Lake Oconee news. (Greensboro, GA) 199?-current, December 22, 2017, Image 4

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Lake Oconee news., December 22, 2017, Image 4

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Newspaper Page TextA4 Lake Oconee News Friday, December 22,2017 Start the conversation Send us your opinions by Monday at 1 p.m. news@lakeoconeenews.us 11 i| .... trtgf Christmas in Dixie It’s Christmas in Lake Country in the 21st Century and times have surely changed. Local retail stores are nicely decorated and customers appear to be buying more than in previ ous years. We are nowseeing new homes under construc tion, and the stock market set records. Post offices and shipping services are quite busy, and parking spaces in shopping centers are filled. Andifbuyerscan’tfindwhat they are looking for, the big internet stores seem to have anything that’s needed. I suppose we all get alittle sentimental this timeofyear and that means thinking about Christmases of long ago. Some residents will remember those lean years when our region ofthe coun try wasn’t so prosperous. We’ve heard alot of stories from parents, grandparents and others who lived during the Great Depression, from 1929 to 1939. During those lean Christmases, children might have received a few apples and oranges, brazil nuts or hard candy — and if they were lucky, a home made toy or two. “We didn’t have one red cent in the house,” a local resident often heard his grandmother say, “and I had to travel several miles into town to trade a rabbit from the rabbit box and a chicken for a few oranges and nuts for our children.” “We didn’t have turkey on Christmas day,” added a Hank Segars Lakelife Associate Editor nice lady decked out in curl ers at Madison’s Sister Sister Salon in Madison. “The men went hunting for squirrel and rabbits. And if we had a possum, mama kept it penned up for a month, to clean it out before we ate it. I didn’t really like that possum but would never tell mama I wasn’t going to eat what she served.” One of the shop owners, originally from Kentucky, said that Christmas was still that way in some places that she knew well. One of my colleagues in the newspaper office said he never understood until recently why fruit was always stuffed in his stocking. Now that I think aboutit, eachyear my stock ing always included some oranges and nuts, and I also wondered about that. My parents were generous, but it seems they never forgot their meager Christmases. During those early days SEE DIXIE » A6 Miracle on 1-75 What follows is an edited and refurbished tale pub lished by the LON on Dec. 25. In this context it serves as part two of trilogy that began last week. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. (Psalm 91:11) As a rule, a newspaperman includes specific chronolog ical information in his lede, but I’m afraid I can’t do that with this story, not with any degree of certainty. I can only tell you these events took place just before the last Christmas ofthelast century. That’s the best I can do with the “when.” So let’s move on to the what, the who and the where. I’ll leave the “why” and T. Michael Stone Associate Editor “how” up to you. I was on my way to Macon that night, traveling south bound on Interstate 75. Fractals of snowflake were beginning to build up on my windshield, and I knew the roads were becoming slick and treacherous. Just after I passed Faulkner’s Christmas tree farm, I saw something menacing in my rear-view mirror: a pair of headlights sliding from side to side, one dipping to gravity and centrifugal force, the other rising, as the driver negoti ated the interstate like a skier negotiates a slalom. Before I could determine if I needed to change lanes and get out of the way, a black SUV roared past my window, its taillights glowing like chunks of burn ing anthracite. Almost everyone in Monroe County knew that Deputy Bradley liked to hide just beyond the apex of the steep grade near Rumble Road to trap speeders. Almost everyone in Monroe County complained about it. But Bradley was not at his usual station. Perhaps he had been called away to a more imperative matter. The SUV roared past Rumble Road and toward Macon like a bat out of hell. As I rolled up and down the wavelengths of interstate, I began to feel uneasy. As I topped a hill just north of the Interstate 475 split, I saw a sea of brake lights flashing on and off in the valley below. I heard a dull crunch in the SEE MIRACLE » A7 "Yes, Virginia.... There is a credit card." Georgia’s own Ben Parks was a World War II hero Three quarters of a cen tury ago, the holiday season was not a memorable time for many American families whose sons were ensconced in a far-away setting, fight ing a war that was slowly beginning to turn in the Allies direction. However, Adolph Hitler stealthily mobilized his troops, including many bat tle-hardened veterans from the Eastern Front, for a last ditch effort to split British and America armies and capture the critical supply Loran Smith Columnist port at Antwerp. That battle became known as the “Battle c Bulge.” The offensive, which took place at the height of the Christmas season 1944, caught the Allies by surprise during one of the bitterest winters on record. It was costly for all, but for the Germans, it was a con flict from which they would not recover. Hitler could not duplicate his Blitzkrieg at the outset of the war when his troops charged expeditiously through the Ardennes and ran roughshod over Western Europe. The war would last until the following May, but when Hitler’s forces were overwhelmed at Bastogne in December 1944, his days were numbered. There are countless vignettes and sidebars of the war which have fasci nated the world for more than seven decades. I can remember spend ing time with Gen. Joseph Harper, who as a young cap tain had delivered General Anthony McAulifee’s reply of “Nuts” to the German commander who had demanded that U. S. Forces surrender at Bastogne. As an aging, but proud man, he stood in his base ment in North Atlanta and relived his moment of glory. He recalled handing his German counterpart McAluliffe’s one word mes sage which prompted the German officerto ask, “Nuts. What es nuts?” Harper recalled saying, “I can tell you what it means. It means ‘Go to Hell.’ If you don’t understand that, we are going to kill every damn German over here.” Even today, one can visit battlefields and glean nug gets of information, often hidden but revealing and illuminating. As in all wars, there are heroes and there are tragic casualties. Two ofthe most passionate advocates, who keep alive the memories of Georgians who made the ultimate sacrifice, are Athens residents Rod SEE PARKS » A6 Lake Oconee News General Excellence Award Winner 2015-2016 GEORGIA PRESS ASSOCIATION President / Publisher A. Mark Smith Vice President Jo Ann Smith Vice President, General Manager Mark Smith Jr. Vice President, Circulation Matt Smith Vice President Michael Smith Executive Editor Josh Lurie Associate Editor T. Michael Stone Sports Editor Justin Hubbard Staff Writer Dave Brown Display Advertising Manager Vicki Parker Advertising Representative Anjie Brown Advertising Representative Tom Gorman Advertising Representative Michael Payne Advertising Representative Shannon Thompson Advertising Representative Daniel Harwell Eatonton Messenger Associate Editor Lynn Hobbs Lakelife Editor Beverly Harvey Lakelife Associate Editor Hank Segars National Advertising Manager Amy Hood Legal Advertising/Circulation Becky Meyer Graphic Artist Lindsay Pilcher Graphic Artist Mark Brill Business Manager Cassandra Fowler DEDICATION Battle B. Smith EDITOR AND PUBLISHER 1956-1988 Micky Smith EDITOR AND PUBLISHER 1989-2003 ADVERTISING, NEWS AND INFORMATION Lake Oconee 1106 MARKET ST. • GREENSBORO 706-454-1290 Fax 706-454-1292 Madison 195 W. JEFFERSON ST. 706-342-9833 Fax 706-342-9839 Call 706-485-3501 for subscription information Subscription Rates One Year Two Years Putnam, Morgan, Greene counties $35 $65 Other Georgia counties $45 $80 Out of Georgia $55 $95 Postmaster: Send address changes to the ,1106 Market St., Greensboro, GA 30642. Periodicals postage paid at Greensboro, GA 30642. The (USPS 024-046) is published every Friday by Smith Communications Inc., 1106 Market St., Greensboro, GA 30642. All rights reserved. Reprints by permission of the and individual writers only. State and Federal Elected Officials Gov. Nathan Deal (R) 203 State Capitol Atlanta, GA 30334 (404) 656-1776 Web/e-mail: gagovernor.org Sen. David Perdue (R) B40D Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Phone: 202-224-3521 Sen. Burt Jones (R) 407 East Second St., Jackson, GA 30233 Phone:(770)775-4880 Fax: (770) 234-6752 Sen. Johnny Isakson (R) United States Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 (202) 224-3643 Rep. Dave Belton (R) 401-B Coverdell Legislative Office Bldg. Atlanta, GA 30334 404.656.0152-Office dc.belton@house.ga.gov Rep. Jody Hice (R) 1516 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Phone: (202) 225-4101 Fax: (202) 226-0776 Rep. Trey Rhodes (R) Room 612-B Coverdell Legislative Office Building Atlanta, GA 30334 404-656-0325 trey.rhodes@house.ga.gov The deadline to submit letters to the editor each week is Monday at 1 p.m. Send letters and other news to news@lakeoconeenews.us