This Monday I was once again lucky enough to cover the City of Bainbridge’s Veterans Day ceremony. I couldn’t help but be impressed by the talents of the Bainbridge High School students, as the band played patriotic music and members of the Junior Air Force ROTC presented the colors with honor and reverence.

It was very touching to see the park filled with dozens of citizens, who came out early on a cool Monday morning to remember the sacrifices of our veterans and current members of the military. When County Commissioner Oliver Sellers read the names of those Decatur County veterans who had passed away in the past year, you couldn’t help but get choked up. Thanks again to everybody who made the event such a success. We can never support our veterans enough.

• Although my preferred candidate didn’t win the presidential election, I hope that we can all get behind President Barack Obama as he begins his second term. I hope that his message of “things really are improving, I just need more time,” actually ends up being true.

I really hope that the president, Democratic-led Senate and Republican-led House of Representatives can work together to tackle the important issue of fixing our economy. At this point, I don’t care if “Obama gets the credit” —improving our national economy and morale is something that we should all be hoping for.

• Have you ever wondered what would happen if you worked on something for an entire year, but then nobody got a chance to see it until almost 20 years later?

That’s exactly what happened to the special effects wizards who did the “original ending” for the Frank Oz movie Little Shop of Horrors, which originally came out in 1986 and is one of my favorite movies. In the movie, nerdy florist Seymour Krelborn (played by Rick Moranis) raises a man-eating plant that grows larger and larger, in hopes of earning fame and fortune and the love of his co-worker, Audrey (played by Ellen Greene).

In the “original ending” that Oz filmed, Seymour and Audrey are eaten by the plant, which then grows larger and larger and eventually takes over the world a la Godzilla. However, when Oz showed the ending to test audiences, they were so upset with the movie that he eventually had to go back and re-film a “happier” ending, where the plant is destroyed and Seymour and Audrey get married.

In October, Warner Bros. released a new “director’s cut” of the movie that features the original ending, which used millions of dollars of special effects and a year of labor, but was just left on the cutting room floor. If you’re a fan of the movie, like I am, you should really take a look at this new edition … but be warned, it’s definitely scary and sad!