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4A ®J)£ Iferalti <©a?£tt£ Tuesday, December 14,2021
Opinions
Geiger's Counter: Saban's not Satan
but the devil's henchmen are around
I WAS WRONG!
Getting the football
part of this missive out of
the way first requires me
to admit that Nick Saban
is the best coach of all
time. 1 sat through to the
miserable end of the SEC
title game in Atlanta and
concluded I will never go
again.
Kirby Smart will never
beat his mentor. When
he manages to get in
the ring with Saban, he
chokes. Georgia’s stable
of five star defensive
backs looked like middle
schoolers when they
went up against Bryce
Young, Jameson Williams
and John Metchie.
1 expect Michigan to
rout UGA and put us out
of our misery. So, to be
clear. 1 WAS WRONG!
Now, on to the impor
tant stuff...
Glenn and Vickie
Forsyth have spent the
last decade or more run
ning the Empty Stocking
Fund (ESF). They have
space behind the former
Dollar General building
in Barnesville for stor
age. During the year, they
hit sales at the big box
stores, raking in toys for
the next batch of needy
kids. There is no short
age of them. Glenn and
Vickie hope to provide
gifts for nearly 300 kids
this year. In years past
the number has been
double that and more.
They had the storage
area filled with
toys and other
gifts. They have
a couple of oth
er rooms in the
building where
they store
personal stuff.
One October
day, Glenn and
Vickie opened
the building
and heard a
back door slam.
They watched
a couple with a
small child flee on foot.
It turned out the cou
ple had been squatting
in the building, dodging
Glenn and Vickie when
they stopped by. But,
these people weren’t just
squatters, they were pure
evil. They were
grinches with
capital Gs!
“They had
gone through
and twisted
the heads off
of every Barbie
doll. They broke
the screens on
every tablet.
They had set up
a changing table
for the baby.
They took our
meat from our
freezer and used my grill
to cook it,” Glenn told
those at the ESF After
Hours at United Bank last
week. “You know, if they
had asked me, 1 probably
would have let them live
there until they got a
place to stay,” he added
with tears in his eyes.
That’s the sort of
people Glenn and Vickie
are. They put the needs
of others ahead of their
own. Sadly, that is a
trait that is becoming
more and more rare in
this era of hateful social
media vitriol and soci
ety is worse off for it. 1
don’t see that situation
improving anytime in
the near future.
So, Dog fans, Saban is
not Satan he just owns
us. The real Satan was
at work in the hearts
of these grinches. 1 feel
sorry for their child but
there is not a hot enough
place in hell for them!
If you feel inclined to
help Glenn and Vickie
make up for this loss,
you can drop off un
wrapped toys or mon
etary donations at the
fire station in downtown
Barnesville. If you just
want to commiser
ate, give them a call at
770.468.1253.
Merry Christmas and
God bless us one and
all. We desperately need
it!
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.
GEIGER’S
COUNTER
Walter Geiger
Editor & Publisher
Kudzu & Clay:
River King
When you
are a kid living
at home you
don’t really
think about the
struggles
involved in
getting food
on the table.
It just appears
and you eat it.
When you need
clothes, they
just show up.
Band-aids? Here
they are. When 1
left for college in Savan
nah, Georgia, long ago, 1
naively didn’t consider
how I would survive, I fig
ured my parents would
take care of that. When
my parents sent me off
with a few MREs, a box of
rusty tools, and a coffee
can full of old screws and
nails, it started to sink
in. If 1 wanted to eat, 1
needed to get a job.
The good thing was
that there were a pleth
ora of jobs for a kid in a
tourist town like Savan
nah. 1 had been a waiter
for a good four months
prior to leaving, I could
do that. 1 got to work
pounding the pavement
(cobblestones) of his
toric River Street. 1 had
heard that waiters down
there made a sizable
amount of money with
the overpriced food and
droves of tourists. I went
into each restaurant and
gave them my resume
like a confident young
professional. 1 figured
I’d be hired in no time,
but every place 1 went
turned me away. Come
back when you have
more experience, kid.
Down on my luck, 1
was approached by a guy
that smelled slightly like
stale beer and was wear
ing an official-looking
nautical uniform. 1 don’t
know how he knew but
he asked if 1 was looking
for work. 1 said yes, he
asked me a few ques
tions about my experi
ence, and after 1 paid
him my last forty dollars
for a skipper’s uniform, 1
found myself the newest
employee setting sail
on the Savannah River
Queen.
If you have never had
the opportunity to ride
the Savannah riverboat
or any similar type of
touristy riverboat found
in most large cities with
a body of water, well my
friend, you do not know
what a tourist trap is. Ba
sically, these things are
huge pontoon boats with
a paddle on the back
that 1 am not convinced
actually propels because
it’s not moving half the
time. They have slick
brochures that advertise
luxurious sightseeing
trips and romantic din
ner cruises, but the real
ity is something
rather different.
1 started off
on the sight
seeing trips.
My job was to
restock souve
nir glasses at
the bar, make
sure the bath
rooms stayed
clean, and hand
out life jack
ets in case of
emergency. We
would go up and
down the Savannah River
and look at the sights,
which included some
ruins at one end and a
pulp mill at the other. A
week later I was promot
ed to the dinner cruise.
This is where the real fun
started.
My job was to assist
in bringing the food,
which was cooked at
some other facility,
onto the boat. The food
was served buffet style.
First, we’d put all the
salad stuff up. Then 1
had to gather plates and
scrape them off when
people were done eating.
Then we’d put up the
main course, which was
always a gristly looking
prime rib. Then, gather
plates and scrape them
off. Then desert, gather
plates, scrape them off.
There was no downtime
on the cruises. I was not
allowed to listen to the
lounge singer playing the
keyboard belting out “If
You hike Pina Coladas”
off key. No, when we
had downtime, we were
required to do our side
work.
Side work is common
with most restaurant
jobs. In this case, 1 had a
couple of options. 1 could
be the tea brewer. 1 could
be the coffee brewer. 1
could be the bar runner.
But my favorite of them
all was the roach killer.
Yes. The roach killer.
Because what Cheryl
and Buck from Vidalia,
Georgia, do not know as
they cruise past the pulp
mill on their 25th wed
ding anniversary, chomp
ing down on overcooked
prime rib, is that they
are sitting smack in the
middle of the largest bug
infestation south of the
Mason-Dixon.
In order to keep the
creepy-crawly problem
down, 1 got to stand by
the prime rib station
with a towel and, any
time 1 saw a bug, dis
patch it with great veloc
ity. If the colony wasn’t
running by the meat that
day they were usually by
the iced tea brewer or in
the plate cabinet where 1
would perform the same
executions. I asked why
they didn’t use bug spray
SEE KUDZU & CLAY 5A
KUDZU &
CLAY
Chris Walter
SPORTS
Lady Trojans win three more
The EC Fady Trojans
cemented their Top 10
ranking last week with
three more wins to run
their record to 7-2.
On Tuesday, they trav
eled to First Presbyterian
in Macon and rolled to
a 53-29 win behind a
22-point performance
from Tamya Blasingame.
Shy Foster was also in
double figures with 11
points.
Other scorers were
Alexia Jackson (6), Zhy
Foster (5), Journi Harris
(4), Kaylee Hamrick (3)
and Chelsea Scott (2).
Eater in the week, EC
notched wins over Social
Circle and Jackson. Scor
ing from those games
was unavailable at press
time.
The Trojans fell to FPD
72-56. Rontavious Fluel-
lyn led EC with 19 points.
Other scorers were Ray
Talmadge (11), Ty Head
(10), Josh Driver (10),
and CJ Allen (5).
The Trojans lost to
Social Circle but defeated
Jackson.
Famar hosts Monti-
cello tonight and travels
to Social Circle Friday.
Dec. 12-18
10 years ago
Bobby Caldwell, 64,
of Barnesville was cel
ebrating after winning
$4 million in a Georgia
Fottery instant game.
His wife Anita had
previously won $10,000.
The Caldwells planned
to buy a new home with
their winnings.
25 years ago
A Barnesville man
was charged with felony
murder and malice mur
der and facing a possi
ble death penalty after
a shooting at the Griffin
Waffle House. Christo
pher Bernard Mayes, 21,
allegedly shot and killed
Christopher Jester,
36. A second suspect,
Ronarico Williams was
also arrested. Mayes is
serving a life sentence
at Wilcox State Prison.
50 years ago
Floyd R. Snook, a
1928 graduate of Gor
don Military College,
died after deer hunting
with friends in Prat
tville, Alabama. He
was married to Maude
Hammond, daughter
of Pierce and Annie
Fambdin Hammond of
Barnesville.
100 years ago
Mr. John White Gar
land, one of the best
known and most highly
esteemed citizens of
Barnesville, died at
his home on Holmes
Street Thursday night
last week, Dec. 1, after
a week’s illness, the di
rect cause of his death
being due to blood
poison, resulting from
a small wound on his
hand....Mr. Garland’s
death cast a gloom over
the entire community,
and surrounding sec
tion, as he was widely
known among the
people.
Driving to the hoop
Lady Trojan Shy Foster (10) drives past a defender for an easy layup during recent action at
the LC gym. The Lady Trojans are ranked in the Top 10 and host Monticello tonight at 6 p.m.
In memory of
Elizabeth Sellers
Wfyt Heraltr
barnesville.com
770.358.NEWS
P.0. Box 220
Publishers
Staff
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