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1W WIREGBA8S FABMER
HOMETOWN NEWS SINCE 1902
Wednesday, February 21,2024
ASHBURN,GA, 31714
VOL 109 - No. 8 • 750
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Tags due by
April 30
Vehicle tags are due April
30. Please have your tag
number or vehicle identifi
cation number and proof of
insurance when you come to
renew your tag. You can
come in anytime during our
working ours. You can also
renew your tag online by
visiting: www.eservices.dri-
ves.ga.gov .
Food & books
Feb. 6th-March 12th on
each Tuesday from 5:30-7
p.m.Victoria Evans Memo
rial Library will host a
Prime Time Family Reading
Series for families with chil
dren 6-10. A nutritious meal
will be served and free
transportation is available.
Two free books will be
given to each family and
door prizes will be given!
Registration cards for the
program are available at
Turner County Elementary
School and Victoria Evans
Memorial Library.
Road closure
The dirt portion of Fire
Tower Road, off Highway
112 E. is now closed. The
Commissioners voted unan
imously to close that part of
the road at the request of the
property owner who owns
the land on both sides of the
road.
School
accredidation
School accreditation is
almost complete for each of
the Turner County Schools.
Superintendent Craig
Matthews said the process
this time "was a little more
indepth than it has been in
the past for the high school."
A bit more paperwork was
needed for the elementary
school. Mr. Matthews said
that was a minor matter.
Meetings
County Commission, last
and 1st Tuesday of the month.
Ashburn Council, 1st
Thursday of the month.
Sycamore Council, 2nd
Thursday of the month.
School Board, 1st and 2nd
Monday of the month.
Gang & drug task force
The Sheriffs Office,
Ashburn and Sycamore
Police Departments
want to create a joint
Gang and Narcotics
task force.
The idea as it stands right
now is one officer will come
from the Sheriff and be solely
dedicated to gangs and drugs.
The SO will also provide a vehi
cle and the expenses for that.
Going into initial discussions,
Ashburn will put $25,000 in the
program and Sycamore $20,000.
“They’ve got a couple of
people in mind up there. They
have got some experience. They
will pull him (or her) and put
them in that position, a dedi
cated investigator,” said SPD
Chief Bill Ryder.
As of this news story, a
Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) was in the works com
ing from the Sheriff’s Office.
The MOU will create the poli
cies the task force will operate
under. Part of that MOU is the
governing board for the task
force is the Sheriff and both Po
lice Chiefs.
Chief Ryder presented the
idea to the Sycamore Council at
its February meeting.
“They will start working the
gang; it is not something regular
(See GANG Page 2)
SO supplies gear
Sheriff Andy Hester said the de
tails, including who will pay what,
is still being worked for a county
wide gang and drug task force
officer.
What is on the table
are:
The Sheriff will supply
a vehicle
The officer will be a
deputy
The officer will con
centrate on Turner County,
but will assist other counties from time to
time
Other counties will also assist here from
time to time. How- (See GANG Page 2)
Hester
APD likes idea
Ashburn Police Chief Richard
Purvis says the planned gang
and narcotics task force should
be a good thing.
“The Ashburn Police
Department has always
worked a little dope and
gangs in Ashburn. We
have not been able to keep
up with it,” he said. “That
is one of the biggest things
fighting our City hard.”
The APD has worked
Purvis
gangs with success. But the gang problems
keeps coming back.
“When I took over as Chief of police,
one of my goals was (See APD Page 2)
Sycamore tables
Sycamore Council wants more
info on a proposed joint gang and
drug task force before agreeing to
join the program.
The proposal to have the
Sycamore Police Depart
ment join the task force met
with mixed results at the
City Council.
The main holding point
was a lack of information.
Eventually, the Council put
the matter on hold pending
more information.
The Council held discussion before
Council member Jennifer Yawn offered a
motion to approve the MOU “if everything
comes out in the (See TABLED Page 2)
Ryder
See all local board meetings on YouTube @TheWiregrass Farmer
Banks irk
mayor
Sycamore Mayor
Wayne Woodruff pub
licly “called out” the two
banks in Ashburn at the
February City Council
meeting.
He said the banks refuse to
provide needed information on
bank statements so he can have
a up-to-date financial report
ready for the Council. He notes
the Council meets on the 2nd
Thursday of the month, which
should give the banks plenty of
time to have the info ready.
"Both banks can’t seem to
get us a bank statement where
I can give you the numbers,”
the mayor said. “I want to call
out both banks and hope they
can do a little better.”
FUTURE CHEFS
4-H Kids in the Kitchen left students seeing RED as they practiced personal hy
giene with handwashing, learned kitchen safety as they prepared strawberries and
learned STEM concepts by whipping fresh cream for individual strawberry shortcakes.
If you are interested in the next class, please call the 4-H Office at 229-567-3448 to
register.
The Turner County Project: Mike Mastrario
by Sami Mastario
The Turner County
Project sat down with
Mike Mastrario to talk
about him and his wife
Sue moving their whole
family from South New
Jersey all the way to
small town Ashburn in
the early 1990s.
Getting this Yankee’s first
impression of Turner County,
talking about how he became
the Turner County building in
spector, and how he got in
volved in the community were
just a few of the topics cov
ered.
A YANKEE’S FIRST
IMPRESSION OF
ASHBURN
Turner County Project
(TCP): When was your first
visit to Turner County?
Mike Mastrario (M): I am
gonna say probably June/July
1992.
Mike Mastrario
TCP: Explain how you
found out about Turner
County?
M: We saw a house in
Country Living Magazine and
it had a section called the “Real
Estate Sampler.” The house we
wanted to see was in Rebecca,
Georgia. We called the real es
tate agent, it was an
agent out of Tifton,
but they said that the
house was under con
tract but there were a
lot of other houses in
the area for sale. So
she sent me a little
real estate magazine
that showed different
areas with houses for
sale. We saw how big
Tifton was and de
cided we didn’t want
to live in Tifton. So
we started looking at
some of the surround
ing areas in the book
and there were some
houses for sale in
Turner County. They were ex
tremely inexpensive. We ini
tially came down to look at a 5
bedroom, 3 bathroom house on
5 acres down the middle of
West End Avenue. We saw the
condition of the houses around
there and figured whatever
money we put into this house,
which needed a bunch of work
done, we would never reclaim
that value. So we looked at it
and passed. The real estate
agent was driving us, George
Beasly from Ashburn, and we
came back up West End Av
enue and jokingly he said,
“That big house there is for
sale.” He was referring to the
big 2 story Victorian [the
Betts-Shealy House] with the
grass about 2 feet tall and it
was very unkempt. He said,
“It’s really nice inside and it’s
for sale!” and he sort of
laughed like maybe it was out
of our price range or that it was
not quite what we were look
ing for and my wife said, “Can
you get us the key so we can
look at it?” The real estate
agent said, “Really!?” To
which I replied, “If she wants
the key, get us the key.”
TCP: How many bedrooms
was that house?
M: 5 bedrooms, 3 baths. It
(See MIKE Page 2)
Hisfor
Month' 1
Jimi Hendrix
Many black musicians
changed the way music is
made. One these rou
tinely ranks as one of 5
best guitarists ever.
James Marshall “Jimi” Hen
drix was born Johnny Allen
Hendrix on 27 Nov. 1942. The
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
lists him as “arguably the
greatest instrumentalist in the
history of rock music.” De
pending on the reviewer, Jimi
is either No. 1 on the list or at
least in the top 3.
Literally, legions of musi
cians around the world count
him as a major influence. Even
more amazing, this guitar leg
end could not read music.
In 1969, he was the world’s
highest paid musician. He
headlined Woodstock and was
the highest paid performer
there, despite the pay being
less than he usually got. His
version of “The Star-Spangled
Banner” is considered leg
endary and features feedback
and distortion.
EARLYYEARS
At Horace Mann Elemen
tary School in Seattle during
the mid-1950s, the young Hen
drix carried a broom, pretend
ing it was a guitar. His first
known instrument was a sin
gle-stringed ukulele, which he
got while helping his dad clean
a woman’s home. His first real
six-string came along in 1958.
He learned to play it by ear as
he listened to Elvis songs.
His first band was the Vele-
tones. While playing, he real
ized few could hear his playing
so he switched to an electric
guitar.
While a teenager, the young
Hendrix was caught riding in
stolen cars. The court system
gave him the choice of prison
or the Army. He enlisted on 31
May 1961. He was a para
trooper. While in the military,
he asked his father to ship his
electric guitar to him at Ft.
Campbell. There he met Billy
Cox and the two began jam
sessions. He received an hon
orable discharge in 1962 after
repeated reports of not living
up to the standards required of
paratroopers.
Icon images of Jimi playing
guitar with his teeth was not
his idea. He learned that from
Alphonso “Baby Boo” Young
as they played in the King Ka-
suals band. While based in
(See JIMI Page 2)
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THE WIREGRASS
FARMER
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Cooking with kids is not just about ingredients, recipes, and cooking. It’s about harnessing imagination, empowerment, and creativity. - Guy Fieri
All kids need is a little help, a little hope and somebody who believes in them. - Magic Johnson • Music is my religion - Jimi Hendrix
