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The Progress
Editorial
May 26,2022
From the Staff
To the Class of2022
Use your head;Trast your gut
By Alex Goble
Dear Class of2022:
On some level, most people have no
idea what they’re doing. And that’s al
right.
Soon, many of you might feel the
same way. And that’s alright. Welcome to
the party.
While all of us feel confused in parts
of our lives the best of us have a good
idea of where we want to be, and that
helps. If you know who you want to be,
what you want to be able to do, or who
you want to do it with you’re already on
your way to a satisfying life.
If you even have an inkling of what
you want, just start walking in that direc
tion. You might think of your goal like a
mountain in the distance and make
choices that move you in that direction
and try not to make choices that go the
other way. If you’re ever unsure your gut
will tell you, most of the time, which way
to go. A lot of the time the difficult choice
is the right one. Your gut knows that.
And about that gut feeling: listen to it
and try to do the right thing. The world
can be an unforgiving rough-and-tumble
place, but you can live your personal
lives, at least, in the way you hope the
world will be and the kindness you put
out there will come back around eventu
ally.
Now something practical: you may
not realize it, but you have skills already
inherent in you and all recent graduating
classes. You grew up with technology
and are able to use it with ease. It’s some
thing many an older employer would pay
for (you don’t have to tell them how easy
it is).
You’ve also spent most of your high
school careers switching modes and ad
justing on the fly in a topsy-turvy world.
Those experiences will serve you well
somewhere down your path.
Now a little secret about jobs: you
don’t have to be that good at them at first.
Just show up on time and be nice to
everyone you work with. If you can’t do
those two things, then yes, you need to
be very good at your job right off the
start, but I’m sure you guys are all smil
ing and punctual. Probably good at future
jobs too.
You’ll be getting a lot of advice from
all sides this graduation season, but use
your head and listen to your gut. You’ve
had your own journey and are probably
a bit smarter and a bit wiser than most
people might think. You’ve met some of
your largest challenges already and are
well prepared to meet more.
Now look for your mountain if you
haven’t spotted it already and get mov
ing. Go out, find out how the world
works, and keep finding out over and
over until you know what you’re doing -
like I said, most people don’t.
Life isn’t that easy, but as long as you
keep your mountain in sight you’ll be al
right.
Lastly, the most important piece of ad
vice: enjoy it. Whatever it is that you’re
doing might as well be enjoyed. Some
times this is actually the hardest part.
You’ll be prone to worry when you
should be having a good time. You’ll
wonder about “what if’s” until the rails
for your train of thought only go in that
direction. Don’t let that happen.
What you should do is take a breath
and enjoy the ride because it goes to
some awesome stops on the way to the
mountain.
Do all the things. Enjoy them. Good
luck. Be kind.
Tell us your thoughts with a letter to the editor. E-mail to news@pickensprogress.com
See letter submission guidelines on the Letters to the Editor page or call us 706-253-2457.
Hugh Pendley
unsupervised with
a word processor
Chicken memories
of the 60s and 70s
I have recently written a little
something on my observations
of growing up on a chicken farm
on Cove Road, near the Bent
Tree entrance during the 60s and
70s. Needless to say everything
was different then, even the
chickens. Apparently people en
joyed hearing about it, so I was
encouraged to write more:
• The company gave many
vaccines to the chickens. One re
ally strange ailment was called
Brunswick Newcastle (or maybe
just Newcastle). It caused a real
high fever and the poor bird
would draw its head in to crazy
shapes like upside down! This
was a deadly disease but there
was never a large outbreak.
Thankfully the vaccine worked.
• A funny belief was the first
flock of chickens in a new house
was believed to get sick - be
cause the house was so clean!
I've heard a lot of growers talk
about this.
• The job I hated worse was
removing the dead birds. There
was a pit to drop them in and
you wanted to get away as
quickly as possible. This was not
good for the ground and now
they have incinerators to do
away with them.
• I grew up around a vast
number of chickens but ironi
cally, didn't get to eat it very
often. The way southern fried
chicken is fixed is a very time
consuming process, done for
special events - sometimes on a
Sunday when the preacher came
to visit for dinner. There were
plenty of chickens all around us,
but you didn't want to eat very
many since you would be eating
the cash that would come later.
• One time I noticed a small
chicken that was crippled among
the thousands in the houses. It
could not eat from the hanging
feeders since it wasn’t tall
enough. It made a sad noise hop
ping about. This caused sympa
thy to arise in me and I started
feeding it in a safe place. The
other chickens were cruel and
would kill one that looked differ
ent. It came time for the flock to
be caught and the “runts” were
left behind. These were “use
less” since you wouldn't think of
eating one. All of these were
killed with dad ringing their
necks - the usual way of dis
patching birds then - even if that
sounds off the wall now.
This is what happened to the
little one I had cared for so long.
Dad doing this seems horrible
for modem readers but it wasn't
as off the wall then as it sounds
now. What is off the wall and
something I can't explain is that
I didn't intercede for it. I don't
know why.
[Hugh Pendley is a native of
Pickens County who occasion
ally contributes to the Progress.]
Spot a
mistake?
Contact our editor
dpool@
pickensprogress.com
706-253-2457
WEATHER
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(USPS 431-820)
Published by Pickens County Progress, Inc.
94 North Main Street, Jasper, GA 30143
(706) 253-2457
www.pickensprogressonline.com
DAN POOL
Publisher/Editor
Published each Thursday at Jasper, Pickens County, Georgia.
Entered at the Post Office at Jasper, Georgia 30143
as Mail Matter of Second Class.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS, 94 N. Main St., Jasper, GA 30143.
One Year Subscription: $41.17 for residents of Pickens County
or the cities of Ball Ground, Fairmount, and Ranger;
$52.30 for all other Georgia residents; $62.32 out of state residents.
#lbe Reboot
CONG
TIONS
Other Voices
Some Gave All
By Jim Brescia
I think that it is very diffi
cult to fully appreciate the
impact of the tragedy when a
member of our military dies
in combat. It is estimated that
the average age of the mili
tary deaths in World War II
was 26.
In Vietnam it was 22-23
depending on the source. If
we pause for a moment to re
flect on the life, sadness, joy,
love and hopefully many
good deeds that were part of
our life from our 20s to now,
we begin to realize the things
that those who died in service
to our country never got to
experience.
A cynical person might
observe that because our rep
resentatives in Washington
are, in most cases, many
decades beyond the age of
those who die in our wars,
Congress can send our mili
tary off to fight knowing that
members of Congress will
not be directly involved in
the fighting.
It is unfortunate in one
way because for some
“Chicken Little” type mem
bers, exposure to the real
dangers of combat might
change their tendency to get
hysterical over perceived and
manufactured threats to their
well being.
If we put aside the discus
sion of the “rightness” or
“wrongness” of a particular
war, we can focus on the ul
timate sacrifice that was
made by our military dead.
The defining element in
my mind is that those who
died in service of our country
did what our country asked
them to do. They did not flee
to another country. They did
not say “I will sit this battle
out.”
They did not attack our
Constitution and Bill of
Rights instead of the enemy.
While sources might disagree
on the exact number, more
than 1 million of our service
members have died in the
service of our country. Often
overlooked is the more than
1.5 million military members
who were wounded.
Upon entering the mili
tary, each person recites the
Oath of Enlistment:
"I, , do solemnly
swear (or affirm) that I will
support and defend the Con
stitution of the United States
against all enemies, foreign
and domestic; that I will bear
true faith and allegiance to
the same; and that I will obey
the orders of the President of
the United States and the or
ders of the officers appointed
over me, according to regula
tions and the Uniform Code
of Military Justice. So help
me God."
It is a powerful oath and
one that Veterans do not
abandon after leaving the
military. It is an oath that
more than 1 million members
of our military took with
them to their grave.
So, we should insist that
our representatives in Wash
ington be very thoughtful
about when, why and where
they commit our military
forces. Our military does
what it is asked to do. The
request must be justified.
[Jim Brescia is a regular
contributor to the Progress. He
is involved in several veterans
groups in the area.]
Pickens Democrats to elect member posts
Submitted by
David Robinson
The Pickens County Dem
ocratic Committee will fill
member posts that expire in
2022 by an election on Satur
day, May 28, 2022. (See
https://pickensdemocrats.org/
pcdc.html.) Ballots may be
cast in the Pickens Room,
Pickens County Administra
tion Building, any time be
tween 10:00 a.m. and 12:00
noon. (Entrance is at the rear
of the Administration Build
ing.)
Any Democrat registered
to vote in Pickens County
who is present at the time and
place of election and exe
cutes the required affidavit is
eligible to vote in this elec
tion. A voter may cast a ballot
only for candidates in the dis
trict in which the voter re
sides as shown by their voter
registration. (Registration
status will be verified by ref
erence to the voter registra
tion database maintained by
the Democratic Party of
Georgia.)
Democrats who wish to be
listed as candidates on the
ballot must register by no
later than 12:00 noon on Fri
day, May 27, 2022 and sub
sequently execute the
required affidavit. Candidates
may be listed on the ballot for
the district in which they re
side as shown by their voter
registration.
Active incumbents for
posts listed on the ballot are
not required to register or ex
ecute the required affidavit
again to be listed on the bal
lot. Registration is by email
to chair@pickensdemoc-
rats.org.
The number of persons to
be elected is as follows:
Three in County Commis
sioner District 1 (western part
of Pickens County), three in
County Commissioner Dis
trict 2 (eastern part of Pick
ens County) and six in
County Commissioner Dis
trict Countywide. Vacant
posts will be filled by candi
dates (a) before those occu
pied by incumbents and (b)
before requiring a contest for
a post.
For further information,
contact by email to
chair@pickensdemocrats.org
or by text or voicemail to
770-893-9134.
To the Class of 2022!
1101 Old Philadelphia
Road, Ste. E
(Jasper Crossings)
706-692-9392