Yellow ribbons adorn the square

of a town waiting with baited breath for their men and women to come home

from Bosnia. And they wait for something else. They wait for some one,

some business, some industry to come to town and put their people back

to work.

With the closing of Thomaston

Mills earlier this year in Thomaston, hundreds of faithful workers lost

their jobs. In some cases husbands and wives were suddenly out of work.

In other families, third-generation mill workers found themselves suddenly

unemployed.

The main streets in downtown

are quieter now. A few stores are already closed. There is some fear that

the new soon-to-open super Wal-Mart will put one or more of the older

grocery stores out of business. A few retail business owners who say buying

activity is half what it should be this year are hopeful. They just know

some industry will recognize what an opportunity exists now in their town.

Laid-off workers desperately

want some miracle so they will not have to sell their homes, or lose them.

They want the world to know that not only do hundreds of potential employees

stand ready to work, but a beautiful hospital and strong medical community

also are in place to continue serving the town and surrounding area.

Many Atlantans already have

realized the closest "country" to which they can migrate is

now in Meriwether County which lies just west, northwest of Upson. Interstate

85 and Georgia 85, which frame Meriwether, make it especially attractive,

while US Highway 19/41 running right through Thomaston make it easily

accessible.

Assuredly, no more beautiful

country exists than the sprawling hills and valleys just south of metro

Atlanta. One couple I spoke with lived in Fayetteville for nearly 30 years,

traveling frequently up and down Georgia 85 through Gay, Woodbury, Manchester

and Alvaton en route to Columbus. They never knew what beautiful topography

Meriwether offered until they moved there a couple of years ago and began

to explore the county.

Upson boasts one of the most

spectacular, if not the most spectacular, spots on the Flint River at

Sprewell Bluff. Locals have been picnicking, swimming and canoeing in

the area for ever. Sprewell Bluff may be one of the best-kept secrets

in the state. I can understand why Upson Countians would want to keep

it that way.

Meriwether County, which butts

up against Coweta, seems to be attracting a lot of folks from Atlanta

who are buying up large hunks of land for hunting purposes or just so

those who escape there on the weekends can still enjoy the peace and quiet

of rural Georgia.

Of course, the developers are

flocking there too, but without a lot of luck to date. Scouts ride the

roads looking for land for sale, large tracts on which to develop homes

for those yet to come, those who would be there already if more land was

open for housing. The school system which once caught a lot of criticism

seems to rising to the challenge that officials know lie ahead . Yet another

new elementary school will soon be completed in the lovely little town

of Woodbury.

During this year when every

time you turn on the news there seems to be another layoff of workers

or closing of some factory, mill or military facility, not all news is

bad and not all of those affected by such happenings are without hope.

Not at all.

In Thomaston, a whole community

remains hopeful, even optimistic that somebody somewhere with a dream

and a worthy project will come to their town and let them help to make

that dream come true.

In Meriwether, the schools

keep going up because, like or not, the locals know their dream has been

discovered and that other dreamers will continue to come to this land

of rolling hillsides, peaceful streams and creeks, and stunning granite

formations that jut from the earth to offer a welcome seat to many a nature

lover who goes traipsing the woods.

The recession it seems we still

are "not in" if you listen to many so-called experts will end.

It will not end this year. It will probably be the middle of next year,

in fact, before the worst is over (my predictions only here). And when

it has ended, Upson and Meriwether counties will be ready.

They have built, are continuing

to build, and will hold on for as long as it takes because with exuberance

or sadness, depending on who you talk to, they will be ready to greet

those who come, for come they will.

Assuredly, the yellow ribbons

will wave until the men and women return from Bosnia. Perhaps they will

wave until they greet some brilliant businessman recognizes the opportunity

that awaits him in Thomaston.

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