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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2008
BARROW JOURNAL
PAGE 5A
Did you get the calendar, Ma?
Got your new calendar yet? You
know the ones: the advertising cal
endars that include reminders to
buy your rheumatiz medicine or the
latest liver pills. At City Pharmacy,
Daddy carried the Cardui calendars
and the Grier’s Almanac. About
mid-December each year, we would
have a steady stream of getters come
through our doors looking for their
next year’s diary.
For the life of me, I don’t know
who all those folks were. We only
saw some of them once a year. They
got their calendar and we wished
them Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and
sang God Bless America. We knew it'd be
another year before we saw them again and
didn’t want to miss an important occasion.
We were glad for folks to have a calendar
and almanac even if we didn’t see them any
other time. God bless ‘em, if they were healthy
enough to never go to the doctor, buy vitamins
or need any Preparation H, we wanted to say
“thank you’’ for hanging our calendars at their
house. Healthy or not, you gotta have some
thing to keep up with all the birthdays and
anniversaries throughout the course of the year.
And let’s not forget the traditional events of the
Winder and Barrow County social scene.
When I was growing up here back in the 60s
and 70s, the mantra of my contemporaries was
“there ain’t nothin’ to do in Winder.” So we’d
hop in somebody's car and hightail it to Athens
- where the college boys were... We didn’t go
over to Gwinnett County - too redneck. After
all, we were from Winder. We had our stan
dards.
So some three decades after heading off to
my four-year paid vacation at the University of
Georgia, I’ve come home to Winder where the
kids are still complaining that “there’s nothin'
to do.” Lo and behold, I have discovered a cor
nucopia of events to fill the boxes on my Cardui
calendar. Until now, it just had never occurred
to me that Winder does, in fact, have lots to do -
it was just all for my parents and their friends.
Now I'm the parent and I'm taking a good
look at me and my contemporaries: gray hair,
no hair, potbellies, cellulite, baggy clothes and
bifocals. I guess folks figure we need somebody
to plan events for us. We don’t look like we’re
capable of planning something for ourselves.
Not long ago, I became aware that some
imports into Winder - none of whom have been
here less than five years - were feeling some
what ostracized from Winder society. They
heard us natives talking about people and places
that haven't existed in years, but to whom/what
we all refer as though they were still among us.
I realized these folks were in a dilemma
and needed a sort of Newcomer’s Guide for
Those Still Trying to Break into Barrow
County Society After Five Years.
After church recently, Carole and
Ridley Parrish suggested that a col
umn on the events of our local society
might be helpful for the newcomer
wishing to assimilate into the commu
nity. Notable see-and-be-seen events
like The Ham & Egg Supper at the
Winder First UMC the first Wednesday
in November and the various Chicken
Stews around the county came to mind
right away: Bethlehem First UMC
the second Saturday in November, at
Winder First Christian the first Saturday
in December, Midway Christian, Corinth UMC,
and Nazareth UMC and many more. Don't
fret if you've missed one of these. There are
Chicken Stews around the county throughout
the winter.
(Psssst — If you don’t know what Chicken
Stew is, just realize it is a local delicacy
for which no self-respecting Barrow Countian
would fail to become a connoisseur. There are
finer points to Chicken Stew you must be able to
discuss in detail at the next Bridge Club or civic
organization meeting. How well someone can
expound upon the attributes of various brands of
Chicken Stew is the telltale sign of whether one
is a true Barrow Countian.)
When your freezer is full of chicken stew,
there’s the Black Diamond Gala: A Novel
Affair in January, the Barrow County Chamber
of Commerce Banquet in February, Easter
Cantatas at the churches in March or April
(depending on how Easter falls that year), the
Relay for Life every May. These are events one
simply must attend to assimilate into local soci
ety, the Parrishes reminded me.
Additionally, you’ll want to watch these pages
for notices about festivals and bazaars at the
local churches or those sponsored by the various
municipalities. Late summer and throughout
the fall are good times for craft fairs, holiday
bazaars, and the fall festivals.
Looking for a calendar? Well, City Pharmacy
isn’t around anymore, but check with your
favorite drug store. If they have a calendar with
the big boxes for each day and will throw in an
almanac, you've hit pay dirt. Grab a pen and
start making notes.
If you're dedicated, diligent and determined,
you can pull off naturalized Barrow Countian
status in just over a year.
Wishing you and your family a safe, joyous,
and prosperous New Year!
Helen Person is a product of Winder having
been born and raised here. She did a 21-year
exile in Gwinnett County from which she and her
family returned in 2006. She loves being back
home and can be reached at HelenPerson@
windstream.net.
Sheriff Appreciation
RETIREMENT
CEREMONY
Barrow County sheriff Joe
Robinson is retiring following the
completion of his term at the end of
2008. The veteran law enforcement
officer was recently honored with
a retirement banquet at the Winder
Community Center. Robinson
finishes his career with almost a
quarter century in law enforcement.
In recent years he oversaw a grow
ing sheriff’s office which will soon
move into a new facility.
Georgia’s political winners and losers for past year
IN ANY election year there
will be roughly equal groups
of winners and losers. Here
are the Georgia political figures
who can feel good (or bad)
about their wins and losses of
the past year.
Winner: Saxby Chambliss.
It’s incredible that a politician
who did so much to alienate
his supporters could still win
reelection, but Chambliss did.
During the 18 months prior
to the 2008 general election,
Chambliss appeared to go out
of his way to annoy GOP vot
ers: he was booed at the state
Republican convention for his
immigration reform bill, criti
cized for sponsoring an expen
sive farm subsidy bill, attacked
on talk radio for negotiating
with Democrats on an energy
bill, and denounced for voting
to spend $700 billion on the
Wall Street bailout.
Those positions pushed
Chambliss dangerously close
to defeat in the general elec
tion - the mere fact that he
was forced into a mnoff against
a poorly financed Democrat
has to be a major embarrass
ment. But Chambliss’ support
ers came home in the runoff
and enabled him to coast to
victory.
Winner: the Georgia
Republican Party.
A Democratic wave in other
states swept Barack Obama
into the presidency and gave
the party firmer control of
Congress. Georgia’s GOP,
however, was able to keep the
state’s electoral votes in John
McCain’s column and retain a
hammerlock on the General
Assembly. The party still looks
like the best bet for victory in
the 2010 governor’s race.
Loser: the Georgia
Democratic Party.
You would be hard-pressed
to name a state political orga
nization that squandered a
bigger opportunity than local
Democrats did in 2008. They
could have exploited the surge
of black voters energized by
Obama to win back some
seats in the Legislature but
Democrats failed to even put
candidates on the ballot in sev
eral competitive districts.
Loser: Gov. Sonny Perdue.
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Perdue’s sup
porters hoped he
would be picked
as McCain’s vice
presidential running
mate or at least get
an appointment to
a McCain cabinet -
but neither of those
prospects worked
out. He had also
been seen as a can
didate for the U.S.
Senate in 2010, but
that went by the
wayside when Johnny isakson
decided to run for another
term.
After a reelection campaign
in 2006 where he boasted of
saving Georgia from a $600 mil
lion budget deficit, Perdue was
forced to pull $600 million out
of the state’s reserve fund in
2008 to erase a similar deficit.
Under the Perdue administra
tion, Georgia’s schools also
continued to rank in
the bottom 10 per
cent while the state’s
highways are among
the most congested
in the nation. With a
record like that, why
would he even want
to serve out his last
two years as gover
nor?
Winner: Glenn
Richardson.
Even with a well-
publicized divorce,
shouting matches with Perdue
and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, and
the collapse of his tax reform
plan, Richardson was still able
to fight off a challenge for the
House speaker’s position from
Rep. David Ralston. After all
the huffing and puffing was
over, House Republicans voted
75-25 to give Richardson anoth
er two-year term as speaker.
Winner: Johnny Isakson.
Georgia’s senior senator,
who had been mulling the 2010
race for governor, announced
this year he’ll just run for anoth
er Senate term instead. By
not getting into a governor’s
race he probably would have
won, Isakson made sure he
won’t have to spend four years
dealing with legislative tem
per tantrums over budget and
tax issues. That’s a win right
there.
Loser: Jim Martin.
Martin did what many
thought was impossible by
pushing heavily favored Saxby
Chambliss into a runoff elec
tion for the U.S. Senate. In
the runoff, however, Martin
performed about as poorly
as he did in his 2006 race
for lieutenant governor, draw
ing less than 43 percent of the
vote. Even in losing, though,
Martin still earned the gratitude
of Democrats both in Georgia
and Washington. They will
be eternally grateful that he at
least prevented Vernon Jones
from winning the Democratic
primary.
He could have been a win
ner: Roy Barnes.
If the former governor had
been the Democratic nomi
nee for the U.S. Senate this
year instead of Martin, Barnes
might well have knocked off
Chambliss.
Barnes is also seen as the
party’s best hope for winning
back the governor’s office in
2010. But will Roy run? He’s
been asked the question but
he won’t commit to a statewide
race.
Tom Crawford is the editor
of Capitol Impact’s Georgia
Report. His column appears
each week in the Barrow
Journal. He can be reached at
tcrawford@caDitolimDact.net.
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