Newspaper Page Text
Page 4 - The Wiregrass Farmer, November 8,2017
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
Chuck Bobo, Sales Director • Robin Tillman, Office Manager
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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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LEGAL NOTICES is Monday NOON before Wednesday’s publication.
Holiday deadlines will be announced at least one week in advance.
Thank a veteran for their service
Well said
Ashburn City Councilman James Burks was
well-spoken, in part, at last week’s City Council
meeting.
“This media here don’t tell you everything.
They tell you a little bit,” he said.
Well said, Mr. Burks. Indeed, The Wiregrass
Farmer cannot tell readers everything. Shortly
after those remarks, the City Council went into a
legally closed session. We call it a secret meeting.
No one from the public or the media was allowed
to attend the secret meeting. Therefore, we cannot
tell you what took place in that secret meeting.
Mr. Burks also said, “you read this, read it with
a fine-toothed comb.”
Thank you Mr. Burks! Indeed, your hometown
newspaper does deserve to be read thoroughly and
completely. We have an example of why.
Gene Massengale, who spoke at the County
Commission meeting last week, said he does not
read The Wiregrass Farmer. Mr. Massengale was
upset by an ag development just up Highway 41
from his house. He said he did not know about the
project until it was underway. Had Mr. Massengale
carefully read the paper, he would have known
about the rezoning notice, the meetings and the
two required public hearings on the rezoning.
Mr. Burks also said, “It (The Wiregrass) gives
you what it wants because it does not want to see
this Council work in harmony.”
Judging from the remarks made during and after
the Council meeting, discord in the ranks is not
created by the media, but by members of the City
Council. We are certain if a recording of last
week’s secret meeting is made public, the record
will show who is creating dissension in the ranks.
When our elected officials meet behind closed
doors, legally or otherwise, they are hiding some
thing from the people. We can only wonder what
they are hiding.
Most of the men who
served in Vietnam during the
war there never wanted to talk
about the time they spent fight
ing in that country once they
returned home. I could name
several that felt that way.
A story is told about a Viet
nam veteran named Richard
that never talked much about
his time there other than he
had been shot by a sniper. He
had a black and white photo
graph he had taken at a USO
show of Ann Margaret with
Bob Hope shown in the back
ground that was one of his
treasures.
A few years ago Ms. Mar
garet was having a book sign
ing at a local bookstore and
Richard wanted to see if he
could get her to sign the treas
ured photograph so he arrived
at the store at noon for the 7:30
P.M. signing.
When he got to the store
the line went all the way
around the bookstore, circled
the parking lot and disap
peared behind the parking
garage. Before her appearance
store employees announced
that she would sign only her
book and would not sign any
thing else.
Richard was very disap
pointed because he wanted to
show her the photo and let her
know how much those shows
meant to the lonely GI’s so far
away from home. Ann Mar
garet came out looking as
lovely as ever and Richard was
second in line and it would
soon be his time.
From Where
I Sit
When his time came he
gave her the book for her sig
nature and then took out the
photo. When he did there were
shouts from her attendants that
she would not sign it. Richard
said that he understood but just
wanted her to see it. When she
took one look at the photo
tears welled in her eyes and
she said, “This is one of my
men from Vietnam and I cer
tainly will sign his photo. I
know what these men did for
their country and I will always
have time for “my men.”
With that said she pulled
Richard across the table and
planted a big kiss on him. She
then made it well known to
those in attendance about the
bravery of the young men she
met over the years in Vietnam,
how much she admired them
and appreciated them. There
were not many dry eyes among
those close enough to hear her
words. She then posed for a
picture with Richard and acted
as if he was the only one there.
That night was a big turn
ing point for Richard. He
started to walk a little
straighter and for the first time
in years he was proud to have
been a Vietnam veteran. His
wife said that she would never
forget Ann Margaret for her
kindness and how much that
small time she spent with
Richard and the words she said
about Vietnam Vets meant to
her husband.
Later that night at dinner
Richard was very quiet. When
his wife asked him if he would
like to talk about it he broke
down in tears and said, “That
is the first time anyone ever
thanked me for the time I spent
in the Army serving in Viet
nam.”
Most of you know that
there is a Vietnam Veteran’s
Wall in Washington, D.C. that
tells the personal stories of
some of the 58,000 men and
women whose names are on
The Wall. There are many
good stories that should be told
about our Hometown Heroes
who served in Vietnam most of
whom were never acknowl
edged for the sacrifices they
made during those years.
Veteran’s Day is this com
ing Saturday so we all should
make it a point to say “thank
you” to every person we meet
who has served in the Armed
Forces during any war that our
nation has ever been involved
in. Freedom does not come
cheap and we all should be
grateful for those who have
served our country.
LETTER TO THE
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Stepping Back In Time
This is the opinion of the newspaper.
We’d like to hear your opinion. Letters
to the editor welcome. Letters must be
signed and have a phone number so
we can contact the writer. Phone
numbers will not be published or re
leased.
wiregrassfarmer@yahoo.com
The Wiregrass Farmer, 109 N. Gor
don St., Ashburn, GA 31714
with David Baldwin
1970 Homecoming Court
1910- Mr. George M.
Daniel left the first of Septem
ber for Baltimore where he
will buy his fall and winter
stock of general merchandise.
1940- Charlie Baldwin has
been elected captain of School
Boy Patrol, replacing Earnest
Garner, last year's Patrol cap
tain. Clark Shingler and James
Scott were elected lieutenants.
Eighteen members were sworn
in by Professor Wynn.
1950- Staff Sergeant Em
mett T. Haman Killed in Ac
tion in Korean War October
22,1950. Emmett is the son of
Mr. and Mrs. D.K. Haman. He
was married to the former
Miss Louise Raines of Atlanta.
The 34 year old paratrooper, a
veteran of World War II, en
tered the Army in May, 1942
for service with the Signal
Corps. He returned to duty in
1948. He joined American
forces on the Korean battle-
front shortly after his arrival in
Japan on September 30. He is
the second Turner Countian to
be killed in the Korean War.
His sister is Mrs. Guy Wash-
stetter of Delray Beach,
Florida. His two brothers, also
serving with the Army are
T/Sgt. Lamar Haman, Fort
Dix, N.J. and Cpl. Jimmy
Haman, Tokyo, Japan. A1
Bradley will run for city coun
cil. David Harp is on the
Dean's list at Gordon Military
College. Mr. and Mrs. Willard
Rawlins had their infant son
Bob christened Sunday morn
ing at the Methodist church.
The grandmothers, Mrs. R.D.
Rawlins and Mrs. T.E.
Kennedy, Sr. stood with the
parents. Rebecca High basket
ball coach Milton Webb has
announced the basketball
schedule for this 1950-51 sea
son. Mr. W.F. Adkison recently
celebrated his 82nd birthday.
Eureka School now has an en
rollment of 610 students, 127
in high school, and 483 in ele
mentary school. The students
had a political election be
tween the Republicans and the
Democrats. Miss Eleanor Bell
installed the winners. Austin
Saxon gave an inspiring ad
dress to the students on the
subject of "Unity." The
Sycamore boys’ basketball
team defeated the Ashburn
boys 43 to 33 in the first of
four games to be held between
them this season. The
Sycamore girls lost. A mam
moth PTA Halloween Carnival
will be held tonight at the Ash
burn gymnasium. The carnival
will open at 6 pm serving a de
licious dinner for $1.00. Billy
Graham, America's most pub
licized evangelist will have
three meetings in Atlanta at the
Ponce De Leon Baseball Park.
25,000 average daily atten
dance is expected.
1970- Brenda Sue Pate,
(pictured) escorted by Robley
Morison, is the 1970 Home
coming Queen for TCHS. She
was elected by the student
body. She is the daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. G.J. Pate of Ash
burn. Other seniors on the
court are Bonnie Reinhardt, es
corted by David Hickman, and
Mildred Cross, escorted by
Randy Jordan. On the junior
court, Miss Mara Moree was
escorted by David Baldwin
and Miss Susan Wheeler was
escorted by Butch Hasty. For
the eighth win of the year, the
Rebels defeated Wilkinson
County Warriors, 39-0, for
Homecoming. First Baptist
Church of Ashburn has
planned a $150,000 addition to
the church for Sunday school
rooms and a kitchen/ assembly
room.
Check us out - www.TheWiregrassFarmer.com
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Baker’s Dozen
Southern-Fu
The martial arts, kung-fu,
jui-jitsu, tae kwon do, karate,
chop suey, ping pong, etc.,
were all created in the South.
I first got the suspicion that
the martial arts were created in
the South while watching "At
tack of the Bad Dialogue," a
Kung-Fu movie.
This one guy was standing
dead still, feet spread apart. All
of a sudden, he was flying
through the air in a giant flip
that sent his heels spinning
over his head. He landed a few
feet away on his feet, nary a
hair out of place. "I can do
that," I said. "Done it in fact.
Was walking along quail hunt
ing down on Warrior Creek.
Took a big step and looked
down. Biggest moccasin Eve
ever seen right between my
feet grinning at me. I back-
flipped back to the truck."
Here came another guy
whirling his arms like mad and
doing a pretty fair Shuffle with
his feet.
Hornets. Had to be. Re
minded me of fishing Little
River with Hawgin 1 one day.
He snagged a tree and jerked
the line. Biggest red hornet
nest Eve ever seen fell out.
Them things aimed right at me
and Hawgin 1 . Stung me to
death ... twice as I remember
it," I said.
After a while this older fel
low came out and started doing
all kinds of slow-motion
moves. He wasn't fighting at
that point, just moving around
real graceful and slow. That
fellow knew what it's like to
get caught in briars. Can't
move too fast or them things
will wrap you up tight.
Then, he started some very
graceful high leg lifts, still in
slow motion. Obviously cross
ing a barbed wire, electric
fence.
Being of a scientific mind
(Dad was a Georgia Tech grad
uate) I related this to my
Southern heritage and quickly
discovered that all martial arts
forms do indeed trace their
roots to things Southern. In
fact, most of ’em can be found
at one of my family reunions
Crane Style: In the movie a
Crane Style fighter hops
around on one foot, reaches his
arms out and angles his hands
from his wrists. He darts in and
out very fast in a kind of peck
ing motion.
Southern basis: Trying to
grab a hot biscuit out of the
oven without burning your
hands and fingers or reaching
for the last piece of fried
chicken at a Baker Family re
union.
Tiger Style: Low crouch
with hands reaching out like
claws. Long raking moves are
the attack.
Southern basis: Reaching
through the tool box on the
back of the truck for that
socket that just slipped off the
sliding tray. This type move
can also be seen as various
Baker family members reach
for the large industrial-strength
napkins after making short
work of a meal big enough to
feed many starving African na
tions.
Snake Style: Twisting, div
ing, sliding, smooth moves on
both attack and defense. Hands
dash in and out with lightning
speed.
Southern basis: This could
come from a variety of places:
Trying to talk the Game War
den out of giving you a ticket
(See BAKER Page 5)