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4A ®lj 11) era lb <©a??tt? Tuesday,April 27,2021 ^ ^
Opinions
Ruffin's Renderings: Watching the Braves
BY MIKE RUFFIN
mffinml@gmail.com
There was a time in
the history of human
civilization when you
couldn’t watch major
league baseball on televi
sion very often. When
it came to doing so, the
United States hadn’t ad
vanced much beyond the
town of Bedrock.
Those were the an
cient times when there
were only three commer
cial television networks
(CBS, NBC, and ABC).
Of those three only NBC
showed baseball games,
and they only showed
one per week. The Satur
day afternoon Game of
the Week was must-see
TV to me. At some point
they added an occasional
Monday night game,
which brought some
welcome joy to the begin
ning of the week.
I was a Braves fan. It
frustrated me that the
Braves seldom if ever
appeared on the Game
of the Week. I asked my
father, the late great
Champ Ruffin, why that
was. “They only show the
good teams,” he said. He
had a point. The Braves
did win the Western
Division in 1969, the first
season that divisions
existed, but otherwise
the teams of the late
1960s and the 1970s were
pretty bad. Fortunately,
during much of that pe
riod we had the privilege
of following Mr. Henry
Aaron’s pursuit of the
career home run record.
WSB-TV did show
around 20 Braves games
per year, no matter how
bad the team was. As 1
recall, they showed only
road games. 1 would sit
quietly, transfixed by the
activity that our outside
antenna cap
tured from the
air and transmit
ted to our 19-
inch black-and-
white window on
the world.
Then, Ted
Turner sud
denly beamed
down from the
starship Outra
geous, and the
next thing you
knew, people
were watching what was
now dubbed “America’s
Team” (1 regarded the
slogan as forgivable
exaggeration, no matter
how hard Yankees fans
laughed at it) on the
self-proclaimed “Super
station” via something
called “cable television.”
When they finally strung
enough cable together,
the new technology
reached all the way to
Barnesville, and lo and
behold, we
could watch
every Braves
game from the
comfort of our
own homes.
It was the
dawning of the
age of Aquari
us. WTBS had
let the sun
shine in.
When my
Good Wife and
1 moved to
Louisville, Kentucky so
1 could attend seminary,
we rented an apartment
in a seminary-owned
complex that bore the
imaginative name “Semi
nary Village.” Somewhere
along the way, more cre
ative minds nicknamed
it “the Gospel Ghetto.”
It wasn’t all that bad. It
also wasn’t all that good.
One deprivation we had
to live with was lack of
access to cable televi
sion. I guess it was one of
the ways we suffered for
Jesus.
We finished our pen
ance and moved out of
the Ghetto after a couple
of years. I am happy to
be able to report that we
were able to watch the
Braves without inter
ruption for the next 40
years, via either cable or
those newfangled satel
lite dishes they came up
with.
Then an even newer
technology came along
that seemed like a good
idea: streaming. So, we
joined the proud throng
of cable-cutters and sub
scribed to a streaming
television service that we
liked very much. It pro
vided us with access to
all the stations that carry
the Braves.
Until it didn’t.
Due to market forces
or capitalism or greed
or something (I’m pretty
sure socialism had noth
ing to do with it), our
streaming service (and
most streaming services)
stopped carrying the
regional sports channels
that show the Braves
games. Now we can only
watch the nationally
televised games.
On one hand, it feels
like regression.
On the other hand,
we now have more time
to do more important
things.
And you know, despite
all the time 1 just spent
writing about it, there
really are much more
important things than
watching the Braves ...
Mike Ruffin is a Barnesville native
who lives in Yatesville and works in
Macon. His new book, Praying with
Matthew, is available at helwys.com
and at Amazon.
Ruffin’s
Renderings
Say yes to tough,
rewarding work
KAY S. PEDR0TTI
kayspedrotti@gmail.com
Once upon a while
ago, my friend Brother
Jimmy Fambro (Hope
Tree
Minis
tries)
and 1
had a
conver
sation
about
the on
going financial struggle
to keep enough funds
and food for the needy
families in Barnesville.
1 opened my big mouth
and said, “What you
need is a big yard sale
to raise money.”
My “brother” held me
to that - and the origi
nal plan, which was to
have the event at the
Food Bank, has grown
into a much larger en
deavor and will be held
Saturday, May 8, at Ritz
Park from 9 a.m. to 5
p.m. We are already fill
ing up available space
in the food bank with
goods for the sale and
have made appeals for
more, which have been
successful but not over
whelming.
We are in need of
not only good things
to offer at reasonable
(more like unbeliev
able) prices, but also
we need volunteers to
set up, sell and take
down; pickup trucks to
transport goods from
the Food Bank to Ritz
Park at about 7-7:15 on
May 8; tarps (trying to
find tents also) in case
of rain; folding chairs;
a generous donor to
provide two outdoor
toilets for the day,
bottled water for work
ers and customers, and
more things that prob
ably will arise as we get
closer.
Everyone who reads
this column in The
Herald Gazette knows
1 love Barnesville and
Lamar County - it is
without doubt one of
the best communities
1 have ever lived in. I
know our people are
generous; maybe there
will be enough of us
to devote a couple of
hours on May 8 to help
out. 1 keep going back
in my mind to that Bible
passage in Galatians 6:9
that was one 1 memo
rized a long time ago
from the King James:
“Be not weary in well
doing, for in due season
ye shall reap, if you
faint not.”
It seems to me, my
friends, that all of us
are well-doers in some
way or another. Surely
the chance is here to
get out of your houses,
do something truly
good for the community
and “the least of these,”
and meet some very
good people whose
spirits are wonderful. If
you will call at 678-603-
7268,1 will start sched
uling volunteer hours; if
things change for you,
we will accommodate.
My thanks go out
to my husband for his
patience and under
standing (he’s agreed
to transport stuff); to
my good friend, Michael
Rogers, who was the
first to volunteer his
help; to ah who have
contributed their items
so far; to my Lamar Arts
board for their support
of a president who is
involved in something
else (but don’t worry
- I am recruiting them
too if possible) and
especially to The Herald
Gazette staff for help
ing me with ad design,
space in the paper, and
happiness whenever I
see them. The results
may just amaze ah of
us!
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.
Letter printing guidelines
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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. Ah letters
are subject to editing.
No personal attacks
on private citizens, po
litical endorsements or
letters that are racially
divisive.
Send letters to RO.
Box 220, Barnesville,
30204, email it to
news@barnesvihe.com
or drop it by 509 Green
wood Street, Barnes-
ville.
Kudzu and Clay: Honeysuckle
Honeysuckle
is, in my opin
ion, one of the
most fascinating
spring flowers.
Fascinating be
cause you never
really consider
how much of it
is hiding in plain
view until the
flowers just pop
up one day and
turn the entire
atmosphere
sweet. They also
come with that added
bonus of being edible.
You can grab a handful
of flowers and one by
one, pull the stamen out
ever so delicately and if
you’re lucky, you’ll get
one crystal clear drop of
pure, heavenly nectar.
1 got to thinking about
this simultaneously
abundant and scarce
resource when I was
around seven years old.
I’d go out in our back
yard and start trying
to gorge myself on the
nectar. I never could get
more than a few drops
before 1 got tired and dis
appointed. If only I had a
way to stream
line the process
and collect the
nectar from all
the honeysuck
le in my yard,
I’d have enough
for at least a
Mason jar full. It
would be worth
its weight in
gold, maybe
even more.
I set out
early one morn
ing, got my
parents’ wheelbarrow,
and pulled down every
single honeysuckle vine
with flowers on it I could
reach. I got a Mason jar
and a little chair and
set to work pulling each
little stamen out and
trying to get that sweet
nectar to fall in the jar...
but it would not, it just
stuck to the side of the
jar. At the rate I was go
ing, the priceless juice of
the gods was evaporat
ing quicker than it could
collect. There had to be
another way. Perhaps I
could milk it like a cow
teat, not that I had ever
done that before, but
that didn’t work either.
Then I remembered
this apparatus my mom
used to squeeze the life
out of vegetables when
she was cooking. I had
no idea what the small
hinged contraption was
but when I smashed a
bunch of honeysuckle
flowers in this thing,
juice finally started
dripping out, albeit very
slow.
After doing this for
half a day and only get
ting about two table
spoons of juice I decided
to call it quits. I was tired
and thirsty, and curious
what an entire mouthful
of honeysuckle nectar
tasted like. I didn’t even
care if I wasn’t going to
sell it, I would take pride
in being the first kid to
have ever experienced
this rare treat. I took a
sip and I spit it straight
out.
The contraption was
a garlic press and no
amount of scrubbing
was ever going to get
that flavor out. Probably
woul have made a decent
salad dressing though...
% A
a.
l mil
KUDZU &
CLAY
Chris Walter
March net tax revenues up
3.7 percent
The state of Georgia’s
net tax collections for
March totaled nearly
$1.90 billion for an
increase of almost $67
million, or 3.7 percent,
compared to March 2020,
when net tax collections
totaled $1.83 billion.
Year-to-date, total net tax
collections approached
$18.94 billion, for an
increase of roughly $1.55
billion, or 8.9 percent,
compared to FY 2020
when net tax revenues
totaled $17.39 billion
after nine months.
The deferred com
mencement of Indi
vidual Income tax return
processing - concurrent
with the Internal Rev
enue Service (IRS) guid
ance that directed the
acceptance and process
ing of 2020 Individual
tax year returns begin
ning February 12,2021
- delayed income tax
refund processing and
contributed significantly
to the highly favorable
net tax collection reve
nue variance reported in
February. Subsequently,
an acceleration of refund
processing in the March
reporting period reduced
the impact of the refund
processing delay on
year-to-date net revenue
collections.
FLASHBACK
In honor of
Elizabeth Sellers
10 years ago
Law enforcement had
to be summoned to quell
a melee at Aldora Field
that erupted during a
baseball game between
the Lamar County Tro
jans and the Crawford
County Eagles. Trojan
batter Ryan Lovick
questioned a call and
LC coach Greg Williams
went nose-to-nose with
umpire Irwin Croile.
Croile then slapped Wil
liams in the head and it
was on.
25 years ago
The annual Commu
nity Awards Banquet was
held and soldiers return
ing from the Persian Gulf
were feted. Award win
ners were Leesa Wood-
all, citizen of the year;
Laverne Aiken, career
woman of the year; Fan
nie Gilbert, volunteer of
the year; Phil and Bobby
Ogletree, farmers of the
year; Karen Shuman,
STAR student; and Anne
Darden Haisten, STAR
teacher.
50 years ago
The Nancy Hanks was
to make its last run along
the Atlanta-Savannah
line through Barnesville
on April 30. A special
coach was set aside for
the press. The last run
marked the end of the
golden era of passenger
rail service here.
100 years ago
Mrs. L. P. Hudson, a
woman who was one
of the oldest citizens
of Barnesville and well
known to all the older
people of the vicinity,
died at her home on
Brown Avenue Satur
day night, after a brief
illness. She had been in
declining health for some
months and in fact for
some years, as she was
around 80 years old. She
was Miss Mollie Graham
and she was born here
and lived here all of her
life
Zi)t Heralti #a^tte
barnesville.com
770.358.NEWS
P.0. Box 220
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Staff
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