Mayor’s Row…….by Ned Mitchell

                Is it beginning to look a lot like Christmas yet?  That all depends on where you look.  Of course the shopping malls are decorated to the hilt and have been since before Halloween.  We completely skip Thanksgiving other than to take a two day break to stuff ourselves and never mind bothering to thankful for anything in particular.  Cities and counties have their buildings decorated with lights and trees but some are too spooked by those freedom fighters such as the ACLU to say the word Christmas let alone put up a nativity scene on public property.

                Here in Sesser we not only say “Merry Christmas” we have nativity scenes in abundance.  We have one on the city hall front lawn, one in the Opera House Café and our local Hazel Dell Freewill Baptist Church performs a live nativity scene in the city park.  The Hazel Dell Church will perform their live nativity scene in the city park this weekend.

                Are we a bunch of religious zealots as some in the ACLU would think?  Do we trample on people’s rights as a hobby?  Of course not!  We have the usual Santa Claus, reindeer, snowmen and so forth also displayed about and those who do not believe can view them instead of the nativity scene.  Believe it or not some folks don’t even believe in Santa Claus or the birth of Christ so I’m not sure what they should believe in or look at but that is their problem and not mine.

                Sesser is a traditional small town with what I believe are values that the rest of the world, especially our big city counterparts could learn from.  We start each city council session with a prayer offered up by one of the members of the Sesser Area Ministerial Alliance and then we remain standing to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.  Visitors and elected officials are not required to join in as we strongly believe that should be an individual choice and not a requirement.

                So to all of you out there who read this column, “Merry Christmas” to you from all of us in Sesser.  We invite you to come to Sesser and visit with us.  You have the choice of looking at the Christmas scenes all over town or just look the other way if that makes you feel less threatened.  There are a whole lot worse things to hear than “Merry Christmas” and a whole lot of things to look at than a nativity scene.  In America the choice should be yours.  It should not be made by the government, me, you or the ACLU for that matter.  A lot of men and women have died wearing the uniform of this country to protect the rights that we enjoy today.  I agree that we should not have the right to force folks into a religious way of life but I also say we should not have groups such as the ACLU keeping those who want to from exercising their right to say and believe what they want to.

                There is a lot of sadness around every day but after the recent murder trial in Benton it dawned on me that we now have a lot more of sadness to deal with.  First of all State’s Attorney Tom Dinn did a stellar job of  prosecuting the case of  James Coulter who was convicted of the murder of two people.  I talked to Dinn after the verdict was in and I could tell he was upset, not that he had a job to do and that he had done it well, but he talked about the distraught families involved.  Dinn is a family man and always asks how little Carrigan is doing when we talk.  He even went so far as to say I needed to write more about her and less about politics!  What we have as the result of these murders is a lot of people who will have a terrible Christmas this year and for years to come.  There are children of both murder victims, children of the murderer, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, nieces, nephews, friends, and neighbors all with no explanation as to why their loved one is now gone the result of a brutal murder.

                I don’t know where the convicted James Coulter took a wrong turn in life but I do know the result of the road he took.  What caused him to snap and kill his wife and another man is a question only he can answer.  In reading the stories of the trial I could not help but notice all the alcohol that was involved in all of the people involved in this crime.  Witness after witness testified about the various taverns in Herrin, Zeigler and parts in between that had been frequented not only on the fatal night but days and nights previous to the senseless crime.  Don’t worry, I’m not going to preach on the drinking involved, it is just that I happen to notice for some reason it appears that alcohol was mighty important to not only Coulter but also some of his cohorts and even some of the deceased.  So I’ll form my opinions and you form yours as to what all contributed to this crime.  At this point about all we can hope for is that the families of both the deceased and Coulter will be able to find some peace.  That is much easier said than done I am sure but all those involved need to be in our thoughts and prayers not only now but also in the future.  Tom Dinn had a job to do and he did it.  He was not proud of the fact that he had to try Coulter but he did do his job and that is what we elected him to do.  He also has a heart and I could tell from talking to him that his concern for the victims did not end with the trial.  He will carry their memories with him the rest of his life.  I am thankful for public servants like Tom Dinn and hope that you are too.