The Chatter Box
By Deborah Bennett

Am I the only one who is living in the dark ages and has never heard of a "blue tooth?" I was introduced to the term last week when a customer came into the news office wearing a "blue tooth" on her ear.

It is a device that allows you to talk on your cell phone, hands free. You just push a button on the earpiece when your phone rings and talk. It can also be programmed to dial your calls by simply speaking instructions like, "Call work," or "Call home."

I don't know how expensive the device is, but it appears to be well worth the money in terms of providing peace of mind for parents who worry about their children using cell phones while driving.

Just don't ask me why it's called a "blue tooth." I suppose it's for the same reason my computer "mouse" is called a "mouse."

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The Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade through downtown Millen on Monday had excellent participation, and I salute organizers for a job well done.

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Happy birthday this week to: Sharon Jenkins, Hope Keldie, Florine Aaron, Dean Brinson, Iesha Williams, Terry Thompson, Jessica Aaron, Joanne Sharpe, Anna Griffin Herrington, Valerie Hall and Georgia Lee Dudley.

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Celebrating wedding anniversaries this week are: Mr. and Mrs. Ray Miller and Mr. and Mrs. Ivy Reid.

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Military Active Duty List: Capt. Donald Slade Burke, Travis Air Force Base, Fairfield, Calif.; SPC Grade E4 Arthur Lamont Milton Jr., HHC 1-36 Infantry Support, Friedberg, Germany; Staff Sgt. Gilbert C. Sheppard III, 48th Brigade, 118th Field Artillery, Ft. Stewart; Petty Officer 2nd Class Jamie A. Yager, U.S. Navy, Maryland; Petty Chief Officer Andy D. Crosby, U.S. Navy, Elroy Destroyer, Norfolk, Va.; Stephanie Crosby, R.N., U.S. Navy, Lafayette Destroyer; LCPL Dwain "Cade" Lee, 1st Marine Division Combat Service Support Group II Security Element, ArRamadi, Iraq; Jimmy Cooper, U.S. Army National Guard, 878th Engineering Battalion-Augusta, Persian Gulf ; 1st Lt. J.R. Taylor, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Iraq; SPC. Daniel Stuart, 18th MEDCOM, 121 General Hospital, Seoul, Korea; Capt. Andrew P. Thomas, U.S. Marines, 2nd Marine Division, F.A.S.T. Company, Yorktown, VA; Sgt. 1st Class Steven Yager, 362nd Sig. Company, Korea; MM3 Jeffrey Sweat, U.S. Navy, USS Kauffman, MM3 59/E-Division, A-Gang, Norfolk, Va.; Cpl. Larry Lamont Clark, U.S. Marine Corp, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. Bagdad, Iraq; Khan Young, U.S. Navy, U.S.S. Kitty Hawk, Persian Gulf; Robert Milton Jr., E-3, U.S. Army, Ft. Stewart, Hinesville, Ga., Mission Kuwait; SFC Ronnie Perryman, E-7, Georgia Army National Guard, Battery A, 118th Field Artillery Regiment, 48th Brigade Combat Team; Arnold R. Mosley, 2nd Lt., U.S. Air Force, Randolph AFB, Texas; and Debra A. Mosley, Tech. Sgt., U.S. Air Force, Randolph AFB, Texas.