The Story of the Fourth of July

**June 15**
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AAHBA News July 2014
Membership Meeting
Athens Area Home
Holiday Inn Ballroom!
Downtown Athens
Sponsor
Builders Association
** July 17**
Monthly Membership
Meeting
Holiday Inn
Downtown Athens
10 Key Takeaways on Housing
The State of the Nation’s Housing, released annually by the Joint Center for Housing
Studies of Harvard University, provides a periodic assessment of the nation’s housing
outlook and summarizes important trends in economics and demographics.
Among key findings this year:
Sponsor
Brand Vaughan
Lumber Company
The U.S. housing recovery continues, but faces ongoing challenges. Rising interest
rates, tight credit, stagnant incomes and student debt are moderating growth and
keeping millennials and other first-time home buyers out of the market.
The homeownership rate continues to decline, but minorities are an increasing
presence. The rate fell for the ninth straight year in 2012-13, but minorities represent a
ASSOCIATION
growing share of first-time home owners.
2013–2014 Officers
President – Jared York
Vice President – John Newland
Secretary Treasurer – Stephanie Doerr
Associate Vice Pres. – Cindy Haddon
Sluggish household growth should improve as the economy recovers. Annual
household growth of 600,000 to 800,000 remains well below the 1.1-1.3 million annual
averages of the 1980s and 90s. But in the 10-year period between 2015-25, demographic
forces alone will drive household growth of 11.6-13.2 million.
Executive Officer – Jean B. Channell
Strength in the rental market continues to be a bright spot. Renter growth in 2013
Administrative Assistant – Lisa Teall
remained well above the 400,000 annual average of the last few decades.
P.O. Box 1903 • Athens, GA 30603
Phone: (706) 543-5760
Fax: (706) 549-7203
Email: [email protected]
1651 Meriweather Drive, Bogart
Web Site: www.aahba.com
The shares of younger adults living with parents are likely to drop sharply with age.
The number of households in their 30s should increase by 2.7 million over the next decade, which should boost demand for new housing.
Millions of Americans struggle with high housing costs. Nearly 41 million households
were cost burdened (paying more than 30% of income for housing) in 2012, 9 million
more than a decade earlier. The situation is particularly grim for renters, where 50% are
cost burdened and 28% are severely cost burdened (meaning they spend over half of
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their income for housing).
CONTINUED on next page
AAHBA News July 2014
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The rise and fall in homeownership among younger households mirrors income trends. Between
2007 and 2012, real median household incomes dropped 8% among 25-34 year olds and 7% among 3544 year olds. For the past two decades, homeownership rates for both of these age groups have closely
tracked changes in income.
Multifamily rental supply and demand returned to balance in 2013. As of the last quarter in 2013,
slower growth in occupied apartments and faster growth in new apartments coming onto the market
brought these measures into alignment.
The housing recovery is following the path of the broader economy. “As long as the economy
remains on the path of slow, but steady improvement, housing should follow suit,” said Chris Herbert,
research
director at the Joint Center.
The future course of homeownership will depend largely on the cost and availability of mortgage
financing. On the private side, looser mortgage underwriting standards may help to bolster the
housing market recovery. On the government side, if no housing finance reform bill clears Congress,
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – along with the FHA – will continue to shape conditions in the short to
medium term.
NAHBNow – an interactive blog geared exclusively to NAHB members that delivers news, product information and educational resources to help your business to
thrive. Timely, social and innovative, NAHBNow is all about member value and how your association is working for you.
Watch the latest episode of Housing Now,
by clicking on the picture to the right.
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AAHBA News July 2014
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June Monthly Membership Meeting Sponsor
AAHBA President
Jared York thanks
all at
Keith Porter Insulation
for supporting
AAHBA
AAHBA President Jared York started off by
welcoming everyone to the meeting and thanking
our sponsor Keith Porter Insulation and Fireplace.
Their spokesman Blaze Porter, addressed the
meeting with valuable knowledge about their many
product lines. They have been in business for a
long time.
In 1976 after branching off from his father's
company, Porter Insulation Products, Keith Porter
entered into the insulation business with the
opening of Keith Porter Insulation and Fireplace in
Jefferson, Georgia.
Blaze Porter represents Keith Porter Insulation
and Fireplace
The Porter family companies have multiplied with
the addition of Choice Insulation and Keith Porter
Specialties which offers endless options for closet
shelving, doors, shower doors, vanity mirrors, and
other bath hardware needs.
Visit their website to find out the details.
A great meeting - thank you all for the awesome
turnout in your support of AAHBA
AAHBA News July 2014
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If it looks like Misty with BankSouth has everything under control at the registration table…
You would be RIGHT!! It’s the greeting, meeting, raffle, sign in and gathering spot right
before the meeting! OH! Misty is an AAHBA Ambassador too.
AAHBA Membership Chairman Cindy Haddon, makes sure that all of our new members and
guests are welcomed by going from table to table and encouraging introductions.
… and then, there’s the “After Meeting”
Thank you all for joining us - we will see you again on July 15th for the next meeting!
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AAHBA News July 2014
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AAHBA News July 2014
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AAHBA News July 2014
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HBAG's Member Rebate Program
Cash in Your Pocket - Click HERE
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The Story of the Fourth of July
The Declaration of Independence
We celebrate American Independence Day on the Fourth of July every year. We think of July 4, 1776, as a day
that represents the Declaration of Independence and the birth of the United States of America as an independent nation.
But July 4, 1776 wasn't the day that the Continental Congress decided to declare independence (they did that
on July 2, 1776).
It wasn’t the day we started the American Revolution either (that had happened back in April 1775).
And it wasn't the day Thomas Jefferson wrote the first draft of the Declaration of Independence (that was in
June 1776). Or the date on which the Declaration was delivered to Great Britain (that didn't happen until November 1776). Or the date it was signed (that was August 2, 1776).
So what did happen on July 4, 1776?
The Continental Congress approved the final wording of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
They'd been working on it for a couple of days after the draft was submitted on July 2nd and finally agreed on
all of the edits and changes.
July 4, 1776, became the date that was included on the Declaration of Independence, and the fancy handwritten copy that was signed in August (the copy now displayed at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.) It’s
also the date that was printed on the Dunlap Broadsides, the original printed copies of the Declaration that
were circulated throughout the new nation. So when people thought of the Declaration of Independence, July
4, 1776 was the date they remembered.
In contrast, we celebrate Constitution Day on September 17th of each year, the anniversary of the date the
Constitution was signed, not the anniversary of the date it was approved. If we’d followed this same approach
for the Declaration of Independence we’d being celebrating Independence Day on August 2nd of each year,
the day the Declaration of Independence was signed!
How did the Fourth of July become a national holiday?
For the first 15 or 20 years after the Declaration was written, people didn’t celebrate it much on any date. It
was too new and too much else was happening in the young nation. By the 1790s, a time of bitter partisan
conflicts, the Declaration had become controversial. One party, the Democratic-Republicans, admired
Jefferson and the Declaration. But the other party, the Federalists, thought the Declaration was too French
and too anti-British, which went against their current policies.
By 1817, John Adams complained in a letter that America seemed uninterested in its past. But that would
soon change.
After the War of 1812, the Federalist party began to come apart and the new parties of the 1820s and 1830s all
considered themselves inheritors of Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans. Printed copies of the Declaration began to circulate again, all with the date July 4, 1776, listed at the top. The deaths of Thomas Jefferson
and John Adams on July 4, 1826, may even have helped to promote the idea of July 4 as an important date to
be celebrated.
Celebrations of the Fourth of July became more common as the years went on and in 1870, almost a hundred
years after the Declaration was written, Congress first declared July 4 to be a national holiday as part of a bill
to officially recognize several holidays, including Christmas. Further legislation about national holidays,
including July 4, was passed in 1939 and 1941.
Source: ConstitutionFacts.com
AAHBA News July 2014
Rick Digby
Blue Green & Red Construction
1161 Long Rd
Watkinsville, GA 30677
[email protected]
706-296-7302 Business
Jeffrey Cope
Gutter Solutions of Oconee
102 S. Harmony Ct.
Eatonton, GA 31024
[email protected]
706-999-0201 Business
770-823-8849 Cell

Shirley Chambliss
Shirley N. Chambliss, Interior Designer
640 Riverhill Dr
Athens, GA 30606
[email protected]
859-533-6960 Business
859-533-6960 Cell
Trent O’Rear
Team Pest USA
P.O. Box 3377
Loganville, GA 30052
[email protected]
770-985-4444 Business
706-206-4644 Cell
Beam & Associates Inc
Byron Beam
Bella Maria
Stewart Unkles
Coldwell Banker Upchurch Realt
Charles Upchurch
College Pro Landscaping, LLC
Matthew DiPalma
Dickens Builders
Jason Dickens
Keith Porter Insulation & Fireplace
Keith Porter
Keith Porter Insulation & Fireplace
Greg Richards
Lilburn Developers
Roddy Sturdivant
Progressive Lighting
Angie Jackson
Roll-off Systems Inc
Simon Garrett
Specialty Stone Supply
Mike Phillips
Teri Harris Trucking, LLC
Teri Joiner
Tom Ellis
Tom Ellis
Wright & Wright
Rod Wright
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AAHBA News July 2014
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AAHBA News July 2014
While started in 1972, 1979
marked the start of the
"modern era" of the
Nathan's Hot Dog Eating
Contest. The winner that
year, Thomas Stash, stashed
19 in 10 minutes. By 2000
the record was 25.125. In
2001 the great Takeru Kobayashi (who won six straight
championships) obliterated
the record by eating 50.
Since 2007 the champion has
been Joey Chestnut, who
downed an amazing 69 in
2013!
Hope you had a Happy
4th!
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CLOSET SHELVING . SHOWER ENCLOSURES . SHUTTERS
DOOR HARDWARE . MIRRORS . BATH ACCESSORIES . DUCT
BLASTER TEST . BLOWER DOOR TEST . FORTICELL MOLD
PREVENTION
Office: 706-367-9875
Fax: 706-367-2038
www.keithporterinsulation.com
Cell: 706-215-4648
GREG RICHARDS
Mark R. Williams
Manager
Carey Stephens
Elliot F. Eisenberg, Ph.D.
GraphsandLaughs, LLC
[email protected]
Cell: 202.306.2731
www.econ70.com
Athens Area Home Builder’s Association
Mission Statement
The Athens Area Home Builders Association, chartered in 1957, is a not for profit trade association
representing and uniting the building industry in
Clarke, Oconee, Madison and Oglethorpe counties. As the voice of the industry, we strive to create and promote a favorable climate for quality,
affordable construction to assure a positive eco-
Reb
ates
AAHBA News July 2014
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C A L E N D A R
JULY
Associate Council Meeting
No Meeting in July
Board of Directors Meeting
Holiday Inn
Downtown Athens
10:30
Regular Monthly Meeting
Holiday Inn
Downtown Athens
11:30 Registration
12:00 Lunch
15
15
AUGUST
Associate Council Meeting
AAHBA Office
12:00 Noon
7
Board of Directors Meeting
Holiday Inn
Downtown Athens
10:30
19
Regular Monthly Meeting
Holiday Inn
Downtown Athens
11:30 Registration
12:00 Lunch
19