Newspaper Page Text
Page 4A, The Lee County Ledger, Wednesday, June 25, 2008
The University of Georgia • Cooperative Extension Service
GFC Urges Precautions
To Reduce Wildfire
Property Damage
The Georgia Forestry
Commission (GFC) urges
special precautions be taken
for home and farm areas due
to increasing wildfire prop
erty damage caused by the
state’s continuing drought.
Normally, forest tire season
ends in April. Homeowners
and farmers can usually then
relax and use tire carefully
for debris burning. But now,
due to the drought, Georgia
is having twice as many tires
as usual and the tires are
twice as big as usual. This
situation doubles the risk for
property damage.
GFC offers the following
guidelines to reduce the risk
of wildfire: Always be care
ful while using tire (GFC
records show many people
burn their own homes and
barns due to carelessness).
Consider burning alterna
tives (such as composting
and recycling). Do not burn
outdoors during dry or
windy periods. Be sure a tire
is out before leaving it. Many
times a debris pile looks to
have burned completely but
actually continues to burn
under the top layer of ash. It
is best to wet the pile down
prior to leaving it.
Remember to
contact the
local Geor
gia Forestry
Commission
Tom Lambert
to receive a burning permit
prior to burning.
Charcoal grills and power
equipment accidentally
ignite numerous outdoors
home tires. Primary causes
of farm tires include burning
debris and improperly main
tained electric fences.
General precautions for any
landscape include removing
debris from gutters and stor
ing firewood (and other flam
mable materials) away from
buildings. Placing garden
hoses in strategic locations is
also recommended.
In woodland environments,
firebreaks can reduce wild
fire risk. GFC will install
firebreaks for a nominal fee.
For further information on
home, farm, and
woodland tire safety
- contact your local
Georgia Forestry
Commission office
at 759-3011.
Facts About Masonry
By J.M. Rhodes
Member of Chehaw Lodge 701
Leesburg, Georgia
EVERY MAN IN
HIS PLACE
“And they stood every man
in his place round about the
camp... (Judges 7:21) The
defeat of the Midianites
by Gideon and his army of
three hundred men is one of
the most thrilling stories in
history.
They won this battle with
out an arrow being shot or a
spear being thrown. Under
the cover of darkness they
carried out a clever bit of
strategy which was planned
by Gideon. He divided his
army into three groups. He
gave each man a trumpet, an
empty pitcher, and a lamp
within the pitcher. He said,
we are going to surround the
camp of the Midianites, and
“as I do so shall you”. Blow
the trumpet, break the pitch
er, hold high your lamp, and
cry, “The sword of the Lord,
and of Gideon!” In the begin
ning of the middle watch at
night, at a given signal, every
man blew his trumpet, broke
his pitcher, held high his
lamp, and cried: “The sword
of the Lord, and of Gideon!”
The Midianites were taken
by surprise and were thrown
into panic. “And all the Midi
anites ran, and cried, and
fled,” and they began to fight
among themselves.
The secret of this unusual
victory was threefold. First,
they had God on their side.
God called Gideon to lead
this army, and God promised
to be with him. “Have not
I sent you?” This insures
victory in any endeavor for,
if God be for us, who can be
against us?”
Secondly, this army had
a good leader. Gideon was
not a military man. He was
a farmer. The prophet called
him “a mighty man, of
valor.” He was also a good
organizer. He had the gift
of inspiring men, They did
exactly what he commanded
them to do.
But there was a third ele
ment in Israel’s victory. The
three hundred men faithfully
carried out their captain’s
orders. “They stood every
man in his place around
about the camp.” At the given
signal, every man blew his
trumpet, broke his pitcher,
held his lamp high, and cried
out: “The sword of the Lord,
and of Gideon!” Every man
in the army did his duty. Is
there anything more impor
tant than this in everything
we undertake? Success in
any organization is impos
sible without it. LTnless every
man in ranks stands in his
place and does his duty, the
best of plans or organization
will fail. This is not only in
Masonry, but in every orga
nization.
The Lee County Ledger
Established August 24,1978
lcledger@bellsouth.net
P.0. Box 715 (124 4th Street) Leesburg, Georgia 31763
(229) 759-2413 USPS 470-310
Official Organ of Lee County
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
Lee and surrounding counties $20.00 year
Elsewhere $25.00 year
Publisher Derryl Quinn
Editor Jim Quinn
Layout and Design Zan Twiggs
Advertising Manager Tina Maples
(USPS 470-310), is published weekly for $20.00 per year in
Lee and surrounding counties, and $25.00 per year else
where by its offices at the May Office Building, 124 - 4th
Street, Leesburg, Georgia 31763. Periodicals postage paid
at Leesburg, GA. POST MASTER: Send address changes
on Form 3579 to, P.O. 715, Leesburg, GA31763.
Printed On
Recycled Paper
MEMBER OF GEORGIA
PRESS ASSOCIATION
Letters to the Editor
Bumblebee
Doug Collins, Lee County
Extension Coordinator
Putting Knowledge toWork'T
—
%
1**$ t
A bumblebee collects nectar from a crimson
clover bloom.
Bumblebee
Benefit Planned
On June 2, 2008, a terrible
accident claimed one of our
dear friends and injured two
others. Trea Smith suffered
head trauma, but is doing
well and is in rehab at Scot
tish Rite in Atlanta, Ga. A
benefit is being planned for
Trea to help offset expenses
incurred by his family. More
details to come on benefit.
An account for Trea has
been set up at
First State
Bank of
Leesburg.
Donations
can be made
at the Leesburg
Branch or our
First State Bank
of Albany at the
corner of Whis
pering Pines.
Michelle R.
Odom
Hello Lee County
All of you good folks that
weren’t at the Lee Kounty
Jamboree Saturday night
sure missed a good time. We
had good food, soft drinks
and some of the best country
music you’ve ever heard. We
had some of the best musi
cians around! Buddy Purvis,
Wayne Watson, Mackie
Harrison, Larry Thornton,
Harold Perry, and last but
not least Lonnie Brigman
filling in for Mac Mercer,
who had the night off.
Some of our regulars were
there too. Arnold Rich, Wil
liam Hall, Tim and of course
Wendy. We had more new
people come. We’re continu
ing to grow.
Everyone there had such
a good time, they didn’t
want the night to end. The
Lee Kounty Jamboree is
the place to be. We are a
free, open to
public non-profit
organization.
We operate on
donations and
ticket sales for
the very nice
prizes we give
away every
Saturday
night.
The Jam
boree is
open every
Saturday
night from 7:00
p.m. until. The only excep
tion to the rule is we will be
closed Saturday, July 12th,
so that everyone can have a
little vacation. We will re
open on Saturday, July 19th
with our very special guest
Miss Betty Stroud.
Everyone at the Lee
Kounty Jamboree loves
all of you good people out
there. Thanks all of you
good people for helping us
stay open. Questions? Call
759-2893.
Delores and William Hall
There are approximately
50 species of bumblebees
in North America. Bumble
bees are important pollina
tors. Because of their long
mouthparts, they can more
efficiently pollinate plant
species than can honey
bees.
Bumblebees can be identi
fied by their black, “furry”
- looking abdomens. The
abdomen is the hind-most
body segment of an insect.
As with many species of
social insects, such as ants
and bees, there are three
types, or castes of individu
als within a colony. There
are the workers, which are
imperfectly developed fe
males. As the name implies,
the workers perform the
work. The males fertil
ize the queens. As far as
I know, that is there only
function. The queens which
are perfectly developed
females, lay eggs for a new
generation of bumblebees.
The fertilized queens are
the only ones that survive
the winter. They then
establish a new colony. The
queen will nest in a depres
sion in the ground, an old
mouse nest, a hollow log,
a hole in a rotted stump, or
a pile of grass, weeds, or
other rubbish. The queen
will line her next with fine,
soft material, such as dry
grass or moss. She raises
workers first. Males and
new queens are produced
toward the end of the sea
son.
If conditions are right, the
colony may grow to several
hundred individuals.
For more information, call
the Lee County Extension
Office at 759-6025 or email
me at collinsd@uga.edu.
Zero Tolerance Means No
Warnings And No Excuses
Special to the Ledger
As Georgians begin mak
ing their vacation plans for
the upcoming July Fourth
festivities, please remem
ber there are two activities
that never mix well on our
holiday social calendar:
Drinking and Driving. Put
ting them together behind
the wheel creates a deadly
combination on our high
ways. Now one-out-of-every-
three of the 1,700-plus fatal
crashes in Georgia every
year involves an impaired
driver!
So this week, law enforce
ment agencies across the
country will kick off the
summer DLII enforcement
campaign called Operation
Zero Tolerance. The cam
paign concept is the same as
the slogan. If you’re caught
driving with a Blood Alcohol
Concentration (BAC) at
or over the illegal limit of
0.08, you will be arrested.
Operation Zero Tolerance
means you never receive
just a warning or citation. In
Georgia, if you’re Over the
Limit, you’re Linder Arrest.
First time violators go to jail.
Why 0.08? That’s the BAC
where the risk of a fatal
crash increases dramatically.
It’s at 0.08 where critical
driving skills like braking,
steering, lane changing,
depth perception, judgment
and response time are acute
ly affected— The very skills
your life depends on—and
the lives of everyone on the
road around you.
The survival mathemat
ics of drunk driving is even
more sobering. Statistics
show you’re 11-times more
likely to die in a crash with
a BAC of 0.08 or higher,
than if you’re in the same
crash with no alcohol in your
system at all. Yet accord
ing to the F.B.I.’s LTniform
Crime Report, more than
1.3 million people across the
country were arrested for
driving under the influence
in 2005.
That’s why all 50 states
now uniformly enforce the
0.08 BAC limit. So no matter
what route you follow for
your Fourth of July travel
plans, you will be arrested
if stopped by roadchecks or
concentrated patrols while
driving under the influence
of drugs or alcohol.
But avoiding the costly
repercussions of a DLII ar
rest is easy. Just remember
the goal of Operation Zero
Tolerance is to bring public
awareness to the deadly
consequences of drunk
driving so motorists drive
unimpaired. Designating a
sober driver and never letting
a friend drive drunk are just
two simple ways to avoid an
impaired driving crash or
arrest.
And here are more tips
that can help keep our roads
safe— and keep you safer
365 days a year: Like plan
ning ahead by designating
a sober driver before going
out; calling a taxi or using
mass transit; calling a sober
friend or family member to
get you safely home; not al
lowing alcohol to be opened
or consumed in your vehicle;
obeying all traffic laws and
resisting influences to take
risks; wearing your seatbelt
and ensuring that all passen
gers do the same; driving the
speed limit, and reporting
impaired drivers to the near
est law enforcement agency
by calling 9-1-1.
So as we celebrate our
nation’s independence, let’s
also celebrate our freedom
from the dangers of drunk
driving. Driving sober gives
you the freedom of know
ing you’re doing your part to
keep our roads safe during
the holidays.
And remember: Over the
Limit, Linder Arrest.
Bob Dallas, Director
Georgia Governor’s Office
of Highway Safety
Photo by Lee County Chamber of Commerce
Barnes, NeSmith, and Eidson, P. C. held Business After Hours for the Lee
County Chamber of Commerce June 12. Everyone enjoyed the Bar-B-Que,
Live Music, and Fellowship that was provided.
Photo by Lee County Chamber of Commerce
The Lee County Chamber of Commerce and Ambassadors held a ribbon
cutting ceremony June 19 for Modern Gas. The family owned and operated
business has been offering their services with propane and fireplaces in
our surrounding communities since 1954.