Thumbs Up!

The Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Georgia Area Council Meeting was held a few weeks back. Among the attendees was Albany board member Patsy Martin and Albany Assistant Chief Professional Officer Marvin Laster. At the meeting, six awards were presented to clubs in Georgia. Albany returned home with two of them. The prestigious recognitions came in the areas of the Education and Career Development and in Sports, Fitness and Recreation. But the day was not done. The Beverly Burton New Board Member of the Year Award went to Martin. Hearing her name called caused a rare occurrence in Martin’s life … speechlessness. Congratulations to Laster, Martin and all the behind-the-scenes people who make Albany’s Boys & Girls Club shine so brightly. Laster stated, “Our clubs are a place where great futures are started each and every day.” He would know because, as a club member, Laster was the Youth of the Year for the Albany club and at the state level in 1994.

Many readers will remember sitting in a doctor’s office as a child and reading Highlights Magazines, which was great fun. Thanks to a generous donation from Phoebe employees, the reading while waiting has become even better. About 200 new and gently used children’s books were collected for distribution to local organizations. A great number of them found their way to the East Albany Pediatric Center. Dr. Donna Edmond-King, a pediatrician at the facility, is involved with a national literacy group called Reach Out and Read. While medicine is Edmond-King’s profession, children and literacy are her passion. She encourages families to read and even encourages the family to select a book to take home.This is possible through such generous donations as the one from Phoebe. If you have some gently used books that your children have outgrown, don’t box them up for storage. Give them to the Pediatric Center for others to enjoy, all the while promoting literacy, one book at a time.

Last week Albany Advocacy Resource Center held its annual awards banquet. The agency serves those with developmental and/or intellectual disabilities and has been doing so for more than six decades. The event is the biggest night of the year for many of those in attendance. Several businesses and support groups were recognized but the night belonged to those who are served by the agency. There were more than 160 awards handed out and all were well-deserved.

Albany State University announced a difficult decision last week with the deactivation of 10 degree programs. Folks started squawking about the university right away. The reason for this action was made perfectly clear and has no hidden “real” reasons. The programs are simply under-utilized. Think about it like this: If you buy a particular cereal every week for six weeks and at the end of that time there are six boxes in the cabinet, would you buy a seventh box? The officials at ASU simply made a much-needed, although perhaps unpopular, decision to focus on the programs of study that are most utilized. Tough as such moves are, this was a wise one.

Finally, the time has come to reopen the Broad Avenue Bridge. On Veterans Day, veterans will gather on the east side of the river and march to the center of the new bridge. It will then be commissioned and officially be known as the Broad Avenue Memorial Bridge in honor of all Dougherty County veterans. The ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. with a reception to follow at the Bridge House. Come if you can and honor the men and women who have so courageously served in uniform.