In January we thought things would be back to normal by October, oh were we wrong

I am on a committee at Central Baptist Church to plan the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the church. The church had its beginning in 1921. Our committee had its first meeting this past January. At that time we set the celebration for Saturday, Oct. 23rd and Sunday, Oct. 24th. We have been meeting regularly since then.

Don Estep is publisher of the News Journal.

One of our greatest concerns at that time was Covid. We did not want to invite people from all parts of the country to have to wear a mask which would hinder fellowship with each other.

But since it was January we felt confident that by October things would be under control and our Centennial celebration could take place. As you know Covid is worse now than it was then.

Our committee met last week and because we want to be cautious and not risk putting anybody’s life in danger we have changed our original plans.

We agreed to have a recognition service on Sunday, Oct. 24 during the regular morning worship time. There will be special music and guest speakers, but the entire celebration of the 100th anniversary will take place when Covid is no longer a threat to our lives.

It will still be a special day on Oct. 24th, one which the history of the church will be recognized. Hopefully, some time next year when Covid is no longer a threat the committee decided to have a Homecoming celebration at which time the full weekend plans will take place.

It is interesting to read the history of the church. We have a committee working on a program that will be available to those who attend the services which includes many pictures.

While looking at some of the committee’s work it brought back many good memories to me. If you count the days when my parents took me to church in diapers, I have been attending Central Baptist for over 80 years.

Our committee feels we made the right choice in deciding to not put anyone’s life in harms way. Many people had already made plans to come from great distances for the occasion. Our task now is to inform them of the change in plans and for those that can attend we want them here on Sunday Oct. 24th for the recognition service.

This was not an easy decision to make but the health and welfare of each individual is what is most important to us.

That leads me in to why I have urged people to be vaccinated against Covid. We are in a pandemic that has taken over 675,000 lives. Unfortunately many of those lives were lost before a vaccine was developed that saves lives.
Because of the reaction of a few anti-vaxers I have made a decision to not allow any “letters to the editor” that would discourage a person from getting vaccinated for Covid. I have made this decision because the Centers for Disease Control, the World Health Organization, The Food and Drug Administration, the world’s top epidemiologists, our health departments and local doctors and nurses, among others have highly recommended each eligible person to be vaccinated for Covid.

This is not a game to prove who is right. It is a life and death matter. Those who are writing us may disillusion others about getting the Covid vaccine.

The letter writers are not scientists. They can find information on the Internet to back up any argument whether it is factual or not. Their evidence does not stand up to the mountain of evidence by the reliable sources that I have mentioned and therefore this newspaper will not be a platform for those who would put another person’s life in danger by discouraging them to not get vaccinated. Like it or not, this is my decision.

Regardless of whether we agree with a person’s opinion or not this newspaper has always printed their letters to the editor. Covid is a different matter. We have experts for a reason and letter writers are not experts on Covid and neither am I, but the CDC is.

I’ll sum up my stance on letter writing with this article from the Washington Post which read, “Family urges others to get vaccinated after bride-to-be dies of covid: Misinformation killed her!”

You are probably aware that this newspaper is not the only media source that has made a decision to not allow faulty information on Covid to be published. And a few of our letter writers act as if I am the only one urging everybody to get a Covid vaccination.

Obviously, I am not. However, I encourage everybody to get vaccinated and let’s overcome this horrible virus before it takes another life.

• There is so much bad news it can become depressing. But how about this bit of good information.

An insurance company at Insurify.com has done some research for travellers and published its findings. It has listed the places in each state that has the rudest drivers and the most polite drivers.

Bad news Frankfort. You are listed as having the most rude drivers. But good news Somerset and Corbin. Somerset was listed number one and Corbin number two as having the most polite drivers in the state.

I don’t know how thorough the research is by that company but I like its findings. I also hope that we make an effort to be the most polite.

• Based upon information from a person who moved to our state and had to license their automobile here, I learned how unfair a law we have is to the new resident.

This person had just purchased a new vehicle in the other state and had to pay the sales tax there. Later they decided to move to Kentucky. When they went to get their new Kentucky license plate they had to pay the sales tax in Kentucky again. That amounted to several thousand dollars. This law needs adjusting.