Newspaper Page Text
PAGE
5A
October 3(), 2002
Time Capsule
Compiled from
The Leader-Tribune archives
20 Years Ago
• Mayor Peterson says city cannot afford $750,000 for right of
way acquisition.
• Smisson urges defeat of amendment. The state’s probate
judges will work to defeat Amendment 1 of the new State Con
stitution, especially Article VI which outlines judicial powers,
so states Judge “Buddy” Smission of Peach County.
10 Years Ago
• Candidates for posts on the Peach County Commission, ral
lied together calling a press conference announcing their oppo
sition to the I'i sales t;ix at this time.
• Under the management team put together by the Medical
Center of Centred Georgia, Peach County Hospital witnessed a
one million dollar turn around.
• Chamlee Memorial Baptist Church purchased a new Ford
van and dedicated it to the Glory of God.
5 Years Ago
• Voters in Peach County got to choose a new mayor and
decided three council seats and two seats on the Utilities
Commission.
• FVSU announced their plans to establish a Center for
Effective Teaching <CET» as a focal pent for major “changes
in its teacher education program ".
The beauty of volunteering
PUTTING KNOWLEDGE TO
WORK
PEACH COUNTY EXTENSION
Jrank Junderburk
Do you work as a volunteer
anywhere? Why do you do it?
YqU, probably volunteer
because it makes you feel good.
Whether you are serving
meals to shut-ins, helping with
a downtown project or helping
with a school field trip, you are
doing it because it makes you
feel good. And thank God it
does.
Without volunteers there is
an awful lot that wouldn't get
done. Rather that take space
here to list the numerous vol
unteer activities I ask you to
just think for a minute about
them. Okay, minutes up.
There's a lot being done by vol
unteers in our community.
Now to the point of today's
column. Actually two points.
First, I thank all the volun
teers that help us out at the
Extension office. We have folks
that help with 4H activities,
folks that help with gardening
projects, folks that help with
Ga. National Fair projects, the
list goes on.
Without these good volun
teers things may not get done.
Or they may not he done as
well as they are. Volunteers
allow us at the Extension office
to do more activities. And
allow us to do them better
than if we had to do everything
ourselves. Thanks again to
them all.
Now the second point of this
column. We are registering
folks for one of the biggest vol
unteer programs in the state.
It is time to sign up for the
Master Gardener program.
What's that you say? Well, i
should ask one of the Peach
County Master Gardeners to
explain, but neither of them is
here right now so I will.
The Master Gardener pro
gram, first and foremost, is a
volunteer training program.
The volunteers are trained in
all aspects of gardening. For
this reason many folks believe
the program is just in place to
train folks to be better garden
ers. That's a minor part of the
Master Gardener program.
(Tl)i' HiMfin -CCnbimc
W
9Sm $
The program began in
Washington state about 30
years ago. The Extension
agent who came up with the
idea was overwhelmed with
call and visits from the folks in
his county. He figured that if
he had some folks with some
basic knowledge of gardening
and horticulture then they
Could answer the common
questions and allow him time
to handle the tougher ques
tions and time to develop pro
grams Ibr (he county.
From that beginning the
Master Gardener Program has
spread all over the world. And
it is right here in Peach Coun
ty. Actually we teach the pro
gram in cooperation with Bibb
and Houston counties.
After completing the classes
you must give 50 hours of vol
unteer service to your Exten
sion office, that would he me.
Those hours can he completed
in a variety of ways. We will
use you answering the phone
or maintaining the crape myi
ties on Hwv 49. or helping
with gardening classes for the
public or helping with research
projects.
This year the classes will be
taught at Macon State College
in Macon. Classes will begin
January 29, 2003 and end
April 17. They meet each Tues
dav and Thursday morning
from 8-10 am
As you might have guessed,
this course costs money to put
on. There is a very good text
book for the course. There is
also a Landscape Integrated
Pest Management Manual and
the Georgia I Homeowner Pes
ticide Handbook that goes with
the course. We also have to pay
for the USE of the college, etc.
So, the cost of the course is
$130.
If this sounds like some
thing you would like to do, give
me a call at 825-6466 and let's
DISCUSS it. If it is indeed
what you want then I will send
you the registration material.
Deadline for registration is
December 9. 2002.
Cat tails and haunted trails, Halloween is here again
V
Just when you thought life
could not possibly get more com
plicated and stressful along
comes Halloween. Little
munchkins, clad as ghosties,
ghoulies, spidermen, cats, bats,
and ballerinas or witches show
up to haunt the homefront. The
cute costumed kiddies are prob
ably confused by the whole sce
nar i 0 . The mis-aligned eyeholes
of their masks have them stum
bling about as blind as bats and
tripping on their costumes,
They are shepherded by a
protective parent who suspects
mischief may be afoot when
treats are handed out. Like
cheerleaders, the parent is there
to lead in a chorus of, "all
together now. Trick or Treat"
and to inspect and monitor the
goodies. They may even sample
a few just in case some weirdo
substitutes ex-lux for chocolates
or worse. What parents will do
for children! Usually this task
falls to a tired mom who has
been up half the previous night
baking cookies for the stay-at
home dad to dole out at their
own door.
In between dispensing good
ies, dad and the family cat, Doo
fus. attempt to catch the new’s
on the TV. Doofus, no goofus, is
lyin^hiw toaighJL Jbis is no
night for a l>eat up, black cat, to
be out and about. It's a wild,
wild, kingdom out there every
Halloween. Last year he was
Old-age hormonal crisis
This may be the last col
umn 1 shall ever write from
my present location in
Byron. Why? Because bar
ring a miracle. Handsome
Husband Doyle is going to
ship me off to Alaska on a
one-way ticket? Why? I
dunno. I must be having an
old-age hormonal crisis or
something; perhaps demen
tia has had a sudden on-set
or worse still, my true
nature (that I have hidden
all these years) has finally
surfaced and I can't even
s t an( { myself
I m a cognitive person
when it comes to my
health; meaning that I
almost always know when
I’m mentally ill. Most
bouts don't last too long,
maybe two or three days
and then I’m back to my
usual annoying self. Last
week and the first of this
one ’ something has been
amiss. I awake every morn
ing thinking I could kick
the cat and feel good about
it - if 1 had one.
Poor H.H. certainly has
his cross to bear when I get
in one of my rotten moods.
He tries to explain that my
circuits are overloaded and
i nee d t0 s j ow down. If I
slowed down any more I’d
be on a respirator. He
hasn’t had a descent meal
in a week, the house hasn’t
been vacuumed in days and
two huge baskets of unfold
ed clothes stare at me from
the far side of my bed
where I hid them in case
we had company during the
weekend.
Since head doctors tell
us to discuss our problems
P
*
treated to a hair raising ride on
a broom and wound up in a
trick or treat bag. Even inside
his own happy home his tail has
been stepped upon 3 times It’s
also obvious there are no kitty
treats among those being dis
pensed. He has already checked
that out; no salmon and no
tuna.
Oh rats! 01 dad, is himself, as
nervous as a long tailed cat in a
room full of rocking chairs after
getting 6 telemarketer calls,
each sandwiched between sever
al political ones. Meanwhile, the
newscaster drones on about the
latest news of the human
"creepy crawlers". Some were
terrorizing Northern neighbors
in Maryland, others closer to
home preying on neighborhood
businesses or elderly folks. Then
there's heart warming news
with North Korea’s admission
that they are attempting to
Ix-come members of the nuclear
club. Terrorists are promoting
the peaceful proliferation of
Islam by blowing up busses and
mom and pop type cafes in
Europe, Asia, and Africa. The
newspaper headlines tell of
imminent tax increases at
home.
Pop is getting a headache. He
inhales a couple of cookies and
downs almost 2 cups of black,
hot coffee. The remainder he
spills on Doofus, who retreats
from on, to under, the couch.
Pop tells him to "move over,
cause he's moving in!" It's a
THawoma l |
fir
hf 7<t fau* ■H jjf
with our closest
and at the moment nobody
wants to get within shoot
ing distance of me - I
thought I would dump on
you dear readers. You see,
there may be a simple
explanation for all these
mood swings, temper fits,
bi-polar moments and
meanness. This is what
happened. A month or so
ago I noticed that when I
ate a half pound of my
favorite cookie, Pinwheels,
I got a tummy ache. We’re
talking a really deep-own
bellyache type thing. At
first I thought it was from
being overly enthusiastic in
my quest to down the
whole bag in one day, so, I
slacked off a bit. I felt bet
ter.
I then repeated the
whole process; buy the
cookies and try to eat them
all in one sitting. Another
tummy ache. What it boils
down to is that chocolate
no longer agrees with my
system. I feel as though
someone has just pro
nounced a death sentence.
I am not one of those
persons who can live with
out chocolate. It’s my best
friend; my comforter, my
late night companion. It
has sayed my marriage on
several occasions. Just give
me a large box of Russell
Stover chocolates and I’ll
h I
t
P
% \
Today's and
Yesterday's
Joyce Matthews
tight fit, but both couch potatoes
are safely under the couch and
dad brought the chips and bean
dip with him.
Return with me to a more
peaceful scene. It's Charles
Schulz’, Peanuts Gang. Charlie
Brown, has again coerced Lucy,
Shroeder, Pigpen, Linus and
Snoopy into descending upon
the local Pumpkin Patch to
await the arrival of The Great
Pumpkin. The hopeful Charlie
is busily silencing the rebellious
scoffers. A Harvest moon hangs
high in the sky as he gazes
about in anxious anticipation.
This will surely be the year they
are rewarded with a glimpse of
his hero, The Great Pumpkin.
Surely Charlie Brown and his
hero will be vindicated before
the awestruck scofflaws.
Hang in there Charlie, I
think I saw your Great Pump
kin just last week on a news
cast. It was a broadcast from
another pumpkin patch in
another state. A competition
was being held among growers
from all over, for the largest and
most awesome speciman in all
pumpkindom. The winner was a
gigantic, slightly lopsided, gold
en globe of pumpkin pulchri
tude. It weighed in, no kidding,
at almost 1000 lbs. The ultimate
objective was raising (me to total
a ton. Try fitting that booger in
a shopping cart! That's a lot of
Pumpkin Pie material; and just
think of the amount of gloppy
goop you must scrape out once a
follow you anywhere. 1 •H.
learned that years ago.
So now my life-line has
been cut. My oral gratifica
tion will have to come from
a BB Bat or some other
such sweet. And that’s
another thing. I saw some
one on TV rolling candy
apples in worms of all
things! Candy surely has
changed. I remember when
big, red wax lips and those
tiny wax bottles of sweet,
colored liquid were as bad
as it got. Now, there are
gummy bears and worms
and all sorts of gross edi
bles. Mothers make “dirt
cakes” in flower pots and
fill the “dirt” (made from
Oreos) full of edible worms,
Perhaps it’s my mood,
but 1 truly believe some
thing severe is happening
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chain saw has opened it up.
{You do realize don't you, Char
lie that this is the ultimate fate
of most pumpkins}. Some how
ever, do end up as Jack-O
Lantems, or wrapped around
mailboxes. As I recall, Peter
Pumpkin-eater, of nursery
rhyme fame, even moved his
wife into one giant sized,
pumpkin shell, where he kept
her very warm. Of course, we
haven't heard from the little
lady as to her own opinion of the
"pumpkin pad".
Perhaps the more preferable
and safer option for wee ones to
enjoy Halloween would be the
Fall Festivals and Halloween
Carnivals held at local schools
and churches or at Nightmare
on Main Street in Byron and
the Downtown Carnival in Fort
Valley. Haunted Houses and
Haunted Trails are there for
braver souls. There are several
to choose from. One Haunted
Trail, sponsored by volunteers
and helpers at the Byron Volun
teer Fire Dept., is located at the
home of James Keys on Taylors
Mill Rd. It is a repeat perfor
mance and has been scaring the
bejabbers out of those who love
the sensation of chills chasing
up and down their spines. It
opens at 7:00 nightly,
The spineless Doofus, the
mister, and I will hang out on
the home front to dispense a few
goodies. {When and if we crawl
from under the sofa, that is.)
7, 4
i m .
.
to our taste buds. I shall
never forget watching “Iron
Chef” on late-night TV
recently. Chicken was the
subject of their cook-a
thon. I nearly passed out
when one Japanese chef
used the boiled entrails to
make a sauce. One of the
judges said she liked the
bitter taste of the sauce.
Oh, well, to each his own;
but I’d have to be perishing
to eat chicken innards,
But all that has nothing
to do with the fact that 1
must now find another
form of recreation rather
than eating chocolate,
What a downer. No wonder
l’ ve been out of sorts,
Now that I have written
on this epistle long enough
to solve my own personality
problems, I think I shall
call it a day. It is now 6
a.m. and time for my nap.
Maybe I’ll even take my
hormone pills like the doc
tor ordered. Poor H.H. may
survive my latest mental
crash yet!©