Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2009
THE JACKSON HERALD
PAGE 5A
Savannah: His favorite Georgia city
I’M NOT about
to tell you how old
Shirley is, but she is
old enough to have
visited Savannah at
least once in her life.
However, our trip
Aug. 27-30 was her
first. And it was the
first time in nearly
20 years that I had
been to my favorite
Georgia city. If I’m
alive and well, it won’t be 20
years before I go back.
Savannah was everything I
remembered it to be - and
more. There were just two
disappointments.
First, Shucker’s was closed.
I don’t remember who the San
Francisco 49ers were play
ing in the Super Bowl, but
that Sunday afternoon I sat
at Shucker’s bar, watched Joe
Montana do his thing on TV,
and downed two dozen raw
oysters on the half shell. They
were as good or better than the
gourmet dinners Shirley and
I had last month at Vic’s on
the River and The Pink House
Restaurant.
Other than the closing of
Shucker’s (and one other dis
appointment I’ll tell you about
later), Savannah is alive and
well. The live oaks along Bay
Street and throughout the city
have grown a little, and ghost
like Spanish moss still clings
to their boughs.
Savannah is famous for
its squares. There are 22 of
them. Some look more like
circles than squares.
They remind me a
little bit of how our
own Jefferson square
looked before Mayor
Tom Crow bulldozed
it into the configu
ration we see today.
Used to, we had to
go around the square.
Today, we go through
the square.
Needless to say,
some of our historical preser
vationists were not happy. The
brouhaha had been raging for
weeks. They got wind that the
mayor was up to something
and descended on the square
to stop the destruction. They
were too late. Mayor Crow
had cranked up the bulldozer
at first light.
You newcomers missed one
of the town’s most exciting
and heated controversies.
I don’t remember the
Savannah square where Forrest
Gump sat on the bench with his
box of chocolates. Our guide
told us that Forrest’s bench
has been removed. “But there
are plenty of other benches
around,” he said. “Just photo
graph one and show it to your
friends; they’ll never know the
difference.”
I was not particularly inter
ested in Forrest’s bench. When
you’ve seen one bench, you’ve
seen ‘em all.
Even if you lived there,
you’d never be able to see
all of the interesting sights in
Savannah. In 1733, General
James Edward Oglethorpe
established the Colony of
Georgia at Savannah, and
Savannah’s history has been a
hot topic ever since.
Most visitors to the city
spend some time walking
River Street. At the turn of the
20 th century, more exports -
mostly cotton - moved along
that street and through the port
than all other Atlantic ports
combined. Today, the Port of
Savannah is the single larg
est container facility in North
America.
And that is the main reason
I went to Savannah in the
first place. I wanted to see the
ships.
And man, did we ever see
ships! We saw enough contain
er ships go up the Savannah
River (mostly from China, I
suppose) to keep Wal-Mart,
Target, Home Depot and IKEA
stocked indefinitely. Let’s face
it: unless it’s a local prod
uct, anything we buy comes
through the Port of Savannah.
But we don’t send all those
ships down river and back
across the ocean empty. We
load ‘em down with paper
products, lumber, kaolin and,
of course, chickens. We try
as best we can to balance our
imports and exports.
When I called the Hyatt
Regency to make reservations,
I insisted on a river view room
four or five stories up. The
hotel didn’t disappoint. They
put us in a corner room, with
two huge windows, on the
fourth floor. We saw ships
come and go, and enjoyed
watching tugboats maneu
ver them under the majestic
Talmadge Bridge and to their
piers farther up river.
I remembered to take my
binoculars. In my imagination
I reached through the window
to the ship’s decks and shook
hands with sailors from all
over the world. It was quite an
experience.
If I’d had my way, we would
have spent more time in the
room watching the ships. But
this was Shirley’s first trip and
she wanted to see other attrac
tions. There are a number of
ways to do that. You can walk,
of course. Or you can take the
trolley tour, the horse-drawn
carriage tour (Shirley and I
did both), the riverboat cruise
and, if you are up for it, the
ghosts and gravestones tour.
This last event gives you an
opportunity (if that’s what
it is), to explore Savannah’s
darker side. You’ll hear stories
(all true, of course) of the
city’s gravest moments and
its most ghoulish individu
als. Savannah, you know, is
America’s most haunted city.
Shirley and I didn’t see
or hear the first ghost. That
was our second disappoint
ment. Maybe next time. We
most assuredly will go back
to Savannah - the Good Lord
willing.
Virgil Adams is a former
owner/editor of The Jackson
Herald.
JFD works with Firefighters Burn Foundation
Dear Editor:
For a number of years, the
Jefferson Fire Department
has been actively associated
with the Georgia Firefighters
Burn Foundation. This
Foundation was formed in
1982 for the purpose of help
ing burn victims during their
rehab period and preventing
others from experiencing the
traumatic event of suffering
a burn injury. They work
with communities across the
State of Georgia to educate
the public about fire safety
and fire prevention, in addi
tion to providing support for
those victims with severe
burn injuries.
The Jefferson Fire
Department supports the
activities of the Foundation
in several ways, includ
ing participation in Project
REACH (Recycling Every
Aluminum Can Helps) and
collecting aluminum cans at
Fire Station #2 located on
old Highway 129. Project
REACH was begun in 1986,
and since that time has col
lected and recycled more
than three million pounds of
aluminum cans.
The collection trailer sup
porting the Foundation’s
Project REACH has become
a standard fixture in the
parking lot at Station #2
and is replaced each time it
becomes full. Over the years,
the citizens of Jefferson have
provided a generous con
tribution to the Foundation
through their participation
in Project REACH. In 2008,
3,768 pounds of aluminum
were collected in Jefferson
that brought the Foundation
a total of $2,449 that was
used to support their activi
ties. Through June of 2009,
a total of 1,801 pounds of
aluminum has been collect
ed, valued at $549.
The Jefferson Fire
Department would like to
thank everyone that has
participated in this effort.
The funds collected have
been put to good use by the
Foundation and Jefferson
continues to be one of the 5
top contributors to this pro
gram in the State. In addi
tion to the financial benefits
to the Foundation, the recy
cling of these cans has kept
millions of these cans from
being deposited in landfills
or being scattered along area
roadways.
The department encour
ages everyone to support the
activities of the Foundation
and keeping the environ
ment clean, by depositing
their empty aluminum cans
in the collection trailer at
Fire Station 2. If you are
interested in seeing what the
Georgia Firefighters Burn
Foundation does and how
your donations are being
used, the Foundation has a
web site that outlines these
activities, at www.gfbf.org.
Sincerely,
Malcolm Gramley
JFD
If you can’t take the heat,
get out of the kitchen
Dear Editor:
I am displeased with the way
it stated that I slapped the may
or’s wife. It just didn’t happen
like that.
Gail was sitting up front in the
meeting and I was sitting in the
very back. When I had the floor,
she never made any concerns
(known) or have anything to
say. She waited until everyone
left the building, except a few.
Two men were asking me
about why they would not give
me a permit. I was explaining
to them why. It’s a big problem
that I had been dealing with for
years. They tell me one thing
then another. Ronnie would say
it was up to the inspector and
the inspector would say it’s up
to Ronnie. That’s why I brought
it to the meeting.
The next thing I knew, I felt
someone over my shoulder
up against me. I was sitting
down showing the two guys my
paperwork when I looked back
to see who was standing over
me; it was Gail. She said, “Pam,
be sure if you say anything to
be sure it was truth.” I asked her
to hush and stay out of my busi
ness. I told her she had the right
when I was on the floor.
So I still was trying to tell the
guys when the other guy you
saw in the paper with Gail got
his two cents in. I told him to
hush and get out of my busi
ness.
Then Gail said again I was a
liar. I asked her again to hush.
She would not. Then I stood up
and told her to get out of my
face and my business and she
would not. So I told her if she
would not get out of my face,
I would slap her and she got
closer so I slapped her.
The man grabbed me. He had
no business grabbing me.
Then, Ronnie came out
and I asked him why did Gail
come back there and approach
me? Then Paul came up to me
screaming and getting in my
face and Ronnie made no effort
to stop him, so I put my finger
in his face and told him to get
out of my face or I would slap
him too.
I asked Ronnie why he was
letting all these people do this to
me. Two men, the inspector and
the marshal, walk in my home
before all of this and I brought
it to the mayor and nothing has
been done about any of this
stuff.
I feel I was set up and all
these things were set up. A lot
of things have been left out of
what has really been going on
with my situation. Even with
the Court, we had in the past, I
have not received anything from
the Court to stop building. And
to let you all know, this used
to be a mobile home and there
were no codes or ordinances in
Nicholson at the time I started
building and I can prove it.
I thought that’s what meetings
are for - if you have problems
with the city you have the right
to bring it out to the open.
If Gail can’t let her husband
do his job, he does not need his
job; get him out.
Sincerely,
Pamela Pressley
Nicholson
Offers thanks to JCCHS teenagers
Dear Editor:
I’m writing this letter to say
thank you to the teenagers from
Jackson County Comprehensive
High School who volunteered
to spend their Friday night help
ing elementary school children
at GSES Family Fun Night.
My family was there from
6-8:30 and the entire time the
JCCHS baseball team, several
football players, and JV and
varsity cheerleaders were there
running games and helping the
children. These student athletes
had many things they could
have done on a Friday night, but
they choose to volunteer within
their community.
As a JCCHS teacher, I am so
proud of their accomplishments
in the classroom and on the
field. But Friday night, I was
more proud of them than ever
because by giving back to the
community that supports them
they were incredible role mod
els for the small children that
look up to them so much.
To the JCCHS volunteers
Friday night, thank you for
what you did for all the chil
dren of GSES. I love watching
the westside community join
together for what is best for all
of the children. I am proud to be
a Panther!
Sincerely,
Derelle McMenomy
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