It doesn’t take long to discover that negativity makes up a very large percentage of verbiage heard daily, whether on the street or on television and radio.

And thus ends any mention of the negative for the remainder of this short column.

I hope most of you were in Millen last Friday for the celebration downtown. Unfortunately, we were unable to be present as we had signed to compete in the Southeast Masters Track Championship meet last weekend at North Carolina State, a commitment made a couple of months before the date of the celebration was set.

Does Cotton Avenue look great or what? Watching the work progress, seemingly so slowly, maybe many of you were like me and wondered if it would ever be finished. Well, now it is!

Thanks are due to so many in our community for having the vision and making the necessary effort to get financing. Thanks also to our city employees who worked in the heat and cold upgrading the infrastructure as well as the Avenue. All of us have driven by and through and around them many times over these many months. And there’s more!

Not too long ago we saw work completed on a phase in the renewal of the courthouse. It looks great! The little park at the old water tower looks so good, and the garden around the caboose highlights the landscaping of Cotton Avenue. The small area next to Cindy’s adds its own bit of charm.

Magnolia Springs State Park has not been closed nor hours of operation cut, unlike several parks around the state. The pool is open. Members of Friends of Magnolia Springs State Park and the Sons of Confederate Veterans Buckhead-Fort Lawton Brigade 2102 are work- ing with the staff on the park’s appearance and the clearing of the Fort Lawton site. The Brigade is also responsible for bringing the Georgia Civil War Commission to Magnolia Springs for its quarterly meeting and getting a grant from the Commission to continue work on the fort’s breastworks.

The Jenkins County Development Authority has kept the Bo Ginn Aquarium open. Dr. Sue Moore and a group of students from Georgia Southern are involved in archaeological work and studies on the Camp Lawton prison. And last week’s Millen News reported that the Bo Ginn National Fish Hatchery will reopen.

Hey, I know we have big problems. Most buildings on Cotton Avenue are empty. Unemployment is second highest in the state. Our manufacturing jobs are gone. Drugs make headlines in the News. The school system and teaching staff are struggling. All true. But let’s get a new focus and celebrate the good — wherever it can be found!