[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 105 (Thursday, July 22, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1638]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           MISS MARTHA DAVIS

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. BOB BARR

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 22, 1999

  Mr. BARR of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, if you spend much time examining 
popular television shows, magazines, and music nowadays, you'll very 
quickly reach the conclusion that our society is obsessed with youth. 
In many ways, it is good to see greater concern about hanging on the 
health, energy and optimism that go along with being young. However, we 
will be making a grave mistake as a society if we over-value youth at 
the expense of rejecting the wisdom, common sense, and experience our 
senior citizens acquire over a lifetime.
  Nowhere is this principle more evident than in the life of Miss 
Martha Davis. Miss Martha, as she is known to her students, earned her 
college diploma at Brenau College in Gainesville, Georgia. After 
graduating, she returned to her hometown of Cave Spring, Georgia, where 
she held a job as a teacher for the next four and a half decades. In 
the process she helped shape the lives of her students, many of whom 
still visit and spend time with her on a regular basis.
  Miss Martha's own words are perhaps the most appropriate way to 
describe the outlook that has served her so well. She says, ``There's 
three things: God is first, then people, then yourself. I try to live 
by that. Making people happy and helping them--those things have made 
me happier than anything else.''
  This month, Miss Martha, who lives in Cave Spring, will turn 100. On 
July 31st, her former students have planned a celebration for her on 
the front lawn of her home. It is with great pride that I join all of 
those whose lives she has touched in wishing this great teacher and 
outstanding citizen a happy 100th birthday.

                          ____________________