About The Jenkins County times. (Millen, Ga.) 2023-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 9, 2023)
Page 4 - Wednesday, August 9, 2023 The Jenkins County Times j enkinsc ountytimes .com For anyone who has ever owned a dog, you understand the phrase, “man’s best friend.” My family loves dogs, and we have one or nine. Yes, we actually have nine dogs. And yes, they are a best friend for all of us. When Taylor moved off to Athens for college, we got her a nice little Golden Retriever she named Benson. Benson grew and grew until he became a 102-pound dog who thinks he should still sit in your lap. And he generally does when you sit down. He is a loving and affectionate dog, and he is a fierce protector of Taylor. A couple of years ago, Benson developed a large lump on one of his front paws. A biopsy revealed that it was a cancerous Mast Cell Tumor. This was devastating for Taylor. The two of them are inseparable. Our vet began to discuss options. The tumor was so large that he wasn’t sure he could effectively remove it with surgery and be able to close his paw back up. In the meantime, Renee contacted a friend from high school that is an exotic animal vet, and he said there was a new drug called Stelfonta. It is a medicine that a veterinarian injects directly into the tumor, and it basically kills the tumor and a small amount of adjoining flesh. We discussed this with our vet, and he had not heard of or used the medicine since it was new. But he said he would check it out and see. And he did just that. He called his vet friends. He called the vet school at UGA. He developed a plan and said he would try it. The process of the tumor dying, and the foot healing was a good two months or so. Once his foot healed, you could not tell anything had happened, and his bloodwork showed he was cancer free. Recently he went in for the third time for that treatment in the same paw. He has never had a minute's trouble with anything else or developed any tumor anywhere else. Prior to this medicine, a common course of treatment would be to amputate the limb because of the size and location of the tumor. I believe we have one of the best vets taking care of Benson. He cares for Benson and wants what’s best for Benson. But here’s the purpose of my story. For the successful treatment of Benson’s paw, our vet had to do something he had never done before, let alone never even heard of before. But as is the case with doctors and veterinarians, when they hear of something that has shown positive results, they don’t discount it just because they have never done it that way. They take the scientific route and investigate and make an informed decision based on evidence. Imagine if we all did that. What if we all did what was best, even if it is not familiar? So many times, I am guilty of getting into a rut and doing things that are familiar. Doing things that are easy. And you remember what Jim Collins said, “Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just so easy to settle for a good life.” My challenge continues to be this. Collectively, let’s commit to becoming great as a school system and as a county regardless of how uncomfortable it causes us to get. So, I celebrated a first, Saturday morning, the first birthday of Miss Lillie James Johnson and while I can boast that I am a seasoned entertainer and host, I have never been privy to a child’s first birthday. Now, for those of you who may remember, The Pines has been the venue for hundreds of parties through the Mulkey’s and right on down to me. If that patio could talk, I’m sure it could tell stories. Of course, I have not entertained in several years and y’all, that patio sure looked it. The stones were gray/black, the flower beds were home to weeds, flowerpots stacked up neatly in a comer and dust over everything that was standing still. How were we ever going to pull this off? Well, thanks to Joshua who dedicated last Friday to working in the yards, Oh, did I mention that the yard man had decided to quit, without a notice? We go through more yard services than Carter has liver pills, I’m sure. And there was that one guy who decided my day lilies were in the way and mowed them down, complete with their labels. Yeah, I was kinda obsessed with daylilies. Jerry Messex didn’t have anything on me and Vic Mulkey! Anway, the big day arrived, and I must admit, thanks to Sam and Joshua, the patio was shining like a new penny. Gone was the bar, set up in the far comer, punch and tea had taken its place. Gone were the elaborate food tables full of catered food from Christy and Amber. They were replaced with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Well, we will call them finger sandwiches! Instead of eating from dainty toothpicks, I was served grapes from the dirty hands of young master Jett and played tea party with cold water that one of Mason and Danielle’s sons promptly doused over his head! As the guests left and I finally settled in my chair for the hour before I had to report to the auction house I took a moment and reflected on the events of the day. I don’t know how many cucumber finger sandwiches I have consumed on that patio, but I can tell you, they don’t beat peanut butter and jelly! That’s all for now, take care! John Paul Hearn, Superintendant Jenkins County School System By Joe Brady, Editor for The Times Across the Pond with Tyler Lett* To Tin Letters to the editor of The Jenkins Count) ’ Times are welcomed and encouraged. These are pages ofopinion, yours and ours. Letters to the editor voice the opinions of the newspaper’s readers. The Jen kins County Times reserves the right to edit any and all portions of a 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 By Tyler Busch, Podcast Director & Writer for The Times Folks, it pains me to say that my adventures across the pond have come to an end but I have made the most out of it all, no regrets. This past week, my parents and I took a coach bus tour of Scotland. We covered hundreds of miles, beginning in Glasgow, then drove to Edinburgh and up to the highlands with many stops in between. All of us passengers were in awe of how these coach bus drivers maneuvered these buses on the many tight, narrow roads (the British don’t believe in giant highways). It was my first time doing a bus tour and it was good, but we were definitely on the go constantly. I did enjoy looking out and seeing rural Scotland but wishing it was a little warmer and sunny. The Scottish weather did not disappoint; it was cool, cloudy and dreary. Yesterday, however, was our “sunniest day”. I am looking forward to the Southern sunshine again, just not the heat wave part. Our first night in Scotland was spent in Glasgow, where we had a welcome dinner with our tour group. Early the next morning, we were up and out, on our way to Edinburgh. Along the way we stopped at Stirling Castle and saw the Kelpies. The Kelpies are a pair of giant metal sculptures of horses. The sculptures are roughly a decade old while Stirling Castle was hundreds of years old. The roads may be just as old as the castle. We then got to Edinburgh later in the day and went to a Scottish- themed dinner. The following day we went to Edinburgh castle and took a self-guided tour of the royal family’s yacht, the Britannia. Walking on the yacht, you feel like you are on a cruise ship. Surprisingly though, the ship was not 537 East Winthrope Ave. Millen, Georgia 30442 Studying abroad in England OECK OUT OUR Daily Specials ON Facebook (478)982-2390 extremely glamorous. It was very nice, no argument there, with lots of room for the royal family and their friends. What was cool about it was that you did step back in time. I went by the bedrooms of Prince Philip, the Queen, and now King Charles slept in. I also got to see the main dining room, and saw the bed that Charles and Diana slept on (maybe Camilla slept on it too??). I also saw a couple pictures of the queen wearing pants!! Now, I have always seen pictures of the Queen wearing her traditional queen attire, but never have I seen images of her in “casual attire”. These particular pictures were from the early 1980s. The next morning, we left for the hills, literally. On the way to our hotel outside of Inverness, we stopped at St. Andrews. There I saw the North Sea, a part of the famed St. Andrews golf course, and walked by the cafe the current Prince and Princess of Wales met at. For lunch we stopped at a mountain resort town, called Pitlochry (and were about 30 miles from Balmoral castle). It went from driving through thick, green forests (like driving through North Georgia) then becoming wide open grasslands. It was like that all through the Highlands, along with the many sheep and cows (in particular highland cows, not Texas longhorns). The next day we went to see the Loch Ness monster. Unfortunately, I have to report I didn't see the monster but the lake itself was nice and eerily calm. The boat we rode on looked like it came out of the movie Jaws, just no sharks. It was interesting to learn about the various reasons and creatures Loch Ness supposedly is. I support the theory that it's some creature from the Jurassic period. You can’t go to Scotland and not see its unofficial mascot. What do you think it is, do you think it's real or fiction? The following day, we drove back to Glasgow and on the way drove through the highlands for our final time and made a pit stop at Glenfinnan (the Harry Potter bridge). Today, we flew back to London where both our journeys began. My parents and I are both ready to be home so wish us luck for safe travels home. It has been an amazing six weeks abroad in the UK and I would do it all over again. I got everything I wanted out of this trip and am excited to share with you all about it. I can say I am not a fan of the weather here and not so much the food either but I did try several new things. I am very thankful for the opportunity and happy it all came together. I would highly recommend to anyone to do this in college, it's worth every penny. Go and explore! See you all very soon. REALTOR® Jessica Herrmann C: 912-536-6149 O: 912-489-0067 jessica@greatgarealty.com 986 GRIMM AVENUE, MILLEN, GA .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/Reporter/AP Correspondent Brad Asbury Sports Editor Jake Gay Reporter Tyler Busch Podcast Director/Reporter THE JENKINS COUNTY TIMES issue 23 August 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
