Newspaper Page Text
Page 4 - Wednesday, July 5, 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
One year ago this month,
my parents celebrated their
51 st anniversary. They
planned a big hurrah. A
hootenanny if you will.
In case you didn’t grow
up with people like I did,
who use funny words
like “hootenanny”, let me
explain. Originally the
word hootenanny referred
to something whose name
you couldn’t recall, sort
of like “thingamajig”. But
my ancestors, the tough
Scots Irish of Appalachia,
eventually changed the
meaning to describe an
informal gathering where
everyone danced and folk
music was played. Now, we
mostly use it to describe
a good time with friends
and family. So, growing
up my mama was a good
hootenanny organizer. The
days leading up to the
hootenanny nearly worked
us all to death. The house
had to look like Garden
and Gun and the yards like
Southern Living. As all you
folks out there who were
privileged enough to grow
up on a farm know- a farm
ain’t always pretty. My poor
daddy had to move every
piece of farm machinery,
relocate every pile of
random farm implements,
touch up all the paint on
the porch rails and scrub
every inch of the barn. My
mama even insisted that the
cattle smile as people drove
down our driveway. She
would run around for weeks
armed with a can of spray
paint and polyurethane.
I can remember daddy
having a stroke when mama
polyurethaned right over
the door locks in the house
leading up to my wedding.
We had the reception in my
daddy’s big barn, complete
with a bluegrass band. It was
a hootenanny to remember.
Although my mama was
an impeccable hootenanny
organizer, it was often my
daddy who bore the brunt
of mama’s “projects”.
She volunteered him for
everything. Ladies needing
something built for a bible
school prop. A1 can do that!
Cattleman’s association
needs a replica of Tara from
Gone with the Wind at the
fair?
Oh no problem! A1 can
do that! And bless his
heart he could, and he
did for many many years
growing up. There is a kind
of comfort you have when
you are a little girl living in
a house with a daddy who
can just about do anything.
So, while my mama is
a hootenanny planner
extraordinaire, this week’s
trophy goes to my daddy
for giving life to all our
crazy dreams. I’ll tell you
what else deserves a trophy-
my daddy’s homemade
pineapple cherry ice cream.
It was a favorite of my
grandfather’s and I guess I
inherited it because it is by
far my favorite homemade
ice cream. Daddy makes it
for me on my birthday every
year. I’m sharing the recipe
here because I want you
to have it in case you plan
any of your own summer
hootenannies.
2 cans sweetened
condensed milk
1 Jar of maraschino
cherries quartered with
juice
1 Can of crushed
pineapple with juice
2 cups of sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla
Enough milk to fill the
churn
Daddy also added, “now
this ain’t a recipe for no
pansy little plastic ice cream
chum. You gonna need a
6-quart churn and if you got
some grand younguns to
turn it, then that’d be even
better!” It’s a simple recipe
but it is so delicious and
delightful in this summer
heat. Ideal for a hootenanny.
A word from
Rep.
Rick Allen
Protecting American's
retirement savings
Last week, I proudly re
introduced the Ensuring
Sound Guidance Act with
my friend and colleague.
Representative Andy Barr
(KY-06), to protect retail
investors’ retirement and
investment accounts from
asset managers who put
environmental, social, and
governance (ESG) factors
ahead of returns.
Retirement plan sponsors
have a duty to invest their
clients’ hard-earned money
in a manner that maximizes
returns and minimizes risk.
Yet, President Biden’s DOL
is desperately clinging to
its flawed mle that would
allow financial advisors
to invest Americans’
retirement savings in
climate-related ESG funds,
which are proven to carry
higher risk and charge
steeper fees.
This critical legislation
not only ensures advisors
are making sound
investment decisions based
on monetary factors, but
also empowers participants
to decide how their money
is invested.
I also re-introduced
the Truth in Employment
Act, which would protect
small businesses and their
employees from a coercive
tactic used by large unions
known as “salting,” which
makes small businesses,
especially, targets of
harassment campaigns
designed to increase forced
unionization.
The Truth in Employment
Act is necessary to ensure
employers are not required
to hire an employee who
enters the hiring process for
the purpose of unionizing
a workplace or to put
the nonunion company
out of business. Access
to a reliable workforce
is often the number one
issue facing employers,
and this legislation is an
important step to ensuring
job creators are free to use
their valuable time and
resources to hire workers
who actually want to work.
I supported House
passage of H.R. 3799, the
CHOICE Arrangement
Act, a legislative package
that aims to enhance the
flexibility and affordability
of healthcare options
for small businesses.
Included in H.R. 3799 was
the Association Health
Plans Act, which I co
introduced, that would
give small businesses and
employers the ability to
band together to improve
their bargaining position to
reduce healthcare costs for
employees.
Jessica Wilson
1677 N Hwy 25
FOR SALE
Millen, GA 30442
Beautifully renovated all brick home. Sits on
almost 3 acres. Open concept
kitchen/living/dining area. New stainless steel
appliances, new granite countertops, brick
fireplace, new HVAC, fresh paint and new
flooring, throughout. Fenced in - Inground pool
with new liner. Large metal shop in back.
Approximately 30 miles from Plant Vogtle, 2
miles from Jenkins County Schools
So, I always get myself in
a pickle. I mean, if there is
trouble anywhere around.
I’m gonna get into it. Last
week I had a great idea! I
would sample Jenkins and
Screven County and send
newspapers out to random
addresses.
Well, I got so excited
clicking all those buttons;
y’all I thought I was
playing Pac-man, that
before I knew it I was
sending out 1500 extra
papers in Jenkins and
2500 in Screven. I thought,
no big deal, we can do it.
Oh my sweet Jesus, y’all
I ain’t never seen so many
papers in the back of an
SUV in all my days! I
mean, they were in the
front seat, back seat, rear,
I think they were even
up top in the cargo area!
I had the first inkling of
doubt as the guys were
stacking them up in the
back room.
Now, let’s suffice it to say,
we started putting labels
on papers at 11 a.m. and
by 5 p.m. we still weren’t
finished. We had already
made two loads to the
post office and had four
more to do. The staff
were grumbling. And why
does your staff think you
should buy them lunch
when they are working
is beyond me! Anyway, I
ordered pizza and slushies,
still they grumbled and
complained how tired
they were. I kept telling
them, “y’all you ain’t
digging ditches, you’re
sticking labels to papers, I
mean really?”
The trouble started
however when the post
office received the
finished product. You
would have thought I
had committed murder.
Every post office between
here and Macon started
grumbling, “what is this?
What do we do with
it?” And then my phone
started ringing off the
hook. Y’all, I think one
of the calls was from
the Postmaster General,
you know, that one that
was given the job during
the previous presidency.
Everybody asking, “what
are you doing? For the
love of God, why?” All
I was trying to do was
mail newspapers, I pinky
swear! I don’t think all
the papers have yet to be
delivered.
Now, the customers
laughed when I confessed
it was my mistake. Of
course, one customer told
me her mail carrier told
her that I was untrainable,
‘we tell him how to sort the
mail and he just won’t do
it correctly.” Y’all know
that must be how they talk
about us at Walmart while
we are working the self
checkout line.
Of course, once everybody
knew they could blame
me, one of my employees,
Bam, wore my name out
throwing me under the
bus. That’s all for now,
take care!
Letters To The
EDITOR
Letters to the editor of The Jenkins County Times are welcomed and encouraged.
These are pages of opinion, yours and ours. Letters to the editor voice the opinions of
the newspaper’s readers. The Jenkins County Times reserves the right to edit any and
all portions ofa letter. Unsigned letters will not be published. Letters must include the
signature, address and phone number of the writer to allow our staff to authenticate
its origin. Letters should be limited to 400 words and should be typewritten and
double-spaced or neatly printed by hand. Deadline for letters to the editor is noon
on Wednesday. Email Letters to the Editor to: thejenkinscountytimes@gmail.com
Paul Hearn, Superintendant
Jenkins County School System
The first official day of
summer occurs each year
in late June. But something
about July the fourth just
seems to be the official
mark that summer is
here. That is the day we
celebrate our country’s
independence and when
many people gather with
friends and family to grill
out, make homemade ice
cream, and shoot some
fireworks.
Summer is also a time
when many families
strike out on an adventure
together. In today’s time,
that generally means
getting on the internet,
making reservations at
your planned destination,
and then searching for
things to do while you
are there. Then when it’s
time to go you just put the
address in your phone and
hit start and your phone
will take you turn by turn
to your destination.
Vacation trips were
much different when I was
growing up. Back in the
June of 1989, the annual
conference for the Southern
Baptist Convention was in
Las Vegas. My dad, mom,
sister, and I loaded up in
our car and headed out
west. There was no such
thing as a GPS, cell phone,
or the internet. All we had
was a road atlas and what
we had researched in books
and magazines. The only
reservations we had were
for the few nights we were
staying in Las Vegas.
If you have ever seen
the 1983 movie National
Lampoons Vacation where
Clark Griswold drives his
family across the USA to
visit Wally World, then you
have a pretty good idea of
our experience. On our first
leg of the trip, we drove 31
hours nonstop to Flagstaff,
Arizona. Upon waking
up the next morning and
looking out the hotel
window I realized I was
not in rural South Georgia
anymore. It was sand as far
as the eye could see.
To this day, I still say
this was the trip of a
lifetime. After Las Vegas,
we continued to California
for a stop in Hollywood,
LA, and San Francisco. We
also ventured up the west
coast to see an uncle that
lived in Washington. The
trip lasted 19 days and we
covered 7500 miles. We
visited several national
parks along the way. Even
woke up to a fresh blanket
of snow in late June at
Yellowstone National Park.
Now on about day 16-17
my dad threatened to sell
the car and buy everybody
an airline ticket home on
different airplanes. Even
with the challenges of
being together in a car for
those miles and days, it
was a time I’ll never forget.
We took this trip with
very little forward planning
and almost no type of
reservations anywhere.
Something most would
never do today. There were
a whole lot of unknowns
during that time. That’s
sort of like change. Many
times, people are weary of
any type of change because
of that very reason. The
unknown. Had my family
not taken that trip in 1989
we would have missed
out on memories that we
still sit around and have
absolute belly laughs about
what happened. I would
not have seen the Hoover
Dam, Grand Canyon, or
Old Faithful.
There is another reason
this trip as well as any
vacation is important and
should be a protected
time. Dr. Stephen Covey's
7th Habit is "Sharpen the
Saw." He’s not referencing
an actual saw but the
greatest asset each of us
has - ourselves. Dr. Covey
says each of us must take
care of our physical, social/
emotional, mental, and
spiritual well-being so
that we can be effective
at what we are called to
do. Vacations are not just
about the things we do
and see. They are about us
taking the time to replenish
ourselves and “Sharpen our
Saw.” We must be at our
best to be effective, and
we can only be that way
by taking care of ourselves.
Abraham Lincoln put it this
way, “Give me six hours
to chop down a tree and
I will spend the first four
sharpening the axe.”
.Jenkins County Times
Proudly covering Jenkins County’s news, sports, and community events
Sam Eades Publisher
Joe Brady Editor
Sam Eades Advertising Sales
Debbie Heam Admin/Layout and Design Executive
Sarah Saxon Admin/Legals/AP Correspondent
Brad Asbury Sports Editor
Jake Gay Reporter
Tyler Busch Podcast Director/Reporter
THE JENKINS COUNTY TIMES
issue 17 June 2023 is published weekly by on Wednesday
for $35 per year by THE JENKINS COUNTY TIMES,
425 Hwy 25 S • Millen, Ga. 30442. Periodical
postage pending at Millen, GA and additional mailing
offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
THE JENKINS COUNTY TIMES, Millen GA 30442
Phone: (478) 401-5007
Subscription Rates (Includes tax):
1 Year in Jenkins County $19.95
1 Year Online Only $18.00
2 Years In Jenkins County $49.95
1 Year Outside of County $19.95
1 Year Outside of Georgia $42.00
1 day online pass $1.99
