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4A ®jje Heraltr Tuesday, June 15,2021
Opinions
Geiger's Counter: A lookity box gift idea for Dad
I saw where the cast
of the TV show ‘Friends’
got back together for a
reunion episode recently.
I didn’t bother tuning in.
Having never watched
a single episode of the
show, the reunion held
no interest for me.
1 am told the cast from
‘Sex in the City’ is plan
ning a reunion event. 1
won’t bother watching
that one either as 1 have
never watched it. 1 have
also never watched ‘Sein
feld’, ‘The Office’, ‘Grey’s
Anatomy’, ‘The Walking
Dead’, ‘American Idol’ or
any of the popular series
on the ‘lookity box’, the
descriptive term a great
aunt used for her big
console TV back in the
day.
1 did watch ’Sharp
Objects’ in its entirety
because it was largely
filmed here and 1 met
so many of the people
involved personally. 1
am kind of embarrassed
to admit the last show 1
watched with any regu
larity before that was
‘Desperate Housewives’
but 1 miss it desperately.
1 might watch a reunion
episode of it if Gabby,
Lynette and Bree are
involved.
Prior to that, the last
show 1 watched religious
ly was ‘Mork and Mindy’
which boasted the fledg
ling comedic genius of
Robin Williams.
1 prefer a good book to
television but I do watch
sports. 1 never miss a
Georgia football game.
1 enjoy college football
and, to a lesser extent,
college basketball. The
Falcons? Not so much!
Wake me when the vastly
overrated Matt
Ryan follows Ju
lio out the door.
1 will, howev
er, watch soccer
all day. 1 often
watch matches
announced only
in Spanish. 1
can’t under
stand a word
but love hearing
the excitement
in the voices of
the play-by-play
announcers
and the ex
tended, exag
gerated screams of
“Gooooaaaallllll”. 1
particularly enjoy watch
ing the US Women’s
National Team which, at
this writing, has won 41
straight matches and is
the favorite to win gold
in the upcoming Olympic
Games.
Just this
past week, 1
tuned back in
to watch the
Atlanta Hawks
after a long
time. 1 heard
so many good
things about
Trae Young
that 1 watched
a game and the
team rekindled
my interest.
Other than
sports, 1 will
stream a movie
-1 prefer old
Westerns - every once in
a while but 1 am not big
on TV series or, at least, 1
wasn’t until recently.
1 heard a lot of talk
about ‘Yellowstone’ and
then, late one night when
I could not sleep, I was
running through the
channels and saw Para
mount was running the
entire series. 1 watched
two episodes before
sleep took over but the
hook was set. 1 ordered
DVDs of the first three
seasons and started
at the beginning. 1 was
enthralled.
Kevin Costner plays
John Dutton who is
trying to save his huge
ranch from all sorts of
encroaching threats.
Kelly Reilly plays his
daughter Beth, whose an
tics alone make the show
worthwhile. Several fe
males 1 know swoon over
Kayce Dutton, played
by Luke Grimes but Rip
(Cole Houser) is the big,
bad and often deadly
cowboy.
The last episode of
season three couldn’t
have ended in a more bi
zarre fashion. Cliffhanger
does not even begin to
describe it. The lives of
several of the stars were
hanging in the balance
when the credits rolled.
There is some drama
still regarding when the
first episode of season
four will air. It appeared
it would be Father’s Day,
June 20 but Paramount
has pushed it back due
to the aforementioned
Olympics.
Do your Dad a favor
and introduce him to
‘Yellowstone’. Buy the
DVDs if necessary but
have him start at the
beginning. There is time
to get caught up.
If he liked ‘Mork and
Mindy’ or could stomach
‘Desperate Housewives’,
he will love it.
Walter Geiger is editor and pub
lisher of The Herald-Gazette and Pike
County Journal Reporter.
GEIGER’S
COUNTER
Walter Geiger
Editor & Publisher
Gordon State students excel at
undergraduate research symposium
Billy in
with 10
KAY PEDROTTI
kayspedrotti@gmail.com
On Saturday June 12 a
large crowd gathered at
Conner Westbury Funeral
Home in Griffin
to say goodbye
to my friend
Billy Kitchings,
88. Billy’s widow
Bonnie and 1
have been fast
friends for many
years; 1 mostly
sat with them
during my years
at Milner Meth
odist Church.
Mr. William Charles
(Billy) Kitchings drew
one particular comment
from almost everybody
there: he had a good
heart. The way he lived
his life was filled with
examples of that good
heart, starting with 58
years of marriage to
Bonnie. Now his dedica
tion to family has been
seen by three successive
generations of their de
scendants; most of them
attended the funeral,
even the babies.
Bonnie tells a story
(among many) of how
Billy helped people and
“disappeared”for several
hours while his family
wondered where he’d
gone. (It was before cell
phones, she added.) Billy
had picked up a hitch
hiker outside Barnes-
ville, got the young man
something to eat, took
him to Forsyth because
he was going south, then
gave him some money
and Billy’s favorite walk
ing stick. Needless to say,
friends and family were
horrified - people began
to warn Billy about pick
ing up strangers. He still
helped everybody who
needed it.
Billy grew up on the
large farmland outside
Milner that has been
in the Kitchings family
for decades. While the
holdings were large, the
family was not well-off
financially. Billy’s desire
to have a little whistle,
which every kid in his
class at school seemed
to have, resulted in a
heaven
fingers
hand injury.
Billy was clever with
“making things,” so he
took a dynamite cap and
a nail for poking a hole
in it to make a whistle
- and blew off
half his index
finger. From
that time on,
the rest of his
finger was called
“the nub.” All
his descendants
enjoyed hearing
the “nub” story
as much a Billy
enjoyed telling
it. It served him
well later in life, when
he had trouble with his
students at Forest Park
Junior High - he would
point “the nub” in kids’
faces and tell them that if
they didn’t straighten up
they wouldn’t be worth
a dime.
Apparently the almost-
freaky digit was effec
tive, because now many
of his former students
have stayed in touch
and some were present
at his funeral. He is best
remembered, said family
members, as a coach for
basketball, football, and
softball; he met Bonnie
when they taught in ad
joining classrooms.
Billy Kitchings was a
veteran of the U.S. Army
and a truly good citizen.
His teaching career came
after education at Milner
High, Gordon Military
and Georgia Southern
College. He was devoted
to Jesus Christ and lived
his life by the pattern set
by Jesus in his earthly
life.
Billy well deserved all
the tributes paid to him
by his son and daughter,
and by his pastor Rev.
Jan Sherwood of Milner
UMC and by Rev. Keith
Harris - a former stu
dent. 1 was touched by
his daughter’s statement
that “now that Dad’s in
heaven, he’s got five fin
gers on each hand.” 1 can
picture him, somehow,
shaking hands with his
Lord and NOT drawing
back a “nub.” It makes
me smile just to remem
ber Billy.
Gordon State Col
lege recently conducted
the 10th annual Un
dergraduate Research
Symposium, which was
designed to provide GSC
students with the oppor
tunity to express them
selves through research
projects.
There were 11 podium
presentations and two
poster presentations pro
vided by 12 presenters
at this year’s URS. The
presentations ranged
from a new leadership
approach, protest songs
in cartoons and anime,
literature, and Egyptol
ogy with a dash of biol
ogy. The posters featured
Arabic literature and
molecular biology.
“This event represents
the extraordinary talent
that we have at Gordon
State College,” said Dr.
Kirk A. Nooks, GSC Presi
dent. “These students
have excelled during un
precedented times and 1
am thankful we were able
to recognize them.”
Here is a complete
list of presentations and
recognition by the URS
committee:
Podium Presentations
First place went to
Alyssa Copeland with
her project titled Popu
lar Gothic Novels are
not Cheap Thrills: The
Impact of the Gothic Sub
lime on Nineteenth-Cen
tury Romantic Works.
Runners Up were
Harrison Bishton with Ef
fectuation of Emotionally
Intelligent Leaders and
Emily Duncan with King
Tut: Mighty Egyptian
Pharaoh or Unfortunate
By-Product of a “Pure”
Royal Bloodline.
Poster Presentations
were made in Humani
ties by Hannah Rutledge
who presented Francis
Marrash: An Analysis of
His Literary European-
ism and the Nahda in the
Ottoman Empire and in
STEM by Angela Parra
and Kensley Philemond
who presented Deter
mination of Myoglobin
content in the skeletal
muscle of the Florida
manatee
“Our students did a
fantastic job of present
ing their work,” said Dr.
Amanda Duffus, Associ
ate Professor of Biol
ogy at GSC. “Despite the
difficulties of the past
year imposed by the
pandemic, they were
able to engage in their
studies in an in-depth
way. I am very proud of
our students!”
Special recognition
also went out to the
URS judges, GSC Faculty
mentors, and the URS
committee (Dr. Alan
Burstein, Dr. David Jans
sen, Dr. John George, Dr.
Stephen Powers, Dr. J.
Franklin Williamson, Dr.
Katie Wester-Neal and Dr.
Melanie Mertz) for their
support this year.
“I am so proud of
these students,” said
Dr. C. Jeffery Knigh
ton, Provost and Vice
President for Academic
Affairs. “They not only
survived during the past
year, but truly thrived.
Their excellent research
presentations show that
they really have the High
lander EDGE.”
FLASHBACK
In honor of
Elizabeth Sellers
June 13-19
10 years ago
Neal Boumpani, a
professor of music at
Gordon College, had be
gun design work on the
largest bass drum in the
world. ‘Big Mo’ would
be used by the Univer
sity of Missouri March
ing Band. The drum
would span nine feet in
diameter and require a
trailer for transport.
25 years ago
Bobby Caldwell, who
took up the sport only
eight years ago after
retiring, recorded the
fourth hole-in-one of
his brief golf career.
He was playing at Deer
Trail Country Club with
Fadrew Hudson and
Paul Stewart.
50 years ago
The piano students
of Ted Lashley were to
be presented in recital
June 18 at the Women’s
Clubhouse. Students ex
pected to perform were
Angela Bunn, Lance
Gore, Dean Griffin, Mark
Hand, Mike Ruffin and
Brenda Spillers.
100 years ago
The southbound
passenger train from
Atlanta, due in Macon
at 2:25 p.m., crashed
into a freight train going
from Macon Tuesday af
ternoon at 1:51 o’clock.
The engineer and fire
man on the passenger
train were killed and
a score of passengers
were injured. The trains
were running in oppo
site directions and met
within 200 yards of the
sidetrack at Juliette.
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^ HEY, pADDY— ^
AREN'TAOU GOING
TO CATCH A FISH ON
DIMM IN
KITCHINGS
Zi)t Umltr #a^tte
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