Newspaper Page Text
Page 4 - Friday, June 2, 2023
The Jenkins County Times
thej enkinscountytimes .com
Just off
the
Paved
Road
Carmen Bennett,
Columnist for
The Times
By Joe Brady, Editor
for
The Times
Next week my oldest daughter Ali, will come home from a month-long trip across Europe.
She has eaten French macaroons, she’s fallen in love with Lebanese food, she’s seen the
Mona Lisa at the Louvre, she’s learned the secrets of making the most exquisite chocolates
in the world in Belgium, she’s watched the sun set over the Seine in Paris. She’s taken a
train across the French countryside into Germany, and she’s photographed miles and miles
of tulip fields in Holland. I haven’t gotten to talk to her much because of the difference in
time zones but she leaves me text messages at 2am and sometimes I’m lucky enough for
one to wake me up and I am able to talk to her real time. In those conversations, you know
what she misses most about America? Boiled peanuts, steak grilled on charcoal, ice, and
barbecue. So next week when she comes home and before she heads out into the world on a
new adventure and a new job in Dallas, Texas we decided to give her a grand sendoff party
full of all the things she loves about home.
Putting together her sendoff party has really had me thinking about what home means
to me. What smells and tastes do I remember most from my childhood? Gosh a thousand
memories came flooding back. One memory in particular stands out as one of the earliest
recollections I have of feeling loved and included in the fabric of our family. My daddy was
bom in Americus and most of his family lived around Plains. My grandmother graduated
high school with Jimmy Carter. My grandfather’s family was also from that area, but they
were a much more mral people. Those are the people who gave me my most treasured
memories. As a small child I remember my great Uncle Cecil, a big, tall man with a
thundering voice who was so gentle and so dang funny. He loved to fry fish and tell stories.
I didn’t even understand the punchline of most of his tales, but all the old men would laugh
around the fish cooker, and I’d laugh too just because they were laughing. The smell I
remember from those evenings was a mixture of lemon verbena, red dirt, grease, and fish
fried to perfection. Aunt Christine always had a cold watermelon and she’d keep it in her
garage refrigerator that she always referred to as the “icebox”. For some unknown reason,
she called me “Minerva” and I loved it. I thought that sounded like the name of a queen in
some exotic land. “Minerva, come help me get this watermelon outta the icebox!” If I try to
remember what her voice sounded like, that’s the phrase I hear.
Back when I was a little girl, my great grandmother Eva, for whom I am named, used
to chum butter while she watched her “stories” on TV. I watched her chum and while she
churned. I’d smell biscuits coming out of the oven and the smell of bacon frying. My great
aunt Christine literally cooked from one meal to the next with barely a break. To this day,
when I fry bacon in my kitchen on a Sunday morning, I frequently think of her and it takes
me back to Preston, Georgia just as if it was yesterday.
Most all those old folks have gone on to Glory now, but I hardly ever fry fish that I don’t
think of Uncle Cecil, Aunt Christine, Smitty, Bessie Lou, and all those characters in that tiny
little community who colored my childhood so vividly. And every so often when the wind
is blowing just right through my porch doors on a fall morning, I can smell just the right
mix of dirt road, fried bacon, and verbena. It almost takes my breath away because just for a
fleeting moment I am convinced that I’m curled up on a sofa with Mama Eva churning and
my daddy’s people all waiting for my little 100-pound soaking wet Aunt Christine to give
them permission to come to the breakfast table.
So, when my oldest sets out to Dallas in a couple weeks. I’m putting together a “Home”
basket for her. I’ve included an “Ogeechee Peaches” scented candle, a few hand towels
with my grandmother’s recipe for tea cakes printed on them, a few black iron skillets, a
subscription to the Jenkins County Times and ajar of bacon grease. I feel like that should
cover it but if you have any other suggestions on what to include in a sendoff basket for a
Georgia girl headed west, do share them. Because as much as I know she is going to love the
big city of Dallas, I also know her heart’s just like her mama’s, a mixture of dirt road, bacon
grease, and a little lemon verbena.
Please Join Us For A ■
rt
In Honor Of
Tara Cooper
Thursday, June 22nd-5:00 pm
Jenkins County School Cafeteria
YOU MUST LOVE AND
CARE FOR
YOURSELF BECAUSE THAT'S WHEN
THE BEST
COMES OUT.
Tina Turner
Ok, for the younger folks
who don’t know or those
who didn’t grow up on
a farm, here’s a word of
advice. When you open a
closed gate, close it back
please! The last two times I
have had puppies leave the
fenced in yard was because
the landscapers left a gate
open.
Now, I had a customer at
the auction house even
caution, “if you see an open
gate, close it.” Well now,
in my younger days, cows
wandered from one pasture
to the next through the
open gate so that wouldn’t
have worked but when in
doubt, as they say.
Opening and closing a gate
is a pain. We all know it, but
it’s the nature of the beast.
Rain or shine, hot or cold.
the gates had to be open
and closed. I remember
one time I thought Daddy
was psychic because on a
particularly cold and windy
day he barked, “open the
gate dummy.” Well, I got
out of the truck but on my
way to open it I called him
some names that can’t be
repeated. How did I know
such language at such a
young age. I’ll never tell
but let’s just suffice it to
say, when I got back in the
tmck Daddy confronted
me with everything, I had
called him. Wow, it didn’t
dawn on me that he read
my lips, but I learned my
lesson.
These folks who leave
gates open have never had
to round up cows and get
them back in the pasture.
Maybe they should go work
with Jimmy Becton for a
week. I grew up hearing
how unintelligent a cow
was, but they have a radar
for an open gate. They
can be in the back pasture,
grazing and swatting flies,
leave a gate open for longer
than 5 minutes and here
they come! As an aside,
when you fear cows like I
do, herding them into the
pasture is no big deal until
one of them turns around
and chases you! Just ask
Jimmy Becton how much
pain a cow can inflict. Or,
you do remember the story
about Mama and the prize
bull running through her
garden? Somebody left a
gate open! That’s all for
now, take care.
;ag
NOT
E
:s
Tara Cooper, Superintendant
Jenkins County School System
I have a summer workout
plan. I am working on me
- the physical me. I am
working with myself to be
healthier. I don’t eat all day
then eat before bedtime,
which is not good. No
exercise doesn’t help.
Worry doesn’t help either.
I worry about our students
when they are out of school.
Is everyone getting enough
to eat? Is everyone at home
and safe? Has everyone
been able to find daycare?
Are all our children getting
proper care?
We are not having
summer learning programs
this year. Our website
has links to online games
and activities for our
students. We put into
place so many remediation
strategies at school that I
am confident in our ability
to academically help our
students. But I can’t follow
them all home. I hope each
student has a safe place
where they can enjoy being
out of school and have fun,
too. I must give myself
grace, “permission” if you
will, to stop worrying so
much.
I read somewhere that
grace is a gift. A gift for
both the giver and the
recipient. It intercepts anger
and strife. It brings peace
in a situation that could be
acrimonious. And it is free.
No cost, only reward! I
have had several occasions
in my career that were
stressful and am so glad
that have people that I work
with that gave me grace.
I look for opportunities
to do the same that don’t
compromise rules or
students. I’ll continue
working with grace and
challenge you all to do the
same.
Graduation was so
special last week. Not just
because it was my last one,
but because I have known
most of these graduates
since they were six years
old. I have literally watched
them travel through each
grade and season. I know
most of their parents,
and their siblings. It was
beautiful. I am proud of
those diplomas! I hope
the students are too. They
will go on to do great
things.
I love the cord
recognition part of the
FOR SALE IN MILLEN U
ceremony and hearing
the accomplishments of
these young people. The
students receive cords for
dual enrollment classes
and academic honors. They
receive cords for FFA state
degrees and participation in
other clubs and programs.
Red cords represent
donating blood or having
blood donated in student’s
names. My favorite may
be the red, white, and blue
cords for those going into
the military (and ROTC
students have a sash as
well). The cords are special.
I only took one tassel
completely off the cap
(sorry, Peyton!), so the
tassel portion was a
success. Dillon Fields
still remembers his tassel
getting handed to him all
those years ago when I
pulled his off that button
on top as well (I think those
are the only two students in
twelve years), ha! Happy
summer!
%
4 BED 3 BATH 2200 SOFT
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REALTOR
JESSICA HERRMANN
C: 912-536-6149
O: 912-489-0067
jessica@greatgare alty.com
3028 JAXON MASON LANE, MILLEN, GA
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.Jenkins County Times
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THE JENKINS COUNTY TIMES
issue 12 May 2023 is published weekly by on Friday
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