Newspaper Page Text
Forsyth County News Is Sold
To Gwinnett News Publishers
Publisher Tony Maddox an
nounced Wednesday that he has
contracted to sell The Forsyth
County News to The News Com
pany, publishers of the Gwinett
Daily News and The Winder
News.
Maddox, who is leaving the
newspaper business, said that
plans call for the immediate
transfer of the newspaper to the
purchaser.
Maddox said he and his family
will continue to reside in Cum
in ing, where he will lie engaged
in the real estate business.
Kenneth Hudgins, publisher of
Tne Winder News, will serve as
acting publisher of The Forsyth
County News until a permanent
publisher is named.
Guy Cabe Leaves
Area Health Council
At the Area Comprehensive
Health Advisory Council meet
ing, last week. Guy Cabe
announced his resignation as
chairman of that body. Due to
his recent appointment as Area
Human Resources Director, he
felt that he would no longer
have enough time to serve on
the council, which was estab
lished recently to study area
health problems and to recom
mend a comprehensive plan of
action.
A request for membership
from the Chiropractic Associ
ation received considerable di
scussion by the group. A mot
ion to deny this request was
defeated by one vote. Since
no affirmative motion was made
chiropractors were not included
in the council at this meeting.
In other business, an appli
cation to the National Health
service Corps for two physi
cians for Hall County was who
le -heartedly endorsed by the
group. This project, sponsored
by the Hall County Exchange
Club, would facilitate the estab
lishment of a private practice
in Gainesville for at least two
years. Dr. Phesant of NHSC
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The state’s largest taxpayer, Southern Bell, is one of the largest taxpayers in the
county. Southern Bell manager, Walter Stapleton, hands Donald Major. Tax Com
missioner for Forsyth County, a check for $23,425.59 in payment for Southern
Bell’s county ad valorem taxes. On December 27th, the Southern Bell official
gave a check for $1,821.06 for Southern Bell’s City of Cumming ad valorem
taxes. The Southern Bell check was one of the largest received by the city.
Herman Hamby, Chairman of the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners
looks on as the check is presented.
Hudgins, longtime advertis
ing manager for The Daily
Times in Gainesville, said plans
call for expanded new s coverage
and predicted the newspaper
will experience rapid expansion
as Cum iiing and Forsyth County
continue to grow .
“Our airn is to be a vital
force contributing to the orderly
and healthy growth of Forsyth
County,” he stilted. ‘ * We believe
that an informative newspaper
that provides solid leadership
is one of a community's most
valuable assets,” Hudgins ad
ded.
The offices of the newspaper
will continue to be located at
107 Daltlonega Street, in Cum
rning. Other than Maddox, the
explained that similar applica
tions from Dawson County, and
possibly Rabun County, would
be reconsidered for approval
next month.
The council also unanimous
ly endorsed an application from
the Rabun County Memorial
Hospital for certain x-ray and
laboratory equipment. Ttiis
project would be funded by Ap
palachian Regional Commis
ion.
All heal thy applications for
federal assistance must be re
viewed by tills council, com
posed of both consumers and
providers of health services.
Mr. Les Brown of the Geor
gia Mountains Planning and De
velopment Commission ment
ioned other project proposals
being developed by the Haber
sham County Hospital, the Hall
County Hospital, and the North
Health District. These applica
tions will probably he reviewed
at the February meeting of
the council. Mr. Brown also
encouraged the recently appoi
nted committees on facilities,
manpower, and services to be
gin their studies of particular
health problems In the Georgia
Mountain Area.
existing personnel w ill continue
w ith the newspaper.
Maddox, who has been pub
lisher of The Forsyth County
News for more than seven
years, said he w as pleased to be
selling the newspaper to The
News Company.
“They have the dedication,
know -how and resources to pro
duce an outstanding new spaper,
which Forsyth County de
serves,” Maddox stated.
The New s Company is a joint
venture of Gwinnett Publishing
Company and Georgia Commun
ity Papers, Inc. The latter■cor
poration formerly owned the
newspaper before selling it to
Maddox in 1907.
The News Company, head- !
quartered in Law rencev ilJe, be- j
gan publication of the Gw innelt j
Daily News In 196.7. It now hasa
paid circulation of more than l
10,000. The company also pub- ,
lishes The Winder New s, a eo- j
unty seat weekly in Barrow Co
unty, w ith a circulation of 4,600.
The Gwinnett Daily News has I
won numerous awards for news
and advertising excellence in
recent years. Tl>v Georgia
Pn •ss Association had judged
it to be am mu the three best
dailies of 20,000 circulation and I
under in the state lor the past
four vears.
Wood Is
Asst. Whip
ATLANTA Rep. Joe Wood
of Gainesville has been named
an assistant majority whip of
tile Georgia House of Repre
sentatives.
Representative Vood was
named assistant whip by Rep. i
Jack Connell of Augusta, House
Majority Whip.
Connell explained that the j
majority whip, one of several I
leadership positions filled by i
a vote of the House Democra
tic Caucus, is responsible for]
making sure members vote on j
key issues and that on matters
affecting the caucus all Demo-'
cratic legislators are briefed?
on amendments, substitutes and I
other motions.
“The job requires rapid cnm-l
inunication on the floor of the!
House and, from time to time, I
some fast thinking on your feet
to make sure everyone follows
the different stages of a par
ticular vote properly” Con
nell said.
VUP FORSYTH MWHTfI
A Hll COUNTY IV JCI WW 9
CUMMING, GEORGIA
Two Die In County Mishaps
Trailer Fire, Auto Crash
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Forsyth’s POW Family
Bobby Ray Coming Home ,
Daughter On “Cloud Nine”
Mrs. Ralph Bagley was re
covering from a serious bout
with the flu at Forsyth County
Hospital last week when she
heard that an end had finally
come to the conflict in South
east Asia.
She felt better right away.
The words of peace meant
that at last her son, Bobby Ray,
would be coming home.
Lt. Col. Bobby Ray Bagley,
USAF, was shot out of the sky
over North Vietnam on Sept
ember 16, 1967. For nearly
three years he was listed as
missing in action but finally
word came that Bagley was held
captive in an enemy prison ca
mp.
The news that Lt. Col. Bag
ley was alive came on his dau
ghter Vickey’s fourteenth birth
day. Earlier this year she said,
“It was a real birthday present
just to know that my daddy was
alive. I didn’t cry until the
next day. I really don’t know
why. I guess it was just because
I knew God would take care of
him And I believe he will be
home for my eighteenth Birth
day, too.”
Vickey, who turns seventeen
in March was right by more
than a year. Her Grandmother
DEDICATED TO THE PROGRESS OF CUMMING AND FORSYTH COUNTY
LXVI
George Smith “hurried up” in trailer home
Free Home barn fire left only rubble
in Forsyth County said it again
took a while for the news of
father to touch her. “It took a
day or two for it to sink in but
now she’s on cloud nine,” Col.
Bagley’s mother said of Vickey.
Mrs. Bagley, who was recov
ering at her home in Sharon
early this week, said she was
disappointed that her hospitali
zation made it impossible for
her to watch the President’s ad
dress on television. “But I read
all about it in the papers the
next day and Ralph watched and
told me all about it.”
The POW’s mother said that
an officer from Dobbins Air Fo
rce Base in Marietta called her
Saturday and said her sons name
was on the list of prisoners to
be returned. She said she was
told the Col. Bagley could be
returned in as few as 16 days
but that the air force would
notify her and her husband
in plenty of time to meet him.
She expects him to be bro
ught to Montgomery, Ala.,
where the nearest air force hos
pital is located, “But we plan to
be there whenever he gets there,
whereever lt is,” Mrs. Bagley
emphasized. She said she was
pretty sure lt would be a hospi
tal, though. “They plan to keep
them all (returning prisoners)
in the hospital for a while.”
“I Just hope nothing happens.
Surely it won’t,” she said ex
pressing the doubt which five
ISSUE 4
plus years of frustration has
brought.
During the years of captivity
the Bagleys and Vickey and Col.
Bagley’s wife, Sandy, received a
total of 18 letters and five cards
from him.
Vickey and her mother each
received a letter at Christmas
time and the Bagley’s received
a card about the same week.
They had not had any word from
him since August when the
Christmas mail arrived.
In his latest mail he said he
was well,” his mother said. “He
always says he’s well,” she
added. “And he always says he
hope s we will all be back to
gether soon.”
Mrs. Bagley said she was not
sure when her son would be re
turning to Forsyth County. He
was building anewhomeinOak
land Plantation near Shaw Air
Force Base in Sumter, S.C.
when he left for overseas. Tho
ugh his wife and daughter have
lived in the house for nearly
six years, Col. Bagley has never
seen it. But he will probably go
there upon his release from the
military hospital and will not
be in Cumming until a later date,
according to his mother.
For now we will be happy to
Just see him return to the
states. “We’re so Thankful. It’s
the answer to long years of
prayer,” she said.
15 CENTS PER COPY
A 64-year-old man burned to
death in one of three fires in
Forsyth County during the past
week.
Chief John C. “Jake” Moore
of the Forsyth County Volunteer
Fire Department said George E.
Smith died when his small tra
iler burned January 18.
The next night fire destroyed
a hay barn on Georgia 20 near
Free Home, just across the
Cherokee County line.
And Sunday night a fire which
began in a sofa bed gutted a
trailer in the Lewis O. Phillips
Trailer Park on U.S. 19 in south
Forsyth County.
Chief Moore said Smith’s tra
iler was “far gone” before the
volunteer firefighters were not
ified of the blaze. The trailer
was off Spot Road near the J.O,
Chadwick General Store in the
north portion of the county.
Chief Moore said the victim
“burned up in it” and the tra
iler was too badly damaged to
determine the precise cause of
the blaze. He said, how ever, that
it was possibly caused by a
faulty heater.
The hay 1m in situated tie
tween a house and a gas station,
was engulfed by flames when
firemen arrived at the scene.
“There was nothing we could
do to save the barn,” Chief
Moore said, “But we did con
tain the fire and protect the
home and filling station.”
The wooden structure burned
completely leaving only twisted
remnants of its tin roof. Chief
Moore said the contents of the
storage structure were believed
to have been hay. He said there
was no machinery or farm
equipment stored in it and the
cause of te blaze was unknown.
The chief said te destruction
of the second trailer could have
been prevented had its owner
called the fire department im
mediately. He said that the
owner, Jimmy Hudgins, discov
ered the fire and tried to put it
out himself. Hudgins apparently
thought he had succeeded and
opened the doors and windows to
let the heavy smoke escape.
The blaze then reflared and
the fire department was called
but by the time they got there
the trailer was burning fully,
according to the chief.
Chief Moore said some resi
dents of the county are under a
false presumption that it will
cost them money if they call
the fire department. He said
the firefighting fees are char
ged in some small counties but
the services of the Forsyth vol
unteer group are free.
Commission Held
Special Meeting
The Forsyth County Board of
Commissioner held a Special
Meeting at 3:00 p.m. Monday in
the Commissioners Conference
Room. All Commissioners were
present.
The following official action
was taken:
1. Met with Delegation repre
senting Southern Bell Telephone
Company and reached written a
greement in which Southern Bell
will restore all damages to Co
unty Right of Way caused by
them. This includes reseeding
Right of Way when damaged. Co
unty Commission authorized
any Commission to sign any
Right of Way Agreement that
includes above agreement on it.
2. Commissioners voted to
deslglnate all monies held by
Tax Commissioner and Clerk of
Court as pass book savings ac
counts until turned over to Co
unty Commission and Board of
Education. This permits up to
4 1/2 % Interest to be earned
on this money.
3. Commissioners voted to
allow the Volunteer Fire De
FEBRUARY 1, 1973
He emphasized,however, that
though the group in non-profit
and strictly volunteer it does
need money. Donations are
being solicited and accounts
have been opened at both local
banks in the name of the Forsyth
County Volunteer Fire Depart
ment.
He said that the barn fire on
the Cherokee County side of the
Forsyth-Cherokee line was fou
ght by local firemen because
Cherokee does not have a volun
teer fire department yet. One
is being organized in Canton, he
said, and “We’re hopingwewill
be able to rely on them for as
sistance if we have a big fire.
They owe us one already, now.”
he added.
Chief Moore also said addi
tional volunteers are needed es
pecially in the North and north
east sections of the county. The
volunteer firefighters will meet
Thursday night at 7:30 in te
jury room at the courthouse.
Thy invite any ntan over 18 in
good physical health to join
them.
Fourth
Fatality
Scored
A 22-year-old Dahlonega man
was killed late Monday in a tra
ffic accident on U.S. 19 north
of Cumming.
The death was the fourth tra
ffic fatality in Forsyth County
thus far in 1973.
Jackie Lewis Chester was
alone in his 1965 Chevrolet when
he apparently lost control on a
curve 7.5-miles north of the
city limits, according to the
state patrol.
Trooper W.C. Walraven, who
investigated, said Chester’s
southbound car went over an
embankment and overturned.
Chester, of Route 3, Dahlonega,
was thrown from the car and it
rolled over him causing the fatal
injuries. He was alone in the
car.
Authorities pronounced him
dead on arrival at Forsyth Co
unty Hospital.
None of Forsyth County’s 1973
traffic victims wore seat belts,
according to police records.
partment- house old Canning
Plant as a fire station and au
thorized $200.00 Expenditures
for use in remodeling this bui
lding. Commissioner J.C. Roe
was deslginated by County Com
mission as Fire Commissioner
for County representing the Bo
ard of Commissioners.
4. Commission voted to ad
vertise for bids to convert Co
urt house from Propane gas to
natural gas and to heat the en
tire building with natural gas.
Should save approximately one
half on fuel bill there.
5. Commissioners voted to
aks for bids on diesel fuel, gas
oline for vehicles and oils and
greases for use in all county
vehicles this year. Commiss
ioners Roe and Watson to pre
pare information for bids. All
area distributors will be in
vited to bid.
6. Commissioners voted to
request Sheriff Department to
appear at a future meeting to
discuss bids on Towing andSto
rlng of wrecked and Impounded
vehicles and other matters.