to our families and community. Consider these statistics from 2021 from Niaaa.nih.gov. 29.5 million Americans are alcoholics, and 10.5% of kids live with an alcoholic. Alcohol is a factor in approximately 18.5% of emergency room visits and roughly 1 in 4 suicides. It is the 4th leading preventable cause of death. There were 13,384 deaths from drunk driving in the US in 2021.
These statistics demonstrate that alcohol harms our families and schools. It puts more work on our hospitals and police and fire departments. It makes our roads more dangerous.
Can some people handle alcohol responsibly? Yes. Can everybody? No. I do not think there is a compelling public interest for increasing the sale and distribution of alcohol in our family-friendly city of Gray, GA.
Sincerely, John Daugherty
