Newspaper Page Text
W
©fie Heaber-tribune
Ready to get going and move forward
Hooray! Hallelujah! Do
a little dance! Thank you,
Lord.
I am exuberant
because yesterday morn¬
ing, bright and early,
they cut my cast off. They
sent me to x-ray and then
it was wait for the verdict
on whether or not my
wrist was healed enough.
I cannot play softball
any time soon, cannot do
any lifting or anything
repetitious with my hand
but hey, no cast. I am
happy. I know that Ms.
Joyce was saying an
extra prayer they would
take the cast off and I am
thankful. I did not
to be wearing a cast at
the wedding. Of course,
Paul will be on a
or possibly have to get
rolled dow’n in a
wheelchair. But there’s
nothing we can do
that right now.
When the doctor said
was going to be swollen I
said okay. When he said
it was going to be sore
and hurt more I
believe him but he was
right. To top it off
skin where the cast
ered is peeling and dry.
At least now I can
anywhere on the arm
should itching resume.
course, the incessant
itching was caused by
cast.
At least now I will
able to tie my own shoes,
button my own
Football as it relates to the lessons in life
My friend Neely Young,
who is publisher of Georgia
Trend, had a very meaning¬
ful column in the September
issue of the magazine. It
was titled “Life Lessons”
and was centered around
his former football coach at
Cedartown High School,
Howard “Doc” Ayers.
Neely and I go back a
long way. We both served on
the Georgia Press Associa¬
tion Board of Managers for
several years, and after that
as Treasurer, Vice-President
and President. We were
both very active in GPA
work and enjoyed every
minute of it.
After reading Neely’s col¬
umn on Doc Ayers, it was
evident we had more in
common than I had remem¬
bered. My birth place was in
Lavonia, which is barely in
Northeast Georgia, and Doc
came there as head football
coach in the late 1940’s
right out of the University
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(
Page 4
Day At A time
Vicky
Whitehead
MB
and take a bath without
having plastic on the
arm. That itself is worth
its weight in gold. You
have no idea how glad I
am to get rid of the cast.
It was frustrating more
than anything and I can
sympathize with Paul
about his leg. However, I
am glad it is him instead
of me, because I think I
would have lost my mind
had I had to wear a cast
on my leg and not be able
to get around. He is
about to go stir crazy and
I know I would be, too.
There are lessons to be
learned from being par¬
tially incapacitated. You
must learn to be patient.
Not only with yourself
but with others as well.
You must learn to rely on
others and not be self suf¬
ficient. It is also a hum¬
bling experience. In addi¬
tion, you come up with
unique ways to get from
one point to the other or
to do things with one
hand or leg when you
usually have two.
When the ordeal is
over you can be thankful
and remember not to take
things or people for
of Georgia. I was on his last
team at Lavonia High
School as a freshman.
Doc was exactly as Neely
had described him in his col
umn. His pre-game and
halftime pep talks were
nothing short of legendary.
Neely tells of one night at
halftime when the team
was behind and he opened a
letter. “Boys,” he said, “this
letter is from my mother
that I received today.” “Dear
son,” he read. “I know this is
an important game for you
and Cedartown High. 1
know your boys will play
their hardest for you and for
the team. I want you to
know that I believe with all
my heart this team is the
greatest team in the state. I
hope you win and bring
home the championship for
Cedartown High.”
With a tear in his eye,
Doc asked the team to win
the game for his mother.
The team was so fired up
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
granted. You also remem¬
ber more to say “please”
and “thank you”.
1 believe there are
always reasons for things
and Paul and 1 have
already been through
some of the “in sickness”
and “for worse” parts and
have survived. We have
not maimed each other
though we have been
both frustrated and tired
causing us to be in the
position of apologizing
for being short tempered
a couple of times. And it
has been trying at times
with both of us crippled.
But before you know it
all of this will be behind
us and we can move for¬
ward. Now’ maybe I can
get on the ball and get
everything done before
Saturday. One day we
will look back and laugh
about these times
(maybe).
Hopefully, we will
both stay well for a long
time and not have any
other catastrophes or
setbacks. I am ready for
things to settle down
and get back to as nor¬
mal as possible.! u
I made the ultimate
From where I sit
.■pff-r
T‘
Bob Tribble \ u
after that letter they scored
two TDs in the second half
and won the game,
Later ori Neely discov
ere d that players on two
other teams had a similar
letter read to them, but it
didn’t matter, they were
motivated and they won the
game,
Let me tell you one Doc
pulled off at Lavonia. Before
the game he came in the
locker room with a vase of
flowers in his hand. “Boys, I
hate to tell you this, but
Coach ? (the opposing
coach) sent these flowers to
our team for your funeral.
®he Heaber -tKrtbune
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blooper last week and it’s
a wonder the wedding did
not get called off. In our
announcement I wrote
that Paul graduated from
the University of San
Diego which is actually a
the rival of San Diego
State University, from
which he did graduate.
It’s bad enough that we
have the Georgia Bull¬
dog/Florida Gator thing
between us; I had to add
insult to injury with the
blooper. Thank goodness
Florida also lost last
weekend. Hey, at least he
has enough sense to
marry a Georgia Dawg!
And actually he was
quite calm about it...at
least after I said we could
run it again and correct
the error. So, if it comes
out right this week I am
in the clear, at least on
this point.
***
I was saddened by the
death of Christopher
Reeve but he gave it a
long hard fight. In fact, to
me it was a “super
human” effort. He
became a champion for
people with long term
disabilities. His courage
and determination to
never give up hope was
inspiring. Though he
might have shed his
superman cape from the
movies his life continued
to be one of “super” forti¬
tude and strength. All of
us should take note.
He says his team is going
bury you tonight.” We
have torn down the
post when we hit that
ball field, and it was a
on the books for
High.
Doc built a
program at Lavonia,
to Winder and then
Cedartown and did
same. From Cedartown
went to UGA as
coach until retirement.
then moved back to
town where he
lives and runs a charity
tournament with his
Georgia Tech great
1 IP.
n 2321 Of
■ft.?
/
[it :H
*\ to
k
‘So ... when do we vote one of them off the island?*
Out of my mind
Victor Kulkosky
Government open: come on in
Back in New York
City, there used to be (it
might still be there) a
clothing store that used
the slogan, “where an
educated consumer is
our best customer.”
Locally, we can
change that to, “an edu¬
cated citizen is the best
voter.”
At last Thursday’s
Fort Valley City Council
meeting, Finance Com¬
mittee chair Herman
Light invited citizens to
attend committee meet¬
ings to see if “painful
decisions” were made. I
heartily second that
invitation.
Aside from the regu¬
lar monthly meetings,
various committee meet¬
ings and work sessions
are also open to the pub
lie.
It’s at these smaller,
less formal meetings
that you can watch the
nuts and bolts work of
local government. At
these sessions, elected
and appointed officials
share information, hear
proposals and debate
the details of major and
Beck.
More important in
Neely’s column than his sto¬
ries about Doc Ayers was
the way he tied the story
about football to life. I had
always believed the many
things learned on the field,
if applied to life, would
make you a success, and
have used those things.
Football is not the only
sport that can make your
life better, basketball, base¬
ball and other sports can
provide the same learning
experiences.
Neely made four points
concerning football and
business. First, is motiva¬
tion in Doc’s story about his
mother’s letter, and the fact
that you can catch more
flies with honey than vine
gar.
Secondly, Coach Ayers
never ran the score up on an
opponent. He would rest the
first team for the future and
give the younger players
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minor decisions in the
making.
It was at several
marathon work sessions
of the Peach County
Commission in August
and September that I
saw the kind of work it
takes to run local gov¬
ernment. I watched a
$l-million plus budget
gap shrink to under
$200,000, before the
blow of a necessary
$150,000 property reval¬
uation took the wind out
of commissioners’ sails.
There was plenty of
hard work and pain to
go around.
I get paid to go to
such meetings, and they
give me an education I
can’t get in civics classes
or journalism school.
This education is also
available to you, the citi¬
zen.
Right here in Peach
County, you have an
opportunity to see gov¬
ernment at work. Your
local officials are dedi¬
cated amateurs, citizens
Please turn to
VICTOR, Page ;•* 6 A • ‘
•.
experience. Sometimes in
business we leave the first
team in too long and don’t
use the opportunity to give
our younger associates more
practical experience.
Thirdly, Doc held to the
theory the water boy was
just as important as the
quarterback. He praised the
first team, substitutes,
trainers and staff. In sports
and business the CEO’s
main task should be team
building.
Coach Ayers made each
player seem special and
took those with limited abil¬
ity and made them into con¬
tributors. The leader of a
company must do the same,
make associates seem spe¬
cial and help those with lim¬
ited ability to be major play
ers.
Doc Ayers was a great
football coach whose mis¬
sion was not only to win
football games but to train
young men to be the best
they could be.