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THIS ISSUE
Copyright O 199* Forsyth County New*
Graduation
section.
Page ID
North’s Bennett signs
with N. Georgia.
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A sneak preview
of the pond tour.
Page IB
4
INDEX
Abty. 7B
Classifieds.. 38
Community IQA
Deaths.-. 5A
Forsyth Life IB
Horoscope-.- 78
Opinion 12A
Sports 1C
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Forsyth County News
J Your "Hometown Paper" Since 1908 J
vol 89 No. 68
Owner's dander up over cat caper
By Beth L. Chester
Staff Writer
An Alpharetta man who lost his daugh
ter’s tabby cat last month during a trip to a
local veterinarian’s office claims he’s afraid
to return to Forsyth County to search for it -
fearful he’ll be arrested at the direction of
high-ranking officials in the Forsyth County
Sheriff’s Office.
Fifty-six-year-old William P. Gaffney
says he’s willing to take a Georgia Bureau
of Investigation-administered polygraph
exam to prove he’s telling the truth when he
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Photo/Colby Jones
One sure fire way to beat the heat
Jay Mathews, 8, and nis sister, 5-year-old Jackie, found one way to beat the heat during the
recent Cumming Arts & Craft Show at the Cumming Fairgrounds. The duo were helping their
mother, Celia, sell shaved ice delights at the event.
Reliving the ’sos
Reunion celebrates first years
By Laura Lavezzo
Staff Writer
Get out your white dinner jack
ets, poodle skirts and saddle
Oxfords. On Saturday, June 13,
the Forsyth County High School
graduating classes of 1956 through
1960 will celebrate more than 40
years since the school’s construc
tion and grand opening.
The reunion will take place at
the old Russell Building in down
town Cumming. This will be the
first event held there since the
facility was shut down last
autumn. Dinner will be catered by
The Varsity, once a favorite hang
out after ball games, said City
Manager Gerald Blackbum.
“The original plan was to hold
a reunion for the class of 1958,”
said Blackbum, who was president
of his senior class. However, orga
nizers of the event decided it
would be fun to include every
class of students who attended in
1955-1956, the year the school
first opened.
Commission will vote Monday
on business, subdivision plans
By Phillip Hermann
News Editor
The Fbrsyth County Commission is expected to
decide Monday night whether a compromise plan
between a local developer and neighbors has worked.
' Dara A. Rastegar has applied to rezone land off Hwy.
141 for the development of either a branch bank, drug
store, oil-lube type of business or a service-related
business such as a doctor’s office.
Local attorney Emory Lipscomb, representing
Rastegar, said that the limitations on the type of busi
ness which can be located at the site came as the
result of meetings with the surrounding community.
He noted that a school is being built on the front
of the property on a 50-acre tract Lipscomb said the
developer* also has agreed not to allow certain activi
ties at the site, including the sale of alcohol. There
also can not be drive-thru facilities, such as a restau-
says that two Forsyth County Sheriff’s
Office administrators “threatened” him dur
ing a series of telephone conversations last
month.
According to Gaffney, he filed a sworn
complaint with the sheriff’s office Internal
Affairs investigator about the alleged
“threats” last week.
It all began, Gaffney said, when he took
the cat to Dr. Lanier Orr’s office on Old
Atlanta Road in April. The cat ran away
before they made it inside, and a neighbor
hood search began.
Gaffney says he tacked fliers on mail-
For fun, everyone who attends
the reunion is encouraged to dress
in ’so’s attire.
Herschel! Fuller, retired postal
employee and information officer
for the affair, said people might
have a hard time finding a white
sports coat these days, not to men
tion black slacks with a lavendar
stripe down the side.
Nevertheless, these graduates
are ready for fun.
“The bigger the crowd, the bet-
ran, gas station or convenience store.
The county’s Planning Commission has voted to
recommend approval of the plan with the conditions
specified by Lipscomb. At a public hearing on the
application at the commission’s May 27 meeting,
there was no public opposition.
Also on the rezoning agenda for Monday is an
application by David T. Smith to rezone less than a
half-acre to pave way for an office/deli/meat market
development. The property is at the intersection of
Pilgrim Mill Road and Impala Drive.
The Planning Commission has recommended
approval of the application provided Smith is willing
to build an eight-foot high wood privacy fence at the
back of the property, which is bordered by a residen
tial home owned by Gail Bryant
Bryant spoke at the May 27 public hearing on the
See REZONINGS, Page 3A
SUNDAY 7 99
ter,” said City Councilman Rupert
Sexton, the president of the class
of 1957.
And most of the former stu
dents seem to really cherish the
years they spent at FCHS.
“The whole school was then
very close-knit,” said Blackbum.
Some of the students even
helped with the construction of the
school.
“I worked on the school [site]
during the summer before it
opened in the fall of 1955,” said
Fuller.
As the 1997-98 academic year
draws to a close, scattering
Forsyth County’s graduating
seniors out into the world beyond
Cumming, the students of 40 years
ago are reflecting on their own
high school experience and the
benefits of small town living.
“It was primarily a farming
community at that time,” said
Blackbum. “People had plenty of
work to do near home. But I was
raised in the greatest area in the
See REUNION, Page 9A
boxes in nearby subdivisions and soon got a
call from a woman off Quail Hollow Drive
in Bethany Springs subdivision who said
she had seen an orange and yellow cat in
her yard matching the description.
Gaffney says the woman gave him direc
tions to her home, but said she would be
leaving before he arrived.
After arriving and walking through the
yard calling the cat, Gaffney says he was
headed back to his car when he noticed a
woman at the neighbor’s house standing on
her front porch talking on the phone.
Two days later, back at his home in
Recent burglary
of Beanie Babies
miffs collectors
By Michael Kurtz
Staff Writer
A local couple is seeing the
darker side of the Beanie Baby
madness sweeping the nation.
On Monday, Troy Dinsmore
returned to his Bennett Road
home only to discover SIO,OOO
worth of the cuddly collectibles
had been stolen.
“As soon as I walked by the
room we had them in, I knew what
the thieves were after,” Dinsmore
said.
Missing from an upstairs bed
room were two complete sets of
the stuffed critters, including such
hard-to-find Babies like Grunt,
Lefty, Righty and Garcia.
Dinsmore said he and his wife,
Elaine, had other collectibles and
commonly stolen items, such as
televisions, which went untouched
by the perpetrators.
The Dinsmores became
involved with the Beanie phenom
ena about two years ago.
In that time, they had put
together two full sets of Beanie
Babies and several sets of the
Teenie Beanies given away at
McDonald’s Restaurants.
The balloon man
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There was plenty of fun for a good cause during the recent
United Way Day at Grasslands. Handling holding down the
balloons is The United Way’s Terry Borges. A host of other
community service groups participated in the event.
50 Cents
Alpharetta, Gaffney says he called the
Alpharetta Police Department to file a com
plaint of a suspicious vehicle in his neigh
borhood. Later, he says that vehicle entered
his drive, and a Forsyth County investigator
and Alpharetta officer came to the door.
According to Gaffney, the two wanted to
know why he was in the Forsyth County
subdivision earlier in the week. Gaffney
says he showed them the missing cat flier,
called Dr. Orr’s office for them and offered
to return with them to the home of the
See CAT CAPER, Page 2A
What makes Monday’s theft
even harder for Dinsmore to cope
with is the Babies were supposed
to be gifts.
The couple started collecting
them when their four granddaugh
ters expressed the love of the toys
which children have had since the
Beanie Babies went on the market.
They wanted to put together a
full set for each grandchild, and
were halfway there when their
home was robbed.
“We were just trying to give
our grandkids what we couldn’t
give our children,” Dinsmore said.
“If I knew it was this crazy, i never
would have kept them in the
house.” He added that his insur
ance agent told him that there had
been three similar burglaries.
Since starting their collections,
the Dinsmores have dealt with
dealers and other collectors, some
times spending as much as $570
to add a missing piece to their col
lection.
Dinsmore said he would love
to have all the Babies back, but
hopes law enforcement can catch
the thieves just to keep anyone
else from having to experience the
pain such a theft brings.