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VOLUME LXXXI —NUMBER 51
A day
for dad
By Brad Hundt
Staff Writer
Dad.
For a long time, the word conjured
up fanciful, idealized images of a guy
who seemed to always to know best,
looked like Robert Young or Ozzie
Nelson, and smoked a pipe while dis
pensing stem, yet loving, advice.
The minutia of parenting - taking
kids to school, aiding scraped knees
and cooking meals - well, that was
Mom’s department
However, as times change, so do
dads. He still might have the pipe and
slippers, but he might also wield a
bottle of formula, change a diaper or
drive a son or daughter to day care.
The changing roles of fathers have
been well-documented throughout
the last decade or so by Oprah, Phil,
Sally Jesse and the rest of the media
Forsyth County, a conservative niche
in a conservative part of the country,
has not been immune to advancing
social change and blurring parental
roles, however.
“We see more and more daddies. A
lot more are picking them up and
bringing them here,” said Vickie Sex
ton, of the Small Town day-care cen
ter in Cumming. “I think it’s more
than it used to be. It used to be just
mothers, but now it’s half-and-half.”
Fathers getting down in the trench
es of parenting is an outgrowth of the
sexual revolution of the 19705, and the
Please see FATHER, page 2A
Couple’s faith endures in spite of multiple adversities
- Jfc v: Hu
NSIDE
Abby 6B
Business 5A
Church Briefs 7B
Classified 118
Deaths 7B
Editorials 4A
Engagements 6A
Events 9B
Horoscope 6B
On Campus 108
Sports 1B
Weddings 6A
Lake Lanier Levels
Date level
June 11 1071.61 feet
June 12 1071.55 feet
June 13 1071.47 feet
June 14 1071.41 feet
June 15 1071.36 feet
see page 4, section B
Forsyth L»oui iiyV >e\vs
/C • •
Local dad William West gives his 16-month old son
Steven some swimming lessons at Mary Alice Park last
week. Daughter Elisia, who turned five last week,
stands alongside them.
Paul and Betty Turco
CPR skills save Cumming girl’s life
Two minutes
more may have
been fatal
By Brad Hundt
Staff Wrttr
Jodia Wallace’s sweet 16th birth
day last weekend very nearly was not
so sweet - if it weren’t for the help of
her boyfriend’s sister, Michelle
Norton.
After a full day of swimming and
game-playing in her family’s pool on
Canton Highway outside Cumming,
Jodia noticed she was tired and was
going to get out of the pool.
The next thing she remembers is
laying by the side of the pool with the
sound of an ambulance siren advanc
ing She had apparently blacked out
and sank to the bottom of the pool’s
deep end, a full nine feet
“They were playing, and I heard
Jodia’s mother screaming’ “where’s
Jodia?’ She was laying on her stom
ach oh the very bottom of the pool,”
Norton said.
Fortunately, Norton is trained in
canjjopulmonary resuscitation and
SUNDAY, JUNE 17,1990-CUMMING, GA. 30130—26 PAGES 2 SECTIONS
was able to revive Jodia after she,
along with Jodia’s brothers Jodie
and Joey, pulled her from the bottom
of the pool. The family believes she
was under water for up to two min
utes. Two more minutes and Jodia
could have sustained brain damage
or died, Norton said.
Jodia was taken to North Fulton
Regional Hospital for three days of
observation. After three days of tests,
it was determined Jodia would likely
have no physical problems because
of her near-drowning.
“Of all my children, Jodia is the
best swimmer,” said Mrs. Wallace.
“She’ll be extremely careflil from
now on.”
Mrs. Wallace vowed she, Jodia and
the rest of their family were going to
be trained in CPR after this near
brush with tragedy. They are also go
ing to get a “pool hook,” which is 1
commonly used to pull swimmers in
trouble out of the water, she said.
Norton has been trained in CPR
since the early 1980 s because of her
work as a dental hygienist Because
of her rescue, she might receive a
Certificate of Merit from the Ameri
can Red Cross, one of the highest
hogprs they give.
staff photo - By Brad Hundt
More legal action taken
Assessments notices mailed,
may rise 40 to 60 percent
By Kristin Jeffries
Staff Writer
The county tax assessors office
mailed out 1989 assessment notices
Friday although the validity of the no
tices could be affected by the latest
legal move made on the behalf of the
county.
The board’s tax attorney, Conley In
gram, filed a second motion for a re
hearing before the Supreme Court
without the county’s authorization or
County will not restrict water use
By Brad Hundt
Staff Writer
Forsyth County and the city of Cumming do not antici
pate any problems with water supplies or pressure, de
spite restrictions placed on lawn-watering and car-wash
ing in north Fulton County.
DeKalb County put outdoor watering restrictions in
place Thursday, as did Sandy Springs. Cobb and Gwinnett
experienced water pressure problems last weekend.
Homeowners watering their lawns after roughly two
weeks of dry, hot weather and an inadequate distribution
system were credited as causing north Fulton’s problems.
“At this point in time we don’t have any problem,”
Cumming city administrator Gerald Blackburn said. “We
feel very comfortable we can handle it But if people do
unsuspected things, they need to let the city know.”
Among the “unsuspected things” that city officials
would need to know about Blackburn said, would include
By Kristin Jeffries
Staff Writer
It could happen to anybody. Disas
ter hits and there is no money and no
one to help. What do you do?
The Turcos, sitting alone in their
little retirement bungalow in Forsyth
County, are well acquainted with the
helplessness of this situation.
“We just don’t know what we are
going to do,” said Betty Turco.
Paul and Betty Turco moved from
Tucker to a little house on the lake six
years ago when he retired.
Paul had worked as an architect for
a company in Atlanta, but mandatory
retirement age hit and he had to leave
work. He started his own business in
Cumming, but was able to do little
work before his and his wife’s world
was turned upside down by illness.
Betty broke her back soon after they
moved to Forsyth County and she was
without insurance. Because of a kid
ney operation at Emory University
Hospital 20 years ago, no company
would insure her when her husband’s
insurance expired. He was covered by
Medicaid, but, try as they might, they
could find no company to cover her.
While she was home recuperating
in 1988, not knowing how she was go-
“They were playing,
and I heard Jodia’s moth
er screaming ‘where’s
Jodia?’ She was laying on
her stomach on the very
bottom of the pool,” Nor
ton said.
“We’re involved in the process of
applying for it” said Vic Lanahand,
program coordinator for the north
east Georgia chapter of the Ameri
can Red Cross. ‘They receive so
many, but I think we have a real good
shot at it It’s just the way we recog
nize the value of what we teach.”
If Norton receives a certificate, it
will be signed by President Bush,
honorary chairman of the American
Red Cross.
“It’s the ultimate example of the
way our programs work. We’re just
tickled pink,” Lanahand said.
Obviously, though, Jodia and the
rest of her family are slightly more
than “tickled pink” that she lived
through her 16th birthday.
“I just thank the Lord that she’s
here,” Mrr.tJWallace said.
knowledge. If granted the move could
possibly erase the need of 1989
notices.
“We didn’t know anything about it,”
said County Administrator Donald
Major.
The Board of Tax Assessors were
unaware of the action and had not
discussed it with county attorney
Beau Stubbs. Stubbs was not aware of
the action, either, said Major.
“I’m not surprised, though,” said
Billy Evans, chairman of the Board of
developers using excess water or “bleeding” water lines
during construction work.
The city of Cumming provides water for the county. The
area’s source of water is Lake Lanier.
When water shortages in the Roswell and Alpharetta
areas reached their height Monday, as some taps went
dry, Forsyth County provided fire trucks to the area in
case they were needed. This was part of an agreement
between local governments regarding fire equipment in
case of emergencies, said Donald Major, Forsyth County
administrator.
Fulton County imposed an odd-even watering system
late last week, and prohibited watering lawns from noon
until 9 p.m.
Cumming and Forsyth County banned outside watering
in the summer of 1988, as the Atlanta metro area, and
many other parts of the country, were in the grips of a
severe drought Rainfall amounts for the area are cur
rently 10 inches above normal for this time of year.
“...We love each other and
that’s all that matters, no
matter how it ends up,”
said Betty.
ing to pay her bills, Paul began not
feeling well, and soon was in the hos
pital undergoing a quadruple heart
bypass operation. He had been in and
out of the hospital a few times before
then also.
“By that time what little dab of mon
ey we had was gone,” Betty said.
Then, on her way to visit Paul in the
hospital, she fell unexpectedly. Days
later, as Betty and her husband were
leaving their home to vote, she had an
aneurysm in her brain and a number
of strokes. She spent the next five
weeks in the hospital.
Her frustration was complete when
she had to re-leam many things when
she came home.
“I didn’t know a knife or a fork,” she
said. She had trouble speaking, could
not read or write and couldn’t distin
guish colors.
“Dr. Goodson would be coming and
I
j
Jodia Wallace (front) and Michelle Norton
Tax Assessors. “To Mr. Ingram, who is
a tax specialist himself, this (the re
billing) is very disturbing because it is
without precedent ”
Despite the legal upheaval, the as
sessors moved ahead
Last Wednesday the board unani
mously approved the new land ap
praisal values resulting from a coun
ty-wide re-appraisal done by the W.P.
Ferriss Company.
Please see TAX, page 2A
I’d think to myself he has on a white
shirt and blue pants,” Betty said.
“When he asked I would say a red
shirt and purple pants.”
“Just this morning, I tried to write
three little words and it won’t come
out right” Betty said, fighting back
tears.
However, her therapy has stopped
for inability to pay.
“But I’ve come a long way,” she
said. Betty still has trouble in conver
sations and speaking on the phone.
Writing is still almost impossible.
Their troubles seem to be building
on one another.
With Paul just out of the hospital
having had a second open heart sur
gery and so shaky he cannot write or
speak for long intervals, getting mone
tary help has been almost impossible.
Betty, owing over SIOO,OOO in medi
cal bills has not been able to get her
social security straightened out, al
though she has been classified as
completely disabled. She is 58.
She worries that without insurance
and a history of not being able to pay
she will not get medical help
anywhere.
Many calls for help have gone unan-
Please see TURCO, page 2A
•Ml photo - By Brad Hundt
25 CENTS