Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2018
BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
PAGE 7A
Editor’s note: This col
umn was originally pub
lished in the former Barrow
County News.
We open and close a lot
of doors in our
lifetime.
Some doors we
choose, others we
enter by fate and
some we enter by
accident.
There are doors
entered that leave
us with the feel
ing we have been
kicked in the
stomach. Others
leave us content,
while others leave
us with a thirst to seek
more, to rise above the
ordinary, to chase new chal
lenges and new dreams.
The latter was such a
doorway I walked into my
junior year at LaGrange
High School. The time was
September 1963.
It wasn’t a chance meet
ing but more or less the
luck of the draw. I remem
ber standing there in the
hallway at LaGrange High
School looking at my
junior class schedule.
My next class was an
English literature class with
Mrs. Lollie Love. I knew
of her. Everyone beyond
the freshman class knew of
Mrs. Love.
In high school, word
spreads quickly about
which teachers to hope
for and which teachers to
avoid.
The jury was out on Mrs.
Love. Some good, some
bad. In general, a tough
cookie!
It didn't really matter at
the time because I had no
choice. Class schedules
were rarely changed back
in 1963.
Maybe you got lucky if
your folks knew someone
in Washington and you
were able to get an act of
Congress passed on your
behalf. That wasn’t my sit
uation.
There was a positive
side, I remember thinking.
Her son was the starting
quarterback that year on
the school’s football team.
I just happened to be on
the football team and that
might be the advantage I
needed.
I marched into class and
took a seat on the middle
row, halfway to the front.
Not too close, not too far
away, not too close to the
window to day dream.
Actually, I thought it was
a good move, sort of a neu
tral area.
A love story
Mrs. Love was a petite
teacher who barely reached
the shoulders of the foot
ball and basketball players
that joined me in the class
room that morn
ing. There was
nothing to indi
cate there was a
raging fire in her
intellectual mind.
That warm
greeting and feel
ing lasted about
three minutes.
In those three
minutes, Mrs.
Love, while
speaking to the
new class and
listing her expectations and
the class itinerary, grew
from barely five feet tall to
seven feet.
Her calm eyes took on
the appearance of daggers.
She had the uncanny ability
of immediately reading our
faces and seeing our con
cerns. “So be it,’’ she said,
or something to that effect.
At the moment, things
were not looking good!
The year was not an
easy year. There was a lot
of work, sweat, a lot of
prayers before tests. It was
as she said it would be.
Although it was hard work,
she opened doors into the
world for the students in
that class, introducing us to
the great poets and writers,
both before our time and of
our time.
As was part of the edu
cational theory of the time,
we did a lot of memorizing.
I was always amazed as she
quoted verse after verse of
literature without looking
at the page. She made it
look easy.
More importantly, she
made it interesting. Sitting
there in a mill town class
room, she projected us
into the words and into the
pages.
And, she taught us from
within her heart.
Mrs. Love pushed me in
my classwork. She chal
lenged my interpretations
of poems and writings. She
instilled in me a desire to
write and to write from the
heart.
She made me want to
read the writings of others,
even to disagree with what
the authors were saying.
She encouraged me,
along with my classmates,
to go into the world, look
ing for the challenges, not
the passes.
She was not a woman
of warm and emphatic
approvals or acclamations.
Instead, she was a woman
of expectations, high
expectations, and a woman
who did not easily accept
failure, a lackadaisical atti
tude, or performance with
out effort.
After high school, I had
the opportunity to see and
visit Mrs. Love over the
years.
Together we have quot
ed the prologue to The
Canterbury Tales (still cat
aloged in my memory) and,
at times, we would discuss
the shattered statue at the
center of Percy Shelby’s
poem. Ozymandias.
We both were fans of
Emily Dickinson and,
occasionally, we would
talk about her poetry.
We talked about William
Faulkner’s “bear” and the
trials, tribulations and
complexity of Old Ben (the
bear) and the McCaslin
family from Mississippi.
Several years ago, we
laid Lollie Love to rest and
her ashes were placed in
the ground by her grand
son on a blue backer of a
day at the family ceme
tery in Gabbettville, just
north of West Point: not
very far from the home
place where she entered
this world some 90-plus
years ago. It was of her
choosing.
She had prepared every
thing for her final moment,
even the obituary. One of
her last visitors was Dr.
Stuart Gulley, a former
president of LaGrange
College and now the
President of Woodward
Academy in Atlanta.
Dr. Gulley has been a
family friend for many
years. Lollie’s husband,
John, had served as dean
of students at LaGrange
College during Dr.
Gulley’s tenure as the col
lege’s president.
Knowing she was near
her final stage perfor
mance, Dr. Gulley, speak
ing in a comforting but
honest manner as Lollie
was accustomed to do
herself, asked if she was
ready for what was next.
In straightforward terms,
one of her trademarks, she
announced she was.
Mrs. Love is gone
but certainly not forgot
ten. Every book I touch
reminds me of Lollie Love.
Jimmy Terrell is retired
from a career in law
enforcement in Barrow
County and is a Winder
city councilman. He can
be reached at ejterrell65 @
gmail.com.
COOKING WITH JOYCE
Light desserts for the spring
When planning summer vacations, if
you like to visit places with history, I
highly recommend a trip to Washing
ton D.C. It has tons of museums cov
ering all areas of history including TV.
The war memorials are each unique
and different. It’s a trip you won’t soon
forget.
If you call ahead you can arrange to
meet with your senator and representa
tive if they are available. I don’t know
if the White House
has been opened
up for tours or not.
If so it’s worth
going through.
There is some
security clearance
to go through
there. It’s not a
trip you will soon joyce
forget.
jacks
I have several
good recipes for
light desserts to share with you that
were sent to me recently.
Fruit Salad
Ingredients
1 can (15 oz.) fruit cocktail (we like
chunky tropical), drained
1 can (8 oz.) crushed pineapple,
drained
1 can (21 oz.) cherry pie filling
2 bananas, sliced
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed
milk
8 oz. sour cream
1 pkg. (8 oz. ) Cool Whip, thawed
Directions:
Mix together Cool Whip, sweetened
condensed milk and sour cream.
Add the fruit cocktail, pineapple,
cherry pie filling and bananas. Cover
and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
If you like plain banana bread you
will love this new twist to it.
Cream Cheese
Banana Bread
Ingredients:
Bread Mixture:
1/2 cup melted butter, plus more
butter for pan
11/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
3 ripe bananas, mashed
Cream Cheese Mixture:
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 large egg
1/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsps. flour
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray
a 9x5-inch loaf pan and set aside. In a
large bowl, whisk together 1 cup flour,
baking soda and salt.
In another large bowl combine 1 cup
sugar, butter, sour cream, vanilla and 2
eggs, mix until smooth.
Pour wet ingredients over dry and stir
until combined, then fold in mashed
bananas.
Make the cream cheese filling: in a
small bowl, stir together egg, cream
cheese, flour and sugar. Transfer 1/2 of
batter to prepared pan.
Dollop cream cheese on top and
smooth in an even layer with a spatula.
Top with remaining batter and bake
until golden and a toothpick comes
out clean, about 1 hour. Let cool 5-10
minutes.
Another favorite bread filled with
fruit is the hummingbird bread.
Hummingbird Bread
Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted sweet cream butter,
softened
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 (8 oz.) can crushed pineapple
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1/3 cup chopped pecans
Frosting:
1/2 cup unsalted sweet cream butter,
softened
1(8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 cup chopped pecans
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and
grease your loaf pan with cooking
spray.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the
flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt
and whisk until combined. Using a
standing mixer, cream the butter and
sugars until creamy and fluffy. Mix in
the eggs and vanilla. Gradually mix in
the dry ingredients and mix until com
bined. Batter will start to look really
dry and crumbly. Add in the pineap
ple, coconut and pecans and mix until
combined. Add in the mashed bananas.
Pour batter into loaf pans and bake for
35-40 minutes or until a toothpick or
knife comes out clean. Let sit on a wire
rack to cool completely.
Another easy salad dessert to whip
up with cherries and pineapple that
will make a great dessert on hot eve
nings this summer.
Best Junk Yard Salad
Ingredients:
1 can cherry pie filling
1 large can crushed pineapple,
drained
1 can Eagle Brand Milk
2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 cup pecans
1 (8 oz.) Cool Whip
Directions:
Mix ingredients in order listed.
Refrigerate overnight.
Joyce Jacks is a native of Barrow
County and a graduate of Winder-Bar
row High School Athens Technical
College, and the University of Geor
gia. She can be reached at georgia-
girl2424@yahoo.com.
Doggs Take the Apple
As you are reading the
paper today, the WBHS
Marching Bulldogg Band
students are enjoying
their adventure to The Big
Apple!
Many of them, along
with some ded
icated parents,
worked long
Saturdays at
UGA football
games to help
fund the trip.
Many of them
saved Christmas
and birthday
money, worked
at their jobs, or
did chores to
earn the money.
Seems like just
yesterday we learned
where this year’s road trip
would take the band, and
now it’s almost time to
return home.
The chartered tour
buses loaded up late Mon
day afternoon, with a long
night of driving ahead.
The itinerary was tightly
scheduled, with plans for
a couple of plays, lots of
touring, and even some
free time for the students
to enjoy at Times Square
and shopping on Fifth
Avenue. Chinatown, and
Little Italy! The highlight
of the trip is a Wednes
day morning performance
at the Statue of Liberty.
What a wonderful expe
rience and opportunity to
represent!
Those who
have been
involved as band
parents and vol
unteers in the
past can under
stand the dedica
tion and commit
ment required to
run a successful
program. As with
most programs
requiring vol
unteers, it often
seems like the same few
people do all the work.
It’s no different with band.
While there are those who
truly enjoy the opportu
nity to serve and there
are some who serve even
though they don’t partic
ularly enjoy it. at times it
seems like those willing
to serve are the excep
tion rather than the rule.
The work of many is done
by few. Even so, in my
six years (so far) of vol
unteering for high school
band stuff, those who are
willing to serve always
seem to pull it together.
It is exhausting work at
times, and without those
who work tirelessly in the
trenches to keep the pro
gram running, it simply
wouldn’t happen. Being
able to travel on the road
trips, though busy and
stressful, always felt like a
small reward for working
the rest of the year.
While I had planned to
join them for the trip. I had
to exchange my deposit for
New York City to a depos
it on a colonoscopy. Yay.
What a crappy tradeoff.
(Pun intended.) So, I was
a little sad when everyone
boarded the buses and left
without me but so excited
for the students and brave
adults who are experienc
ing the trip of a lifetime. I
will miss the opportunity
to see the sights, and to
watch most of the stu
dents experience NYC for
the first time. I’m sure I
would have cried at the
performance at the Statue
of Liberty. I’ve ordered
my granddaughter to take
lots of pictures of the
sights (and not just self-
ies with her friends!) I’m
hoping the adults will take
lots of pictures to share as
well. I’ve already bought
the scrapbook paper!
Please remember them
in your prayers for safety
while in the city and safe
travels on the buses. We
can’t help but think of the
recent tragic bus accident
involving band kids from
Texas, so extra prayers
for our kids, leaders and
chaperones this week are
appreciated.
Go Doggs! Have a great
trip!
Cathy Watkins Ben
nett is a Barrow Coun
ty native and a graduate
of Winder-Barrow High
School. Send comments
about this column to
bencath@aol.com.
ESTATE SALE
Friday - April 6 • 9am to 4pm
Saturday - April 7 • 9am to 4pm
450 Carl Bethlehem Road
Bethlehem, GA
Cain & Cain Estate Sales
Lori Cain • 678-368-5371
March 28, 2018
Crossword Answers
cathy
watkins
bennett