Our readers write

Tax hike unfair
to UC residents

To The Editor:
To the commissioners and committee members who voted for the tax increase, they should be voted out of office in addition to any other elected officials who were involved.
This tax is unfair to the property owners of Union City.
Paul Gwaltney
Union City

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Research vital
to best decision
To The Editor:
We research almost everything. We want to go deep-sea fishing, we get a book on deep-sea fishing. We want to hunt for moose, we get a book for moose. We are planning a trip to another country, we research places to stay, sights to see, and learning the language, would be helpful.
Wouldn’t it make sense to research the person who is seeking the highest office in the land?
I have heard, “don’t know who to vote for, vote for the one who most closely matches your morals and values.”
This is a quote I ran across: “Though everyone has an equal right to speak, not all have earned an equal right to be taken seriously.” Kind of fits this election year, doesn’t it?
Speaking of research, have you researched the book that shows you the journey through life and the hereafter?
We will all stand before a Holy God and He won’t ask if you are a Democrat or a Republican. He’ll ask, “Have you been following My Word?”
You read books on fishing, hunting and travel, but you shrugged your shoulders at Mine. A “take it or leave it” attitude.
You call yourself a Christian, yet you rejected My teachings. You decided to follow the world’s views. They shed innocent blood and they do not receive. “Man shall not lie with man as with a woman.”
He’ll say, “Depart from Me, I never knew you.”
Hilda Greenway
Union City

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Fair, volunteers
deserve credit
To The Editor:
In response to a letter to The Messenger and the few phone inquiries received, I want to take this opportunity to reply.
The Obion County Fair Association is sorry for the letter writer’s financial situation but doesn’t feel the nightly drawing held during the fair will solve his problems.
The Obion County Fair was formally chartered in 1931 as an agricultural and educational event. We are a 501c3 tax exempt, charitable organization whose sole purpose is to provide the citizens of Obion County and surrounding areas a venue to exhibit crafts, crops and animals, as well as have contact with local businesses and organizations who provide services. We also try to provide a variety of entertainment, all for the cost of an admission ticket which is cheaper than a movie ticket.
The OC Fair is guided by 14 directors, as well as 12 members of an advisory board, who give unselfishly of their time, talent and money (no director or advisory board member draws any kind of salary).
The fair puts money directly back into the economy of Obion County by paying premium checks directly to exhibitors. Premiums paid this year were: Crafts, cooking and crops, $42,383.50; poultry, $1,540 (plus $34,150 for the poultry auction sponsored by local businesses); Junior Livestock, $2,430 (plus $186,000 for their auction supported by local businesses); beef, $5,320; swine, $7,130; mules, $1,780; sheep, $4,570; Wool & Woolies, $315; and pet show, $625 — for a total of $66,903.50. This premium (or ribbon money) comes directly from gate receipts which include season tickets. That money also pays for prizes for the moto-X, truck pull and demolition derby, as well as the cost to bring the petting zoo, wrestling and musical concert to the fair.
Local businesses sponsor individual contests and events such as FairShow, pageants, livestock contests, Green Thumb, Queen of the Kitchen, Pick Tennessee Products baskets, truck pull, demolition derby, moto-X, corn hole tournament, etc. The OC Fair patronizes local businesses whenever possible by purchasing supplies, food and services.
The nightly drawing is strictly for entertainment purposes. I’m sure there are people in the community who remember how the drawing started years ago. Tickets for the drawing were given out by merchants after you purchased goods at their store. They were not gate tickets. That was changed and now another change has been made. The fair gates went on a computer system this year so that daily tickets did not have to be printed and handled. The new season tickets are printed in the fair office with a bar code which is scanned as you come in the gates. More than 1,000 season tickets were scanned each night, which gives better odds at having your number drawn than when a week’s worth of tickets were left in the barrel.
The Obion County Fair board encourages everyone to get involved with the fair by exhibiting or volunteering. There is enough dissension in the community already. We need to pull together, cooperate and support the Obion County Fair.
Brenda Baker
President
Obion County Fair Association

Published in The Messenger 8.29.12

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