I beg to differ with [Sallie Satterthwaite in her column of July 4] about Ferrol Sams. Until the late 1960s, Dr. T.J. Busey, Sr., practiced in Fayette County. During World War II, he operated a small hospital. Sambo and Helen [Sams] were not the only M.D.s in town. The Murphys, Redwines, Hollingsworths, Blalocks, etc., were the backbones of Fayette County, with the Sams as a lesser influence. Sambo’s uncle went to jail while he was a sheriff. By the way, Floy Farr would never have been so successful if he had not first worked for the Redwine family.

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We attended the 4th of July parade again this year in Peachtree City. From what we could see of the parade, it was very nice. The point here is “from what we could see.” The children and some adults were halfway out into the road diving at candy like it was their last meal. We couldn’t see the golf carts very well; there was an entry that was walking dogs and we couldn’t see the dogs through the barrage of the candy divers. We left the parade early, as did the people next to us. Something needs to be done next year to keep the people off of the street when the parade is going by. Hopefully this will be addressed before some child gets hurt. It’s nice to see children enjoying a parade, but it is obvious that some parents don’t care at all what their child’s conduct is and how they act in a public setting. But then of course, some parents weren’t much better. Peachtree City is a beautiful place and it is great to see everyone come out to celebrate on the 4th, but every year the parade gets worse. We hope whoever has the authority will try somehow to do some crowd management next year so everyone can enjoy the celebration.

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What makes people think that their dogs will enjoy the Peachtree City Fourth of July parade? Parking my golf cart next to a bunch of yapping dogs is not enjoyable. I came to see the parade, not your dogs, and to have to listen to them go off every time another dog was in the area made for a bad parade. Leave them at home, please.

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There will be a meeting of the PTC Tarp Sitter’s Union, Local 613, at the Tarp’s Crossing Jousting Center this coming Saturday at 7 p.m. Items on the agenda will include setting our hourly, daily, weekly and group billing rates for the 2008 PTC fireworks spectacular. In order that all members of the PTC Tarp Sitter’s Union be allowed an equal opportunity to participate, it has been pre-determined that no Tarp Sitter shall be allowed to protect more than four tarps. In addition, a vote will be taken on whether or not to allow Coweta Tarp Sitter’s Union, Local 427, to join us. Also meeting at the same time and place will be the PTC Tarp Collector’s Union, Local 614. A vote will be taken on whether or not to attach bright orange PLEASE-TAKE-MY-TARP tags to all unprotected tarps. City officials, Twiddle Dumb and Twiddle Deep, will be on hand to explain the local ordinances pertaining to large personal items left unattended on public property and answer questions about the possibility of future tarp registration. A special presentation by Shaky “Two-Fingers” Kaboom, the famous EOD expert, will teach us how to recognize and disarm tarps that have either been booby-trapped or contain electronic-tracking devices. Due to Shaky’s hearing problem, please print your questions to him in block style and one-inch letters. As always, our tarps are spread to welcome anyone interested in joining our membership. And remember our motto, “Don’t Get Your Tarps in a Wad.”

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I have attended the 4th of July fireworks for many years and have never seen a traffic jam like what I experienced tonight. It took 30 minutes to go north from Waterwood Bend to Georgian Park. Twenty of those minutes were stuck in traffic trying to cross Ga. Highway 54 going north. Drivers sitting in traffic heading north-bound on Peachtree Parkway got very angry and many horns were blowing and I do not blame them at all. North-bound Peachtree Parkway was at gridlock. May I suggest the following solutions for next years fireworks? 1. Do not park a patrol car in the left turn lane on Peachtree Parkway at the intersection of Hwy. 54. This forced the two north-bound lanes of Peachtree Parkway to merge into one lane causing a real bottleneck. Park the patrol car in the Kroger’s parking lot. 2. Station a police officer at Walt Banks and Peachtree Parkway to keep the traffic flowing. This way traffic would not back up toward 54. 3. When directing traffic at Flat Creek Road and Peachtree Parkway, let the Peachtree Parkway traffic move five times longer that Flat Creek traffic. Again avoiding the traffic on Peachtree Parkway to back up to 54. Of course, this will only work if you have an officer at Walt Banks also moving traffic northbound. 4. Direct traffic at 54 and Peachtree Parkway like the traffic lights. Both north- and south-bound turn lanes turn followed by the traffic going straight north or south. The same would hold true for east- and west-bound traffic. Having only one side moving at a time also aggravated the traffic backup. I am sure a more efficient traffic flow can be worked out for future events.

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The PTC July 4th parade is probably the largest on the southside. I must have seen a dozen floats and paraders representing numerous churches. I was surprised NOT to see any representation from the Muslim community to support the country they freely live in as citizens. There are several mosques in Fayette County.

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Tired of what’s been playing at The Fred lately? Come see 57 extremely talented kids put on “Les Miserables” July 13 and 14. It’ll give you a crash course in the French Revolution, great music, cute comedy and restore your faith in local youth. These young people have worked for months getting this production ready. Come show them that they have the support of their community. You won’t be disappointed.

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The Emperor Bob Lenox built the tennis Taj Mahal instead of a really nice public tennis facility. Now we are being asked to build the two soccer fields of Versailles. A lot of us are on limited incomes and would appreciate some common sense from our elected officials. Ordinary ball fields will do, so let’s get out of building opulent facilities because a few people demand them. I think it’s clear to everyone now the enclosed tennis courts are a financial millstone around our necks. We need to learn from our mistakes instead of repeating them. A pair of multi-million dollar soccer fields isn’t necessary. Why is such a foolish thing even up for public vote?

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Are we to assume that the Tourism Authority is paying, or has paid, the Tennis Center debt of about two million dollars counting lawyers, interest and everything? If they are, does that mean they will not have much if any money left from the hotel taxes to do much of anything else? What are the legal arrangements for the payment of this professional tennis instructor’s salaries debt? By the way was he legally able to spend all that money? Where is he now? Has anyone warned the new place? Is all this a secret?

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Can anyone tell me what part about 25 mph do they not understand? I have almost gotten into two head-on collisions because some of my fellow speeding neighbors in The Marks subdivision. What is the rush? Can you please stop treating the neighborhood like a drag strip?

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Harold Logsdon as financial manager? This guy spends every dollar we, the taxpayers, give him and more. We need to stop his liberal dream of constantly finding projects to fund. There is no fiscal discipline, no plan and no leadership. Blowing all of the city’s fund reserves on pet projects to fake not raising taxes is a very bad idea. The newspaper said the mayor says he’s using “excess” reserve funds, but aren’t those the funds he promised to give back to us? It’s the development authority crooks and the developers who win big with Logsdon and not the lowly taxpayers. The mayor and council have received a half million dollars in unexpected revenue this year and they still can’t roll back taxes. Oh, how I wish we could call for elections and run the bums out of office today. To get a trainload of unexpected revenue and still not be able to roll back the millage rate is downright incompetence.

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Attention, old drivers, fat drivers, lazy drivers: Writer, beware of your remarks about who uses the handicapped spaces. You should have addressed it to anyone who does not have a permit instead. It is very difficult to acquire one. Realize the space is not for golfers with handicaps. Anyone would gladly chose a day without pain than to be handicapped.

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In response to Mrs. Pullias being “proactive” vs. ”reactive” in getting PTC to suggest stores and restaurants vs. big box stores, I offer the following proactive suggestion. Do your homework. Mrs. Pullias has always provided some insightful opinions on various topics in the past, but this time she got it wrong. She suggests that a Build A Bear store be welcomed to our city. However, if Mrs. Pullias had done her research like she claims, she would know that a PTC husband/wife opened Benny’s Bear Factory three months ago. I applaud when our local citizens have the courage to open their own business and bring a local flavor to our economy. Benny’s Bear Factory has already been providing an outstanding and memorable experience for children, young adults, and even parents. What’s even more telling is that customers are coming from several counties. Let’s not get so over-consumed with building out a community, when we have some people devoted to building it from within. Mrs. Pullias should know this, and should know better.

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Tyrone’s Council finally did something humane when last Thursday it overruled Town Manager Barry Amos’ effort to put Walter’s Auto Service out of business by refusing the 18-year-old company’s license renewal. Three times the tyrannical bureaucrat argued that ordinance #454, aka Barry’s Law, would not allow him to issue the license, while his sidekick, Assistant Manager Valerie Fowler Caldwell admonished the council for upsetting her standard procedures. Completely void of discussion was the fact that Walter would suffer substantial monetary losses and a business that took two decades to build up. One wonders how these two government employees would feel if the council decided to take away their income by firing them, which is what they need to do to preserve Tyrone’s businesses. In another matter, Councilwoman Grace Caldwell wanted to question a report made by Town Planner Jonathan Lewis, but was informed by Amos that he no longer worked for the town. The councilwoman replied, “That’s news to me.” And so goes the secrecy at Town Hall, which brings up the biggest secret of all. Whatever happened to long-time Tyrone employee Tammy Brock? All officials are closed-mouth on this one. The public would like to know. Anyone with knowledge, please respond.

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Fayette citizens will have a choice for district attorney next year. Experienced Assistant District Attorney Rudjard Hayes will be taking a run for the spot in 2008 as a Republican. Anyone have any other info on Mr. Hayes? He brings to the table 12 years as a career prosecutor and apparently disagrees with having a former criminal defense lawyer prosecuting criminals. Tell us what you know.

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Does anybody really know why Grady Hospital is almost in bankruptcy? I do. Is it all the illegal aliens using the services and not paying? I hope the supporters of illegal immigration start thinking about all the bad things these people are causing to the country and start fixing the problem before it is too late.

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Just curious: Are state representatives who live on Raintree Bend in Peachtree City exempt from the watering bans on Fridays, or is it another government perk?

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It was wonderful to hear that 12 million illegal aliens won’t be rewarded with citizenship. They don’t deserve it; hard to believe that government officials were ready to grant this precious right to law violators. Hope more people oppose if this matter comes up in the Congress again in the future. Enough is enough.

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If illegal immigrants would stay home and fight for better living conditions, they and their posterity would benefit. America has freedom and good living conditions because people were willing to fight for them. And we still are willing.