Presents of the year were many for NEA
Jonesboro Sun
12/26/2006
If you're anything like me, you probably got a lot more for Christmas than you deserved. Santa Claus, like God, is either more forgiving or more forgetful than we imagine. Either way, thank goodness.
For the past 10 years or so wife Pat has been putting together a Christmas scrapbook. It's a work in progress, of course, which is how her projects go. There's almost never a reason to hurry. For me I want to finish one, then get on to something else.
But thank goodness, too, for the way she works. On Christmas morning I flipped through that full but still unfinished scrapbook and realized how fortunate we have been. Her "commentaries" tell a story of family, faith, presents, challenges and the little things we've done for each other that mean so much.
It's a history of sorts and wouldn't mean much to anyone outside our family, but it's nice to have someone in the family compiling and recording our history, especially now that our memories are growing a little foggy.
Meanwhile, I've had a small hand in recording the history of Northeast Arkansas, which our newspaper does on a daily basis. And that family scrapbook prompted me to think about some of the gifts we as a community have received, not specifically for Christmas, but during the past year. Gifts are still gifts, and this list will show you how fortunate we are.
We forget that sometimes in America, this land of plenty, and too often we get lost in our desires for still more presents.
Anyway, we can be thankful for having the following presents under our 2006 tree.
• Whether it's the most important or not, our largest gift of 2006 must be The Mall at Turtle Creek, and certainly it's one of those gifts that keeps on giving. The people who own and operate the mall and the stores within will surely benefit from their investment, but we should recognize how special this mall is -- how well it's designed (even the parking lots), how attractive and comfortable it is and how much it adds to the development of Jonesboro as the center of a thriving region.
• Early in 2006 we lost one of our best leaders, longtime state Sen. Jerry Bookout, and his loss was anything but a present. Nevertheless, we should be reminded of everything we received because of having him as a citizen of NEA for so many years.
Besides, who says we can't give a present back to Heaven?
• After many efforts to get a public transportation system started in Jonesboro, the "grand rollout" of the Jonesboro Economical Transit System came to us in May. Some people believe that JETS is a waste of taxpayers' dollars, but for those who need public transportation, it has been a godsend. It will probably never show a profit, but last time I checked, few government services do.
• The establishment of JETS reminded me of the many special contributions of two other citizens we lost in the past year or so -- Lee Hummelstein and Flo Jones. Both were instrumental in making that project a reality, even though neither lived to see the grand rollout. Again, as with Jerry Bookout, in their unselfish, community-spirited lives they left us with many wonderful presents we all share.
• A few of our citizens are missing from NEA this Christmas season. They are representing us as members of our nation's military forces serving in other lands, including Iraq and Afghanistan, where their lives are at risk every day. Regardless of how you might feel about the way our national leaders have conducted the war on terrorism, you can and should appreciate the sacrifices of our troops. What greater present could we ask?
• On Nov. 7 we were presented with a wonderful gift -- the election of four people with NEA roots to statewide public offices. We can be thankful for their leadership, and all four seem to understand that they benefitted from growing up in this region. We're glad to share them with the rest of Arkansas.
• Close to Christmas, the good news from the Alberto-Culver Co. about a new plant it plans to build in Jonesboro was a nice present. That will add 400 jobs to the NEA economy and put even more presents under the tree. Also during the year our neighbors in Mississippi County, who really needed good news, got a lot -- to the tune of about 3,000 new jobs through new plants and expansions. We shouldn't forget either that Nestle continues to be a great gift, announcing an expansion last March that will put 100 people to work.
Like any kid when the presents have all been opened, I could also dwell on some of the things we asked for but didn't receive, but you can see that we did all right. We've got a lot of thank-you notes to write.
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