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Page 4 - Friday, April 7, 2023
The Jenkins County Times
thej enkinscountytimes .com
Just off
the
Paved
Road
Carmen Bennett
Columnist
The Times
Too Much "Alkyhol"
I received a great compliment
last week. A lady I’ve known
the whole of my life said, “you
tell a story like your grandpa.”
We’ve always known that
storytelling in my family is a
highly heritable trait. Honestly
though, I’m not so sure it’s the
heritability of a storytelling
gene or rather the fact that
we’ve always seemed to run
into calamities no one else
could’ve imagined and we’ve
survived them by retelling the
harrowing event to anyone else
who would listen. It helps to
have friends who are willing to
put up with your craziness and
I consider myself blessed to
have a handful of close friends
who not only put up with
my propensity for bedlam,
madness, mayhem, and chaos-
but actually love me in spite
of it. Reflecting on this, I
thought of so many times when
friends have gotten me out of
a mess. Other times, friends
were lucky enough to find
themselves in a mess with me.
This story is one of the latter.
It is told to the very best of my
recollection. The names have
not been changed to protect the
innocent because they aren’t
innocent.
During my first year out
of the classroom, I was
an instructional coach in
Jefferson County. My job was
to essentially help teachers
survive. A good friend of mine,
Beth, was the teacher of the
gifted. Before this incident, I
called her the gifted teacher. But
after this disaster, I questioned
her gifts. Hence, teacher of the
gifted. Anyway, our goal was
to start a science club and help
the science teachers come up
with some cool demonstrations
and experiments to catch the
attention of our students. I
remembered years ago, back
in my Effingham County days,
a colleague would explode a
milk jug in front of her class
each year. It certainly sparked
interest in her kids, so I called
her up, got directions, and
like any teacher worth her
salt, I looked for a YouTube
demonstration. We gathered
our materials and planned
the demonstration. Thank
goodness that it is 100% true
that the Lord looks after drunks
and fools. Something told me
to practice this demonstration
before the kids came to the
club meeting that day. Beth
and I took off outside. I was
wearing the cutest Kate Spade
skirt and a perfect pair of new
Franco Sarto pumps. I got Beth
to agree that if things should
go awry, and I got blown
backwards, she was to pull
my skirt back down from over
my head before the fire trucks
or the TV cameras arrived. It
was a warm humid day, and
the air was so thick outside
we couldn’t get the match
to light. We tried and tried
but eventually realized we’d
have to try the demonstration
indoors.
I’d watched a dozen
chemistry professors do this
same demonstration indoors,
so I agreed. Beth lit the match
and the milk jug barely moved,
making a soft “poof’ sound. I
was mystified. This was NOT
going to catch the attention of
12-year-olds. About that time,
my principal, Mr. Hildebrant
swaggered by and suggested
my problem was “not enough
alkyhol”. This is the part
where I forgot everything,
I’d ever learned in the pursuit
of 3 college degrees. We just
chunked some more alcohol
in the jug and quickly lit the
match. What happened next
is really a blur. My friends,
the milk jug did not explode.
Instead, it took off across
the lab like a missile. It was
spinning in the air and fire was
spilling out of it. Beth and I
were screaming. Suddenly,
we hear a POW!! The milk
jug had ricocheted off a pipe
and was heading back at us at
a speed that has seldom been
witnessed by man. Obviously,
we hadn’t been very careful
because we’d spilled alcohol
on the lab table and when the
fire dripped onto it, the entire
lab table caught fire. I ducked
and went to screaming like
a banshee for Beth to get the
fire extinguisher! Y’all, fire
extinguishers in real life do not
work like they do on TV. That
pin is hard to pull, and Beth is
5 ft nothing. She finally got it
pulled but she had little control
over the hose, and she looked
like Arnold Schwarzenegger in
the movies trying to direct the
hose and put out the fire.
When the dust settled, I
was missing my right shoe.
There was fire extinguisher
residue everywhere. The fire
had beaded up the wax on the
floor and peeled the paint off
the front lab counter. As we
stood there looking at each
other, completely stunned,
eyebrows were covered in
soot and whatever that powder
is that comes out of a fire
extinguisher, we started to
laugh uncontrollably. Y’all,
friends are so crucial in this life.
One of my favorite bible verses
is from Ecclesiastes. “Two are
better than one. For they shall
have a good return for their
labor. If either of them falls,
one can help the other. But pity
him who falls and has no one to
help him up.” Check on your
friends this week, especially
your work friends. Pick each
other up. Tell them how much
you appreciate them. Cherish
your friendships, especially
those forged by fire.
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This home just
By Joe Brady, Editor
for
The Times
This past Saturday was a first. I took two of my grands to the Livestock parade in
Sylvania. Now, y’all know me and kids, except for three little boys and a precious little
girl, kids and I don’t normally get along. Heck, what am I talking about, sometimes Jude
will act like he knows me and other times....
After getting schooled on diaper changing and car seat fastening, off we went. Thank
goodness Jax and Jett are old enough to know what’s going on because before we pulled
off Jax asked if he’s supposed to be fastened in the booster seat. “I wanted to say, “I don’t
know, I ain’t never done this.”
As we get to the parade grounds, and everybody is busily decorating our float. The boys
are running around chasing balloons. It should be noted that the boys had their hopes set
on seeing Peppa Pig. What is that? Like Porky Pig? I asked them what Peppa Pig was and
I got the “look”. Y’all know that look, it’s the same one we give to kids when they don’t
know how to tell time on a watch.
Thank goodness somebody had the idea to stop by McDonald’s before coming to the
parade grounds. Jax bit into his sausage mcmuffin and immediately spit the English
muffin out, being a true southerner, he wasn’t in to the strange texture of English muffin
versus a biscuit. It’s an acquired taste, what can I say?
Jett stops playing and calls my name, “Geepaw! Look what’s on my finger! Come get
it!” Y’all, I swear to you I thought it was a sandspur and when I found out what it really
was, I almost lost my English muffin!
After the parade, as a reward, we had to go to McDonald’s once again. This time for
happy meals. I couldn’t see anything for the greasy fingerprints on my glasses, Jett had to
feed me his fries, my fries, the neighbor’s fries, I had my fill of fries!
So, as I once again try to figure out the car seat thing I notice Jett is missing something
to his, “where are the buckles Jetty?” He says, “under my butt geepaw!” I feel under his
shoulder, “I said under my butt geepaw!” Sure enough, there they were! And who said
kids don’t know anything! And me? Let’s just say when I finally got home, like them, I
was conked out on the couch! That’s all for now, take care.
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By Debbie Hearn
for
The Times
Geneva
Saxon
At home in Millen, GA., on a heavy snow filled night
in December, Bessie Geneva Thompson was bom.
She was delivered by her mother, Bessie Weathersby
Thompson and her father, G.B. "Bennie" Thompson.
Geneva was the baby and only girl with five brothers:
H R Mock, G B Thompson, Jr., Willie Herbert, Hubert,
and Fredrick.
The Thompson family lived on a fami about 3 miles
east of Millen city limits and Bennie was a farmer and .
Bessie worked full time at the 5 & IOjzS store in Millen.
All her siblings attended Oak Hill Baptist Church
School. In kindergarten and first grade Geneva went to
school in a white house located [at that time] across the street from Millen Baptist Church.
This is where she decided to change her name! She did not like the name Bessie, so she
changed it to Geneva Elizabeth. The teacher asked her mother about it and replied, “if you
want her to speak to you do not call her Bessie because she will not respond”. One stand
out of her years in school was from K-12 she never missed a day of school. She received a
medal to prove it!
Geneva learned to cook on a wood stove when she was 7 y/o. She was about 12 before
they got water and electricity. At 13 1/2 she was hired to watch the candy counter on
Friday and Saturday's 7-9 p.m. at Brooks 5 & IOjzS store.
While at Oak Hill Baptist Church, she was baptized in the Ogeechee River when she was
9 y/o and she sang in an all-girls quartet when she was in the 7th grade along with Yvonne
Edenfleld, Jackie Poytress, and Frankie Jean Wilson for 2-3 years.
She married Glynn Saxon in her senior year of school. They couldn’t agree on which
school to attend after getting married, so she stayed with her parents and he with his.
They saw each other on weekends. After high school, Glynn joined the Navy. While he
was in San Francisco, Geneva went to stay with a cousin in Macon. Being the strong-
willed person, she was (is) she was reading the newspaper one day and saw an ad
hiring a bookkeeper. The
wording in the ad for
Parma Tire Company got
her dander up. The ad
read: “We need an Ugly,
UGLY, Disproportioned
Bookkeeper 11 . She decided
she was going to apply. She
put on all her fancy clothes,
make-up, and headed out.
One gentleman in the office
said she would not get the
job because she did not
meet the requirements. But
she did and as they say, the
rest is history.
Geneva has had many
jobs in her lifetime from
selling candy to 30 years
and counting with Jefferson
Hospital OBGYN. For the
last eight years she can be
found every Friday and
Saturday night at the Spring
Creek Auction. After sitting
COMMUNITY
REVIVAL
Power of the Cross
Monday - Friday
AETOL J D-'JA
At The PAL
Theater
7:«(> 1\M.Nightly
rmti -weWirSi
John Paul Hearn
R.L Johnson, Jr.
Cam Wiggins
All are Welcome to Attend
for More Information: (478)331 OOl8 Or (700)551 0742
531 Cotton Avo * Millen. GA 30442
: See GENEVA page 5
Jenkins County Times
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THE JENKINS COUNTY TIMES
issue 5 April 2023 is published weekly by on Friday
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