Dear editor:

Recently I had the pleasure of visiting an old U.S. Navy buddy of mine, James Sweat, his wife Iney and their family in Moultrie.We finally found each other through the Internet and Military.com after 25 years of searching for each other. That alone was something of a minor miracle.

Anyway, I was down there for a week or so and I must say I had a very pleasant experience. The Sweat family took me visiting your various sights, from the courthouse, the Confederate war memorial, the Colquitt County High School, a cemetery with an elephant carved in stone. And of course there was a good story that came along with every place we visited.

I especially enjoyed the visit with Mr. Jack Bridwell, at the museum where I saw a bit of Civil War/American history. Jack knows his civil war history well and was very accommodating. At the end of my tour of the museum, I was actually given a picture of Jack as Santa that I was admiring, which I found both very realistic and humorous at the same time. In the photo, Santa was sitting down and sewing a confederate flag of course.

Admittedly, I did not know Santa was a southern gentleman! Ho-Ho-Ho!

Being a New Yorker and living on Long Island in a town called Middle Island (which is very strange as we are not located in the middle of the island but rather a bit east of the center point), I can surely say that I found the pace of living down in Moultrie refreshing compared to the hustle and bustle of Long Island, where we even consider ourselves somewhat rural and country compared to New York City ,the Big Apple.

As a matter of fact,i n the summertime it’s not too much different looking on Long Island than where you all live down in Moultrie except for the fact that there are just a lot more woods and an occasional palm tree that we don't have.

Long Islanders are very big on preserving our natural state wherever possible, and we have many streams, lakes and land/animal preserves as well as, in my opinion, some of the best beaches in the world.

The best parts of my visit though, undoubtedly, were with the people I met. I got a real kick out of meeting the various people who wandered in and out of my buddy's store there.

Aside from a raised eyebrow or two when someone heard I was a Yankee from New York, you all were about as accommodating as one could expect. In no time at all I was being welcomed right in and they were laughing and joking around with me. I gained a good five or six solid pounds from the good cooking. I now feel I know the real definition of 'southern comfort'.

I had envisioned a northerners stereotypical view of what Georgia was like even though I had never been there and I'm sure it’s the same way for many Georgians when it comes to New York. Just for the record, I'd like to say that most people I know in New York are of a good sort, friendly and would enjoy most peoples’ company. It is just a bit of a different kind of living up here. And from time to time we have gotten a bad rap on TV, as cold as concrete, even though many New Yorkers would give you the shirt off their backs if you needed it.. 

Hopefully by now though one can see from the news that we are caring people who have all pulled together to help each other since that hateful, misguided terrorist attack of 9/11. I know I was very thankful for those who helped New York at that time, and I am still grateful years later.

In closing, I'd just like to say thanks again, to everyone for a time that I will not soon forget. Moultrie is a fine place I'd be proud to call home.And if you ever travel up here past ye old mason dixon line, I do believe you will surely be welcomed with open arms.

                                                                                                                                                   Richard Schaefer

Long Island, N.Y.