RRN Online Volume 5

July '96

Volume 5

The Fourth And The Fifth

The weather for the 4th was as nice as I ever remember for this holiday. I could not believe the afternoon temperature never was over 90 degrees. I should have had a party.

Before we attempted having 2 residences, I enjoyed having folks over for the 4th. Once we had 44 people in our small home. Too many to be able to socialize with them all, as I recall. During those times, I never saw a 4th as beautiful as yesterday.

Rayanne called on the morning of the 4th and asked us to come over to Belmont for dinner that evening. They also planned to attend a fireworks show at the Bay Springs Lock and Dam near there. Since we had Lillie Belle with us and since we had Mondo Grass to set out, we elected to stay home. Besides, Belmont is one of those places that you really have to want to go to, to go to. It is sort of out of the way if you are going anywhere else.

Sarah and kids went to celebrate the 4th with one her best friends from school. Judy and George Rutledge live near the South Pontotoc Attendance Center, which is not really close to any community whose name is recognizable to anyone outside of residents of Pontotoc.

Just four of us had the burger-bit at my house, Jason, Lillie Belle, Barbara and me. After dinner, the girls and I carried a plate over to Aunt Jo and visited with her for a couple of hours before returning home. We had hoped to see our Moon Glow plant bloom last night, but it sort of fizzled on us. Sarah bought a few of these plants for us earlier, but ours have not bloomed while we were home. She has described the blossom of the plant as large and beautiful. Ours have had several blooms, none of which bloomed while we were in Pontotoc. The blossom opens at dusk and by the next morning is closed and begins its shriveling. Soon it has fallen from the plant. It is almost as bad as the plant Mr. Wilson had in the Dennis the Menace movie. At least you do not have to wait decades for it to blossom.

We actually celebrated the holiday on Friday, the 5th. We knew that more family members would be able to attend either Friday night or Saturday night. Attendees for the celebration were Rayanne, Anson, and Anna; Sarah, Brett, and Felicia; Lillie, Barbara, Jason, and me. Food included past favorites, Chicken Gumbo, Grilled Shish Kabobs, and Grilled Hamburgers. A newcomer to the smorgasbord was the Kim-Sue Potato Salad, expertly made by Sarah, from a recipe by a former work associate, Kim Goslin. Desserts included Barbara’s Lemon Icebox Pie, Rayanne’s Chocolate Iced Pound Cake, and Lillie’s Shortbread Crust Cheesecake. Even those of us old enough to know better, ate too much.

No Appeal On School Prayer

July 03 was the deadline to file an appeal of the School Prayer decision by Judge Neal Biggers. The School Board voted unanimously against filing an appeal. It is my opinion the board made the right decision. There was much to lose if the 5th

Circuit Court of Appeals had heard the case. I believe the board decided it was better to accept the Bigger’s ruling rather than risk loosing all forms of Bible teaching and prayer. The Biggers ruling allows for Bible teaching if it conforms to State Education standards. It must not be the only history book used and must not be an evangelistic extension of the Church. School prayer is permitted prior to the beginning of the School Day.

Incredulously, the Superintendent stated "Religious Liberty has been expanded." While that may sound pleasing to the ears of the flock that supported School Prayer, it is certainly an untruth. In the political world, it is expected that we witness such flagrant distortion of the truth. It is disdainful that school leaders on the march for Religious Freedom would succumb to the tactics of professional politicians, in order to show some sign of victory in their defeated cause. It is equally distasteful to know that many of the School Prayer supporters actually accept such a political statement as fact.

I applaud the decision of the Board and I certainly hope they will follow the guidelines set by the Court decision. If not, the ACLU, having put the school on notice that they will be closely following the actions of the administration and teachers during the next School Year, will be all too glad to carry their concerns back to the courtroom.

Newsletter Software

I recently purchased an add-on program to MS Word for Windows that allows a larger selection of newsletter formats than those offered by just the word processor. I had downloaded an introductory version from a page on the Internet. I liked the sample files and decided to call and get the full featured program. There are 10 different newsletter formats pre-defined. I have not yet decided to use one of the new formats for the Ridge Rider News.

Besides newsletters, the software provides templates for more than a dozen other categories including, faxes, business cards, memos, title pages, resumes, articles and essays, and more. I figure if I use two or three of the templates my investment will prove worthwhile. There is also some extra clip art that may prove useful.

New PC For MSMS Bound Youth

Computer users are a lot like race car drivers, they are pretty much content with what they have until a faster one is developed and then they want it. Computers have the uncanny ability to arouse, within the user, a craving for faster data access, faster processing time, and a growing sense of impatience with less than instantaneous results.

Brett Brown is no exception. For a couple of years he has bemoaned the limitations of his 386X33 Wang PC, with its limited 85 meg Hard Drive. His desire for more PC power seemed to intensify after he was accepted to the MS Math and Science School in Columbus, MS.

After weeks of searching for a PC that would meet his computing demands, he decided on an AST Advantage 486DX2 66mhz, 540K Hard Drive, and 8K Ram. The PC should be adequate for his computing needs for the next 3 years and possibly through his college years.

After our supper on Saturday evening, Sarah, Felicia and I went to Wal Mart to buy the PC Brett had found. Brett did not know what we had gone to buy the PC and was pleasantly surprised to see the computer in the trunk of my car. It did not take him long to load the computer in his Bronco II and head to Ecru. Sarah told me Sunday evening that he has hardly been out of his room since he got the computer set up.

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