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Wednesday, June 22,2022
dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 3B
A beautiful lifes final place of rest
It’s been at least 20 years
since I visited Winston
Churchill’s grave in the tiny
English village, a stone’s throw
from Blenheim Palace, the
ancestral seat of Churchill’s
uncle, the Duke of
Marlborough, where the histo
ry-making Prime Minister was
born.
I like to visit the graves of
those I admire and pay my
respects. I reflect on the good
of their lives and how my life
benefited from theirs. Then, I
pray.
This is how it happened that I
was kneeling at Churchill’s
obscure burial site that resides
with, perhaps 40 or so other
graves - including his wife,
Clementine - behind the 12th
Century stone Parish Church of
St. Martin’s in Bladen.
Head bowed, eyes closed, I
became aware of a racket going
on. I opened my eyes, looked
past the churchyard to see a
RONDA
Columnist
blonde-headed woman
in a plaid overcoat on
the cold, gray January
24th day - the anniver
sary of Churchill’s
death in 1965 - holding
a leash, and running,
quite a bit behind, to
catch the dog that had
escaped.
A white, jowly, stout bulldog
ran purposefully toward me,
drew to a stop and sidled up
close. I was petting him when
his owner finally caught up.
“Please, forgive me. It’s quite
out of disposition for him. He
never does She stopped
when she saw the name on the
headstone, then jumped back
ward.
“Oh, my,” she whispered.
“That’s quite something, isn’t
it?”
During the war, Winston
Churchill was sometimes
drawn in caricature as a bulldog
because of his tenacity and his
RICH
portly physical resem
blance to that no-non
sense animal. He was
lovingly named British
Bulldog.
It is the only time
I’ve ever seen a bulldog
while visiting England.
Ever since Alabama
writer and queen storyteller,
Kathryn Tucker Windham, died
a few years ago, I’ve wanted to
see her grave to close out our
story. Unlike Churchill, I knew
her. Albeit briefly.
Throughout the South, big
storytelling festivals are held
where people just get up and
tell a story. A good storyteller
will pick up a following.
I was in Williamsburg,
Virginia, on business, when I
saw a handbill for a storytelling
event that night. So many peo
ple had shown up that the city’s
marshal department had closed
down admittance. They allowed
me to stand to listen to a few
stories. At the concessions
stand, I asked, “Who is the best
storyteller?”
“Kathryn Tucker Windham.
Without question.”
I bought her CDs and quickly
discovered they were right: she
was excellent. When I first met
her, she was around 88. She
called to thank me for a story I
had written on her, then invited
me to her tiny, clapboard house
in Selmer, Alabama.
“Now, you’re not cornin’
over to the highfalutin’ side of
town,” she said on the phone.
“Know that before you get
here.”
It was the loveliest afternoon.
Later, she pointed out the shed
behind her house, remarking
nonchalantly, “That’s where I
keep the handmade casket I’m
gonna be buried in.”
When she died, a few days
short of 93, she was, indeed,
put in that pine box, loaded in a
friend’s pick-up truck, and car
ried to her grave. It took a lot of
looking to find her grave and,
honestly, I didn’t feel overly
safe in the mid-day of New
Live Oak Cemetery, though it is
historic, with majestic monu
ments and towering magnolias
covered in Spanish Moss.
She is buried next to her hus
band, Amasa, who died over 50
years before Miss Kathryn.
Another daughter lies close by.
Miss Kathryn is buried in a
place similar to how she lived:
simple with nothing fancy.
When I visited her, she,
despite a challenging life, kept
saying, “I’m so blessed. Isn’t
life wonderful? Just wonder
ful!” It sounded better in her
lyrical drawl.
Her gravestone reads:
“She was twice blessed. She
was happy and she knew it.”
What beautiful words to
close out the book on one’s life.
Ronda Rich is the best-selling
author of Let Me Tell You
Something. Visit www.rondarich.
com to sign up for her free weekly
newsletter.
Breakfast of champions
ADLEN ROBINSON
Columnist
It is easy to fall
into a breakfast rut.
Bacon and eggs—
or sausage and
eggs, a boiled egg,
toast, maybe a
smoothie. If your
breakfast lately has
gotten a little
monotonous, check out these
super simple recipes. They are
quick to make and turn out deli
cious every time.
Breakfast Tacos for Two
• 4 medium flour tortillas
• 1 tablespoon butter
teaspoon
teaspoon
jalapeno,
and finely
• 4 eggs, lightly
beaten
• y 2
salt
• V*
pepper
• y 2
seeded
minced
1 green onion, chopped
Salsa
Sour cream
Cilantro
Shredded Cheddar cheese
Wrap tortillas in aluminum
foil and place in a 350-degree
oven for about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat butter in a skil
let over medium heat. Add jala-
penos and green onion, cooking
for a few minutes until softened.
Add beaten eggs, salt and pep
per and cook, pulling eggs
inward, until done. Add eggs to
tortillas, and top with salsa, sour
cream, cilantro, and shredded
cheddar cheese.
Banana Pancakes
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking pow
der
• 1 y 2 teaspoons baking
soda
• y 2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 eggs
• 1 % cup milk
• 2 tablespoons butter,
melted (plus more for
cooking)
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• Maple syrup for serving
Whisk together flour, baking
powder, baking soda, and salt.
In another bowl, whisk together
honey, eggs, milk and melted
butter. Make a well in the mid
dle of the dry ingredients and
pour in the wet ingredients. Stir
just until combined and then
gently fold in the mashed
bananas. Heat butter over medi
um-high heat in skillet and cook
pancakes until bubbles appear,
then flip to complete cooking.
Serve with maple syrup.
Fruit Salad
• 4 cups diced fruit (grapes,
strawberries, raspberries,
blueberries, watermelon,
cantaloup, honeydew
melon, kiwi, etc)
• 14 cup fresh mint leaves,
minced
• y 2 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 2 teaspoons maple syrup
• y 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• y 2 teaspoon orange zest
In a small bowl, combine
Greek yogurt, maple syrup,
vanilla extract, and orange zest.
In another bowl, toss fruit with
mint. Add dressing and toss to
combine.
FROM 1B
Ivy
University last fall and trounce
the Columbia Lions.
“Going to Columbia and
beating them hadn’t been done
in a number of years,” Pyetsukh
said. “So there was a lot of cel
ebration in the locker room and
on the bus ride home.”
Academics
Pyetsukh recommended
meeting one’s college profes
sors during office hours and
learning from their experiences,
like he did, to help with profes
sional growth.
He named a few key profes
sors who served as mentors for
him. Manuel Lancastre, a dis
tinguished lecturer with experi
ence at workplaces like global
management firm Me Kinsey &
Company, helped Pyetsukh
generally find success and
determine what to pursue after
graduation.
Another professor, Alex
Poterack, taught multiple of
Pyetsukh’s introductory eco
nomics courses and helped
inspire him to dive into the
study of economics.
“He motivated me to take
classes where economics isn’t
[at face value] a part of, like
classes on education, environ
ment or labor,” Pyetsukh said.
“Those are all important to get
ting a fuller understanding of
how everything works and
blends together.”
Pyetsukh’s ultimate goal is to
become a corporate lawyer. To
that end, he’s put in a lot of
hours interning at law firms as
a legal assistant, studying for
the LSAT and completing
numerous applications and
essays.
Now, he’s waiting to hear
back from multiple law school
applications, so he can hopeful
ly start his next chapter of
schooling in the fall.
Meanwhile, Pyetsukh is look
ing forward to using his knowl
edge about economics, invest
ing and corporate finance in an
upcoming summer internship.
He elaborated that his daily
routine has made perhaps the
biggest difference in his suc
cess during college.
Like other freshmen,
Pyetsukh said that the effort
and diligence required to earn
A’s on school assignments ini
tially came as a “bit of a shock”
to him, but he was able to
adjust relatively quickly and get
on the right track.
That meant waking up early
enough for 7 a.m. soccer train
ing and being in the locker
room by 6:15 a.m. He made it a
habit to go straight from prac
tice to classes to the library,
even if work wasn’t immediate
ly due, in order to get the most
out of his days.
“Getting an early start in the
day and making most of my
time was where I found most of
my success,” Pyetsukh said.
He suggested that for those
entering college as athletes, it’s
key to find a healthy balance of
time spent between sports and
school and to not “sacrifice one
for the other.”
“It (balance) is definitely
attainable as long as you want
to attain it,” Pyetsukh said.
“I’m always looking to strive
for the highest that I can
achieve,” he added. “Law
school is attainable for me, and
I could see myself enjoying the
work.”
Rio White Dawson County News
Ethan Parker takes the ball down the court dur
ing the scrimmage game. He is set to be an
important asset to the team next season.
Rio White Dawson County News
A future LadyTiger plays in a one-one-one activity
last week. The current high school players helped
these young players develop life skills.
FROM 1B
Boys
way closer to the net
through the work of
Trey Harvey.
Those two will be
important for next sea
son’s squad both for
their offensive output
and their rebounding
capabilities.
One player whose role
in the upcoming team
will likely expand is
Ethan Parker, who also
contributed offensively
during the scrimmage.
Also a rising junior,
Parker will be part of a
group of juniors also
including Joshua Priest
and Owen Walls who
will be taking on leader
ship roles on a young
team.
“We are still a very
young team. We have no
seniors on our roster,
and most of our players
have not yet experi
enced varsity competi
tion,” Cottrell said. “We
expect our captains
[Trey Harvey, Caden
Reed and Ethan Parker]
to lead by example and
help hold our team to
our standards on and off
the floor. We all have a
lot of room to grow and
develop.”
Two of those younger
players include rising
sophomores Jacson
Rickett and Bailey
Swafford, who both had
opportunities to display
their skills during the
scrimmage.
With all of those play
ers in mind, Cottrell will
also be considering the
roles of some of the
youngest players who
participated in the
scrimmage.
Some of those players
may be tasked with
defensive roles in the
upcoming scrimmages
to test their versatility
and prepare for next
season.
“We have to be very
good defensively to
have a chance to be suc
cessful this year but we
have to do it together,”
Cottrell said. “Having
said that, we are pleased
with our overall defen
sive effort so far this
summer. We just had a
great camp at
Birmingham Southern
this past weekend. I like
where we are right
now.”
FROM 1B
Girls
With a combination of
fundamental skill devel
opment and fun activi
ties, the young partici
pants all got a first look
into a potential future as
a Lady Tiger.
In addition to basket
ball skills, the partici
pants also learned impo-
tant life skills from the
players and staff.
On the final day of
camp the high school
team had to leave early
for a scrimmage, but the
young players still got to
take one last photo with
their mentors.
Later on Thursday, the
Lady Tigers played the
first scrimmage game of
what would become a
busy weekend.
The team first traveled
up to Dahlonega to play
in an event hosted by
North Georgia before
taking a much longer trip
over to Suwanee for a
Georgia Basketball
Coaches Association
event
With college basketball
coaches in attendance in
Suwanee, the Tigers
played multiple games
over the weekend and
displayed many different
facets of their game.
These scrimmages will
give Anglin an idea of
the team’s cohesion as it
looks to build off last
season’s success and
make another state play
off run.
FROM 1B
Jenkins
Holtzlcaw, owner of Holtzclaw
Show Pigs.
While he would eventually earn
accolades and awards at state-wide
events, it was the process of rais
ing the pigs that allowed all of that
to happen.
Once Jenkins committed to
being in the barn with the animals,
he devoted himself to spending as
much time as needed with them.
There were nights he would be
at the barn overnight tending to
their needs, having to sleep in his
car before waking up for class the
next morning. He was involved in
every step of raising pigs, includ
ing birthing.
“Pigs have a lot of spirit, soul
and personality,” Jenkins said. “I
love watching an animal grow and
seeing the competition, where you
need to set the bar and how you
need to feed it.”
After showing Spade in
September of his junior year,
Jenkins went to his first career pig
show in December with his stout,
multi-colored barrow, Tank.
At the Banks County event,
Tank placed as third overall bar-
row and first in junior showman
ship. Later that season, Jenkins
and Tank would win first place at
the Georgia National Junior
Livestock Show in Perry.
If there was one type of event
that showed the depth of Jenkins’
care for pigs, it would be the
showmanship event.
Here, Jenkins and his pig would
strut across the stage in unison,
maintaining eye contact with the
judge. Such a connection could
only be created by all the hours
Jenkins spent in the barn spending
time with the pigs.
“Tank knew when he was going
to be shown. He knew how to walk
and be all pretty,” Jenkins said.
“The bonds I had with Spade and
Tank are unbreakable.”
His senior year, Jenkins would
find success with a pig named
Quaker, a duroc with an auburn-
colored coat.
At a National Junior Swine
Association event that hosted over
6,000 pigs, Quaker finished fifth
in his class. In the Perry event,
Quaker finished second in class.
Through all of these learning
experiences, Jenkins completed
four career pathways, a general
business CTAE class and put in
600 hours of work-based learning
time through his LEA duties.
He also won the CTAE
Director’s Award and earned an
LEA State Degree after building
up community service hours and
participating in career develop
ment events. He placed third in the
state of Georgia for Swine
Production Proficiency.
Now, Jenkins is headed to
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural
College, where he intends to study
to become a wildlife biologist.
Considered one of the most
challenging programs at ABAC,
the wildlife biology degree brings
forth some of the state’s top wild
life and forestry specialists, many
of whom land jobs with the state
government.
But before that, Jenkins will be
headed to Louisville, Ky. in early
July for another national show,
bringing a pig that he purchased
on his own.
