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PAGE Wednesday, November 1 , 2000 . Time capsule Compiled from The Leader Tribune archives 20 Years Ago Peach Area Professional Services Center officially opened on November 2nd. *** Mattiwilda Dobbs, soprano, appeared in concert as the Lyceum and Fine Art Series began. *** The Peach County Hospital Authority was approved a $3.1 million dollar budget for new fiscal year. _ 10 Years Ago Larry Collins and Ray Hollifield were elected to Peach County Hospital Authority. * * * The Peach County High School VICA Alumni conducted installation ceremony. * * * Army Private Ernest Jefferson completed basic training at Fort Jackson, S.C. 5 Years Ago The Peach Public library unveiled a sign that designated the spot where a new library would be built. Peach County Trojans were 1st in region with 21-14 victo¬ ry over Dublin. * * * Alex Pate of Byron won the First Place Medal in the Eight Year-Old Division of the District Punt, Pass, and Kick com¬ petition. The impact of American political debates Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas could have hardly imagined what role debate would have on Ameri can politics. It would be over one hundred years before the first televised debate would occur when John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon met in 1960. Now, in the year 2000, debates have become so com monplace that the absence of a political debate is more of a story in many races than the debate itself. Yet, political debates have become tools in the trade of politics for creat ing the dynamics for a sue cessful run. Oddly enough, in the Pres idential race, George W. Bush has been the unexpected benefactor of the importance of debates. Although often overlooked, it was the debate over debates that propelled George W. Bush back into the Presidential media following A1 Gore’s post Democratic convention surge. Banished from the evening news, Bush’s intimation that he might not agree to the Commission on Presidential Debates schedule and format redirected the Gore friendly media to Bush. Many believed, and in fact reported, that it was further evidence that Bush was afraid to debate Gore and that it was a dodge. The unexpected by product was to return pic¬ tures of George W. Bush to electorate consciousness and correspondingly stem the Gore tide. Notwithstanding conven¬ tional wisdom that trained debater extraordinaire A1 Gore would demolish hapless George W. Bush in a debate, it was George W. Bush who seemed to capture the momentum following each debate. The more voters saw AJ Gore and George W. Bush side by side, the more voters liked George W. Bush. Repeatedly, A1 Gore proved he could memorize more data and repeatedly George W. Ilip'llcalUT- (Tribune Op [ Political Randy ANALYST Evans - ■ * Bush proved he could articu j a te a goal for America. Gore won debate points. Each won 8ome arguments. But George W. Bush won the audience. And, in politics, that is the win that counts. in Georgia, the political debates go on. In the U.S. Senate race, Zell Miller and Mack Mattingly have mixed jt up. Apparently sensing that the 51% needed to avoid a runoff is slowly slipping away, the quick tempered Zell Miller of old has re-surfaced, Rather than the run-and hide typically associated with an incumbent with millions to spend and endorsements to tout, Miller jumped down into the trenches to duke it out with former Senator Mack Mattingly in head to head exchanges. Yet none of the exchanges in the Mattingly-Miller race compare to those in the Sev¬ enth District race between Bob Barr and Roger Kahn, Coming out of retirement in Florida in an apparent effort to politically savage Barr, Democrat Roger Kahn was not content in his debate to limit his attacks to the candi¬ date. Kahn decided to bring Barr’s children in it as well. Later, Kahn said he regretted the comment. Seventh Dis¬ trict voters may be regretting the debate. The fact is that debates really are not about debate at all. Instead, debates afford voters the opportunity to see the candidates side by side, measure them up, and decid¬ ed what they are about. So far, the debates have done just that - let the voters see the candidates side by side, measure them up and decide what they are about. And the races are on The deadlines for two impor¬ tant races are rapidly bearing down upon us. The participants in each have been in training and preparing vigorously for many months; too many to suit a cynical citizenry. Our cars have become tired, our brains overbur¬ dened, and we are feeling decid¬ edly put upon. The candidates have traded many verbal punch¬ es and accusations and are prob¬ ably about as exhausted with the political process as we. Hang in there, for the Donkey and the Elephant will duke it out at the polls on November 7th. After¬ wards, except for the anguished shouting and a few cries of “FbuT, we will be given another four year reprieve before another presidential election. Following a brief “honeymoon” period, we may all discover that the same ol “burrs are yet there under the saddle”. Social Security, medicare and health care, volatile foreign problems, a mixed bag of domes¬ tic problems all remain and the finger pointing begins again. If we fail in the attempt to sort it all out and cast our vote, howev¬ er, we should be denied the privi¬ lege and release of complaining. A phrase from an old song may be in order and say it best, “Just keep a smile on your face and keep your big mouth shut.” Democracy is still the best deal around. Cartoonist, At Capp, author of the popular cartoon, Lit Abner, ' Last minute chores before plants become dormant cool weather great. Need a little rain though, it’s really dry. So you might want to do a thorough watering of your shrub and trees as they go into dormancy. Another chore you might need to do is one last fertilizing of aza leas. Every year in late winter or early spring we see yel lowing of leaves on azaleas, It is almost always the old er leaves, those lower on stem. The reason for this is that our warm win ter days bring the plant out of dormancy. The limbs and leaves wake up from their winter rest and begin to grow. But the roots, being in the cooler soil, aren’t ready to function just yet. So the new growth has no flow of nutrients, or at least a lower than normal flow of nutrients, to feed the new growth. The plant then shifts nutrients from the old growth to feed the new growth, Specifically, the plant shifts nitrogen. That’s the reason for the older foliage being yellow while the new growth remains green. Fer tilizing when we see this Y<S* R aT i ji.Tl: ER TO VOTE Nor. 7, 2000 Yon make a i & & vote, so on rights and poll that W A % Today's and \ a. ,1 f *1 1 - Yesterday's Joyce Matthews the other big race in 1930. It quickly gained popularity and fame and is still alive and well even though the cartoon and its creator have passed into the great beyond. This important, life chang¬ ing annu¬ al event was known as the Sadie Hawkins Day Race. I t occurred o n November 1st. and gave the 1 o c a 1 u n m ar r i e d the privilege of pursuing dragging over the finish line, protesting objects of their affection. The Sadie Day Race pitted the wily, bachelors of the bucolic mythical hamlet of Dogpatch, U.S.A. against the PUTTING PEACH COUNTY KNOWLEDGE EXTENSION TO OFFICE WORK v I Jrank Junderburk will do no good. The root will not absorb the fertiliz¬ er. Using liquid fertilizer will do very little since the damage is already done. So, we fertilize, LIGHTLY, now. I know that we are just a few weeks away from a frost that will stop all growth. But until the soil cools the roots will still absorb the fertilizer and it should be of help. So, if you have azaleas you should spread about 2 tablespoons of a complete fertilizer, one that has nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, around each plant. Water it in so it gets into the soil quickly - Don’t overdo it, too much may start the plant actively growing again and the resulting new growth would surely be burned by freez¬ ing temperatures. Question from C.G •f Fort Valley: Is it too late to seed centipede grass or will the seed stay around until spring? y _q_t | WRIGHT PEAVY iL 2 A. Peach County Board of Education Post 1 November 7th I will be an advocate for our teachers and students, providing moral leadership. VOTE FOR ME ON NOVEMBER 7, 2000- minded, beauteous, unhappy, and unmarried, belles of Dog patch.The objective was matri mony. Lit Abner, darling but dumb son of Mammy and Pappy Yokum, was the adored and 0 I 1 pv S |E 1 “Ah u caught in a conflik of interests!" — y devised strategies and trained for the big day. Marryin Sam, who did the honors, and united the couples in “wedded bliss” had been warming up for the cere monies. These occurred promptly after the pitiful and protesting, packages of misery were out- Answer: Centipede seed is best planted in the spring after the soil warms to 70 degrees. That usually is around the first of May. Seed put out there now may wash away or they may rot during the winter. So, if you need to cover bare areas now you can use annual ryegrass, It is a cool season grass that will grow great all winter and die out when the weather warms. Question from J.V., Fort Valley: What is the fastest growing shade tree? We had a nice oak tree in our yard that died this summer and we want to replace it. Answer: Let’s change your questions a bit to “what is the fastest grow¬ ing, longest living, hardiest shade tree?" Fast growing is great, but a lot of fast grow¬ ers have weak wood, Hav¬ ing to pick up limbs all the time sort of takes the shine off the fast growth. I would look for a maple, specifical- after prize of the buxom and beau t i f u 1 Daisy Mae. Both the free¬ dom lov¬ ing, bach¬ elors and the tired of waiting, Dogpatch beauties had previ- ly a Red maple of Florida maple. These are native to Georgia, do well in a lot of different situations and are just all around good trees. Stay away from the Silver maple. It is a fast grower but it is extremely brittle. Tulip poplar is another good choice. Another native, it grows rather large so give it room. One of the fastest growing oaks is the Saw¬ tooth oak. The only problem with it is that it holds its leaves all winter. They turn yellow, then brown but stay on the tree until the growth begins in the spring. So, don’t look just for fast grow¬ ing look for sturdy too, and plant the tree well. Till the area to be planted well. We recommend you till an area 10 times the diameter of the tree’s root ball. Then plant in the middle of that area. Mulch the entire tilled area to reduce root competition from weeds and grass. Don’t forget to send in your questions. Mail them to P.O. Box 1407, Fort Val¬ ley, GA 31030 or email them to uge2225@uga.edu. I’ll answer them here each week. wm paced and hauled over the finish line. In addition to Mammy and Pappy Yokum, Lit Abner, and Daisy Mae, some of the more memorable characters of the long running cartoon were colorful characters like Lonesome Pole¬ cat, the little Indian, and his buddy, Hairless Joe. There was Earthquake McGoon, Joe Bflxyz, the lovable Shmoos, and the dreaded Turnip Termites, which at times descended enmass, as a plague of locusts, upon Dogpatch and destroyed the local food sup¬ ply. Turnips figured prominently in the food chain of Dogpatch. When the dust settled and the sun set over Dogpatch, there were several small cabins perched on the hillsides, where newlyweds were adjusting, some resignedly, to a new and different situation. With the really Big Race, comine to an end and the presidential, state, and other elections behind us, the citizenry of our U.S. of A. will adapt and adjust to a new cast ol’ charac¬ ters, a new situation, also. Some¬ times, it takes only a small stretch of the imagination to note similarities between the casts and characters involved in both the political and Sadie Hawkins Day races. We will survive and cope even as the Dogpatchers. Lets just hope and pray that with winter coming on, we wont, also be faced with a disastrous plague of Turnip Termites, in addition to high priced heating fuel. Woe is us!!!