Newspaper Page Text
I FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Sunday, March 28,1999
PAGE 4B
Engagements
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?: Robin Marie Williams
Christopher Joel Armes
' Mr. and Mrs. Thomas D. Williams
'of Fayetteville announce the
engagement of their daughter,
Robin Marie, to Lt. Christopher
Toel Armes, son of the Rev. and
Mrs. Gary Armes of Cumming.
•The couple will be united in mar
’ rlage at Harp’s Crossing Baptist
Church in Fayetteville on Saturday,
April 17, 1999 at 2 p.m. A recep
tion on the lawn will follow.
The bride-elect is a 1991 graduate
of Fayette County High School and
a 1997 graduate of Chattanooga
rii
i.i.
Hello Georgia: an unforgettable experience |
A place of beginning
I was headed back to
Savannah, Georgia, the place
’ ” * l*d called home since early
childhood; where my military
career had begun 40 months
’ before.
This was a journey different
from any other; I was on a
Greyhound Bus, near the back,
seated at a window. I was just
, one of the many soldiers who
had returned to the United
’; 4 - States from the fighting in
<’« Korea, which was still going on.
served with the 187th
.•//Airborne Regitmental Combat
•*♦*•’Team, the only parachute unit in
‘ *4he war except for the two
Ranger companies which came
later and were assigned so the
187th.
As the bus turned off Bay
Street onto West Broad, a rest
less surge of excitement set my
heart to a faster tempo.
“Thank God, I’m home!” I
couldn’t help saying it out loud,
waking some sleeping passen
gers and stopping a few conver
sations. They saw my uniform
and understood; their faces
showed it, and they seemed glad
to celebrate my homecoming,
J too.
The bus stopped; I stood up,
and slowly followed the passen
gers toward the front. My mind
flashed back, to a C-119 Flying
Boxcar airplane, the one we’d
jumped from at Sukchon, North
' Korea, a communist village
near the Yalu River, on Oct. 20,
1950.
I was anxious to get out that
door; this time there was no
prop blast, no smoke, no sound
of burp gun fire, just a crowd of
people at a bus station, Now I
was landing in a much different
drop zone, and was I happy. I
made my exit, and when my
jump boots hit the pavement, I
knew I was home again.
What a homecoming! Terrific.
Impossible to describe. My
fatnily. Tears, Smiles. Hours of
talk, with many things to tell,
* and hours of silence.
It wasn’t long before I was out
on the streets, driving by pre
served forts. Colonial homes,
the waterfront, and reading his
toric monuments, seeing places
chiseled in my mind and more
I'd never seen before.
Eknew there were many peo
whose lives had never been
ched with the wonder of
State with a degree in Nuclear
Medicine. She is presently
employed as the Nuclear Medicine
Technologist at Fayette Community
Hospital.
Armes is a 1994 graduate of
Forsyth Central High School, a
1998 graduate of Berry College
with a degree in Physics. He is
presently a U.S. Marine Corps lieu
tenant and will begin flight training
this fall.
The couple will be stationed in ’
Pensacola, Fla., in May.
Savannah, because I had been
one of them. But now I could
see it all. There was a song
whistling in the winds, dreamy
poetry singing in the ardent sun,
a breathless beauty in the moss
laden, overhanging trees that
charmed my soul. I felt the
rhythm of nature blending with
the old structures which spoke
of man’s obedience to the high
command.
There was a brooding
expectancy about that first day
that quickened my mind and
colored my imagination with
expanded opportunities. Tender
chords vibrated with the elation
of life, a muted brilliance robed
with delicate mystery.
A soldier’s return opened a
new beginning, an adventure
that made me see every thing as
an object of romance.
I soon found myself at the
gateway to Bethesda
Orphanage. Rendered speech
less by the sheer grandeur of it,
I wanted to know more. What
I’ve found since then has been
added to my files. So this is the
story.
Not long after the settlement
of Savannah, James Oglethorpe,
the founder, and Charles Wesley
saw the need for an orphanage.
At the invitation of Oglethorpe,
George Whitefield joined the
colony as a missionary in 1738.
He had been converted while a
classmate of John Wesley at
Oxford and a member of the
Holy Club. By the time
Whitefield arrived in Savannah,
John Wesley had returned to
London.
The challenge of starting an
orphanage to care for many
homeless boys was accepted by
Whitefield, along with his close
associate and follower, James
Habersham. The first home
opened with 40 boys in a rented
house in Savannah in 1740.
Later the trustees of the Georgia
colony granted 500 acres at Isle
of Hope, about 10 miles from
the city, to Whitefield. The loca
tion is along the Moon River,
named after Johnny Mercer and
his song by that title, which
became the biggest hit.
Habersham successfully
administered all the affairs of
the orphanage during the first
few years while Whitefield hit
the campaign trail for funds.
The blue-eyed, 25-year-old
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Melissa Padgett
Tony Payne
Myron Padgett of Dawsonville
and Marsh Chapman of
Cumming announce the engage
ment of their daughter, Melissa
Padgett, to Tony Payne of
Cumming. He is the son of Tony
and Delores Payne of Cumming.
Wedding vows will be
exchanged on July 3, 1999 at 7
p.m. at Mt. Calvary Baptist
Church. A reception will follow
at the church cemetery. The Rev.
Tony Roughton will officiate.
The maid of honor will be
Whitefield, who had been
preaching for two years before
coming to America, preached on
several continents, and while he
carried his blitz campaign for
Bethesda, he did much more.
His preaching, more than that
of any other man, shaped the
spiritual life of the colonies. He
became the founder of the so
called “aggressive evangelism.”
Ordained as a priest in the
Anglican Church, he also
became, along with John
Wesley, the co-founder of
Methodism. As a preaching
evangelist, he preached through
out Scotland, England and
Wales, in addition to his seven
journeys to America, in which
he added coals to the fires of the
Great 18th Century Revival in
New England.
A close friend of Jonathan
Edwards, Presbyterian minister
and president of Princeton, he
preached nearly 20,000 sermons
in churches where he was invit
ed, and in the open fields when
they would not invite him. Lord
Chesterfield said Whitefield was
the greatest orator he had ever
heard during all his life.
Differing with the Wesleys on
the doctrines of eternal election,
final perseverance and sanctifi
cation, he became a strict
Calvinist and broke with them
to join a group of Methodist
Calvinists where he remained
until his death in 1791.
Whitefield’s preaching led to
the founding of Presbyterianism
in Virginia and the South.
So persuasive was Whitefield,
he moved great audiences to
give large sums of money for
Bethesda. Among his hearers
was Benjamin Franklin, who,
after the sermon, said:
“I happened to attend one of
his sermons, in the course of
which perceived he intended to
finish with a collection, and I
silently resolved that he would
get nothing from me.
“I had in my pocket a handful
of copper money, three or four
silver dollars and five pistoles of
gold. As he proceeded, I began
to soften, and concluded to give
him the copper.
“Another stroke of oratory
made me ashamed of that and
determined me to give the sil
ver; and he finished so
admirably that I emptied my
pocket into the collector’s dish,
Rhonda Chadwick. Attendants,
Krista Chadwick, Allison Heard
and Kendra Chapman; flower
girl, Tiffany Chapman and Katie
Gamble will be the flower girl.
The groom has chosen his
father as his best man.
Groomsmen will be Kyle Payne,
Mikey Payne and Jason
Nichelson.
After a wedding trip to
Nashville, Tenn, the couple plan
to make their home in
Cumming.
Clifford J I
Brewton
gold and all.”
On a Georgia Historical mark
er in front of Bethesda on
Ferguson Avenue at the cut-off
to Montgomery Road, southeast
of Savannah, you can read these
words:
“March 25, 1740, Whitefield
laid the first brick in the Orphan
House to which he gave the
name Bethesda, hoping it would
ever prove what the word
imported, ‘the House of Mercy.’
Nov. 3, 1740, 61 children took
up residence at the ‘Great
House,’ described by an English
traveler of the period as a square
building of very large dimen
sions, the foundations of which
are of brick, with chimneys of
the same; the rest of the super
structure of wood.’”
Bethesda was America’s very
first orphanage, and stands
today as the oldest existing chil
dren’s home in the United
States.
At the 242nd anniversary in
April of 1982, the Alumni
Association Secretary Lee Jones
reported that more than 10,000
boys had come and gone and
reached their high goals and
success in their lifetime after
having been residents of
Bethesda.
During his later years,
Whitefield became close friends
with the Countess of
Huntingdon, Lady Salina, who
was the center of the Calvinist
Methodists.
He willed Bethesda to the
countess, whose portrait is dis
played in the Atlanta Art
Museum.
Clifford H. Brewton, an experi
enced writer, has dedicated his
pursuits toward the unusual and
spectacular riches of Georgia
history in a syndicated newspa
per series called "Hello
Georgia." Born in Pierce
County, he served in the United
States Army in two airborne
divisions during the Korean
War. He received a bachelor of
arts degree from Covenant
College, Pasadena, Calif, and
earned a bachelor of divinity
degree in 1959 from the
Columbia Theological
Seminary, Decatur.
Weddings
Mr. and Mrs. Clinton B. Newton
of Alpharetta announce the mar
riage of their daughter, Karen
Patrice, to Steven Blake from
Chicago, 111.
Dr. W. Frank Harrington officiat
ed at the Nov. 21,1998, ceremony
at Peachtree Presbyterian Church
in Atlanta. Music was provided by
Bonnie Terwilliger, soloist, and
Nick Bowden, organist
The bride was given in marriage
by her father and attended by her
sister, Kimberly Newton Poole, as
maid of honor. Bridesmaids were:
Lisa Findley Ramsey, Dee Durand
Todd and Pollyanna Wallace
Evans.
Tom Blake, brother of the groom,
served as best man. The grooms
men were: Jim Poole, Mike Griffin
and Scott Francis.
The reception was held at the
Druid Hills Golf Club following
the ceremony.
Following a honeymoon trip to
Births
Audriana Morgan Elzey
Mike and Tracy Elzey of
Gainesville announce the birth of
their daughter, Audriana Morgan,
born Feb. 7, 1999 at Northside
Hospital.
She was born at 5:29 p.m.,
weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces and
measured 20-1/2 inches.
Maternal grandparents are Essa
Dean Charles, Seymour and Alfus
Seymour, all of Cumming and the
late Harold Charles.
Paternal grandparents are Sandra
and Steve Elzey of Loganville.
Sandie Marie Evans
Billy and Maranda Evans of
Cumming announce the birth of
their daughter, Sandie Marie, bom
March 4, 1999 at Northeast
Georgia Medical Center.
She was born at 4:23 a.m.,
weighed 8 pounds and measured
20 inches.
Maternal grandparents are John
and Teri Crane of Cumming.
Paternal grandparents are Rose
and William Evans of Cumming.
She joins sister, Cheyanne Marie
Evans.
»
Elizabeth Marie Haage
Stanley and Tracie Haage
announce the birth of their daugh
ter, Elizabeth Marie, bom March
8, 1999 at Chestatee Regional
Hospital.
She weighed 6 pounds and 9
ounces.
Maternal grandparents are Jerry
and Margie Higgins of Cumming.
Paternal grandparents are David
and Betty Haage of Salam, Mo.
and Marilyn Moots of Delta,
Colo.
Cameron Ryan Berger
Tami and William “Bill” Beiger
Jr. of Cumming announce the
birth of their son, Cameron Ryan,
born Jan. 7, 1999 at Northside
Hospital.
He was born at 7:42 a.m.,
weighed 7 pounds, 11 ounces and
measured 20-3/4 inches.
Maternal grandparents are
Hughes celebrates 100 years
Daisy Marie Garrett Hughes was
bom March 10,1899, in old Milton
County, Georgia. Her parents were
Edd and Laura Garrett She was the
sixth child of 10. Her family moved
to Forsyth County in 1912.
She married Samuel Ansel
Hughes on March 5,1917.
She and Ansel moved to the Matt
Community on his family’s farm,
where they fanned for a couple of
years. They moved to south Georgia
in 1919, where they farmed for
about a year. Then they moved to
Atlanta, on Butler Street where he
went into the grocery business with
his brother Edd.
Sometime later, he and Daisy
bought a grocery store of their own,
at the comer of Glennwood and
Kelly Street
Daisy went to work at Davisons in
1928, in the hosiery department.
She sold hosiery for 50 years.
After losing her beloved Ansel in
1962 to a heart attack, she decided
to move closer to her family. In
1984, she moved to Alpharetta,
where she lived until 1997 before
coming to live with relatives in
Forsyth County. In Alpharetta, she
had time to do the things she
enjoyed most These included going
to Sunday school and church, which
she had done since she was a small
girl. She loved to read and enjoyed
Mr. and Mrs.
Steven Blake
Bali, the couple is residing in
Atlanta.
Marguerite Archer, the late
Edward Theriot Jr. and the late
John Archer.
Paternal grandparents are Billy
and Ina Berger of Poplarville,
Miss.
He joins brother, William.
Skylar Mackenzie Sims
Stacy and Shanna Dunbar Sims
of Murrayville announce the birth
of their daughter, Skylar
MacKenzie, born March 16,
1999, at Northeast Georgia
Medical Center.
She was bom at 4:13 p.m. and
weighed 8 pounds, 7 ounces and
measured 20-1/2 inches.
Maternal grandparents are Jim
and Kathryn Dunbar of
Cumming.
Paternal grandparents are
George and Carolyn Garmon of
Murrayville and the late Kenneth
Sims.
Allyson Maurine Coleman
Kevin and Jan Coleman of
Warner Robins announce the birth
of their daughter, Allyson
Maurine, bom March 2, 1999, at
Houston Medical Center.
She was born at 11 a.m..
weighed 6 pounds, 12 ounces and
measured 19 inches.
Maternal grandparents are
Maurine and Bobby Bagley of
Alpharetta.
Paternal grandparents are Bob
and Beverly Coleman of
Cumming.
She joins a brother, Austin.
Lucas Dylan Gravitt -
Eddy and Shannon Gravitt of
Cumming announce the birth of
their son, Lucas Dylan, bom Feb.
19,1999, at Northside Hospital.
He was born at 4:07 p.m.,
weighed 6 pounds, 8 ounces and
measured 20-1/2 inches.
Maternal grandparents are
Bobby and Sandra Pruitt of
Cumming.
Paternal grandparents are
Herbert and Fay Gravitt of
Cumming.
I
working in her garden and yard. She
looked forward to family and
friends coming to visit her.
On Jan. 2, 1998, she moved into
Cumming Manor, a personal care
home, where she is still living today.
On a personal note, Mrs. Daisy is
a very sweet lady and it has been a
joy for us to have her in our Dves
arid to help care for her these past
couple of years.
Her only surviving sibling is her
sister Nellie Mae, 90.