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About The Georgia bulletin (Atlanta) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (July 16, 1987)
PAGE 15 — The Georgia Bulletin, July 16, 1987 ■ ■ Kentucky Priest Uses River Trip To Tell About Appalachia BY JULIE ASHER WASHINGTON (NC) — A 550-mile trip down mid- America’s Main Street — the Ohio River — is the way an eastern Kentucky priest was sending a message about Appalachia’s woes and giving new hope to the people of the country’s poorest region. Msgr. Ralph Beiting, who has devoted the 37 years since his ordination to the mountain people of eastern Kentucky, began his trip June 27 on a 68-foot houseboat from Ashland, Ky. A priest of the Diocese of Covington, Ky., he was to stop in 11 places on the way to Evansville, Ind., where the trip was to end July 12. In each spot he was to preach to those gathered on the riverbank. “The people we’ll be passing and stopping to visit is a sizable chunk of the country,” he said June 25 in an interview in Washington. “How better to let people know that Appalachia is still having problems than to have a trip coming out of Appalachia? We want to tell mid-America these are good people who need an op portunity.” Msgr. Beiting is assigned to the diocesan missions office and travels around the country to talk about Appalachia. In residence at St. Martha’s Church in Watergap, Ky., he also is chaplain for a Benedictine convent in Martin, Ky. There also are ecumenical and historical aspects to his journey, he added. Along the river’s course, he and another Catholic priest, Father Frank Osburg, pastor of St. Michael’s Parish in Paintsville, Ky., will be joined by ministers of different denominations, showing that different faiths can work together. “In Appalachia there is such a war always between Protestant and Catholics, any religion,” Msgr. Beiting said. “We want to demonstrate that we can live together, pray together, preach together and eat together as friends.” The historical aspect relates to the priest’s hero, frontiersman Daniel Boone, whose explorations west from Kentucky began near the launching point for the houseboat expedition. Boone left “for new frontiers and this might be our new frontier in the way of the Spirit. We’re calling at tention to old values, faith in God and love for one another,” he said. Msgr. Beiting said his is a message of hope in a time “when everything is fearful.” And he wants the river journey, he said, to spark in terest in Appalachia, not just monetary interest but “people interest” — people willing to share talents and knowledge to help what he called “a forgotten region” find a sense of pride. Appalachia encompasses parts of 13 states from New York to North Carolina. Of the coal-mining areas of the region, the poorest section is eastern Kentucky, Msgr. Beiting said. He traced the history of the area, saying Ap palachia prospered in its early days, but by the early 19th century, when the Ohio River was safe to navigate, pioneers went beyond the region. It was isolated until the Civil War, but by 1865 was again forgotten until the early 1900s, when an urgent need for coal and timber brought new jobs. People were well-paid but lost control of their land to corporations and later a declining coal industry again brought hard times, he said, adding that today many people are dependent on welfare and feel they have little worth as workers. Improvements have come to Appalachia through the federal government — better highways, new sources of fresh water, better flood control and im proved sanitation and health clinics. But there has been no increase in jobs, no new in dustry, and housing is substandard and qualified doc tors are still too few, he said. “My hope is to develop industries that complement the coal industry” through manufacturing, service industries and small, intensified agricultural pro jects, he said. Since his ordination in 1950, the Kentucky native has made a major impact on the region with his founding in 1963 of the Christian Appalachian Project to help people help themselves. Today it reaches 45,000 people in 40 counties with 75 different programs, ranging from a school-on-wheels to home repair projects for the elderly and indigent. It has also fostered used clothing stores, a wreath fac tory, a broom factory, crafts production and seed and fertilizer grants for small farms. Msgr. Beiting also said the state government should form a think tank to analyze economic needs and to address the poor quality of its public education — it ranks 50th in the nation with eastern Kentucky the worst off. To place classifieds, send check and write to: The Georgia ‘Bulletin, 680 W. Peachtree St., N.W., Atlanta, Ga. 30308. 'Classifieds are 50c per word with phone number equaling 1 ♦word. Deadline Fri day before publica tion. We publish on .Thursdays. PERS./RELIGIOUS THANK YOU ST. JUDE, SACRED HEART for pray ers answered. H.V.G. ►THANK YOU SACRED HEART AND ST. JUDE for prayers answered. B.A. , THANK YOU SAINT JUDE for a safe return trip home. Laura. THANKS JESUS AND ST. “ JUDE for prayer answer ed. E.W. THANK YOU SACRED # HEART AND ST. JUDE. H.T. THANK YOU SACRED HEART OF JESUS AND *ST. JUDE for prayers an swered. J.K.S. THANK YOU SACRED HEART OF JESUS AND ST. JUDE for prayers an swered. R.E.B. THANK YOU ST. JUDE. Elaine and Phil. THANKS AGAIN SACRED HEART OF JESUS, ST. JUDE, BLESSED MO THER. You help all who come to you. Barbara. THANK YOU SACRED HEART OF JESUS & ST. JUDE.P.B. THANKS ST. JUDE/SA CRED HEART for prayers answered. B.B. THANK YOU SACRED HEART, BLESSED LADY, ST. JUDE for Miracle and prayers answered. L.G. Hohn. THANK YOU JESUS, MARY, JOSEPH, ST. JUDE, ST. ANTHONY for prayers answered. M.H. THANK YOU JESUS, ST. JUDE AND THE SACRED HEART for prayers an swered. G.W. THANK YOU SACRED HEART AND ST. JUDE for prayers answered. J.C.F. THANK YOU JESUS, BLESSED MOTHER AND SAINT JUDE for prayers answered. V.L. THANK YOU ST. JUDE for prayers answered. L.W. THANK YOU SACRED HEART AND ST. JUDE for prayers answered. M.F. THANK YOU ST. JUDE AND DEAR SACRED HEART OF JESUS for an swering my prayers and for miracles. M.T.M. THANK YOU ST. JUDE for prayers answered. Your help has helped the burden greatly. M.R. THANK YOU ST. JUDE AND SACRED HEART for answering my prayer. J.T.K. VACATION RENTALS HILTON HEAD - 2 BR, 2 BA Condo. 300 yds. from Ocean. 2 Pools, Free Tennis and Racquetball. 404-993-5754 (evenings). SERVICES AVAILABLE “PREGNANT?” To dis cuss abortion alterna tives call BIRTHRIGHT 451-2273. Service is free and confidential. INDIVIDUAL FAMILY and MARRIAGE PSYCHO- THERAPY. Dr. Linda Klaitz, Ed. D., Karen Nash A.C.S.W. 1010 Huntcliff. Suite 2120, 587-1035. TV MASS FOR SHUT-INS. Send for a free monthly missalette and follow the Mass on television every Sunday at 10:00 a.m. on Atlanta’s WVEU-Channel 69 on the UHF band. Write: TV MASS: BOX 54424; Atlanta, Ga. 30308. CRISIS PREGNANCY SERVICES - Available through Catholic Social Ser vices. Call 881-6571 for help with medical care, living ar rangements, discussion of options. Services Free and Confidential. CATHOLIC SOCIAL SER VICES has professional counseling services avail able on a fee basis for chil dren, adolescents, adults, couples and families at the Catholic Center downtown and in outlying parishes. Insurance coverage avail able. Call 881-6571 for an ap pointment or information. BUSINESS SERVICES EMERALD TREE SER VICE: Fully insured. 320-7796. HOUSE CLEANING, 7 ROOMS $35.00. 926-2698. HOME IMPROVEMENT - Room addition. Concrete Driveways or Patios, Plumbing and Painting. Quality Work, Reasonable Rates. Licensed and In sured. Free Estimates. Tony 945-3126. UPHOLSTERY - Refinisfi- ing and made to order cushions. Call 344-2201. HOUSE CLEANING CALL; 875-4822. HELP WANTED COORDINATOR OF RELI GIOUS EDUCATION - Posi tion available at Fort McPherson. For job de scription contact: Fr. Neil G. Jones, Departmentof the Army, Chaplain’s Office, Fort McPherson, Ga. 30330. RECEPTIONIST/CHIRO PRACTIC ASSISTANT needed for busy and friendly office in Virginia-Highland neighborhood. Call for ap plication. 874-0405. VILLAGE OF ST. JOSEPH COTTAGE SUPERVISOR for 10 pre-adolescent boys; full time, live in position; all weekends free. Interview ing now but position availa ble in August ’87. ContactSr. Mary Frances Bruns. 349-2400. VILLAGE OF SAINT JO SEPH, Teacher of Math/ Reading in the High School . Department. 10 month posi tion; Interviewing now for the fall 1987. Contact: Sr. Mary Frances Bruns 349-2400. Full-time CERTIFIED ELEMENTARY SCHOOL COUNSELOR for 14 arch diocesan schools. Position available September 1987. Experience in or with Cath olic schools is desirable. Must meet Southern Associ ation standards. Send letter of resume to Sr. Roberta Schmidt, Office of Catholic Schools, 680 W. Peachtree St., NW, Atlanta, Ga. 30308, by August 15,1987. ARE YOU A LEGAL IM MIGRANT WHO IS in terested IN A BET TER JOB? We might have what you need: a job place ment service for language limited minorities. For more details, please call Catholic Social Services at 881-6571 - Extension 266. DONATIONS To give donations to help relieve the famine in Ethio pia write, and send money to Catholic Relief Services: 1011 First- Avenue; New York, NY 10022; ATTN: Ethiopia and/or African Relief.
