Newspaper Page Text
Forsyth County News- Sunday, February 1,1998
Forsyth Life
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Photo/Marcia Domian
Alexa Higginbotham holds Candy Bar, one of the family’s
Ragdoll cats.
Royalty Rags
producing
champion Ragdolls
By Marcia Domian \
Lifestyle Editor
Alexa Higginbotham and her
dad, Bill share an unusual hobby.
They work together breeding and
showing Ragdoll cats. Their cat
tery, Royalty Rags, has consistent
ly produced grand champions
since they began breeding in
1995.
Ragdoll cats are a breed devel-
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Photo submitted
Tootsie Roll is a four-time champion, winning ribbons from
the International Cat Association and the Ragdoll Fanciers
Club International sponsored cat shows.
oped by Ann Baker in California
which gained acceptance from the
National Cat Fanciers Association
when a Ragdoll won the champi
onship in 1965. Ragdolls are an
accepted breed in most cat associ
ations, but Bill and Alexa only
show their prize-winners at The
International Cat Association
(TICO) shows.
Ragdolls exhibit features com
mon to Persian and Burmese cats
but the mother of all Ragdolls was
a cat named Josephine, whose
purebred characteristics serve as
the judging benchmark.
The cat is named for its tenden
cy to go limp in your arms when
held, just like a ragdoll. Ragdolls
. are large, docile cats with non
matting fur that requires mini
mum care and sheds very little.
All Ragdolls are pointed and
points must be seal, blue, choco
late or lilac. In bicolor and mitted
patterns, the points are partially
overlaid with white. Body coat
should be subtly shaded. Mitted
patterned cats have white mittens
on their front feet, white boots on
their back legs and a white chin.
Color point patterned cats have a
colored mask, ears, tail and feet.
Bicolor patterned cats have an
inverted “V” on their face which
extends down to the stomach and
legs and they have color pointed
ears and tail.
Judging is based on these char
acteristics and includes a lengthy
list of criteria on body, shape and
fur. An important feature is the
cat’s long, full tail.
The Higginbotham household is
a haven for cats and cat-lovers,
alike. Alexa is very knowledge
able about Ragdolls and is a big
help when it comes to taking care
of a house full of cats. Since the
Higginbothams breed and sell the
Ragdolls there are several female
cats, litters of kittens and one very
large male cat named Amie.
Tootsie Roll, Candy Bar,
Gingersnap and Jezabel keeps
Royalty Rags supplied with kit
tens. Bill sells some neutered or
spayed kittens as pets and kittens
that exhibit strong characteristics
of the breed are sold to other
Ragdoll breeders.
Alexa, however, sees another
side to the beautiful blue-eyed
cats. She loves them all, from
huge, 16 pound Amie to the tini
est new kitten. She tries very hard
not to get too attached to the the
kittens because she knows they
will be going to other homes as
soon as they are old enough.
See CATS, Page 2B
Encore!
Encore!
Portable Players’ encore
performance of "Do Not G<
Gentle ” set for Feb. 3 at the
Sawnee Center.
By Laura Lavezzo
Staff Writer
In the spotlight of their recent
winning of the state one-act play
competition, Forsyth Central High
School’s Portable Players will
give an encore performance of
“Do Not Go Gentle” this Tuesday
at the Sawnee Community Center.
The drama students, under the
direction of Yatsey Harvey, trav
eled to White County on Nov. 18
to win the regional competition.
This qualified them to perform in
Warner Robbins on Dec. 6 at the
state’s meeting of eight high
school drama groups, and they
took the prize there as well.
The cast of “Do Not Go Gentle”
consists of seniors Jill Franklin,
Kelli Giddish, Alex Mize, Heather
Ford and Jennessa McDowell, and
junior Spencer Ray. The rest of
the theater company has acted as
crew members this season, man
aging the stage, lighting and the
set.
Giddish and Mize won Best
Actress and Best Actor, respec
tively, at the GHSA-sponsored
regional event. Giddish portrays
Lillian Baron in Susan Veder’s
play about guilt, love and loneli
ness. Baron dies early in the play,
and the other characters endure
flashbacks to the times they spent
with her, all along learning about
themselves and humanity.
Harvey’s players have won the
state championship for the past
four years, so some of the seniors
in her group have been winners
throughout their high school expe
rience. In 1994, it was “Children
of a Lesser God” that won them
the state award, followed by “Lost
in Yonkers” in 1995 and “The
Boys Next Door” in 1996. At the
one-act competition, each group is
•••••••••••••a****
Obstacle course training gets test
By Michael Kurtz
Staff Writer
A new fire department obstacle course, and
the county’s new safety director, got their first
physical test last week.
Public Safety Director Miles Butler and three
members of the fire department were put
through their paces trying out the course
which will be used as the main agility test for
paid fire fighters joining the department.
“The intent of the course is to assure us they
can do the basic physical fitness skills needed
by firefighters,” said Butler.
Dressed in full fire-fighting gear, the four
testers were required to perform various duties
common in fire situations.
Starting from the Station 12 garage, firefight
ers had to raise a ladder hand over hand.
They then ran to the actual obstacle course
where a 100-foot section of hose was waiting.
Grabbing hold of the equipment, the course
runner had to climb four stories, drop the hose,
then begin raising other sections of hose using
various lifts.
More hose was waiting at the bottom of the
course. The firefighter had to unroll another
100-foot section until it was fully extended,
nozzle and all.
From there, it was on to a fire hydrant. Once
the hydrant was fully open, the firefighter had
to grab a 135-pound simulated victim and
carry or drag it 100 feet.
Stopping on the course or dropping the “vic
tim” resulted in an automatic disqualification.
The entire run was timed.
The 41-year-old Butler, dressed in full gear
and carrying oxygen tanks, turned in an
impressive time of 3:21.81.
Battalion Chief Rick Crumley and firefight
ers Stacy Bailey and Jeff 'Wilson also tackled
the course.
Wilson came across at 4:27.97. Crumley was
a few seconds behind Butler at 4:17.44.
The best time, and a course record, was
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Photo/Patti Rogers \
An encore performance of Forsyth Central’s “Do Not Go Gentle” will be held 1
Tuesday, Feb. 3. Left to right, Jill Franklin, Spencer Ray, Jennessa McDowell,;
Heather Ford and Alex Mize. Seated at center, Kelli Giddish. '
allowed 50 minutes to set up, per
form one act of the season’s play
and break down the stage.
The Portable Players actually
entail two theater groups under
Harvey. The Maskers Repertory
Company is an elite group of 24
multi-talented students who per
form throughout the year for vari
ous audiences in the community.
The group will put on “Winnie the
Pooh” for Forsyth County’s chil
dren on Thursday, Feb. 19, at 7:30
p.m. at the Sawnee Center.
“They represent our school’s
drama department through a
showcase of talent,” says Giddish,
this year’s company president.
She and fellow cast member
Franklin recently auditioned for
drama scholarships at the
University of Charleston, S.C.,
where both have been accepted to
the drama program.
••••••••••••••••etc
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Photo/Tom Brooks
After successfully completing the fire department’s new obstacle trainings
course, Public Safety Director Miles Butler congratulates firefighter, Jeff |
Wilson on his success. < S
turned in by Bailey who finished the “event”
in an impressive 3:21.81.
Because the course.will be used for hiring
new employees, the run was closed to anyone
involved with or applying for a full time posi
tion.
Butler said keeping the run closed will give
every applicant a fair chance at completing the
Photo/Patti Rogers
Best Actor Alex Mize and
Best Actress Kelli Giddish.
••••••••••••••••••a*
Discover God's'?
life-giving
forgiving love
RAGE3B
The second group is Thespian ?
Troupe 3064, an ensemble of ,
almost 40 active theater students »
who represent the school at the J
State Thespian Conference. There *
they compete at individual and J
group levels.
At the upcoming State Thespian *
Conference on Feb. 6 at the *
Clayton County Performing Arts *
Center, the Portable Players will -*
perform in front of 2,500 visiting •
students from around Georgia. A *
panel of judges will watch each •
performance carefully and decide
which schools will be chosen to .
perform at the International ’
Thespian Festival in Lincoln, *
Neb., this June. Also, FCHS’s •
players and a few students from . ’
North Forsyth High School were •
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See PLAYERS, Page 2B •{
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course. < $
“We have applications coming from all
he said. “It wouldn’t be fair for an
from Colorado to have to run the
against someone who has seen it and is
See FIRE, Page 2jlj
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