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Page 4 - The Wiregrass Farmer, November 25,2015
Editorial & Opinion
The WIREGRASS FARMER - Established 1902
Official Legal Organ of Turner County
109 Gordon Street • P.O. Box 309 • Ashburn, GA 31714
Telephone 229-567-3655
email wiregrassfarmer@yahoo.com
THE WIREGRASS FARMER (USPS 687-460) is published
every Wednesday by Ashburn Newspapers, Inc., 109 N. Gordon
St, Ashburn, Georgia. Periodicals Postage Paid at Ashburn, Geor
gia.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Wiregrass
Farmer, 109 N. Gordon St., Ashburn, GA 31714
STAFF
Bob Tribble, President • Ben Baker, General Manager
Linda Sellars, Sales Director • Robin Tillman, Office Manager
OUR GOAL
The Wiregrass Farmer is published proudly for the citizens of Turner
County by Cook Publishing Co. Inc. Our goal is to produce quality,
profitable, community-oriented newspapers that you, our readers, are
proud of. We will reach that goal through hard work, teamwork, loy
alty and a strong dedication toward printing the truth.
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Signed letters to the editor are welcomed. Please limit letters to 500
words and include a name, an address and phone number where the
writer may be reached during the day. Addresses and phone numbers
will not be published. Unsigned letters will not be published. All letters
become property of the newspaper. Liability for an error will not exceed
the cost of the space occupied by the error.
We cannot be responsible for the return of pictures or materials un
less a self-addressed stamped envelope is included. The deadline for
LEGAL NOTICES is Monday NOON before Wednesday’s publication.
Holiday deadlines will be announced at least one week in advance.
Freedom must prevail in our nation
Holiday work
Some people will get to spend the entire
Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends.
Some will not.
Give thanks this week for those who won’t get
the entire holiday off.
Some people will work for our convenience.
Restaurants, gas stations, some small and big busi
nesses and many media outlets will stay open.
Some people will work to make sure others are
taken care of. A few examples are the people cook
ing meals in nursing homes, hospitals, prisons and
other places.
Some people will be on the job to keep us safe.
Law enforcement, fire departments, jailers, the 911
emergency call center dispatchers and the men and
women of our military are the bulk, but not all, of
these dedicated people.
Some people will work to keep us alive. Some
examples are ambulance services, emergency room
crews, nurses, doctors, interns and physician assis
tants working the floor in hospitals.
There are some people who’ll work without get
ting paid. Volunteers will give just because they
want to make a difference
All of these people, no matter what they are
doing or whether they get paid or not, will work
through the holidays to try to make this world a
better place.
Remember that when you jump into your car to
run down the street to the store. Everyone, and we
do mean everyone, who is on the job is working to
make sure you can get to the store and home on
during this holiday.
V.
This column is not in
tended to make you feel de
pressed but rather it is meant to
give you hope. But we do need
to be real for a moment be
cause in many ways this has
been a heartbreaking year for
many of us Americans.
The very wrong Supreme
Court ruling on gay marriages,
the disastrous foreign policy
decisions by White House ap
peasers and the Islamic-Jihad
attack on our Marines in Ten
nessee could have been differ
ent had our brave men and
women been allowed to defend
themselves.
In J.R. Tolkein’s famous
novel Lord of the Rings, the
leading character was filled
with hopelessness and despair
over an extraordinary burden
that was placed on him. Frodo
Baggins says to a friend, “I
wish this had never come to
me. I wish none of this had
happened.”
His wise friend Gandalf,
filled with compassion coun
sels him in response, “So do all
who live to see such times.”
But this is not for them to de
cide. All we have to decide is
what to do with the time that is
given us.
Our nation is experiencing
some difficult times and in the
remaining months of the
Obama Presidency we could
see some more attacks on our
freedoms. One thing is clear in
my opinion and that is if
Hillary Clinton is elected Pres
ident from the religious stand
point nothing will change.
There are many young peo-
From Where
I Sit
pie in our nation today who
wish to know more about con
servative values than ever be
fore. Let me tell you a story
about a young man named
Grant Wolf who is a sopho
more at Southern Methodist
University and attended the
Reagan Ranch High School
Conference in 2012.
YAF speakers Dr. Burt Fol
som and Michael Reagan in
spired Wolf to take up the
cause of Conservatism. He
was so inspired that he decided
to start a YAF chapter at Trin
ity High School where he
graduated from and to serve as
the chapter’s chairman. He
then recruited eleven of his
former high school students to
go with him to the Reagan
Ranch High School Confer
ence the next year and fourteen
students to YAF’s summer
conference in Washington,
D.C.
Grant Wolf was so enthusi
astic about passing on to his
peers his conservative convic
tions that he was put on a stu
dent panel at the high school
conference to teach students
how to recruit. He is also now
the president of his YAF Chap
ter at Southern Methodist Uni
versity.
We cannot get too discour
aged. As conservatives, as
freedom fighters we must de
cide what to do with the time
that has been given to us. For
mer President Ronald Reagan
faced such a decision.
Perhaps he too was
tempted to despair when his
life was threatened by Com
munist scoundrels while pres
ident of the Screen Actors’
guild and as he witnessed the
spread of communism within
America and worldwide.
It was when American sov
ereignty was challenged and
freedoms were under attack
that Reagan chose a different
path for his life. You may find
Ronald Reagan’s thoughts sur
prising. Here is what he said,
“I never meant to go into poli
tics. It wasn’t my intention
when I was young. But I was
raised to believe you had to
pay your way for the blessings
bestowed on you. I was happy
with my career in the enter
tainment world but I ultimately
went into politics because I
wanted to protect something
precious.”
Ronald Reagan was 65
years old when he ran for Pres
ident. He cleaned up former
President Jimmy Carter’s
mess, put a stop to the commu
nist threat that was facing this
nation and in my opinion was
one of the best Presidents our
great nation has ever had.
Stepping Back In Time
109 N. Gordon St. - Ashburn, GA - 31714
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
wiregrassfarmer@yahoo.com
r
L
with David Baldwin
1915-The H.H. Tift saw
mills will start up in a couple
of weeks after having been
down for over a year for re
pairs. The mills employ 100
men and Mr. Tift has enough
timber on hand to run the mills
for six the eight months.
Mr. C. H. Bishop has dis
posed of a carload of hogs for
Mr. J.L. Evans and Mr. A.O.
Bozeman to the Moultrie Pack
ing house for about $1,000.
1925- According to a state
ment by Dr. W.L. Story, owner
of the 1,100 acre tract of land
on which the beautiful and fa
mous Crystal Lake is located,
a prominent Florida real estate
firm has secured an option,
with a substantial considera
tion, with the view of effecting
a sale to a party of northern
capitalists who are interested in
securing just such a site here in
south Georgia. Crystal Lake is
a large body of water, clear as
a crystal, covering 50 acres of
land, with a depth of 60 ft. in
the center. Around its edge is a
pure white sand beach 200 ft.
in width. It is the camping
ground of various Boy Scouts
in the state. The lake is located
near the site where the $7,500
monument is to be erected ded
icating the surrender of Jeffer
son Davis.
1945- The Economy Auto
Store, Ashburn's first post war
business, will open tomorrow.
It is owned by Mr. J.H. Ellis
and his son in law, Mr. R.E.
Blue. Mr. Charlie Baldwin is
working with this new firm.
1955- Turner County's first
Touchdown Club was born
Thursday night at the first an
nual dinner for the Ashburn
High School football team.
Alton Ellis, C.S. Hunt, W.C.
Jarman, Jr., Bob McNair, W.T.
Tanner, Gus Yeoman, and R.A.
McNair, Jr. made the arrange
ments for the program and the
barbeque supper. W.E. Lev-
erette served as Master of Cer
emonies to honor the coaches
and players. Coach Don
Robinson recalled the high
lights of the season. Introduc
tion of assistant Coach Bill
Hardin, the schools head bas
ketball coach, drew heavy ap
plause from the students and
parents.
EUREKA NEWS: The
Tigers ended their losing streak
with a 13-0 win over Monitor
from Fitzgerald. The first
touchdown came in the closing
minutes of the first half when
Fred L. Clark took the ball on
a handoff from the center John
Pittman and ran 25 yards for
the score. Author Jones made
the extra point. It was the best
game of the season. Offensive
standouts were Clark, Ned
Section, Alfonso Westbrooks,
Author Jones, Fred Sealey and
Henry Gamble. We feel that
Coaches J. Dye and J.J. Smith
should have some credit for the
spectacular playing by the
team.
1965- Governor Carl
Sanders is in town to dedicate
the new Turner County airport.
The project costs $140,000.
Approximate 30 planes flew in
for the event.
EUREKA STOPS JESUP,
GOING FOR STATE
TITLE. Eureka High School's
fabulous Tigers will meet
Boggs Academy of Augusta
for the State Championship on
the night of Dec. 4 for the title
game. The Tigers out ran, out-
passed and out-played Jesup as
they displayed a championship
team on the field. The first time
the Tigers got their hand on the
ball, they scored a touchdown
before the game was more than
10 seconds underway. In the
second half, the Jesup squad
scored on a lengthy drive,
which gave them their only
seven points of the game. After
the Jesup score, Eureka
seemed to get fired up. The
Headhunters rushed the Jesup
quarterback so hard and fast,
he hardly knew what to do
with the ball. W.B. Jackson
blocked a pass that nettled an
interception by Callaway and a
touchdown for Eureka. The of
fense was led by Callaway,
who scored two touchdowns,
and Nelson who scored one, as
Fox and Rowe added the PATs.
The Little General (Slim
Walker) played another bril
liant game backed up by Gib
son. The Headhunters were led
by Bill Buck Smith, Bateman,
Burgess, Arthur Davis, Call
away, Mackey, Jabo Walker,
and Gilbert (the Giz) Sanders.
The final score was Eureka 20,
Jesup, 7.
Baker’s Dozen
Deadlines
If you have worked with
the public for some time, you
can tell some stories that are al
most unbelievable.
But you lived it. You saw it.
Now you get to tell it.
I’ve racked up a few in my
30-plus years of working for
newspapers. Here are some.
Was working for a daily
newspaper when a call came
in. A local business wanted to
meet with a reporter to discuss
a news article. I went to the car
dealership. The sales manager
took me to his office.
“I thought you might be in
terested in doing a story on our
dedication to service and qual
ity,” he said.
I just looked at him. What I
was thinking but did not say is
“Every one of your competi
tors is going to say the exact
same thing. What sets you
apart from the crowd? Why is
this special?”
Apparently my dumb look
was even more successful that
usual.
“I don’t read your paper,
but if I did, that’s the kind of
story I’d want to read,” he said.
He didn’t get an article.
Years later, I was in the of
fice. The weekly paper was out
and in the racks. A weekly
paper means it comes out one
time a week. Something that
really surprises people who
come from big cities with daily
newspapers.
A lady walked in with a
piece of paper in her hand.
After the usual greetings,
she waved the paper at me.
“I’ve got to get this in the
paper this week,” she said.
Well, ma’am, this week’s
edition is already printed.”
"But I’ve got to get it in this
week’s paper.”
“Yes ma’am, I hear you.
But this week’s paper is out.
I’ll do my best to get it in next
week,” I replied.
Noooooo! That would not
do at all. Next week was too
late. It had to be in this week’s
paper and what was I going to
do about, she demanded.
Never mind she missed the
deadline. Never mind the dead
line for getting something in
the paper hadn’t changed in 20
years.
That’s more common than
you might think. We regularly
have people come to the office
to “get this in the paper” and
the paper is sitting on the
counter in front of them. They
all leave a bit disappointed.
They are also probably all
kinds of mad at me for having
a deadline they didn’t meet.
But not this lady with her
paper. In case you wonder, I
never did find out what was on
the paper or why it was so vital
to get it in the paper.
She got more and more in
sistent. I could not make her
understand there was no way I
could get her paper into that
week’s edition.
Turns out, she was right
and I was wrong.
Exasperated, I took the
paper from her hand. I grabbed
a newspaper from the counter.
I shoved her paper inside the
newspaper and handed it to
her.
I got her information in the
paper. It was only one paper
and the one I was handing her.
But I got it in.
Instant and immediate 180
attitude change. She smiled at
me, took the paper and said
thank you.
She left. Didn’t pay for the
newspaper either, but I was not
about to chase her down for
50d.