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3 a irks mt Prsgr^ss-Argxis Volume 104 Number 3 Georgia’s First President Hr 1 ■ m s 1 w (Jmnes E. (ariirl James Earl Carter, Jr., 52, of Plains, Georgia, will become the 39th president of the United States Thursday in Washington, D. C. before the largest assemblage of Georgians to invade the capital city since the Con federates camped beside the Potomac in the early days of the Civil War. From Atlanta, Plains, Jackson, Ty Ty, Blue Ridge and all points in between, Georgians packed their bags earlier this week and headed for Washington to observe a phenomenon many of them never dreamed of witnes sing-the inauguration of a Georgian as president. Members of the Georgia General Assembly chartered a plane and Rep. Bill Jones, of Jackson and the 78th House District, was among those planning to attend the historic event. The University of Geor gia’s Dixie Red Coat Band, about 230 strong, was to take part in the festivities, as well Hospital Authority to Provide Ambulance Service for County by Dale Whiten In a meeting punctuated by emotional statements and questions from people in the audience, the Sylvan Grove Hospital Authority voted unanimously at its January 13 meeting to accept the County Commission’s offer to provide ambulance service for Butts County. Though a definite operat ing cost has not been established, the Hospital Authority and the County Commission have expressed their beliefs that the cost can be kept below $60,000 a year, the amount paid for the current ambulance service. Representing the County Commission at the meeting, Dr. William Mitchell told the Board members two ambu lances are to be purchased from a company in La- Grange for $36,440.50. The vehicles will include mobile radio service and necessary medical equipment. The cost of the entire ambulance service, which will include an operating base station at the hospital estimated cost about $1,200, will be $41,291.70. This amount includes the cost of radio equipment which the hospital had already issued purchase orders for. The cost of the ambulances will be shared by the federal (and state) governments which will pay 70 percent, and the remaining 30 percent ($12,387.19) will be paid for locally. One ambulance will be delivered next week and the other shortly thereafter. Dr. Mitchell explained that as the Academy Children’s Theatre of Atlanta, which will offer an original produc tion at the John F. Kennedy Center of the Performing Arts. The Rev. Martin Luther King, Sr. will preach at a Washington church during the inaugural week. Members of Jimmy Car ter’s Peanut Brigade, those young troupers who visited distant states to spread the Carter magic, have been invited to the ceremonies and Gigi Leverette and Benji Parrish, local members of the Brigade, are expected to be in Washington for the inauguration. Other Butts Countians slated to make the trip to witness the swearing in of Georgia’s first president are Mr. and Mrs. E. D. Briscoe, Mr. and Mrs. Rufus Adams and Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Almond. The press, radio and television will offer a complete coverage of the event for those left at home. eventually five emergency medical technicians (EMT) will be needed to operate the ambulance service, but three EMTs will be necessary immediately. Included will be one head male nurse who will be responsible for the other EMTs. The head nurse will be under the authority of hospital administrator Jim Shaw. Final details on the hiring of personnel for the ambu lance service and other details on getting the service actually in operation have yet to be worked out, but the Authority and Dr. Mitchell agreed these details can be eliminated by January 23 when the license of the current ambulance operator, John Sherrell, expires. Dr. Mitchell also reminded the Board and the people in the audience that the county is really the provider of ambulance service (the county actually pays for the service) and that the hospital will be primarily the operat ing base and handle the administrative end of the service, such as the hiring of personnel and the taking care of paperwork. In other business, hospital administrator Shaw an nounced that the federal grant the hospital had applied for to build 11 doctors' offices has been rejected. However, Shaw said that plans to build three offices will continue. The three offices will cost an estimated $115,000 and will be built adjacent to the emergency room entrance of Sylvan Grove Hospital. The °°>ckson, Georgia 30233, Thursday, January 20, 1977 CB Have Benefit Stew on 29th The Butts County CB Club is staging a benefit stew for the Ralph Eberhart family on Saturday, January 29th, at the Jackson Club House between the hours of 5 and 8 p.m. Mrs. Eberhart, the former Miss Trellis Grant, has been seriously ill for some time at the Griffin-Spalding County Hospital and is now a patient at the Living Center of Griffin, Inc. All friends of the Eberhart family, as well as those who wish to enjoy a delicious meal and fellowship, are urged to support this worthy project by the local CB club. Fire Alarm At Westbury Nursing Home Employes and residents of Westbury Nursing Home in Jenkinsburg were given somewhat of a scare Monday afternoon when it looked as if a fire had started because the sprinkling system at West bury was set off. However, Jackson fire chief Cotton Vaughn reported that “fire” was nothing more than a burst water pipe in the ceiling of the kitchen which had set off the sprinkling system. Vaughn said there were no injuries but that the ceiling and floor of the kitchen and dining area at Westbury suffered water damage. The Jenkinsburg volunteer fire department also answer ed the alarm. Authority decided that it wants to secure the archi tect’s blueprints as soon as possible so construction can begin. One reason the Hospital Authority is anxious to get construction of the doctors’ offices underway is the possibility of Dr. Ahmet Lengerli locating his practice in Jackson. Lengerli, who is from Bluefield, West Virginia, will be available as of July 1,1977 and according to the Author ity, all indications are that he would like to move his practice to Jackson. Rufus Adams, Chairman of the Hospital Authority, said that if Lengerli comes to Jackson, he has been guaranteed a salary of $36,000 the first year plus six months of free office rent. Adams explained that the hospital would not neces sarily be paying all or most of the $36,000. For example, if Lengerli made $30,000, the hospital would be obligated to pay him an additional $6,000, but if he made $36,000 or above, he would not receive any additional money from the hospital. Shaw said that, in addition to Lengerli, four other doctors have been contacted about locating in Jackson, but he lws not received any responses from the doctors. And Board member Stanley Maddox announced that a dentist has contacted him and indicated he might be interested in locating in Jackson by October of this year upon completion of his necessary studies and pas sing of the state examination. Fred Frank To Appear Here On Sunday r \ / On January 23, at 3:00 in the afternoon, Fred Frank, internationally known bari tone soloist will appear in concert at the First Baptist Church, Jackson, Ga. Mr. Frank is the featured soloist of the “Hour of Power”, the weekly inter nationally televised worship service viewed by millions each Sunday. It is seen in this area on Channel 11 at 9:00 A.M. on Sundays. Not only known for his appearances on the “Hour of Power”, Mr. Frank has had leading and supporting roles in several musical comedies. Among them are: Oklahoma, South Pacific, L’il Abner, Annie Get Your Gun, My Fair Lady and others. The Carol Burnett Show, the Steve Allen Show, Hollywood Palace, Kraft Music Hall, Disney Christ mas Special, Bobby Golds boro Show, are some of the television shows on which he has appeared. He has also had roles in films including, Tom Saw yer, Camelot, Charlotte’s Web, The Green Berets, Hello Dolly and The Danny Kaye Show. Dr. Robert Schuller, the Pastor on TV’s Hour of Power, where Mr. Frank has been soloist since 1970, says The auditor's report for fiscal year October 1, 1975 to September 30, 1976 was submitted to the Authority by Shaw. According to the report, the hospital brought in total assets of $130,552.42 for the previous year. This figure includes cash assets of $12,356.42. The total accumu lated assets for the 14 years since the hospital was built is $487,704.57 compared to $466,709.69 for fiscal year 1975. The hospital’s total operat ing expenses for fiscal year 1976 were $483,859.62, and the net loss from operations, including depreciation, was $56,740.07. However, this loss represented a reduction of * $38,681.14 from the net loss of $95,421.21 in operating costs for fiscal 1975. Shaw informed the Author ity that inspectors have notified him that a blood bank refrigerator will have to be purchased by the hospital in order to store blood "even overnight.’’ He said this type refrigerator costs between $1,200 and $1,400. All of the Hospital Author ity members were present at the meeting. They are. in addition to Adams and Maddox, David Ridgeway, C. B. Brown, Pliny Weaver, Margaret McCormick and Arthur Lawson. The Butts County Commis sioners met January 14 and formally accepted the Sylvan Grove Hospital Authority’s decision to provide ambu lance service for the county. The Commissioners an Glen Staples Honored For FHA Service Glen Staples, of the McDonough Farmers Home Administration County Of fice. was honored recently at a meeting in Athens, Georgia, and presented an award by J. Paul Holmes, State Director of the Agency. Mr. Staples was presented this award for outstanding work in the servicing of Rural Housing loans. During the period on which the awards were based, substan tial reductions were made by the office in the overall loan delinquency rate. In addition to the outstand ing production in the servic ing of Rural Housing loans, the McDonough office has an overall unduplicated borrow er case load of 495 with an outstanding indebtedness of 8.5 million dollars. The Agency is involved in making a number of different types of loans for the purpose of rural development. Anyone interested in ob taining assistance from the Agency, should contact Glen Staples. County Supervisor in the local County Office located at the Federal Building in McDonough, Georgia. of Mr. Frank: “Singing from his Christian Heart, Fred Frank’s soul-stirring songs bring happiness with tears of joy. and promises of God’s great love. Fred is an outstanding musician and in my opinion is one of the greatest baritone soloists in sacred and spiriual music anywhere.” There is no admission charge to hear Mr. Frank. A love offering will be taken. The public is cordially invited to attend this concert on January 23 at 3:00 p.m. at the First Baptist Church on Highway 16, West in Jackson. Georgia. nounced that the total cost of the service will be $41,291.70. The amount includes the cost of two ambulances equipped with necessary medical and radio apparatus, a hospital base station and the cost of radio equipment for which the hospital has already issued purchase orders. Through a grant from the state which will cover 70 percent of the cost, only $12,387.19 will have to be raised locally in order to get the ambulance service in operation. In other business the Commissioners passed a motion stating that beginning February 7 the County Commission is asking for bids from car dealers in the county for two police cars. One car is requested to be delivered March 1 and the second one April 1. The desired styles are that of, or comparable to, the Chevelle Maliby or Ford Torino. The Commissioners also discussed the fact that a fireman may have to be hired to answer calls outside the city or operate the county department on a volunteer basis. This action may have to be taken because, accord ing to the Commissioners, city officials have indicated there's no feasible way ("because of state regula tions”! its fire personnel can answer calls outside the city limits. The Commissioners an nounced they are going to look into the possiblity of creating a building authority for the county to license and investigate public and county buildings. City's Natural Gas Supply Is Critical The City of Jackson's gas supply, already dangerously low. reached the critical point on Monday when the thermometer locally plunged to two degrees above zero. The situation was complicated even further Tuesday by a slow but steady snowfall, which began at dawn, and threatened to bring further misery to the stricken area with an accumula tion of several inches a distinct possibility. Thermometers Tuesday were registering about 16 degrees. Mayor C. B. Brown, Jr. held an emergency meeting Monday morning with officials of Gray & Company, of Athens, the City’s consultants on natural gas, and with public and private school authorities. Asa result of this meeting, these steps were taken: All public and private schools in Butts County will be closed on Tuesday for an indefinite period. Schools will be opened as soon as possible, when the natural gas situation improves, Mayor Brown said. Mayor Brown has requested that all public meetings scheduled for this week in the City of Jackson be suspended and response to his request to date indicates an overwhelming spirit of compliance. Mayor Brown plans to ask all businesses, w ith the exception of those engaged in essential services, to close all day each Wednesday until the emergency is over. The Southern Natural Gas Com pany. the city's only supplier of natural gas. has limited sale of gas to Rep. Jones Will Introduce Three Local Bills This Year Rep. Bill Jones, House District 78. who is wmiting a weekly report of General Assembly activities for the Progress-Argus, has served notice of intent to introduce three pieces of local legisla tion at the 1977 legislative session. Two of the bills to be introduced by the local legislator deal with amend ments to the present law creating a Board of Commis sioners of Roads and Reve nues for Butts County. One of these would require the adoption of an annual budget on or before a certain date in each calendar year; the other would clarify the present situation regarding the election of a chairman of A Coffee Substitute Suggested The Griffin Daily News carried an interesting letter to the editor in its issue of Wednesday, January 12th, in which a reader suggested what he termed an accept able substitute for coffee. The text of the letter is as follows: "Here is a substitute for coffee, it's going up in price so high. I have drunk many a cup made out of parched meal, in Hoover days. Put the meal in a pan and put it in the oven of the stove. Let it parch until you almost burn it. Then put it in the coffee pot and boil it. It will taste just like coffee. We w ere raised on the farm and couldn't get coffee every time we gave out, and didn't have money to buy it every time. Thought I would pass this along as a substitute for coffee.” We would be interested in hearing, and publishing, the experiences of readers who try this, or other substitutes, for coffee. residences and small commercial users. The Mayor and the City Council have no authority in determining this allocation, so all natural gas supplies to the City’s industrial users has been suspended until further notice. The City’s propane gas supply, with a storage capacity of 30,000 gallons, is now down to less than 10,000 gallons, the Mayor said, and additional supplies of propane are being purchased whenever and wherever they become available. Propane gas can be mixed with the City’s natural gas supplies in small amounts to supplement the gas supply in emergencies such as the current one. Many of the City's industries are operating on either stand-by fuel supplies, coal or oil, or with space and electric heaters in an effort to keep employees warm and at work. Mayor Brown repeated his request to homeowners to please cut their thermostats to 55 degrees or lower at night, in order that the meager gas supply can be utilized to the fullest degree. The City of Jackson is not alone in its misery. Other neighboring cities served by Southern Natural Gas Company that are experiencing the same difficulties include Monticello, Eatonton. Sparta. Thomson. Warner Robins. Fort Valley and Perry, as well as Summerville. Trion and LaFayette in North Georgia. Little relief in the gas supply is expected for the next three to four weeks, so Mayor Brown requested patience of all those incovenienced. until the situation does improve. the County Commission, and would provide for the election of a chairman by the voters along with two other members of the Commission. The third local bill intro duced by Rep. Jones would amend the charter of the City of Jenkinsburg so as to change certain provisions wth respect to the salaries of the mayor, councilmen, clerk and treasurer, marshall, and chief of police ; to provide for the election or appointment by the mayor and council of a judge of the police court and an alternate judge of the police court; to provide for other matters relative to the foregoing; to repeal conflict ing laws; and for other purposes. Grand, Traverse Jurors For February Term Are Selected Grand and traverse jurors to serve at the February term of Butts Superior Court, beginning February 7th. have been selected and the list, as released by Superior Court Clerk David Ridge way, is as follows: GRANDJURY BUTTS SUPERIOR COURT February Term 1977 William R. Pope. Mrs. Vera Louise Douglas. Tom Taylor, Mrs. Anne G. O'Neal, Mrs. Bessie R. Grier, Joel Fincher, Oscar Taylor, Char lie Sam Thurman, Mrs. Virginia Wyatt, G. R. Lewis, Mrs. Jane M, Saunders, Mrs Peggy Rivers, T. L. Steven son. William Sasser, Eugene A Parrish. William W. Foster. Mrs. Sandra Crowder Brooks, R. C. Norsworthy, Edward R. McMichael, James Woodard, James W. Collier. George H. Brooks, Jr., James C. Lamb, James E Payne, Mrs. Maudine Taylor, Mrs. Deborah Jane Washington, M. L. Hodges, Jr., Horace Lee Cawthon, Early Watkins, Mrs. D. P. Ridgeway. 15e Per Copy IRS OFFERS NEW TAXPAYER SERVICE John W. Henderson. Dis trict Director of IRS in Georgia, announced today the establishment of a Problem Resolution Office. The purpose of this office will be to handle unusual and complex problems that tax payers have been unable to get resolved during previous contracts with IRS. The phone number for the Atlanta area is 221-6030 and the mailing address is Problem Resolution Office, IRS. Room 230. p.o. Box 875. Atlanta. Ga. 30301. Mr. Henderson emphasized that the number above is to be called only when complex problems arise regarding a tax problem and is not the number to be called for ordinary tax questions. That number is found on your tax instruction package, he said. TRAVERSEJURY First Week Mrs. Jean Stancil, Virgil Smith. Richard C. Stodghill, Mrs. C. E. Washington, Mrs. Joan Waits. K. K Williams, Mrs. Anna S. Williams. John C. Bearden. James L. Awtry, Joseph P McClelland, Jr., Benjamin S. Anderson, Mps Helen Barlow, Mrs. Winona R. Cook Mrs. M. R. Parker, Grady' Hollis Griggs (continued on back page) *********** % JOE. THE HOBO. SEZ: Why is it that most churches are infested with liberalism at every place except the collection plate? ***********