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4A ®jje l)pra(& <§a?ette Tuesday, November 16,2021
Opinions
Geiger's Counter: Dogs will cruise
into SEC championship undefeated
The Georgia Bull
dogs (10-0, 8-0) easily
cast aside the Tennes
see Volunteers with a
41-17 rout in Knoxville
Saturday and, with only
Charleston Southern and
Georgia Tech left on the
regular season schedule,
should cruise into the
SEC Championship Game
December 4 undefeated
and with their #1 ranking
intact.
The Charleston
Southern Buccaneers
are a cupcake opponent,
paid considerable cash
to travel to Athens this
weekend, fill out the UGA
home schedule and take
a beating for its troubles.
On the Saturday after
Thanksgiving, the Dawgs
visit The Flats to take
on Georgia Tech and the
Waffle House/404 Experi
ence they have going
there. Waffle House food
is remarkably consistent
but the Jackets are not.
They are 3-7, having
beaten only Kennesaw
State, Duke and North
Carolina. They lost the
season opener to North
ern Illinois 22-21. For
comparison, Michigan
beat the Huskies 63-10.
One wonders if Tech
coach Geoff
Collins and his
staff will be
scattered, if
not smothered
and covered,
by firings at
the end of the
season. The
Jackets travel
to South Bend
to battle Notre
Dame this week
before tangling
with the Dawgs
and will not be
bowl eligible.
The chances
of either of these teams
blemishing Georgia’s re
cord are about
as good as
those of getting
a glass of water
from Milner’s
water tower.
The concept of
elevated water
towers or tanks
goes back to
before the Ro
man aqueducts
and has worked
worldwide for
centuries - just
not in Milner for
some reason.
With its win
over Tennessee, the Daw
gs finished undefeated in
SEC play for the first time
since 1982. That team
went 11-1, falling to Penn
State 27-23 in the Sugar
Bowl. The Nittany Lions
won the national title as
a result.
This year’s Dawgs
have the best defense in
the country and, as of
Monday, the NCAA’s #4
ranked offense. Quarter
back Stetson Bennett, a
walk-on amidst a host
of five star recruits, has
enjoyed an amazing re
surgence and emerged as
the unquestioned leader
of the Bulldog attack.
The stars seem to
have aligned for UGA,
which will likely face
Alabama in the SEC title
match. This year’s Bama
team is just not the pow
erhouse we are accus
tomed to seeing so the
shot at a national title,
which has eluded the
Dawgs for over 40 years,
is there for the taking.
1 remain cautiously
optimistic.
Walter Geiger is editor and publisher
of The Herald-Gazette and Pike
County Journal Reporter. He can
be reached at 770-358-NEWS or
news@barnesville.com.
v N
I
GEIGER’S
COUNTER
Walter Geiger
Editor & Publisher
Let’s solve the
country's woes, one
county at a time
Kudzu & Clay: The holiest season
KAY S. PEDR0TTI
kayspedrotti@gmail.com
It’s been said before
in this column, and
- ably will
be many
" times
- if we
V are not
willing
to work
together for the good
of the entire populace,
nothing improves for
anyone.
Whatever it is that
causes us to distrust
each other - whether
politics, race, religion,
alma maters, language,
married, gay, poor, rich,
selfish or ill-infomed;
child, teen or adult - we
are still United States
residents in Lamar
County and its cities.
Learning to appreciate
differences, giving each
person a right to his or
her own opinion, being
willing to go “outside
the comfort zone” to
help others - surely
it’s not too difficult for
those who care about
what happens around
them.
Many folks get
embroiled in national
politics and either go
ecstatic over some
edicts from the folks
in Washington, or sit
around bemoaning the
end of the world as we
know it. They forget
that the only place we
have a chance to make
things better is RIGHT
HERE. If we were able
to unite the citizenry to
clean up and beautify
neighborhoods, find
indoor activities for
after-school children
in inclement weather,
assist local schools
with mentoring and
special projects, attend
city council and county
commission meetings -
there is no end to what
could be accomplished.
And - if surround
ing counties suddenly
began to realize the
value of changes in
Barnesville and Lamar
County, those counties
could emulate those
accomplishments and
create yet another “car
ing county.” It could
happen again and again.
Eventually, all “radical”
changes and experi
ments come to the at
tention of national news
outlets. Not too hard to
imagine, is it, that our
little county should be
featured on television
programs that special
ize in good, honest
news?
The unfortunate part
of all this is that it takes
commitment, time,
work, and leadership.
We are all busy; maybe
we need to assess
whether that “busy
ness” is benefitting our
community, and not just
ourselves. Four-plus
years ago, Lamar Arts
assembled an outstand
ing team on its board of
directors - the changes
accomplished since
then can be clearly
seen in the growing
participation of visitors
to exhibits, children at
camps, and member
ships from people who
are just plain interested
in supporting the arts
in our home county.
Maybe too much
“meeting and organiz
ing” goes on without
solid solutions, because
we are accustomed to
disagreements with cer
tain others, while those
others disagree with us
for different reasons.
Each one of us can re
solve, individually or in
concert with friends, to
make our time on this
earth count for some
thing, to do for oth
ers as we would have
them do for us, and to
persuade our friends
and neighbors that we
are all in this together.
“Together” being the
operative word.
Kay S. Pedrotti has spent some 50
years writing for newspapers. She
is active in the Lamar County com
munity. She lives in Milner with her
husband Bob Pedrotti.
1 come from a long line
of folks with a genetic
predisposition toward
being extraordinarily
loud. Loud talkers, loud
laughers. Yellers. Even
eaters. If you heard my
mother eating toast you
would think she was
grinding granite slabs
into gravel. But there
is one time when we
all become completely
silent, and not because
we want to, but because
if we’re not we risk real-
life consequences. That
time is when the weather
report is on.
My father was ob
sessed with the weather.
He would often stop a
conversation and ask,
“Did you feel that? 1 think
it just dropped two de
grees.” Then he’d stare
off into the distance
looking for storm clouds.
Did it really drop two
degrees? Unlikely, but
when he said it, you sure
thought it did. 1 have
never known a person in
my life that welcomed a
natural disaster like my
father. He’d see tornados
in the forecast and you
could almost see him
fantasizing about saving
people out of half-blown-
out buildings, directing
traffic around debris in a
road, and eating nothing
but canned food by a fire
with a hand-carved ladle.
Some people like the
holiday season, or apple
picking season. Not my
dad. The holiest of all
seasons at the Walter
house was hurricane
season. From June to No
vember, every moment
of free time was devoted
to either watching the
weather report or scan
ning the weather radio
for clues on when the
next catastrophe would
be on its way.
Once upon a time,
the local grocery store
handed out a little pam
phlet about hurricane
season safety, and in
this pamphlet, there was
a map of the southern
coast with a grid drawn
over it so that, if you
were so inclined, you
could plot the move
ments of a hurricane
yourself. Why anyone
would do this when you
could just watch it on
the television is beyond
me, but 1 can tell you one
fella that did. The minute
a disturbance was given
a name, a brand new
colored pencil came out
of the box, the pocket
knife sharpened it to a
crooked point, and the
tracking began.
First, the old man
would watch the news
and get an approximate
location. Then he would
fire up the weather radio
and wait for them to list
off the geographical co
ordinates. So help you if
you even breathed loud
when the coordinates
were coming through.
“Now 1 lost it! How am 1
ever going to get the tra
jectory right if you keep
breathing so loud!” 1 can
not tell you how many
times 1 was sent to my
room as a child because
1 interrupted the weather
radio giving coordinates
to a storm that would
never make landfall.
Things hit a real fever
pitch around August/Sep
tember when the Atlantic
really started churning
up. There were times he
was tracking five systems
at once. There would be
so many colors on the
tracking chart it would
rival even the most
spectacular Pride flag.
At a certain point, the
grocery store stopped
handing out the charts
but that didn’t slow
down our rural hurricane
tracking center. Graph
paper with a hand-drawn
Georgia/Florida coast did
just fine.
The manual tracking
died the minute my Dad
figured out he could
see a real-time radar on
the family computer.
Instead of worrying so
much about hurricanes,
he enjoyed sitting at the
computer and watching
clouds go overhead and
then hitting the refresh
button to see if any of
them were picked up on
the radar.
In all the time these
shenanigans were going
on 1 only recall one time
that a hurricane came
far enough inland to do
any damage. A limb went
across the road in front
of our house and took
out a power line. Before
the electricity could
go off in the house my
Dad was out there in a
poncho directing traffic,
which was only 2 cars.
His cigarette hanging out
of his mouth, a gleam in
his eye. That may have
been the happiest 1 ever
saw him.
My wife brought to my
attention a fact 1 never
knew the other day. Ap
parently, whenever 1 am
talking with her and the
weather report goes on
1 immediately go silent
and give undivided atten
tion to the news. I guess
it’s another one of those
SEE KUDZU & CLAY 5A
Letter printing guidelines
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include the writer’s actual name, address and tele
phone number. Limit letters to 250 words or less.
Shorter letters are appreciated. All letters are subject
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political endorsements or letters that are racially
divisive.
Send letters to RO. Box 220, Barnesville, 30204,
email it to news@barnesville.com or drop it by 509
Greenwood Street, Barnesville.
FLASHBACK
In memory of
Elizabeth Sellers
Nov. 14-20
10 years ago
The Lamar County
Trojans advanced to
the second round of the
state football playoffs
with a 35-14 win over
Bleckley County. Lance
Austin led the LC attack
with 118 yards rushing
on 11 carries and two
touchdowns.
25 years ago
Parrish Georgia,
Inc. submitted the low
bid for the construc
tion of the new middle
school in the amount
of $6,312,662.00. School
superintendent Dr. Jim
Jenkins noted the sys
tem had only $6 million
on hand for the project.
50 years ago
Lynda Caldwell,
daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Bobby Caldwell,
was crowned homecom
ing queen at halftime
of the Gordon Military
College-Georgia Tech
freshman football game.
Her court included Lisa
Milam, Sheila Allen,
Susan Weldon and Mary
Beth Ellis.
100 years ago
Five of the prison
ers of Pike and four of
Lamar County escaped
from the jail in Ze-
bulon Tuesday night,
sawing the bars and
then breaking out the
window of the jail. It
occurred about mid
night. Lamar’s prison
ers were Will Collier,
under sentence for life,
C.L. Farley, Will Burke
or Whatley and Jasper
O’Neal. Sheriff Elliott
and Sheriff Marsh are
making every effort to
capture the escapees.
Zi)t Heraltr #a^tte
barnesville.com
770.358.NEWS
P.0. Box 220
Publishers
Staff
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