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12A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, December 19,2018
Its A Wonderful Life
Every Christmas, when I decorate
the crystal-laden tree in our bed
room, I hold up, one at a time, each
of the three ornaments that are tin
kling bells, ring them and say,
“Teacher says every time a bell
rings, an angel gets his wings.”
Usually, Tink is sitting there to
hear this recitation which I do in
the voice of an untrained child
actor and he either shakes his
head or comically rolls his eyes.
This is one of the last lines in the
rousing final scene of the holiday
favorite, “It’s A Wonderful Life.”
Always I have loved this movie
for that last scene. Every time when
George Bailey is rescued by the
love of his neighbors and friends, I
cry. I have seen this movie — or at
least this one scene — at least two
dozen times. And still, I cry.
Several years ago when I experi
enced a small town in Arkansas
demonstrate a similar generosity
and big-heartedness, it became the
inspiration for a book I wrote called
“The Town That Came A-Courtin.”
It was a bestseller and later a well-
received television movie. Readers
and viewers, like I, were captivated
by the town of Blytheville and a
wealth of people who loved uncon
ditionally, people who had nothing
to gain by helping another but their
hearts led them to it.
On the night that the actors -
including the iconic Valerie Harper
- and crew filmed the climatic
scene of the movie where the
town’s people have finally succeed
ed through meddling and the prayer
chain to bring the couple together, I
stood behind one of the cameras,
watching. Actress Lauren Holly,
who played the character based on
me, and Cameron Bancroft kissed
while the crowds cheered, laughed
and high-fived each other. Valerie
grasped at her heart, sighed and
smiled tenderly.
And I cried.
Not, for one second, because I had
written a book that became a movie.
That was surely God’s good grace.
The tears came because watching
that moment of kindness and love
was heart-warming. Overwhelming
so. And because I knew it was true -
that people like that do exist. I had
seen it and I had experienced it.
The other day I needed inspira
tion for a Christmas column. I need
ed to go to a place of nostalgia so I
RONDARICH
Columnist
put the movie on and planned to let
it play in the background but I got
caught up in it and watched it with
new, differently appreciating eyes.
For the first time, as a writer, I
was impressed with the story that
director (and co-writer of the
movie) Frank Capra had weaved
together. It is simultaneously
infused with both conflict and tre
mendous hope. Four lessons pre
vail: Prayer works (the movie
begins with all the prayers pour
ing into heaven for a man named
George Bailey); the seeds of
kindness produce greats harvests;
good wins eventually; and that
every life is important since plays
a domino effect in thousands of
other lives. Each person’s life is
part of a plan so big that our
minds are unable to understand
the complexity. Yet, Capra was
able to simplify that.
No wonder it is considered one of
the 100 Best American Films ever
made.
For two days prior to watching
“It’s A Wonderful Life,” I had been
spellbound by every second of the
funeral and memorial for former
President George H.W. Bush. I even
recorded the funeral and re-watched
it after viewing it live. George Bush
was a modem day George Bailey.
His 95 years were a tribute to how
the kindness and spirit of servitude
of one man can impact millions of
lives.
Both Georges were so similar in
how they earnestly helped others
and how people responded to their
deliberate acts of greatness.
Needless to say, I did a bit of cry
ing over the two days of Bush trib
utes.
Then, I watched the movie and
cried again at the end.
It feels good to see the wonder
fulness of people.
Ronda Rich is the best-selling author
of the new book, Let Me Tell You
Something. Visitwww.rondarich.com
to sign up for her free weekly news
letter.
FROM 1A
Officers
'As your sheriff, I apologize to our commu
nity forthis occurrence.... I am very disap
pointed in this behavior as I know it is not
indicative of our staff as a whole. I want to
reassure our community that we truly
have exceptional professionals serving
our county.'
Jeff Johnson
Sheriff
group waited for everyone to
arrive at the school at Hwy. 9
and Dawson Forest Road for
training, and lasted approxi
mately 35 minutes after the
fifth and final officer arrived.
Sheriff Jeff Johnson said
Monday that shift supervisor
Sgt. Donna Bennett was
demoted from her probation
ary status as sergeant to a
corporal position after the
incident.
Cpl. Casey Honea, Cpl.
Chad Mobley, Deputy
Richard Martin and Deputy
Cory Gearin each received a
disciplinary notice and their
pay is being docked for the
time spent playing badmin
ton.
Surveillance video shows
two patrol officers entering
the gym around 1:45 a.m.
Dec. 12 and striking up a
game at 1:54 a.m. The other
three officers slowly filter in
over the course of an hour
and join in the game.
The game lasted until 3:03
a.m. when the officers walk
off screen, presumably to put
their rackets away. The group
can be seen walking out of
the gym at 3:08 a.m. after a
brief huddle, and at 3:25 a.m.
one of the officers re-enters
the gym to retrieve a jacket
that had been left.
Johnson said Dec. 12 that
he had received a report of
inappropriate behavior by
patrol officers who were on
duty early that morning, and
that the patrol shift met at the
school to conduct building
clearing exercises.
Though Johnson could
provide no documentation of
a planned training, other
video surveillance from the
rest of the school shows the
officers conducting a build
ing clearing training upon
leaving the gym at 3:09 a.m.
Though the footage is
dark, it shows what appears
to be training activity
through around 3:30 a.m.
There is no more visible
activity until the officers
appear to leave the school
around 4:30 a.m.
Johnson acknowledged
that the badminton game was
inappropriate behavior for
officers on duty, but has not
addressed the more serious
issue of all five of Dawson
County’s on duty patrol offi
cers being pulled from their
assigned zones at the same
time.
Patrol officers are assigned
to specific zones throughout
the county, which they can
leave to assist other officers
when calls come in. The
expectation, however, is that
there will always be at least
one patrol officer covering
each zone in the county.
“As your sheriff, I apolo
gize to our community for
this occurrence. We strive to
build trust within our com
munity and unfortunately
incidents such as this serve
to undermine that trust,”
Johnson said Dec. 12. “I am
very disappointed in this
behavior as I know it is not
indicative of our staff as a
whole. I want to reassure our
community that we truly
have exceptional profession
als serving our county.”
Officers are able to access
school buildings at any time
with electronic key cards in
case of emergexncy. Johnson
said Dec. 13 that officers are
encouraged to learn the lay
out of the schools, even if
they are assigned the night
shift.
Superintendent Damon
Gibbs said Thursday he had
no comment on the incident.
The incident is especially
unfortunate given Johnson’s
past position that he was not
allocated enough funds by
the Dawson County Board of
Commissioners in his 2018
budget to increase patrol
presence on the streets.
Johnson sued the board in
September 2017. His concern
was that he did not have
enough staff to handle the
workload demanded, and he
cited the growth in the Ga.
400 corridor, stating the
office had seen a 28 percent
increase in calls for service
since the beginning of 2017.
He sued for $700,000 in
addition to his $8.4 million
budget, mainly in requests
for more staff including
patrol positions. In March a
judge ruled in favor of the
commission, stating there
had been no abuse of discre
tion when the board set
Johnson’s budget.
Johnson had also ended the
2017 budget cycle with
around $400,000 left that he
had not spent.
Johnson took a different
approach during the 2019
budget process this year, tell
ing the board he could work
within the recommended
numbers provided by the
county finance department,
which are based on historic
trends in spending.
Commissioners allocated
two additional patrol posi
tions to the sheriff’s office
for 2019 in the budget passed
in November.
They also approved two
additional school resource
officer positions, whose sala
ries are paid 50 percent by
the board of education and
50 percent by the county, and
provided funding for traffic
enforcement before and after
school to help facilitate par
ent pickup and drop-off in
April.