Dear Editor:

Much like the old World War II song &8220;Accentuate the Positive,&8221; Selma certainly could profit by the simple wisdom expressed by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer in this Billboard #1 song of 1945. The chorus goes like this, &8220;You&8217;ve got to accentuate the positive, Eliminate the negative, And latch on to the affirmative, Don&8217;t mess with Mister In-Between.&8221;

In looking around town, I found one of those positives in Selma. It is Vaughan Place Senior Living Facility on Old Orrville Road. The facility consists of Cedar Lane Garden Homes for those still keeping house for themselves, Cedar Hill Assisted Living for those desiring a little assistance, and Cedar Hill Specialty Care for those in need of specialized care.

The short drive into the facility from Old Orrville Road is a preview of how extraordinarily immaculate the entire facility is kept.

The grass and shrubs along the street are trimmed and manicured to perfection. It is only trumped by the care in which the buildings were designed, landscaped and arranged on the site. Very attractive and inviting is a worthy description for the facility.

The garden homes offer a safe environment with gardening and maintenance services provided. Residents come and go as they chose and live much as they did as homeowners without the hassle of home ownership.

Assisted Living is for those who desire their own living quarters with assistance in house keeping. Laundry and other chores are all taken care of by Cedar Hill staff. Meals are prepared and served to the residents three times daily in the communal dining area.

In addition, Carol Bolen, activities director, oversees a variety of activities to keep the residents as content and busy as they would like to be.

A well stocked library, TV dayroom, and in-house beauty salon are some of the amenities.

A newly constructed wing for specialty care residents in now open. It sparkles with cleanliness and attractive d/cor. Attendants monitor and provide comfort and care for the special residents residing there.

Every little detail of their life is taken care of with loving care and compassion. Dianne King, activities director, provides a variety of activities to engage and delight specialty care residents.

Probably the most noticeable attributes of Cedar Hill is its competent and caring staff, and the hygienic environment within the facilities. Friendly personnel throughout the facility work to enhance the lives of those who reside there.

Selma can be very proud of Vaughan Place Senior Living Center.

James G. Smith

Something good happened in Selma last Sunday in church

Dear Editor:

Something good happened in Selma, Sunday evening, Dec. 2. The Selma Choral Society, a once-a-year choral group, presented its 60th Annual Presentation of &8220;Messiah&8221; selections at First Presbyterian Church.

It was an amazing evening for those in the society who were involved in the choral group. But we hope it was an amazing evening for those Selma/Dallas county citizens who attended.

It was also an amazing evening due to the fact that the presentation was presented in memory of the society&8217;s founder, Kay Wood Haley.

Kay loved Selma and gave back to Selma so many wonderful musical events while she resided here. We were very fortunate to have her grandson Peter, a music student at Wingate University in North Carolina to be present to conduct the &8220;Hallelujah Chorus&8221; in her memory.

We were also fortunate to have Selma native Kenneth Hamrick, presently of New York City, to come home to assist with the accompaniment of the guest soloist. The society can never thank him enough for taking time from his very busy seasonal schedule to take part. Kenneth has deep roots with so many regional musical giants &045; Dr. Harold Rohlig, Sarah Crisman Morelock, Jo Merle Kennedy, Irene Miller, Dr. Betty Lumby and, of course, Kay Haley.

And he wanted to return to Selma to help the scoiety and to show his appreciation for the musical heritage this area gave him.

The 60th Anniversary committee can never thank enough the many individuals and corporations of this area who gave a monetary contribution so that this special event could happen. Over $8,000 was given toward this presentation.

I want to say a personal &8220;thank you&8221; to the 51 individuals, both young and old, who gave of their time and energies to add their voices to this years&8217; society. It was my joy and pleasure to stand before them as their conductor this year.

So &045; something good happened in Selma. Something good that brought the community together to celebrate. And not just to celebrate a special anniversary. But to celebrate the Messiah &045; the one who came as a tiny baby during this holy season.