Habersham County is full of good people. It is a major reason why calling our community home is such a joy and something we should all treasure. People here truly care about one another and want to make a positive difference.
In the Wednesday edition, we ran a feature on Bill Raper. He has been volunteering his time at the local library for three decades.
And during the process, he has helped hundreds of people track down information on their ancestors and learn about their heritage.
There is no telling how far the ripples of Raper’s giving through geology work have spread. As each individual he helped has been able to share their history with other members of their family.
Then there were pictures of those recognized by the Habersham Chamber of Commerce at its annual gala in the Wednesday edition.
Pictures of citizens being recognized by their peers including: Brent Edwards, Habersham Countian of the Year; Coach Chan Gailey, Habersham County Hall of Fame; Lisa Smith, Volunteer of the Year; Mary Beth Horton, SOAR Professional Woman of the Year and Chairman’s Award; Haven Beavers, Ambassador of the Year; Nathan and Lindsey Holt of Bigg Daddy’s, Entrepreneur of the Year; Ty Akins of All Service Printing, Business of the Year; Michael Lowery of Morito Scovill America, Industry of the Year and Casey Simmons of Homestar Financial Corporation.
The names above are recognized by the board members of our local chamber because they are individuals striving daily to make our community better. In a world, country and state that seem to be equally divided on most every issue, it’s a blessing to rest each night in the safe harbor of Habersham County.
No, the members of our community don’t always agree on our collective opportunities and issues. However, we must all remember we have a whole lot more in common than we have different.
Bill Raper, we appreciate you. And award recipients from this year’s Chamber gala, we appreciate you, too. It is good people like you that make Habersham County the great community it is.