By Donna Thornton/News Editor
The Etowah County Commission issued proclamations at its Sept. 18 meeting honoring a wounded warrior, recognizing National Recovery Month and urging teens – and adults, as well – to pledge not to text while driving.
The superintendents of Etowah County’s three public school systems received copies of a proclamation naming Sept. 19 “No Text on Board Pledge Day,” as part of an AT&T sponsored effort to get people to make a promise not to text while driving – something that is now illegal in Alabama. Glyn Agnew, regional director of Alabama Legislative & External Affairs for AT&T, said most people have been or know someone affected by a texting-and-driving accident. He said a coworker lost her sister-in-law when a texting driver struck her vehicle. The proclamation stated facts about texting: That half of teens send between 21 and 70 texts a day; that 90 percent of teens expect a reply to a text message within five minutes; that texting takes a driver’s eyes off the road for an average of five seconds; that in an AT&T survey, 43 percent of American teenage drivers admitted to texting while driving even though 97 percent said they know it is dangerous; and that a Virginia Tech study shows those who send text messages while driving are 23 times more likely to crash. Students – and adults – were encouraged to go to the website www.itcanwait.com and sign a pledge that they would not text while driving.
Commissioners also presented Ava Gregory of the CED Mental Health Center and Mary Langley of the Gadsden Treatment Center with a proclamation naming September National Recovery Month, in support of efforts to battle substance abuse.
Gregory and Langley invited the public to participate in the Recovery Run Saturday (Sept. 22) in recognition of Recovery Month. The run will begin at 8 a.m. behind Convention Hall in Gadsden.
Commission members issued a proclamation in tribute to Etowah County soldier Corey Garmon, who continues to recover from multiple injuries sustained from a remotely controlled explosive device July 11 in Afghanistan while serving in the U.S. Army as a cavalry scout.
Garmon, a 2007 graduate of Sardis High School, was a member of the Sardis Lions football team and attended Snead State Community College in Boaz. He is the son of Chris and Lori Garmon, the brother of Kyle and Jordyn, and the boyfriend of Megan Forrester. He received a Purple Heart after being injured, and he remains hospitalized at Walter Reed Hospital in Maryland.
According to the resolution, t-shirts have been designed as a tribute to the soldier, with the words “American Hero” on the front, and words from the Og Mandino poem “I Will Persist” on the back. “… I was not delivered unto this world in defeat, nor does failure course through my veins,” it reads.
“Be it resolved by the Etowah County Commission: We hereby pay tribute to Corey Garmon on his service to the citizens of America, Alabama and Etowah County and for his sacrifices in service to our country and in defense of our freedom,” the proclamation states.