'Good ol' boys' allowing Grovetown turkey shoot to continue?

Editor:

I would like to express my opinion about the Grovetown Lions Club turkey shoot every Friday and Saturday night. I have now attended three different meetings to voice my concerns and complaints about the location of the Lions Club turkey shoot.

The first was Nov. 18, in which I voiced my opinion and submitted a petition signed by over 90 percent of the families in the two subdivisions, Mainstreet and Senators Ridge, located across Old Berzilia Road from the location chosen by this organization to hold its turkey shoot. They are across from the entrance of Mainstreet, within a few hundred feet of several homes. On Nov. 24, I attended a Planning and Zoning meeting, at which it was revealed they had never been issued a permit to hold a turkey shoot. I left this meeting feeling as if the shoot would cease.

Unfortunately this was not so. They attempted to hold the event Nov. 26, but were shut down by the Sheriff's Office for not having a valid permit. On Nov. 28 they again fired up, but were allowed to continue on the premise that they had a permit. How were they able to obtain a permit when the Columbia County offices were closed for the holiday? I was also informed they were to be allowed to continue until the next County Commission meeting Dec. 2.

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nce again I attended the meeting to voice my concerns, only I was informed before the meeting that the Lions Club would be allowed to continue through this season. So now, we who are homeowners and taxpaying citizens are to be bombarded each Friday and Saturday night with the echo of shotgun blasts. And we have nothing to say about it.

Well, I have this to say: I bought a home without the knowledge there would be a shooting range erected across the road. Would I have purchased this home at its present location? No! Had I known how Columbia County feels about families being raised here, perhaps I would have looked into Richmond or McDuffie Counties.

Is this being allowed to continue due to David Daughtry being a Grovetown City Council member? Is this just the "good ol' boy" network at its best? I do not know. I do know this is not sending the message I think would be beneficial to Columbia County. Growth is due to the homebuyers and citizens, not back-stepping to appeal to the few.

I also discovered Lee Anderson is not impartial he has chosen his side on this issue, and it's the wrong side - against the citizens and for special interests. We collectively are not against any event held for charity or good causes, only against the location they have chosen. There are at least a hundred other sites that are more suited for this type of event; perhaps they could move it next to the Grovetown Lions Club meeting hall - there's only a daycare center close by!

Jimmie D. Bowden,

Grovetown