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JCi 17 VEND* GOOD f VJ ^
By Quhnbjr Melton
This week might be called
Bank Week In Griffin.
For it was during this week
that Griffin’s two fine banks ce
lebrated events that were in
keeping with ‘‘Griffin On The
Go.”
Monday, the 33-year-old State
Bank became the First National
Bank of Griffin.
Wednesday the 76 year old
Commercial Bank and Trust
Company opened the first bran
ch bank ever to operate in Grif
fin. This is the McIntosh Branch
of the uptown bank.
Neither Monday nor Wednes
day were ideal days for any cel
ebration, w".h the thermometer
acting as though it were in the
far frozen north. But large
crowds attended the open house
that featured both events.
Good Evening attended both.
There were several things, es
pec ! "”y one, that impressed
him.
When the ribbon was cut at
the First National Bank on Mon
day, present were the sons and
daughter and the grandsons and
granddaughters of the man who
took the lead in establishing the
State Bank 33 years ago —John
H. Cheatham. Also present was
Judge D. R. Cumming, first pre
sident of the State Bank, and
Sam Mn'*'n and Miss Frances
Westmoreland, officers of t h e
bank when it began business in
1933.
Wednesday when the ribbon
wag cut at the McIntosh Branch
of the Commercial Bank and
Trust Co., the son and grandson
of the founder of the Savings
Bank of Griffin, forerunner to
the present bank, were on hand.
Tillman Blakely and Tillman
Blakely, Jr., one chairman of
the board and the other a mem
ber of the board, were there. Al
so present was John H. Morrow,
one of the oldest directors of the
bank, as was C. T. Parker, for
many years president, who has
b—n largely responsible for the
growth and development of the
Commercial Bank.
There is no doubt in the least
but that both our banks have
played a most important part in
the growth and development of
Griffin. If it had not been for
the confidence the management
of the two institutions had, and
have, in Griffin we could have
dried up on the vine and been
just another small Georgia
courthouse town.
To this layman the his of
our two banks is interesti
The Commercial Bank and
Trust Company was founded, as
the Savings Bank of Griffin in
1890. Mr. B. R. Blakley was the
principal stockholder and was
active in the management of the
bank. In those days banks were
built round a personality —and
the stockholders were wise in
choosing Mr. Blakely to be that
personality. The bank grew with
Griffin and when the hectic days
that followed the stock market
crash of 1929, and the bank holi
day of 1933, was the only bank
in Griffin, of the five banks, that
survived the crash and reopen
j ed for business.
<
Since then the bank has con
tinued its growth and has twice
moved from its first location.
The assets of the bank today are
more than double the combined
resources of all five banks that
were operated here in 1929.
— * —
When a bank holiday was de
clared in 1933 by Franklin D.
Roosevelt, and there was but
one of five banks that could and
did reopen here, a group of Grif
fin citizens, believing that Grif
fin was too large a city for but
one bank, organized the State
Bank of Griffin. The bank open
ed first in a building on We 3 t
Solomon St., where the. Griff in
Loan Service is now located.
The bank has had two presi
dents prior to the present ad
ministration—Judge D. R. Cum
ming and 6am H. Martin. From
the day it was organized the
bank has done its part to help
build a better and more progres
sive community.
Griffin, Spalding County and
the surrounding territory have
every reason to be proud of her
fine banks. And Good Evening
takes it on himself to say to
them, May the' years to come
cm—n w ‘h success your efforts
to help Griffin grow.
GRIFFIN
DAILY NEWS
Established 1871 Griffin, Ga., 30223, Thursday, February 3, 1966 Vol. 95 No. 28
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(Griffin Daily News Staff Photos).
Mayor C. B. Brown, Jr., of Jackson watches as his wife empties ice cubes into a
boiler to melt and be used for drinking water. Mayor Brown had to melt some ice
cubes Wednesday morning to have water with which to brush his teeth.
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Attention was focused on
this water tank at Jackson,
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Griffin and Covington responded to Jackson’s crisis Wednesday by sending
pumper trucks to aid the city’s volunteer fire department in the event of fire.
Griffin’s fire chief, Leonard Pitts (1) sent a 400 gallon pumper and one fire
man, Lewis Folds (second from right) to Jackson. Covington’s chief, R. T.
Floyd (r) stationed a 1,200 gallon pumper and a fireman, Jack Parker (second
from left) in Jackson. The firemen stayed on duty until the emergency was over.
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Mrs. Faye Pope, an employe at the Jackson City
Hall, couldn’t get a drop of water out of this foun
tain Wednesday afternoon. The sale of soft drinks
in Jackson soared during the water crisis.
Jackson Has
Water i A i
118 Faucets
Were Running
Tank Frozen
The City of Jackson was back
to normal today after schools
and factories were closed and
homes and hospitals were with
out water Wednesday.
What was first believed to be
a major break in a main water
line turned out to be 118 running
faucets, a malfunctioning water
pump and a “glob” of ice in the
city’s water tank.
Mayor C. B. Brown, Jr., who
had some anxious moments Wed
nesday while the city was in
the midst of the emergency, said
the three problems amounted to
a severe break in the city’s main
water line.
The crisis ended Wednesday
afternoon between 6 and 8 p.m.
when water was restored to all
homes and factories.
A systematic search for the
cause of the water problem
showed that running or leaky
faucets, caused by the below
zero weather Sunday, was a ma
jor factor.
Jackson Police, who were
sent from door to door, found 118
running or leaking faucets.
Some of the faucets were left
running so they wouldn’t freeze.
Others had frozen and burst in
the sub-zero weather.
When police turned off or stop
ped the 118 faucets, the water
pressure began to build.
The mayor reported that the
water tank froze Sunday and
that ice still in the tank Wednes
day, was a contributing factor.
Another.contributor to the pro
blem was the pump at the Jack
son Water Works.
Officials said the pump might
not have been pumping enough
water into the system.
Despite the return to normal
today, Avondale Mills remained
closed for another day.
Water is essential to the fac
tory’s operation, especially for
the sprinkler system.
The water crisis Wednesday
closed schools and factories and
left all homes in the city with
out water.
Mayor Brown and the City
Council took prompt action to
head off any emergencies.
Fire trucks were summoned
from Griffin and Covington in
the event a fire broke out in the
city.
Mayor Brown also received
permission from Adj. Gen. Geor
ge Hearn to use pumper trucks
at the Jackson National Guard
unit in the event of fire.
Housewives overcame the pro
blem by preparing sandwiches
and other meals that didn’t call
for water.
Mayor Brown’s wife melted ice
cubes, which were already in
the refrigerator, so her children
could brush their teeth. The
Browns, like many other Jack
son families, also used melted
ice cubes to make coffee.
Mayor Brown said most every
one, who lives in a small town
like Jackson, knows someone in
the country “and many of the
housewives went to the country
and got water for home use.”
One Jackson man said there
wasn’t a TV dinner any
where in the city.
Another said you could tell the
men who shaved with electric
razors. “They’re the ones with
out beards.”
Mayor Brown stayed on the
job all during the crisis.
The unshaved mayor said just
before the crisis ended! “This
is the kind of times that makes
you earn your 36 cents a day.”
Country Parson
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a an
education these dajri —
and a lot not to.”
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(Griffin Daily News Staff Photo).
Annex being buOt at West Griffin School.
Building On Schedule
School System
A f The Go’
Construction on three projects
in the Griffin-Spalding County
School System is on schedule
and in some instances ahead ac
cording to Supt. George Patrick,
Jr.
Patrick said the social science
and math building on the Griffin
High campus is about 20 percent
complete and that work on the
building is on schedule.
Work on projects at West Grif
fin and Moore Elementary sc
hools is ahead of schedule, he
said. The West Griffin project
will include a library, four
classrooms and an administra
tive office. The Moore project
calls for the construction of six
classrooms and the renovation
of part of the old building for a
library.
Total allocation for the build
ings, including equipment, was
$481,000. Cost of construction will
be $406,689 — $261,985 for Grif
fin High, $65,979 for Moore and
$78,725 for West Griffin. Money
allocated and not spent for con
struction, will be used for eq
uipment, architectural fees, en
gineering fees and other costs.
Patrick said the next project
in line for construction would be
an addition to Kelsey Junior
High School to convert it to a
three-year school. The three
year program already has been
adopted at Spalding Junior High
School.
The second priority building
would be the construction of lib
rary facilities at Third Ward,
Annie Shockley and North Side
elementary schools, Patrick
said.
The school construction now in
progress will make a total of
$2.5 million spent by the school
system for construction in t h e
past 10 years. Patrick said the
construction had been necessary
to keep abreast of the growing
average daily attendance.
Average daily attendance in
the school system in the past 10
years has increased more than
2,000. The trend in the increase
in average daily attendance has
been rising each year.
FEDERAL FUNDS
Supt. Patrick said the school
system has received and is us
ing money available through
Public Law 8910, General Aid to
Education. The law divides mo
ney allocated into three sec
tions.
The first section of the law
provides funds for projects whi
ch have not been in existence
in a school system in the past.
The Griffin-Spalding system re
ceived $256,000 under title one.
The funds received under title
one have been used to hire sev
ral reading teachers, several
scretaries and teachers
The funds also have been
to provide music and art
ers in schools which had not
them in the past.
New equipment has been
chased with $118,000 of the
ney under title one. The
has earmarked $175,000 of
funds, including the money
new equipment.
Equipment purchased
the funds include language la
boratories, reading laboratories,
movie projectors, film strips,
and 16 mm films. Three schools.
Crescent, Orrs and Third Ward
do not qualify for funds under
the law because the percentage
of poverty in the schools is too
low.
Patrick said that because the
schools did not qualify under the
law was no indication that it has
anything to do with the poverty
law.
New band uniforms were pur
chased at Fairmont High School.
They were purchased with mo
ney provided by title one.
The system has received $18,
025 under title two of the law.
The funds have been used to
purchase library books and re
sources.
Title three of the law has not
provided any funds to the local
system as of yet, but application
has been made for headquarters
of a seven county child guidance
center for Griffin.
If approved, the system will
receive a $38,000 grant for one
year of planning. Also if approv
ed after the planning period, the
yearly budget for the center
would be between $150,000 and
$175,000.
The guidance center would
serve Butts, Fayette, Henry, La
mar, Monroe, Pike counties and
the Barnesville City School Sys
tem in addition to the Griffin
Spalding County School System.
A psychiatrist would be at the
center at least two days each
week, according to Patrick. He
said other members of the staff
would be per pie training in psy
chological guidance.
Funds received through the
poverty program are being used
to hold adult education classes
at '*"’ f fin Hi"h School, Fair
mont High School and the De
partment of Family and Child
ren’s Service.
The system received $14,000
through the poverty program.
Three levels of classes are be
ing held for adults, ranging from
first through the eighth gr
One hundred and sixty five
are enrolled in seven
classes.
Day classes are held at the De
of Family and Child-
ren’s Service and night classes
are held at Griffin High and
Fairmont High.
One of the classes at Griffin
High is an experimental class
for the state. The pilot class
uses special equipment purchas
ed by the state and donated to
the local school system. Patrick
estimated cost of the equipment
at $7,000. The equipment pur
chased for the class is to aid in
reading.
The system has started “dou
bling its efforts in reading” and
is working to build up library
resources and facilities in the
schools, Patrick said.
Patrick said the size of read
ing classes in the primary grad
es are being reduced and that
the system is working toward
getting teaching aids for teach
ers to up-grade reading in the
schools here. He said two full
time reading specialists have
been hired by the system and
are being paid with federal
funds.
Miss Geraldine Purdy has been
hired as full time director of lib
rary services in the system, in
addition to being full time direc
tor of library services, Miss
Purdy t- ches a University of
Georgia course in library scien
ce.
Patrick said staffing was one
of the big problems in the sys
tem.
Last week the system started
a visitation program to colleges
to contact prospective teachers.
A brochure is being distributed
to colleges for advancement to
prospective teachers telling the
advantages of the Griffin-Spald
ing County System.
Included in the brochure is a
card telling what requirements
are necessary, a form applica
tion and a brochure from the
Chamber of Commerce, telling
the advantages of living in
Griffin.
Patrick said although staffing
is a big problem for the system,
all classrooms and positions in
the county are filled.
Several teachers will be hired
in the coming months to staff
positions next fall in eler v, '>ntary
schools, Patrick said. He said
few, if any, teachers would be
added on the high school level.
Weather:
FORECAST FOR GRIFFIN
AREA — Mostly fair and cold
tonight, r-riday partly cloudy
and warmer.
LOCAL WEATHER — Maxi
mum today 45, minimum today
21, maxmium Wednesday 48,
minimum Wed-day 30. “ i
rise Friday 7: "9 a.m., sunset
Friday 8:12 p.m.