Newspaper Page Text
Early County Jfruia
Volume 123 - No. 30
€ Early County News, Inc
Two Qualify For
Special Election
Two candidates have qualified to
run in the March 23rd Special Election
to elect a Mayor for the City of Blake
ly-
Larry Middleton qualified last week
on the first day of qualifying. Tuesday
morning Billy Fleming qualified for
the election which will name a mayor
to replace C.H. “Uncle Charlie”
Jacob, Jr. who resigned as mayor at
the February 16th council meeting.
Middleton, who owns and operates
Harvey Woolf Named
County Tax Assessor
The Early County Board of Com
missioners following the recommen
dation of the Board of Tax Assessors
named Harvey Woolf Tax Assessor.
He was recommended from a field
of approximately 14 applicants and
began his duties Monday.
“I’m looking forward to working
with the county’s property owners”
Woolf stated.
A native of Early County, he was
Poundage Quota
George Whelchel, Chairman of the
Georgia Peanut Commission, said to
day the commission has requested
Senator Mack Mattingly to intercede
with the Secretary of Agriculture to
assure that bonafide peanut growers
are protected under rules and regula
tions now being drafted to carry out a
reduction in peanut poundage quotas.
Mr. Whelchel said the Georgia com
mission strongly believes that the in
tent of Congress under new peanut
Peanut Vote
Georgia peanut farmers will vote
during the month of March on the
question of whether to reaffirm the
Georgia Peanut Commission for an
additional three-year period.
All producers will be mailed ballots
and will have from March 1 through
midnight March 30, 1982, to mark
their ballots and get them in the mail.
Ballots postmarked after midnight
March 30, will not be eligible to be
counted.
The referendum is being conducted
in accordance with the Agricultural
Fun Ad Winner
Seven year-old Albert Wyatt Chandler HI was the winner of last week’s Fun
Ad! Albert, the son of Albert Wyatt Chandler, Jr. of Blakely was in the Early
County News office at 9 A.M. with his “live duck.”
Albert, who was out of school that morning with a doctor’s appointment, in
sisted he bring his duck to town. Good thing, because he left the News with $5.00
Watch the Fun Ad in this week’s Early County News Classified Section-you
might be richer for it!
Middleton Electric Motor Service,
previously served two terms as
mayor. Fleming, Publisher of the
Early County News, has served six
years on the city council, four of those
years during Middleton’s terms as
Mayor.
The deadline for candidates to
qualify for the special election is Fri
day, March 12 at 4 P.M.
Deadline for voter registration is
March 12 at 5 P.M.
employed with Early Memorial
Hospital for seven years, and served
as head of the Accounting Depart
ment. For the past five years he has
been employed with Felder & Son,
Inc.
Now 46, he is married to the former
Paula Brooks. They have one son,
Trey, 19, a student at the University of
Georgia. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs.
Harvey Woolf, Sr. of Blakely.
legislation enacted last December
was to reduce the quotas of non
producing quota holders, while pro
tecting producers who grow their own
quotas on their own farms.
"We are grateful for the leadership
that Sen. Mattingly has taken in work
ing with Secretary John Block in the
United States Department of
Agriculture in seeing that the new
rules and regulations carry out the in-
(Continued to page 18)
Commodities Promotion Act, which
requires that all Georgia Agricultural
Commodity Commissions be reaf
firmed by producer vote every three
years.
In the unlikely event a peanut
grower or allotment holder does not
receive a ballot in the mail, that per
son should contact the Commodities
Promotion Division, Georgia Depart
ment of Agriculture, Capitol Square,
Atlanta, Ga. 30334 or phone (404)
656-3678 and a ballot will be provided.
Thursday, March 4,1982
Early County - Blakely, Georgia 31723
County Fire Protection
Just a few short years ago there was
no such thing as rural fire protection.
Rural homeowners could do little
more than stand back and watch
things bum.
Now, within just a matter of
minutes, a radio dispatched fire truck
with a crew of trained firefighters will
be on the scene anywhere in the coun
ty-
Six Fireknockers
The county presently has six
fireknockers across the county with a
crew of approximately eight
volunteers in each area. In coopera
tion with the Georgia Forestry Ser
vice, who originated the
“fireknocker” plan, there are units in
Damascus, Jakin, Lucile, Cedar Spr
ings, Rock Hill, and Blakely.
The firefighting force consists of ap
proximately 50 volunteer firemen who
receive no pay. Some of them are
already fully trained, while all of
them continue to meet the state re
quirement of a minimum of one hour
of training each month.
According to county fire depart
ment coordinator Waymon Thomas,
the volunteers are presently undergo
ing a 20 hour block of instruction being
given by Blakely Fire Chief Franklin
Brown.
Radio Communication
The six trucks and the volunteer
firemen are equipped with a modem
communications system. In addition
to each of the trucks having two-way
radios, five volunteer firemen in each
vicinity are equipped with radio
beepers to provide an instant alert
system.
A Master Fire Plan has been sub
mitted to the state insurance commis
sioner. If approved, the county’s fire
GPPAToHoId
Annual Meeting
In Tifton
The Georgia Peanut Producer’s
Association will hold their first annual
meeting March 10, 1982 in Tifton,
Georgia.
The purpose of the meeting is to
elect officers. The meeting will begin
at 2:30 P.M. at the Rural Develop
ment Center.
In addition to electing officers, the
peanut program and future goals will
be discussed.
The GPAA was organized in 1980
and chartered in April 1981. In order
to get a charter, a temporary staff of
officers had to be moved. The staff of
officers have held regular meetings
twice a month since chartered.
Due to the fact that all peanut pro
ducers are paying a $2.00 per ton
assessment on their peanuts, all pro
ducers have been made members of
the GPAA.
The featured speaker at the annual
program will be Dawson Mathis,
along with Ron Henning, and Tyron
Spearman.
Other guests include: Senators Sam
Nunn and Mack Mattingly, Con
gressmen Bo Ginn, Charles Hatcher,
Billy Evans, and Jack Brinkley, Ga.
Agriculture Commissioner Tommy
Irvin, J.W. Willis, Henry Reeves,
Charles Coker, Frank McGill, and
Bob Nash.
President Fletcher Thompson urges
all peanut producers to attend the
meeting. He especially urges Early
County Farmers to attend since Early
County has taken a leading role in
organizing the GPAA.
Fourth Annual
Market Hog
Show March 8
The 4th Annual Early Market Hog
Show and Sale will be held Monday,
March 8, 1982 at Moseley Livestock
Yards in Blakely. Thirty-five 4-H and
FFA members will be exhibiting over
60 head of market hogs vieing for top
honors in the 1982 show. The show will
get underway atl:oop.m.andthe sale
will be held beginning at 7:30 p.m.
Mr. Jim Belisle, will come "home"
to judge the show. In addition to in
dividual competition, there will be
contests in showmanship and in
breeders pen of three.
The public is invited and encourag
ed to attend the show and sale.
Has Progressed Over The Years
Call 723-4117 to report a fire,
regardless of whether it is within the
Blakely City Limits or out in the rural
areas of the county. Remember -
723-4117!
protection efforts will not only save
homes, but possibly mean Early
County residents will one day be pay
ing much lower fire insurance
premiums.
Heart Fund Run
Set For
March 27
The Course for the 2nd Annual Ear
ly County Heart Fund Run has been
set. Beginning and ending on
Blakely’s Court Square, runners will
follow the same route as last year.
With the exception of one steep incline
between the first and second mile, this
is a moderately difficult course
described as flat to slightly rolling.
Race officials want to encourage
local runners to try the course before
the day of the run, which is March 27.
Bobcats Journey To State Playoffs
The Early County Bobcats will
journey to Macon Friday to play in the
first round of the State AAA basket
ball playoffs.
The Bobcats will meet West
Laurens of Dublin at 4 P.M. at the
Macon Coliseum. West Laurens, 22-4,
are the defending AAA State Cham
pions.
If the Bobcats, now 16-10, win Fri
day, they would play again Saturday
in the quarterfinals. The semi-finals
and championship games will be held
March 12th and 13th in Atlanta at the
Georgia Tech Coliseum.
Surplus Cheese Distribution Here
The Southwest Georgia Community
Action Council, Inc., has be
designated the agency in this area
responsible for distributing processed
american cheese to needy individuals
in this southwest Georgia area.
The distribution of this cheese has
been made available as a result of
Plans Underway For Spring Fling
The Spring Fling, sponsored by the
Blakely-Early County Chamber of
Commerce is just around the corner
so mark your calendar now and plan
to be downtown on Saturday, March
27.
The Heart Fund Run, sponsored by
the Blakely-Early County Recreation
Department & the Blakely Rotary
Club, will kick-off the day-long ac
tiviites. Train rides on the Best Friend
will also be available during the day
and Southern Railway’s Exhibit Car
Chairman of the Early County Board of Commissioners, Wilber Evans (Right),
presents keys to the County’s newest fireknocker to Danny Williams, Chief of
Blakely Unit.
Looking on (L-R) are County Administrator Billy Broadway, Commissioners
Buck Radney, Smokey Davis, Ralph Jenkins, and Linton Radney.
Without the volunteer firefighters and “fireknockers”, this brick home would
have been a total loss. However, within a matter of minutes two of the volunteer
firemen alerted in Blakely had water going on the flames. With their training,
quick response time, and equipment to work with, the house is still standing in
repairable state about six miles south of Blakely.
John Engram hit two free throws
with six seconds left to give the Bob
cats a 64-63 win over Appling County
Thursday in the semifinals of the
region 1-aaa basketball tournament at
South Georgia College.
The Bobcats had taken a 50-44 lead
into the last period, but Appling went
up by three with 57 seconds showing.
"We put the press on for the first
time,” said Bobcat coach Tommy
Whitehurst, “stole the ball and got a
layup by Junior Haynes. We had the
foul, but they missed and then fouled
us on the rebound. And John won it for
President Reagan’s decision on
December 22, 1981 to make some of
the over 560 million pounds of cheese
stored in uncommitted inventory
available for consumption by needy
individuals.
The exact date of distribution has
not been determined; however,
will be in Blakely.
Billy McFay, Chairman of the Spr
ing Fling, has announced that the
following groups will participate:
Blakely-Early County Recreation
Department, Blakely Rotary Club,
Town & Country Club Auxiliary, Court
Square Arts Council, Community Ser
vice League, Pilot Club, Zion Free
Will Baptist Church Auxiliary, Chat
tahoochee Industrial Railroad, Young
Farm Bureau, Jaycees, Merchant
Committee, Packers Football Team,
USPS 164060
us by hitting two free throws.”
Phillip Henderson led with 22 points
and Engram had 20, including the
game-winning two.
The Bobcats met Randolph-Clay, a
61-60 winner over Waycross, Satur
day. Night for the Region Champion
ship. Randolph-Clay, the sub-region
champions, edged the Cats 60-55.
Both teams will journey to Macon
for the state playoffs.
Everyone is urged to get out and
support the Bobcats in their efforts in
the state playoffs.
distribution is expected to begin
around March 15. Distribution will
take place from the neighborhood ser
vice center located on main street in
Blakely.
Eligible recipients should watch for
an announcement of the exact date of
(Continued to page 18)
Early County High School Band,
Lions Club, WBBK Radio Station,
Early County Choral Boosters.
Also participating will be the Junior
High Y Club who will be distributing
literature throughout the day on the
heart. Taking blood pressure during
the day, will be the Early County High
Vica Club.
If you would like to participate and
have not already contacted the
Chamber, please do so now.