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4A ®J)£ Iferalti <©a?£tt£ Tuesday, January 26,2021 Opinions Geiger's Counter: Hammerin' Hank heads home Like all the boys from my era, 1 grew up a baseball fan. In fact, we were fans of all sports. We played baseball in summer, football in the fall and basketball in the winter time. We never saw soccer except on the fabulous ‘Wide World of Sports’ TV show on Saturday evenings. If futbol had been played in the South, we would have played it, too. I hate missing out on lacrosse by a half cen tury. Running around and hitting each other with sticks would have been right up our alley. But, in my early youth, baseball was the thing. My brothers and 1 hurled rubber balls against the side of the house until Mama and Daddy bought us a Pitchback net which we promptly destroyed. We lugged a bat, a ball and our gloves around the neighborhood until we found playmates and then it was on. We had countless baseball cards that 1 fer vently wish I could find now. We destroyed thou sands of dollars of cur rent value by clothes pin ning old or surplus cards to our bicycle spokes in order to pretend we were riding motorcycles. We loved baseball but we never really had a team to root for. We watched the Game of the Week every Sat urday on NBC. It was aptly named because it was the only tele vised game of the week and we had only three TV channels to choose from. So, we tended to root for play ers rather than teams. Then, lo and behold, the Mil waukee Braves moved to Atlanta and later established a farm team that played at Gray son Stadium in Savannah less than a mile from our grandparents’ home. Suddenly we had a team. Felipe Alou, Eddie Mat thews, Rico Carty, Joe Torre, Denis Menke and pitchers Tony Cloninger, Pat Jarvis, Phil Neikro, Cecil Upshaw and, my favorite, Denny Lemas- ter. My first ever trip to Atlanta was on a bus full of Cub Scouts and chaperones. We went to old Atlanta- Fulton County Stadium to see the Braves. We saw our heroes in person. We saw Chief Noc-A-Homa and his teepee. It was magical. But the main man on the Braves and every body’s hero was Henry Aaron, Hammerin’ Hank. Many nights 1 laid in bed with a transistor radio under my pillow clan destinely listening to late games. The Braves announcer was Milo Hamilton and he was the best. Nobody since has equalled him. His home run call was always the same. “There’s a drive. Waaaaay back. That ball is outta here!” More often than not, the long ball was hit by Hammerin’ Hank who was chasing Babe Ruth’s record of 714 homers. He eventually caught the Babe and sealed his status as a human legend who transcended all sports. When the game was on the line and you needed someone to drive in a run to win it or hit a solo homer to tie up a game in the ninth, Hank Aaron usually came through. Last week Hammerin’ Hank headed for home - his eternal, heavenly home - one last time. I’m sure he slid in safely just under the catcher’s mitt. He was always clutch! Walter Geiger is editor and publisher of The Herald-Gazette and Pike County Journal Reporter. He can be reached by email at news@ barnesville.com. r-- GEIGER’S COUNTER Walter Geiger Editor & Publisher Perfect defiance: make it happen LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Sherry Farr and staff doing excellent work KAY S. PEDROTTI kayspedrotti@gmail.com If we - average citizens of a wonderful country - are ever to achieve the kind of to- getherness that will set "* ~ J us on a new path, we - ' ^ first have to defy those who want to divide us - one group vs. another; “us” and “them;” vicious quarreling even in the national governing bodies. 1 see “defiance” not as a take-up-arms-and-fight, nor as a temper tantrum by the “losers” (of what ever, from the Presidency to the ousted occupiers). My kind of defiance is just to do what 1 can, where 1 am, to benefit my community, unify its resi dents, hold its governing bodies accountable, and speak out for liberty, equality and justice. Not to mention mercy. This kind of defiance is hard to understand - and even harder to stop - for most people in high places. It has nothing to do with money: not how much you make or don’t make, how you practice charity or consumer ism, how your daily life affects so many others. Plain and simply, it is just being fair in everything, and insisting that those who are visibly unfair change their attitudes and actions. 1 will admit that it’s a tall order to start taking steps to restore peace - no, sanity - to this coun try. Not a one of us has not been damaged by the COV1D virus rampage, or by a political atmo sphere that has not been seen in decades, even centuries. The “founding fathers” did not agree on all subjects, but at least they sat and debated as calm and rational people (usually). Their findings in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution have real value. If they are not per fect for “today’s world,” no one would question that reconsideration for some points would be not only allowable, but also enlightening. After all, those Native Americans who were not mentioned in the por tion about who would be allowed to vote - even though 20 or more Iro quois chieftains assisted in the formation of the country’s law and order - and the descendants of those who were de scribed as “three-fifths of a person,” are now voting along with the rich, poor, powerful and struggling. Why not make it hap pen, my friends? How could patience, kindness, consideration of oth ers, help to those in real need, active participation in community groups, ac tive churches, excellent schools and unquestion ably honest and capable governing bodies be damaging to anyone? We can make it happen - but only if we really care. Kay S. Pedrotti has spent some 50 years writing for newspapers. She is active in the Lamar County community and currently serves as the president of Lamar Arts. She lives in Milner with her husband Bob Pedrotti. We just got our CO- VID-19 vaccination from the Lamar County Health Department and want to commend them for an excellent and efficient Let’s be fair I read a letter to the editor which said we should give the new president a chance before we criticize him. I agree. But let’s be fair. I also think that the same courtesy should have been afforded Trump. He was vilified, called a rac ist, a Nazi, an illegitimate president, a colluder with Russia, etc. He took no salary, engaged in no wars, had the lowest unemployment rate, did more for minorities, bro kered a Mid East peace deal, brought American jobs back, made us en ergy independent, made other governments pay for their fair share, fast operation. The fifteen minute post vaccination period time took longer than the rest of the steps combined. Sherry Farr and her staff are doing tracked a COVID vaccine, secured our border and on and on. He did this with little to no help from congress and no support from the main stream media. I also read the editori al opinion. It was not just one person who cheered on hate, vitriol and vio lence. We had congress members telling people to get in their faces, cheered while people were accosted in restau rants, saying if they go low, we go lower, bailing out criminals who were burning, looting and riot ing with very little media coverage. They vilified a teenager (Nick Sandman) excellent work and we appreciate them enor mously. CAROLYN AND JAMES KITCHINGS while cheering on an ac tor (Jessee Smollett) who perpetrated a false hate crime blaming Trump supporters. Conservatives are being denied their free speech, losing jobs because of their politi cal views and even some suggest that they be stripped of their college degrees. So when we are dis cussing the current po litical climate in America, let’s be fair. There is plenty of blame to go around. God Bless America! DEBORAH ALTMAN when discussing politics Emergency services shortage is critical here FROM PAGE ONE non-emergency trans ports which can cause issues when an emer gency does develop, first responders said. County fire chief Doug las Matthews reported there are normally two ambulances on duty in the county during the day. “When those two are on calls, we have to re quest another ambulance from somewhere. Some of the issues Community is having are due to staff ing problems. On some days they are only able to staff one ambulance and that does increase the response times and the wait times for the ambulance. That is where our fire engines are responding to help and treat people,” Matthews said. The shortage of EMTs is not limited to Lamar. “The pay scale was increased by Community and they are looking for employees. There is a shortage of paramed ics all over,” Matthews added. Amy Abel, director of communications for Community, reported there has been a nation wide EMS staffing crisis for the past decade and it has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. “EMS providers like Community Ambulance, continue to respond to the same kinds of emer gencies they always have. The demand placed on EMS is now greater than ever with the added strain of the number of COVID-19 patients we are transporting, not to mention the risk of infec tion from the virus,” Abel said. There is also added physical and mental strain on paramedics as they work to respond rapidly while maintaining high clinical standards in a mobile environment. “Crews must factor in time for important infec tion control measures like donning, doffing and disposing of PPE appro priately and disinfecting trucks and equipment between calls,” Abel continued. Community provides EMS services for Lamar and Upson counties without financial subsidy from local government, Abel said. The company boosted pay significantly effective Dec. 10, 2020 and continues to recruit and attempt to retain EMS professionals, she added. That is welcome news for the sheriff’s depart ment and its dispatchers. THE HERALD GAZETTE/WALTER GEIGER BCFD assists with wreck “I’m glad the county is is working with Commu nity to resolve its man power issues and hold them to their contrac tual obligations,” sheriff White concluded. Due to a lack of staffed ambulances here, an EMS crew from the Butts County Fire Department had to be called in to assist Lamar first responders in working a golf cart accident that injured a young boy Jan. 2 near Milner. The child had to be air lifted to an Atlanta trauma center for treatment but has since recovered. A lack of paramedics and lengthened response times by EMS has drawn the attention of the Lamar County commission. FLASHBACK In honor of Elizabeth Sellers Jan. 24-30 25 years ago Joe and Mable De- raney were planning to stop and smell the roses after closing Deraney’s, the downtown depart ment store they bought in 1955. Both had fathers who were retail mer chants. They had plans to travel and spend time with their grandchildren. 50 years ago An application for a new state-chartered bank, Lamar State Bank, was filed with the Secretary of State. The application was signed by bank organizers and investors J. Louis Banks, Peter L. Banks, James W. Butler, H. Grady Carter, J. Joseph Edwards, C. T. Parker, J. R. Smith and Dr. Jack G. Tuttle. 100 years ago In a letter to the edi tor, J. C. Collier pointed out a hazard. He wrote: “The old Congregational Church is now a fire trap and could easily be set on fire by the passing lo comotives, and it would then burn up more than one hundred thousand dollars worth of prop erty. Let’s get rid of it.” Letter printing guidelines The Herald Gazette welcomes letters to the editor. For a letter to be considered for publica tion, please include the writer’s actual name, address and telephone number. Limit letters to 250 words or less. Shorter letters are ap preciated. All letters are subject to editing. No personal attacks on private citizens, political endorsements or letters that are racially divisive. Send letters to P.O. Box 220, Barnesville, 30204, email it to news@ barnesville.com or drop it by 509 Greenwood Street, Barnesville. Zi)t Heraltr #a^tte barnesville.com 770.358.NEWS P.0. Box 220 Publishers Staff SUBSCRIBE DEADLINES 509 Greenwood Street Walter Geiger Nolan George $30 per year in Lamar and sur- The deadline for public notices Barnesville, Ga. 30204 Laura Geiger Rachel McDaniel rounding counties; $40 outside is noon Thursdays; news and 770-358-NEWS Tasha Webster the local area. advertising before noon Fridays. barnesville.com General Manager Includes 24/7 access to Early submission is appreciated. E-mail: news@barnesville.com Missy Ware barnesville.com