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www.BarrowJournal.com •r Read all over...
Wednesday, June 8,2011
Vol. 3 No. 33 28 PAGES 3 SECTIONS A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. WINDER, BARROW COUNTY GEORGIA 30680 250COPY
Community:
• Libraries hosting
summer events
page 4C
•Column by Shelli
Bond Pabis
page 2C
Opinions:
•'Paul has right solu
tion for 2012'
page 4A
.'Pull 'em up or find
another ride'
page 5A
Sports:
•Spratlin continues
baseball career
page IB
•Recreation All-Stars
set for postseason
page 1B
•AHS golfers recog
nized at banquet
page2B
•Building a successful
program
page 4B
Also Inside:
•Church News
page 4C
•Classifieds
page 7C
•Obituaries
page 5C
•Opinion
page 4A
•Pets of the Week
page 3C
•Public Safety
pages 6-11A
Online:
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Journal today.
Winder fire chief retiring
NEVER FORGOTTEN
Since the terrorist attacks on 9-11, the WFD has
hosted an annual remembrance ceremony for the
victims and rescue workers who lost their lives.
Mattison is shown speaking at a recent ceremo
ny. Winder firefighter Dakota Daniel is standing
behind him.
Mattison has
36 years to
reflect upon
By Lorin Sinn-Clark
lorin @ barrowjournal. com
A lot of kids want to
be firefighters when
they grow up; ironically
Winder Fire Chief Ray
Mattison never did. But as
he says, the good Lord saw
to it that he ended up in the
profession he was meant to
be in and after 36 years in
the fire service, Mattison
is hanging up his turnout
coat, passing on his chief's
helmet and retiring. June
30 will be his last day.
“I’m 65 and I’ve been
involved in this profession
since I was 18,” Mattison
said.
“There comes a time
when you know it's time,”
For him, it was when he
hired the grandson of a fire
fighter he had hired years
ago as chief in Gwinnett
County. Once he put that
connection together, he
said, he knew it was “time
to go to the house.”
Mattison came to the
Winder Fire Department 19
years ago. after a four-year
stint as an Air Force fire
fighter, followed by a brief
break in the carpet busi
ness. He was then hired as
Gwinnett County’s first fire
chief, a position he held
for 13 years. After anoth
er break as a fire inves
tigator and consultant, he
became Winder’s seventh
fire chief.
“I enlisted in the Air
Force at the age of 17,”
Mattison said. “I applied
for jet mechanic and radar
school. But. the Air Force
and God, in their wisdom,
thought I’d be a better fire
fighter, so that’s what I did
for my four years in the Air
Force.”
Mattison said he learned
a lot and saw plenty of
emergencies in the Air
Force.
But, when he was dis
charged the thought of con
tinuing in the fire service
did not occur to him.
“I was 21 — I had a wife
and a daughter and another
baby on the way,” he said.
“I looked around and didn't
find anything right away.
And, what I needed was
a job.”
So, Mattison went into
the carpet business work
ing for his father-in-law
in Norcross, where he and
his high school sweetheart
turned wife. Janet, had
grown up. He describes
that as “a LONG four
years.” Then, on January 3,
1971, he got a call from a
Gwinnett County commis
sioner named Ray Guninn.
GWINNETT YEARS
“I didn't know him, but
he had heard of me — that
I’d been a fire fighter in
the Air Force.” Mattison
said. “He asked me to come
in and meet with him and
bring my service records.
The next day, at the age of
25,1 was hired as Gwinnett
YOUNG CHIEF
Mattison was 25 years
old in this photograph.
He had just been hired
as Gwinnett County’s
first fire chief.
County’s first fire chief.”
He hired Gwinnett’s first
10 paid firefighters, then
he hired 10 more, and in
the 12 years that followed,
his department grew to 310
paid full-time firefighters.
See Chief on Page 12A
Honoring the chief:
The City of Winder is hosting a drop-in reception for Mattison on
Sunday, June 25, from 2-4 p.m. at WFD headquarters at 90 N. Broad St.
Barrow airport on list of possible sites
Although the Barrow
County Airport made the list
of eight top potential sites
for a second Atlanta airport,
a study released last month
concluded that for now, none
of the sites is cost feasible.
Barrow was on the list of
potential sites along with
Dobbins AFB, Gwinnett
County Airport, Dawson/
Forsyth, Cherokee County,
Cobb County, Paulding
County and Cartersville air
ports.
The strengths of the Barrow
site were said to be good
airspace distance, environ
mental issues and costs. But
Barrow ranked low on the
potential number of passen
gers and market feasibility.
Dobbins AFB had the
highest potential market and
the lowest cost.
No action is expected to
come from the study.
End near for
Granite Hotel
By Susan Norman
snorman @ barrowjournal. com
In a vote that will change the historic landscape of downtown
Winder, the city council on Tuesday decided to raze the century-
old Granite Hotel.
The council voted unanimously to obtain bids for both the
demolition and the engineering to make sure the demolition
does not affect neighboring properties.
The action came one day after the president of the Downtown
Development Authority recommended the destruction of the
1899 building.
See Granite Hotel on Page 3A
Booze by the bottle
available on Sundays?
By Susan Norman
snorman @ barrowjournal. com
In addition to electing the city's next mayor and half the city
council. Winder voters in November will decide whether to
allow local retailers to sell alcohol by the package on Sundays.
If the issue passes, stores for the first time would be allowed
to sell alcohol by the package on Sundays from 12:30-11:30
p.m.
See Sunday Sales on Page 21
Prescription drug abuse
‘prevalent’ for Barrow
‘Entrenched in the culture of county’
By Katie Cofer
katie @ mainstreetnews. com
Although arrest reports show marijuana and methamphetamine
as the main cause for a local drug arrest, local authorities say a
rising tide of prescription pill abuse is a trend that is the most dif
ficult to enforce.
One local police chief said prescription pill abuse in Barrow
County is endemic to the local culture.
“There are no ethnic lines to it,” said Statham Police Chief Steve
Martin. Martin, who came to Statham from Dekalb County, said
drug use in Barrow is very different. “It is so entrenched in the
culture of the county, it’s almost invisible. As a matter of fact, it’s
such a part of the day that it’s not even unusual. For us, it makes il
real difficult to catch because it’s not something that would be oul
of the ordinary... for pills to be passing hands... so when we make
traffic stops, we’re actively looking for pills out of containers and
pill bottles that don’t match the person we’ve stopped and all kinds
of things that we wouldn’t normally have to do. The problem we’ve
got here is so prevalent.”
See Prescription Drug Abuse on Page 12A
Two charged after stakeout
Two Athens men were arrested early Sunday morning on
multiple charges when they approached a house in Statham
carrying a gun.
Derrie Bernard Johnson and his son, Stravious Martez
Johnson, Athens, were arrested around 1 a.m. Sunday morn
ing after Statham officers had staked out a house on Fawn
Drive. The Johnsons had reportedly parked their vehicle in an
abandoned subdivision behind Heritage Baptist Church and
walked across church property toward Fawn Drive. Along the
way, they broke into a church van. D. Johnson was dressed in
all black clothing, according to Statham police officers.
See Statham Stakeout on Page 11A
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Statham Farmer’s Market opens;
Auburn Market on the horizon
By Blair Spiva Rivkin
mbspiva @ yahoo, com
After months of planning, the Statham
Farmer’s Market opened Saturday, June
4th. Each week, Statham will embody a
different, themed event market day, includ
ing Military Appreciation Day, Green Day
and Firefighter and Law Enforcement
Appreciation Day.
Shannon Navarre from the “Keep Barrow
Beautiful” campaign will be on hand for
next week's Recycle Day. Also taking the
stage will be The Red Oak Southern String
Band, a Watkinsville/Athens-based group
playing a variety of traditional and contem
porary bluegrass, folk and blues music.
Cyndi Ball, one of the key people respon
sible for creating the farmer's market, said
that she was thrilled with the turnout on
Saturday.
“Opening Day was fabulous,” she said.
“The committee was very pleased with the
results.”
According to Ball, about 15 vendors par
ticipated in the debut, and more signed up
for later dates. Mayor Robert Bridges was
also in attendance to personally thank each
vendor for his or her contributions.
“He’s been a huge supporter,” Ball
praised.
Ball said that approximately 300 guests
attended the opening, “strolling down the
‘pedestrian way’ in front of our tents.”
See Farmer’s Market on Page 12A
FARMER’S MARKET ARRIVES
The first of several Farmer’s Markets was held in Statharr
Saturday morning. Photo by Jessica Browr
