Liver transplant patient thanks benefactors

In June of this year, I (Ruby) had a liver transplant. My health was bad and getting worse almost daily. I had a lot of healing prayers being said for me and I am here today to thank every one of you for those prayers, because the Lord heard and answered them all.

We also want to thank all of the businesses that let the family set up donation jars and a benefit yard sale and to those that listed or announced the benefit or asked for prayers for me. To Brother John and Rita Shepherd for the prayers and visits at home and UK in Lexington and the Boyds Creek Methodist Church, the Living Faith Church, Highland Methodist Church, Fairview Church of Christ, to the family members and friends that worked so hard taking care of things at home while we were in Lexington and to the many who prayed for us, sent food, for all the calls, cards, visits, words of encouragement and all the donations to us.

You will never know how much all these things have meant to us. We are truly blessed to have people in our family and community who care for others so much. To say thank you doesn’t seem to be enough, but we do graciously “thank you all” and may God richly bless each of you for your kindness.

Ruby and Raymond Eatmon

Cave City

Bible offers passages in favor of alcohol

As hard as I try, I can muster little Christian charity for religious zealots who claim the right to tell the rest of us what we can drink and where we can buy it.

Truth is I drink almost no alcoholic beverages, just an occasional beer at family gatherings or a glass of wine with a plate of spaghetti. But, in the absence of public intoxication or drunken driving, what I drink really is nobody’s business.

Without pubs and their plain but wholesome “pub grub,” my wife and I might have starved to death during once frequent trips to offbeat areas of Scotland, Ireland and England. In some places the only alternatives were hotel dining rooms, where Lord knows when they were open and what they served.

In Spain, similarly, we found native tapa bars, with a steady flow of appetizers and fine Iberian wines, far warmer and friendlier than the formal dining rooms of old restaurants with fancier menus and prices.

Here at home, by the same token, I see no threat to peace and morality in an Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar as occasional relief from Cracker Barrel.

I keep waiting for the firebrand preachers who stuff the letters to the editor mailbox, in opposition to a proposal to make Glasgow “moist,” to acknowledge that the Bible has an occasional nice word about intoxicating beverages taken in moderation.

Have they all forgotten, or simply chosen to ignore the thanks expressed in Psalm 104 to the Lord who gives “wine that maketh glad the heart of man.” Or that delicious biblical challenge — is it from Ecclesiastes? — “Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes and ale?”

Lawrence Sullivan

Lucas

Alcohol contributes to troubles

My name is Bob Wing and I’ve been a resident of Glasgow/Barren County for approximately 17 years now. I have to say, “I love this place with all my heart.” It is a place where a person can feel safe raising a family. Moving from a large city (Miami) to a smaller town (Winter Haven) in Florida to where everything is “gated” communities, the crime is high and threats are everywhere.

The reason I am writing this letter is: I’m against the sell of alcohol in Glasgow. People are saying it isn’t a moral thing but that it will bring more revenue to our town. Is it really an issue of economics? Bringing new restaurants to town can only hire so many people and then pay their employees below minimum wage.

So, what are the jobs that will be brought to our town by voting for alcohol sales? My family and I moved here because of its fine qualities and if you bring alcohol here, the quality of the quaint lifestyle will be gone forever.

Barren County was listed as No. 1 in rural America. “You don’t realize how good you have it, until you don’t have it anymore.” It starts with restaurants selling beer and wine. The next thing you know the package liquor stores and lounges open up. If you look at the definition of restaurant (it states) “a place where meals and drinks are sold and served to customers.” Is that why lounges have peanuts/pretzels? … Think about it. There is no good to come from the sales of alcohol in Glasgow.

My past experience as a police officer in Florida was also dealing with alcohol-related incidents. As night came around, I would have to walk through the bars as a deterrent for any disturbance, patrol this area as much as possible. There became loud noise complaints when the bars closed down at 2 a.m., drunks relieving themselves on people’s doorsteps and cars, higher rates of criminal mischief, and it just doesn’t end.

This is just to give you a true example of what took place one day, second shift, at Winter Haven, Fla. I was dispatched to a lounge, reference a disturbance. Upon arrival to this parking lot, a woman ran to me saying that she was just robbed and her purse stolen. While I was on the radio informing the station, a male came from the alley whose shirt was saturated with blood (the side of his face was slashed to where you could see his tongue). He lived in the apartments behind the lounge and was in a confrontation with his girlfriend. She had thrown a glass plate, slicing his face. While I was calling for an ambulance, a fight started to take place in the lounge parking lot across the street. I had never made it to my original complaint.

Please think about these issues very carefully, one vote can make a difference. Talk about it with your friends, neighbors and co-workers. I encourage you, too, to write this paper to voice your opinion.

Bob Wing

Glasgow