Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2009
THE JACKSON HERALD
PAGE 5A
The best of both worlds
SEVERAL of
you (well, one of
you anyway) asked
me what Daddy was
doing while Mama
and I were at Sunday
school and church.
I’ll tell you in a lit
tle while. But first I
want to tell you one
more thing Mama
told me.
“Virgil, go outside
and play.”
I had done my homework.
There was nothing else to do
inside. So I was under Mama’s
feet, following her around like
a puppy, bugging her while she
was trying to get supper on the
table, asking a thousand ques
tions, and finally getting an
answer when I asked, “What
can I do?”
“Go outside and play.”
Today’s parents and kids
don’t have that problem. There’s
plenty to do inside. There’s
the Internet, cable TV, video
games, DVDs, cell phones, text
messaging, and now something
called “twittering” - whatever
that is.
Neither of those things
requires a lot of physical exer
cise. Therein may lie the reason
one-third of the nation’s kids
are overweight or obese.
❖ ❖ ❖
So what was Daddy doing?
Like I promised, I'll tell you
in a little while. But first I want
to tell you a little bit about him
- and me.
Every morning
when I get up, I look
in the mirror and
catch myself almost
saying, “Good morn
ing, Daddy.” I don’t
always catch myself.
Sometimes I say it.
It’s amazing how
much I look like
George Thomas
Adams Sr. And how
much I act like him. Not just
act, but how much I really am
like him.
He brings back a lot of happy
memories. I am thankful for
that. My dad was a good man, a
great role model. (OK, so I am
not as much like him as I'd like
to be, or as I should be.)
I regret that I was not fully
aware of how much he meant to
me before he died 30 years ago.
Why do we wait until we are
old to appreciate what we had
when we were young?
❖ ❖ ❖
One thing Daddy didn’t do
was accompany Mama and me
to Sunday school and church.
He waked up sick every Sunday
morning with a hacking cough
and the onset of a cold. Mama
diagnosed his ailment: “Sunday
sickness.” Unfortunately, it is
a sickness that still affects a
lot of good men and great role
models. (Yes, I am aware that
some of you believe you can’t
be a good man and a great
role model unless you attend
Sunday school and church.)
As soon as Mama and I left
the house, Daddy was miracu
lously cured.
He slopped the hogs. In
McLemoresville, Tenn. (popu
lation 311 if you count dogs
and chickens), we didn’t feed
the hogs; we slopped ’em. He
checked on the milk cow and
mules. He walked around the
garden with a cup of coffee in
his hand, and if a weed dared
show itself, he pulled it up.
At about 10:15, as Sunday
school assembly was breaking
up and we were heading to our
classes, Daddy was at home
beginning a chore that made
a grand contribution to our
Sabbath. It was indeed a great
Sunday blessing, something to
be truly thankful for.
He tossed a few grains of
com to the yard chickens,
selected one of the plump ones,
rang its neck, plucked its feath
ers, cut it up, fried it to a golden
brown, set the table, and helped
get dinner ready. (Not lunch;
dinner.)
That’s what Daddy was
doing while Mama and I were
at Sunday school and church.
He was the best fryer of
chicken and fish I ever knew,
and thanks to him, I am pretty
good at it myself. (As the late
great Dizzy Dean used to say,
“If you done it, it ain’t brag
ging”)
Daddy also taught me to
fish, camp, hike, rough it, gar
den, recycle, compost, and
love the Great Outdoors. He is
the reason I am excited about
the 41st annual spring outing
(April 24-31) of the Clark’s
Hill Gang.
Mama took me to Sunday
school and church, where I
learned to be a little bit patient.
She encouraged me to medi
tate, study and read. She taught
me that little nighttime prayer,
“Now lay me down to sleep. .
. .” She was a good musician
and writer, and she passed on
to her grandson one of those
talents and to her son the other
one. (The one she passed on to
the son didn’t stick completely;
he still has a long way to go.)
She is the reason I am
looking forward to visiting
McLemoresville this spring.
I’ll go to Sunday school and
church, sit on the pew where
mama and I used to sit, remem
ber how I had to be quiet and
still, and not laugh when the
wasp lit on the bald head of Mr.
Carey Hickman, asleep on the
pew in front of us.
What I’m trying to say is,
because of my Mama and
Daddy, I have the best of both
worlds: the Spiritual World and
the Natural World.
I would be hard pressed to
choose one over the other. I
take comfort in thinking maybe
they are one and the same.
Virgil Adams is a former
owner/editor of The Jackson
Herald.
Growing up among heroes
Dear Editor:
The entire City of Jefferson mourns the
passing of Bobby Bailey last week. Mr.
Bailey was the quintessential small town
leader: A faithful husband, loving father
and grandfather, successful businessman,
faithful member of his church and active
civic leader.
I had the privilege of growing up next
door to the Baileys on Westmoreland Drive.
As a young boy, I was the frequent ben
eficiary of his family’s generosity, whether
it was an invitation to supper or a sum
mer afternoon splashing in their pool. Mr.
Bailey was probably in his late 40s then
(my current age, by the way. . . .) and I
always thought of him as a nice “old” man
who didn’t hear very well. Years later, my
dad explained that Mr. Bailey suffered his
hearing loss flying supply missions over the
Himalayas in WWII - before pilots enjoyed
pressurized cockpits.
My other next-door neighbor, Malcom
Morton, served in the Army during the
war. My own father, Virgil Adams, joined
the Navy as a teenager in 1941. Without
realizing it, and in the complete absence of
any fanfare on their part, I grew up among
heroes. These men, and countless others like
them, willingly gave up some of the best
years of their lives to fight for our country.
They defeated Nazi Germany and Imperial
Japan. They liberated millions of oppressed
people around the world. They came home,
started families, built businesses, and made
America the greatest nation and strongest
economy on the planet.
There’s not many of these men left now.
The passing of Mr. Bailey marks yet another
member of this generation who has gone
to his reward. I cannot comprehend all the
ways my life is better and easier and safer
because of what that that generation did. I
can only hope that my generation and those
that follow can somehow rise above the
political, economic, and social problems
that now weaken our country.
After looking to heaven for guidance, per
haps we should take lessons from men like
Malcom Morton, Virgil Adams, and Bobby
Bailey - heroes all. To these man and to all
who served our nation - thank you.
Sincerely,
Miles Adams
Jackson County BOE approves personnel changes
THE JACKSON County
Board of Education approved
the following personnel
changes during its meeting on
Monday, March 9.
NEW HIRE
James Marion Goss, custo
dian, EJCHS.
TRANSFERS
The following transfers will
be effective next school year
for 2009-2010: Julie Barber,
special education teacher,
JCCHS to EJCHS; Brenda
Griffin, special education
paraprofessional, JCCHS to
EJCHS; Cheryl Hart, special
education paraprofessional,
JCCHS to EJCHS; Demaris
Hooper, special education
teacher (100 percent), KBMS
to special education teacher
(50 percent), EJCHS; Debra
May, ISS teacher, EJCHS to
special education teacher,
EJCHS; and Sonya Seagraves,
special education teacher,
EJCHS to JCCHS.
Also, Vickie Minish, food
service assistant, JCCHS to
cashier (effective immedi
ately).
RESIGNATIONS/
TERMINATIONS
The following resignations/
terminations will be effec
tive at the end of the cur
rent school year, 2008-2009:
Ashley Alldredge, special
education teacher, WJPS;
Toni Foster, kindergarten
teacher, SJES; Julianne Kent,
fourth grade teacher, WJIS;
and Denise Ward, vocational
teacher, JCCHS.
Also, Nancy Hale, bus driv
er, MES (effective Feb. 27);
and
James Pope, custodian,
EJCHS (effective Feb. 20).
LANDSCAPING & HORSE ARENAS
On average, drivers who switched to
Allstate
saved $338 a year. Call me today.
Schools to install hand
dryers in restrooms
Proposal aims to save $11,500 a year
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
A PENNY-pinching effort to
toss the use of paper towels in
school restrooms may save the
Jackson County School System
an estimated $11,500 a year.
The Jackson County Board
of Education approved using
sales tax funds on Monday to
purchase 200 electric hand dry
ers in the large restrooms of all
schools.
Purchasing the hand dryers
will cost $27,000 of Special
Purpose Local Option Sales Tax
(SPLOST) funds — but district
officials say the school system
will get a return on its invest
ment in two and half years or
less.
And removing paper tow
els from large restrooms may
solve another costly problem
— clogged toilets.
“In some of the schools,
students were putting hand
towels in the commodes and
causing the stoppage of them,”
said Dennis Patrick, director of
administrative services for the
school system.
As those toilets were repaired
— and some replaced — main
tenance costs at the schools
increased, he added.
“We feel like that will help
with the commodes being
stopped,” Patrick said.
The move to electric hand
dryers will also improve envi
ronmental issues, as the district
will reduce its waste, he added.
The district tested the hand
dryer program at East Jackson
Comprehensive High School,
where students vandalized sev
eral paper towel dispensers.
Each of those dispensers cost
$125, Patrick said.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business, the Jackson
County BOE:
•learned that the latest sales
tax collection was the highest
in four months. For the latest
collection period in December,
Special Purpose Local Option
Sales Tax (SPLOST) revenue
totaled $505,764. For November,
the school system collected
$353,048 and for October,
$462,266.
•learned that with 67 percent
of the fiscal year completed, the
district has collected 66 percent
of its revenue — while expens
es have totaled 63 percent of
the budget. The school system
remains under budget for the
fiscal year.
•learned that the school sys
tem has started the process to
select a construction manage
ment at-risk firm to coordinate
the next round of capital projects.
The district plans to renovate the
entrance and expand the cafete
ria at North Jackson Elementary
School, and construct a new gym
and a drama/chorus building at
Jackson County Comprehensive
High School.
•heard reports on End of
Course Test results for JCCHS
and East Jackson Comprehensive
High School. Both schools per
formed above state averages in
all subjects.
BOE cont’d from JA
that we have some bad days,” board member Lynne Wheeler said.
The board also talked about a proposal that would include a note
about potential make-up days on the school calendar.
That note would say that all vacation, holiday and teacher planning
days could possibly become make-up days.
“Just so parents are aware that’s possible,” board chairperson Kathy
Wilbanks said.
For the remainder of this school year, the district only had a teacher
planning day on Friday, March 13; Spring Break, from April 6-10;
the Memorial Day holiday on Monday, May 25; and teacher post
planning days on Tuesday through Thursday, May 26-28.
The last day of class for the school system is Friday, May 22.
Jackson County Comprehensive High School will hold its graduation
on Friday, May 22, while East Jackson Comprehensive High School
will hold its ceremony on Thursday, May 21.
The school system has already printed its materials for graduation.
Dispute cont’d from JA
“In regards to Mr. Archer, we were asked to help him in his process,”
Hampton said when questioned about whether any county funds were
used for Archer’s project. “In doing so, it required technical assistance.
This service was secured and a cost incurred. The county covered this
cost for a period. When this process was completed, the total cost was
compiled and has been reimbursed to the county, hi doing so, no county
funds were used that were not reimbursed.”
Archer’s business was previously located on Hwy. 129 but it was pur
chased by the Georgia Department of Transportation when it widened
the highway.
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