Grandmothers have the wisdom and the sonority to tell the truth with out being concerned of the consequences. My grandmother once said “it is not a good thing to boast, however if you never let anyone know what you’re doing how will they ever know?”

Over the past year there have been many changes at the radio stations here on Jones Street. 105.1 WSGC is a 6 kilowatt station with a country format that has a signal which can be heard in 16 counties in both North East Georgia and Western South Carolina. 96.5 the Voice of Elberton has a Kool Gold format and serves 4 counties in North East Georgia and Western South Carolina.

We focus on community radio with an emphasis on local daily news, local weather, local sports, local events, local birthdays and local obituaries. We are local radio.

Recently we received the numbers from Arbitron. According to Arbitron’s website Arbitron “is a media and marketing research firm serving the media—radio, television, cable and out-of-home—as well as advertisers and advertising agencies in the United States. Arbitron’s core businesses are measuring network and local-market radio audiences across the United States; surveying the retail, media and product patterns of local-market consumers; and providing application software used for analyzing media audience and marketing information data. The company has developed the Portable People Meter™, a new technology for media and marketing research.

Through its Scarborough Research joint venture with The Nielsen Company, Arbitron provides additional media and marketing research services to the broadcast television, newspaper and online industries.
Arbitron’s marketing and business units are supported by a world-renowned research and engineering organization located in Columbia, Maryland.”

According these ratings, there are over 15,000 people in Elbert County over the age of 18 and over 8400 over them listen to 105.1 WSGC weekly. When measuring people over the age of 35 in Elbert County, 105.1 WSGC has 60% of them listening.

What is more important with these numbers is what is called Turn Over, which means how quickly someone changes the station. WSGC has one of the lowest rates so once people are listening to WSGC they rarely listen to anyone else. For our advertisers that is a key thing because they know their advertising schedule will be heard by our listeners.

And too our listeners, we say thank you. You have sent your suggestions to us and we have made changes. More newscasts, information updated regularly on our website, more local coverage in other communities like Wilkes, Lincoln and Hart Counties and Abbeville County in South Carolina.

Please continue to send us suggestions and thank you for making us the most listened to station in Elbert County and surrounding areas.

Our Federal Government is doing everything it can to make sure the economy is going to turn. But what is going too far? We the voters asked for immediate change and in the first seventy days of this Administration change has happened. We pressured our Government to make good on Obama’s promise for a stimulus package. Our elected officials fearfully listened and obediently pushed the stimulus package through that provided no protection of government bail outs to padding the wallets of executives in poorly operated companies such as AIG.

The government responded to the angry voters in the United States by trying to impose taxes that would rid these AIG executives of their bonuses. Instead they requested that AIG executives return the bonuses in hopes public peer pressure will do the trick.

So this week, Obama turned his attention back to automotive industry which continues to falter. After forcing out General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner, the government has now advised GM how to restructure to avoid filing for bankruptcy for the meantime. Obama has been quoted as saying “We cannot, we must not, and we will not let our auto industry simply vanish.” The slippery slope here is how much the government has been involved in the business of private companies.

But why didn’t the Government allow the auto makers to go bankrupt in the first place? Does it have anything to with the Unions and their influence in politics? The Unions established the payroll contracts and retirement contracts for these workers. By filing for bankruptcy in the beginning the restructuring of these contracts would have helped place the automotive companies back on good footing. Now our government is offering to guarantee the warranties for all new GM and Chrysler cars until these two companies return to good health.

All of this national attention to the automotive industry brings us to one question locally. When was the last time you purchased a new car and from where? Locally where would you purchase a new car? One Ford dealer in Elberton, one in Washington, a Ford and GM dealer in Royston. So where do you go to buy a new car? And what else does the government have to do to reinstate your trust in the auto industry both nationally and locally or should the government be doing this?

A recession is like wild fire that cleanses the forest of the weaker, smaller underbrush and only the larger trees with greater foundations survive. So should be the ones putting water on a burning bush?

Our federal government is stepping in and taking charge of many mistakes that industries have made. But where do we feel our government is overstepping the bounds of helping and controlling? What message does this send to our local government for their role in helping businesses locally? These are questions that only time will provide answers for. Because of the
very reason we need to borrow money so people can buy cars and houses.

Last night the Elbert County Chamber of Commerce had the 85th Annual Meeting. It was a very nice accumulation of business people, local and state politicians, families and friends at the “ROC” at the First Baptist Church in Elberton, Georgia.

The dinner was delightful and the company at our table was nice as well.The Keynote speaker was the newly appointed Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Chris Clark. His presentation was based on the three principles that he applied to his occupation and tied into what needs to be done for the Chamber to continue to be successful.

Clark’s first point was we had to make people Aware of what the Chamber did and as well what the DNR did. Make people aware of what was offered and communicate to them what they could benefit from by being aware.Clark’s second point was after making a person aware; help them appreciate the Chamber or the Natural Resources by getting them involved.

Help create an avenue for someone to get involved and benefit from their involvement in the Chamber and Natural Parks.Finally, get these people to be Stewards of the Chamber and DNR by their giving and using of both.Clark was pleasant speaker and went into great detail. In fact you can contact WSGC Radio for his presentation. He points made perfect sense and can be applied to any aspect of your life from going to church to being a successful business person on how to get customers to do business with you.

It is our hope that the Chamber continues to gravitate in a direction similar to what Clark suggested. This year has a new Chairperson in Sandra Brown along with Chairman Elect Jackson McConnell, Vice Chairman Daniel Graves, Treasurer Jimmy Hill, President Phyllis Brooks and Immediate Past Chairman Rick Prince. These local business people will have the unique duty to guide this Chamber through a time where businesses are doing more with less and that includes not renewing Chamber Memberships.

It is a time to focus immense attention on how to get work on Clark’s first two points. For the Chamber to stick its chest out and make this community aware aggressively of what it does for the businesses in this area and secondly provide these businesses with information that will create appreciation and ultimately memberships.

There are many goals for expansion of the road ways, improving downtown Elberton,attracting industry to this area. These are all necessary for growth in this area. In the meantime a once over of Clark's speech could teach us all some lessons on marketing and direction.

Why are we not paying attention to the things that are going right in Elbert County? I guess it is the recent news that US Auto Sales were down 41 percent in February and some lots have more pre-owned inventory than new, pushed up to the road to fill space, or that even though President Obama’s Popularity numbers are higher than either Bush Administrations, that this Pre-election Stimulus Package Promise and Bill have more taxing and mixed spending that some analysis see as a quick fix, once the plan actually begins to make a difference some time in the next six months. Or maybe we’re not paying attention because we see things like Merrill Lynch’s Top ten earners make over $200 million dollars as the firm sputtered and was taken over by Bank of America. Kind of frustrating that that when Merrill Lynch lost $27.6 billion in 2008, Merrill’s Investment Banker Andrea Orcel received $33.8 million in cash and stock. Doesn’t make since to anyone who has been displaced in the recent months.

These things and more have kept our attention and we’re missing some really good things going on in Elberton, especially at the High School. I remember the years that Towers fell and that year we saw team called the Patriots win the Super Bowl and everyone in New York wore that hats of service departments at the baseball games. Our country was under attack and we turned to sports. So have you noticed what is going on at the High School?

Coach Larry Brown has the Elbert County Boys Varsity Basketball team in the Elite 8 of the Georgia State Play-offs. Wednesday they kept their undefeated mark at home in the Inferno at 12-0 by dismantling Cedar Grove by 39 points. Led by junior forward Rod Rucker, the Blue Devils basketball team plays an up-tempo aggressive style that has allowed Rucker to score his 26 points per game in playoffs from close range. The Blue Devils are exciting to watch and young, Justin Tate, being the only Senior Starter and he is surrounded by underclassmen Tyheem Newman, Trey Heard and Keldrick Rambert.

On Saturday this team with 25-5 mark travel to Dalton Georgia to take on Columbia Saturday at 8.30pm. This team is one that everyone is paying attention too by starting two of the states best college prospects and surrendering only one loss. Our Blue Devils provide you an opportunity to travel, cheer and be proud of your community. They have been playing hard all season and are worth forgetting about all the negative news about our National economy. Several local businesses have been engaged by their success and have shown their support.

Why don’t you do the same? For a town endured by Football in a Bowl of Granite, Larry Brown’s young men set their newly renovated home gym on fire this entire season. So on Saturday, pay attention to what is going on in our community worth celebrating. Get in your car, drive over to Dalton Georgia and proudly represent your community. In doing so you might be made of aware of something that is going well in our community. Young men, student athletes working together to overcome great obstacles and achieve great things. Makes you wonder if we would put a full court press on our government officials and this economy what we could accomplish as well?

Who would want to be President right now? Seriously, would you want to be the leader of the United States right now? Our country’s military is spread all over the world attempting to keep peace and install democracies in societies that have never experienced the freedom to choose their leaders, our economy has come to a stand still due to inappropriate lending practices and greed, we have become dependant upon imports and being the largest consumer of other countries goods than our own and our government can’t lend to state agencies to assist in their shortcomings.

So who would want to be the leader the of our country? This past week President Obama signed the $787 billion recovery package into law with a statement that it would "set our economy on a firmer foundation." According to Robert Gibbs, his press secretary, the president has not ruled out a second package. Pundits have gone back and forth saying this package is a spending bill designed to nickel and dime programs in the short term and not provide sustained growth. After some last-minute changes, Congress approved a $787 billion economic stimulus measure last week but without quelling partisan divisions in Washington. The House vote was 246 to 183, with just 7 Democrats joining all 176 Republicans in opposition. In the Senate, the vote, 60 to 38, was similarly partisan.

Congress can’t agree what is the correct direction. Personally, I have to respect our President for doing what he said he was going to do. He got into office and with-in a month of being inaugurated he got a bill passed. Why is it that Congress waits till they have to show action to act quickly?

Locally, what are we doing to make things happen? Are we sitting around and waiting for someone else to act to begin to turn things around? Baby-boomers lost fortunes in their retirement funds and they seem to be saving to recover lost retirement form the stock market. This is also the segment of the population that has the most disposable income to spur the economy. So how do we incent them to spend? Retailers, bankers and the like need to be asking themselves that burning question.

Continuing to incent those people who were hit most by the lending practices before to spend again won’t help turn the economy around. In fact it will only perpetuate the problem.

So the burning question now is, how do we make the stimulus package work for us? How do we use it to create jobs and how do we act to make the economy move forward? I would encourage you to continue to invest your dollars locally. To spend wisely and support those businesses that has been in your community for years.

I don’t know many people who want to be President right now of the United States. However, President Obama has come into office doing what he said he was going to do. Do we do that everyday we come to work?

This time every year we are four weeks removed from making New Years resolutions. It is at this time that a certain percentage of people have already dropped the diet and exercise regiment and have gone back to the fast food, fast pace and lifestyles they had before January 1st.

We are four weeks removed from setting the new goals of 2009 and at this point some are still committed and some have also like their diet plans have slipped back.

At WSGC we have kept strong with our mission of providing one resource for news, weather and sports that matter to you locally. Yes we carry the National News from ABC on 105.1 WSGC and CBS News on 96.5 FM the Voice of Elberton but we have committed ourselves to bringing you the information that matters most to you locally.

In the effort to continue to move forward and improve we launched a new website on Monday January 26th. The web address is wsgcradio.com. At our new website you will find all of the local headlines of stories that we are covering that day for you. The local weather, obituaries, sports, community calendar and a recap of the swap and shop. Our new website offers the ability to listen to local sports broadcast of both Elberton and Washington athletics. So if you travel outside of our listening area you can listen at your computer to the basketball games and we will also offer this for all of the baseball games beginning in February.

For our advertisers we offer ad space and the ability to link our daily readers to your website to generate potential business of you as well.

We understand the importance of being your resource for what is going on in the coverage area that our radio stations broadcast. If you missed a news report, weather report or sports report or any thing of interest on our stations you can find it on our website at wsgcradio.com.

I encourage you to log on and then tell us your comments. If you want to reach me directly call the station at 706-213-1051 or email me at pundt@gacaradio.com. We welcome any comments or suggestions from our listeners.

At WSGC we have accepted the challenge of being your local resource of all your favorite country music on 105.1 WSGC and your grooving oldies on 96.5 The Voice of Elberton. We have accepted the challenge of providing the local news on a daily basis when it happens. We have accepted the challenge of providing your local sports and all the other things that are important to you. So see what we are doing for you and continue to listen and log on to the website at wsgcradio.com.

Look, we won’t get any bailouts locally. The Federal Government can’t reach that far, but we can help ourselves locally by reaching for our wallets and investing our dollars where they will do the most good for ourselves with our local businesses. Sounds selfish, I know. Christmas sales are over for our local business, and now is when we all will prove how committed we are at maintaining and spurring on our local economy and making a difference where we can. No bailout is coming here, so be responsible - work to improve our solid community by shopping here, at home first!