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Common Sense J
Ed
The Progress
itorial ~
From the Staff
Jasper needs marble art
Can we get a fountain over here?
By Dan Pool, Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
As the old saying goes, Jasper, you’ve
come a long way baby.
The business owners downtown have
really stepped up to create a vibrant Main
Street, stretching all the way from the
Perrow Park greenspace to the wooden
bridge. The town is thriving like never
before.
There is still one ingredient missing,
public art. No murals, no fountains, few
marble works. But yet the big Oglethorpe
Monument on Main Street is a tantalizing
possibility to start with. What better spot
to highlight our marble heritage than the
towering example already in downtown.
There is also a great marble sculpture in
front of the library. Unfortunately the li
brary is off the beaten path.
Imagine if we could move the library
sculpture back into town. We would have
two good points of marble interest. It was
originally at the courthouse and it would
be better to see it back on Main Street.
Jasper needs public art - specifically
a plan based on our marble heritage.
Lest anyone think your newspaper ed
itor has gone too high-falutin and is call
ing for an Arc de Triomphe to be erected
here, let me explain.
Not just in big cities, but in towns
smaller than Jasper you find solid public
displays, murals or statues highlighting
their history.
Displaying something that says who
you are is what makes a house a home,
same idea for towns.
In Athens, you find painted bulldogs;
in Blue Ridge you find trout art; in Dal
ton, the perfect example, are their pea
cock figures that tie back into carpet
history (not enough room to explain but
very interesting).
Way down south in Clinch County
you find murals throughout their county
seat of Homerville and that smaller
county is using grants to commission
“swamp sculptures” tying to their prox
imity to the Okefenokee.
You have Lanier County which is
known as a Historic Mural Community
with numerous murals. Ellijay has its fair
share of murals.
We do have one mural at the comer
opposite Walgreen but it could serious
sprucing up.
During the late 1990s, a former Ga.
Marble stone carver from Finland who
went by the one name Eino, set up shop
in an unused city building rent-free in ex
change for putting his artworks in public
spaces until they were sold on the inter
national art market.
While he is mostly remembered for
the unsuccessful water park - a lot of
things went wrong there with the instal
lation when the artist left.
But maybe not remembered is that
Eino contributed a large geometric mar
ble sculpture, which set on the comer of
Main and Hwy. 53; under the deal it re
mained there for many months.
Beauty in art is always in the eye of
the public/beholder, some people didn’t
like it. But it was a technically compli
cated work that showed pride in marble.
We would encourage city hall to take
the lead. They have demolished the his
toric Perrow cabins and razed the North
Main Street water park, leaving both
areas empty.
If there are any grants out there and if
there any marble carvers looking for pa
trons, we can surely do something. Or
maybe our local marble companies have
some stone or older works that can be
dusted off and put on display? Surely as
much marble as we mine here, there is an
opportunity.
Not to get too philosophical, but the
arts can give definition to our commu
nity, set a nice tone for visitors and give
locals something to take pride in.
If we want to be marble capital of
Georgia, we need more marble on dis
play.
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
Wood Smoke
Cold weather was easy
growing up in the '60s on
Cove Road. Nothing going
on in the hay field or garden
so there was much disposable
time.
Dad would hook the
trailer up to the Ford 8-N and
we'd go cut down the right-
sized oak tree. The tractor
amazed me, it would go like
I thought a Jeep would. After
dropping the tree, dad walked
the length of it cutting all the
limbs off in no time. I'm sure
his ax was sharp enough to
shave with. When the log
was sawed up to the right
length with the tmsty McCul
lough chain saw, I'd stack
them on the trailer.
The first time I started
splitting wood, I held the end
of the handle with my right
hand and grabbed it close to
the handle with my left. My
brother said, “You're chop
ping stiff handed.” He
showed me to hold the han
dle loosely with the left hand
and let it slid down as it
swung. This developed much
greater momentum and split
fire wood somewhat more
easily.
There was only one room
heated with the “wood
heater” in our house. The
cook stove kept the kitchen
warm after a meal was pre
pared but it would soon get
cold. It sounds odd now, but
the beds were in the living
room or “the heater room.”
Dad slept in an unheated
room, with many thick quilts.
It didn't bother him.
Often the fire went out
overnight, and dad would be
lighting it again at 5 a.m., so
the room would be warm
when we got ready for
school. He would listen to
WSB while building the fire.
It's not easy to start a fire.
One time Mr. Nations (the
next door neighbor) was late
getting home and his wife
had tried to start one in the
fireplace. She had stuck a lit
tle paper under a large green
log. When Mr. Nations saw it
he contemptuously said,
“That wouldn't burn in hell
with the blowers on.”
Power outages were a
minor inconvenience back
then since we didn’t have
electric heat to begin with.
The worst thing was the
lights went out so they
brought out the kerosene
lamps. They required care
not to bump over and “bum
the house down.”
Driving along smelling
wood smoke instantly takes
me back to the 1960s on
Cove Road when my only
real responsibility was doing
the homework and making
sure the fire wood box was
well stocked.
For human history, the
hearth has been a symbol of
peace and safety, the snug
ness and warmth of home
and for those who grew up
with wood stove, you under
stand why.
[Hugh Pendley is a native
of Pickens County who con
tributes occasionally to the
Progress, writing about
growing up on a chicken
farm in the 1960s.]
(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.
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or the cities of Ball Ground, Fairmount, and Ranger;
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#lbe H>d)ciol
Other Voices
When and Where Will Your Moment of Truth Present Itself
By Jim Brescia
A recent news story out of
New York included a video
of a homeless man pursuing
a woman who had rejected
his advances on a subway.
He slammed her into a
ticket machine and pro
ceeded to pummel her while
she huddled defenseless on
the floor.
In the video, a rather large
man enters the area through
the turnstile. He is startled by
what he sees and takes a step
toward the woman. The as
sailant moves toward the
man in a threatening manner
and the observer hurriedly
goes back through the turn
stile, leaving the defenseless
woman at the mercy of a man
without mercy.
The assailant returns to
the woman and proceeds to
kick her several times. That
scene is indelibly burned into
my mind.
Bravery is often mistak
enly taken as the absence of
fear. I see bravery as being
able to overcome ones fear in
order to do what one believes
is the right thing.
In the crucible of combat,
I have seen some men over
come their justified fears to
do heroic things. I have seen
other men be overwhelmed
by their fears and immobi
lized. I believe that the way
we respond to fear has a lot
to do with who and what we
are before we encounter the
fear.
Thankfully, relatively few
people face actual military
combat. Even in times of
war, the number of military
support people is much
higher than the number of
those on the front lines. That
ratio is what allows the front
lines to survive. Front line
troops need ammunition,
food and medical support.
I was always grateful for
the support. In civilian life,
the randomness of crime puts
many people on the front
lines of a lawful and free civ
ilization. Violence, attacks on
our constitution, our pure
economy, assaults on our
children’s sexual identity and
our open borders expose
many of us to the “war.”
Spot an
error,
let our editor
know.
dpool@
pickensprogress.com
706-253-2457
The way that you respond
to or do not respond to the
battle will define you. There
are so many ways to “fight”
that do not involve physical
confrontation. Voting is the
most obvious one. Anyone
who does not vote in the
coming midterms should re
main silent about political
matters until they vote in the
next election.
You can make sure that
your police and first respon
ders get the respect and sup
port of your community. Do
not let the loud minority of
naysayers prevail. Demand
that your local politicians
represent and protect you and
your community.
You can discuss your
views with friends and rela
tives. Yes, you will risk los
ing their affection but if they
are that intransigent, how
valuable is that relationship?
Perhaps you can have a
conversation with your child
about being comfortable with
themselves and not doing
anything drastic in haste.
Perhaps you will be brave
enough to admit to profes
sionals that your child needs
some counselling? Young
people need a lot of reassur
ance that their feelings are
“normal.”
Perhaps you could get
more involved with what
your child is being taught in
school. There is a strange
movement afoot in this coun
try that has some teachers
thinking they can project
their personal beliefs and is
sues onto our children. Per
haps you can help dissuade
them of that notion.
Perhaps you will have the
opportunity to do something
for someone in need contrary
to the rhetoric of hate, divi
sion and suspicion that is
being preached by politicians
trying to frighten their con
stituents into keeping them in
power.
Perhaps you will call or
write to one of your represen
tatives to voice your opinion
on an important topic. There
are some groups that are very
small in numbers but they
make a loud noise and get a
lot of attention. Meanwhile,
the majority often remains
silent.
Whatever your moment of
truth is, I sincerely hope that
you can find the courage to
overcome your fears and do
“the right thing”. Please, first
be sure it is “the right thing”.
Peace be with you in your
battle.
[Jim Brescia was a com
bat squad leader in Vietnam
and was awarded three
Bronze Stars.]
WEATHER
By William Dilbeck
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