A good week to eat, adopt

Boy, Jon Tanner got me in a lot of trouble this week.

The cartoonist, one of the finest artistic talents in this area, penned one of his usual pointed pieces Sunday in which he had a Greenbrier High School student suggesting to fellow students that they send their school lunches to kids in Afghanistan.

Why? another student reacts in horror. The wars not with them!

Yeah, we all remember those take-it-or-leave-it school lunches that were mostly leave it. But Pat Wisham, Greenbriers cafeteria manager, insists thats just not the way it is any more. Todays students have a much better variety, and in most cases far better food, than the institutional meals of even a few years ago.

I have to agree. I try to eat lunch with my second-grader every week or so, and its the best meal in town for $2.25. And my oldest daughter - coincidentally, a Greenbrier High freshman - has actually come home this year bragging about school lunch. And she is really picky.

So Wisham, and a few others, took me and Jon to task for the good-natured poke and invited us to lunch. How about that: Not only are they good cooks, but theyre good sports, too.

Coincidentally, this is National School Lunch Week. If you havent yet eaten lunch at your childs school, now is a good time to visit. Ill be the one at the end of the table, eating crow.

But National School Lunch week isnt the only thing going on this week in Columbia County:

A place to visit

Friday at 10 a.m., Columbia County officials will hold a ribbon-cutting and open house for Animal Control and the facilitys new visitation room.

Funded by sales-tax dollars, the visitation room allows prospective adoptive families to interact with new pets before taking them home. Before the room was built, the most a new owner could visit with their potential pet was in the kennel itself. The new room is much quieter and calmer.

In addition to the ribbon cutting, the facilitys open house - until 3 p.m. - offers bargain adoption rates of just $10 for all animals.

Animal Control is located in Appling at 6337 Columbia Road, on the right just before the big Roads and Bridges bulldozer on the side of the road.

Art festival

As if there werent enough free events this weekend in Columbia County, the Third Annual New Horizons Art Festival also will be on Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Savannah Rapids Pavilion.

In addition to the juried art show and craft vendors, childrens workshops give future Picassos a chance to create works of their own.

Fire Fest

The events of Sept. 11 have increased Americans awareness of the importance of emergency workers, especially firefighters. That adds a special air of poignancy to this years Fire Fest.

The event, scheduled for Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the big field behind Kroger in Evans, has grown from a small firefighters competition to a big exposition featuring live entertainment, all kinds of kiddie rides, arts and crafts - and, of course, the Firefighters Muster for bragging rights among area smoke-eaters.

The Columbia County Fire Chiefs Association and the Rotary Club of Columbia County do a tremendous job of putting on this event every year. Its a great way to have family fun, and this year its also a perfect opportunity to meet - and thank - some of our real everyday heroes.

(Barry L. Paschal is opinions editor of The Columbia County News-Times. E-mail comments to barrypaschal@ yahoo.com.)