To the Editor:

As a member of the Merchants Hall Preservation Society, we are acutely aware of the work ahead. Our building poses a real structural problem, but we are confident that the public is safe from falling debris with the installation of the construction fence. Bear with us, we will get through this together, with your continued support and enthusiasm and remember, we are flanked by several beautiful shops at 200 West Washington, namely Town & Country, Lilywind Kids, Madison Markets, and Le Petite Jardin. Please support these fabulous shops by visiting them soon and visiting them often.
With our gratitude,

Kathi Russell
Merchants Hall
Preservation Society
Via mail

Printed in the June 13, 2013 edition.

To the Editor:

We are happy to say that we had a wonderful and very successful weekend! We have several very big “thank yous” to hand out as well. First and foremost, thank you so incredibly much to all of the volunteers, staff and board members who made this awesome event possible. We could not have made Pet Fest a success without all of the support and donations we have received. Thank you to Adventure Party Rental, Affordable Inflatables of Conyers, Susan Lugo, Kong Dog Toys, the Pennington Family, Alliance Corrugated and Displays, Debbie Harper, David Shytle & Friends Music, PetSmart, Jim Winkler, the Stokes family, the Tucker family, Jeff Varner, Tina and Crew from Sit Happens, the Brady Inn, NuArt Printers, the Lions Club and all of the vendors that came out, for attending, donating, and supporting the Second Annual Pet Fest and Paw Wash! A huge thank you to all of the community who came out to get dogs washed and visit with us on Saturday, as well. We also want to say congratulations to Kelsey Barnhart for being the winner of the Gas Card Raffle! All of the money raised this weekend and over the past few weeks during the raffle will go to help care for the awesome animals here at the center as well as help us save more animal lives! So from all of us here at the Humane Society of Morgan County, THANK YOU!

Belinda Bell and the Humane Society of Morgan County staff
Madison
Via e-mail

Printed in the June 6, 2013 edition.

To the Editor:

Many guests last Saturday told us this was the best Rutledge Country Fair in years. A quick response would be, “Of course, we had the opportunity to plan it twice." But we can’t take all the credit. There were so many citizens who helped us communicate by Facebook, websites, newsletters, etc. and so many suppliers, service providers and volunteer organizations who felt our pain after we cancelled the May 4th date and boldly said 'We have three whole weeks so let’s try again.'” We want to thank the Sheriff’s Department, the Morgan County Citizen, the Explorers, the Morgan County ROTC, the City of Rutledge and staff, particularly Noel Hawk, the Country Road Cruisers, Hard Labor Creek State Park & Golf Course, NuArt Printers, Supermarket Equipment Sales, Byer Realty, Farmers Hardware, Lake Oconee News, Dock 103.9, the Walton Tribune, WMOQ 92.3, the Rockdale/Newton Citizens, Verner Farms, the Dewald Lodge of the Masons, the Conyers, Loganville, Covington and Porterdale Shriners, Greenfield Equipment, Social Circle Ace Hardware, Bob Hughes and the Chamber support staff, Philadelphia Christian School, the Tuba Quartet, Rutledge Baptist Church, West Morgan Storage, Dennis & Donna Myers, Terry Welbron, Alvin Richardson, David Shytle, the owners of all the neat old tractors and automobiles, Rutledge merchants, and everybody who placed one of our posters at their place of work. Most of all, we thank all of you who attended the fair. The vendors said you were wonderful and we think you were too!  See you next year.

The Rutledge
Merchants Association
Via e-mail

Printed in the May 30, 2013 edition.

To the Editor:

For a county with 18,000 residents, there is a astonishing amount of tax money spent on the jail. The $170,000 per year light bill is remarkable. The jail was originally estimated to be $10.5 million but has exploded to $25.2 million. All these facts are on the Morgan County budget website.
A $25 million dollar jail with 60 inmates. Keep in mind 70 commercial acres and the existing building were removed from taxable property.

Alan Parker
Rutledge
Via e-mail

Printed in the May 23, 2013 edition.

United States Postal Service mail carriers nationwide held a canned food drive for local food banks across the U.S. Saturday, May 11. In Madison, carriers (above) from the Madison Post Office collected more than 7,500 pounds of canned and non-perishable food in the drive in the 30650 zip code area. The food was gathered and given to Morgan County's Caring Place food distribution service. Postal customers were given special bags and placed the food from Thursday to Saturday for pick up by carriers. According to Madison Post Office Postmaster Becky Manley the carriers were struck by the "overwhelming generosity" of postal customers during the food drive. Manley also commended the crew of carriers for there hard work and diligence during the collection period. photo by p. yost

To the Editor:
   
The National Association of Letter Carriers Food Drive on May 11 was a fantastic success. The canned good collected completely filled both a pick-up truck and a van. Our sincere thanks to our very dedicated Morgan County City and Rural Mail Carriers who worked so hard collecting all of the hundreds of bags of food, and of course to the hundreds of very caring and generous people who took the time and care to see that the Postal Service received their filled bags.   
The Caring Place is averaging 200 families coming for food each week. These many non-perishable items will save us money and we are so grateful to you all for the generosity of heart that is exemplified in such a huge-out-pouring of kindness to our neighbors in need.   

Nancy Pluckhahn
Director, Madison-Morgan County
Caring Place, Inc.
Hand-delivered

Printed in the May 16, 2013 edition.

To the Editor:

The Young Life Committee of Morgan County would like to thank the Morgan County Lions Club and all of the volunteers, sponsors and participants who made this year’s Madison in May 5K/10.2K/1 Mile Fun Run an overall success. On Saturday morning, May 11 over 443 runners from four states participated in the road race through the beautiful historic district of Madison. The Lions Club race supports Young Life, a faith-based outreach organization for Morgan County High School and Middle School students.
It could not have been done without our sponsors: A Superior Answering Service, Breco Realty, Briarcreek Farm Inc., Colleen Lizardi, Dock 103.9 FM, DuBose Massey Bair & Evans, Edward Jones, Georgia Power Company, Ingles Markets, Jolene’s Perk Avenue, Jones & Jones Premier Builders, Jones Ewing Dobbs and Tamplin,  Madison Car Care, Madison Fitness, Madison Studios, Morgan County Citizen, Morgan Stanley, NuArt Printers, Oconee Sand & Gravel, Pagett & Whetzel Family Dentistry, Paschal Orthodontics, Pennington Seed, Prior Daniel & Wiltshire Attorneys, Scherer Family Dentistry, State Farm Insurance, Sunflower Farm, Tequila Express, The Herald-Journal, The Medicine Shoppe and United Bank.
A special thank you to the Madison First United Methodist Church for the gracious use of their facilities, to Madison Main Street Director Ann Huff, Chief of Police Bill Ashburn, Madison Police Sergeant Colin Campbell, the Morgan County Sheriff’s Department and to the host of volunteers who made it all come together so effortlessly.
We all look forward to a successful 13th annual race on May 10, 2014.
Thank you again!

Macy Johnson
Race Director, Morgan County
Young Life Committee
Via e-mail

Printed in the May 16, 2013 edition.