one of my very favorite newspapermen is actually a local guy.
Paul Osborne.
editor of the Decatur Tribune (a great weekly publication)
Paul is the former mayor of Decatur.
Paul's editorials and commentary are always so down-to-earth, logical, reasonable. his whole paper breathes a different tone and atmosphere than what can be read in many media outlets today.
the Decatur Tribune is a small operation, but rich in history, and the staff put out a great paper each week.
read Paul's weekly column here:
what Paul wrote this week about the passing of Pastor BG is a prime example of why Paul is simply a classy guy.....
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Reflections on B.G. Nevitt
Paul Osborne, Editor – Decatur Tribune
I was typing on this week’s columns at the newspaper office earlySaturday afternoon when one of my sons called.
Kevin had heard that B.G. Nevitthad been killed and wanted to know if I knew anything about it.
My heart sank.
I quickly started checking my sources and verified that it was true.
Rev. B.G. Nevitt, 55, senior pastor of GT Church was killed in a motorcycle crash on U. S. 36 at Maryland Avenue.
According to information from the Decatur Police Department, officers responded to U. S. 36 and MarylandAvenue in reference to a crash involving a motorcycle and a motor vehicle Saturday morning at 10:30.
According to the police statement “The male rider of the motorcycle was immediately transported to St. Mary’s Hospital by Decatur Ambulance Service and was later pronounced dead.
“The 19-year-old female driver of the 2010 Ford Taurus was uninjured. There were no other passengers involved.
“The preliminary investigation indicates the motorcycle was traveling eastbound on U. S. Route 36 and the Taurus was traveling westbound on U. S. Route 36. The driver of the Taurus turned left onto Maryland and was struck by the motorcycle.
“Preliminary investigation indicates that neither speed nor impairment was a factor in the accident. A portion of U. S. Route 36 was closed for the investigation.”
THE POLICE didn’t release B.G.Nevitt’s name until later, but nearly everyone in the community knew it was him in a short amount of time.
Word of his death spread like wildfire through Decatur and beyond. His popularity reached far beyond the walls of GT Church.
For a person who had given so much to the church and community, and had so much more to give, it just didn’t seem possible that he could be gone so quickly.
He never realized that when he got on the motorcycle Saturday morning, it would be his last ride.
Nevitt, in addition to being the senior pastor at GT Church, was a Decatur Police Department Chaplain.
Macon County Coronor Mike Day issued a personal note about him in the news release about his cause of death.
The note read, in part: “Many times in tragic circumstances of family grief, PastorNevitt worked with the coroner’s office. His loving manner, his sincere respect and compassion for those in need was always graciously extended. He will be greatly missed.”
Like many people I’ve known B.G.Nevitt for a long time, but not as a member of GT Church, or even as a close, personal friend.
I hadn’t talked with him lately as much as I did years ago when he would call the newspaper every-once-in-a-while, or stop by, to mention something that was in the Trib that week that he especially liked.
I probably talked with him the most when I was in the mayor’s office and the present location of the church needed the City of Decatur’s approval on some of the details involved.
I always found him to be an extremely positive and caring man with a great sense of humor and I always liked him for the person he was and his treatment of people.
In a world that often belittles ministers or the Christian faith, he was an example of how a follower of Jesus lives his life.
He was one of the ministers in Decatur known and respected both in and out of the religious community.
As I thought about B.G., I couldn’t help but think that, in all of the years I knew him, I never heard him preach a sermon.
Yet, I know what his message was about, through what I saw in him.
He didn’t only talk about the love and compassion of God and his son Jesus Christ -- he lived it.
My thoughts and prayers are with his family and all who have been touched by his life -- and for the young woman who was driving the car he hit. B.G. would want us to pray for her -- because that’s the kind of person he was and the life he lived.
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Out for now.....
Matt