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4A ®Ijt l)pra(b <©a??ttc Tuesday, May 3,2022
Opinions
Geiger's Counter: A walk back in time
Every time I visit my
mother, sister and other
family in Savannah, 1
make it a point to walk to
the old neighborhood in
which 1 grew up. Mama
now lives in the Ardsley
Park neighborhood.
The walk to Fairway
Oaks where I lived until
1 was 15 and back is 4.6
miles, according to the
handy, dandy fitness app
on my Apple Watch. 1
realized as 1 walked that
I read the Dick Tracy
comic every day when
we lived there and mar
veled at Tracy’s watch
phone. Now, 55 years
later, 1 actually have a
watch with a phone and
so many other apps 1
have only tried to use a
few of them.
The area around Fair
way Oaks has changed
drastically but the
neighborhood itself is
virtually the same. There
is a historic marker at
the entrance noting the
subdivision was one of
the first planned commu
nities in the country.
All the houses 1 recall
except one are still
there. That one has been
replaced by a sleek, Cali-
fornia-style abode that is
cool but woefully out of
place among the ranches
and bungalows.
The entrance road
is Althea Parkway. It
seemed a lengthy park
way indeed when 1 was
small but is really only
two blocks long.
As 1 walked, 1
took in the shal
low ditches and,
in my mind, 1
could hear the
‘whop’ of our
skimboards hit
ting the standing
rain there as we
’surfed’ our way
to multiple cuts,
bruises, abra
sions and the
occasional trip
to the emergency
room.
1 turned onto Harlan
Drive where we lived
and recalled the names
of everyone who lived in
the houses as 1 passed
them. 1 got to our mod
est former home at 117
Harlan Dr. that
we moved out
of in Decem
ber 1969 and
the memories
flooded back.
Daddy
teaching me
to cut grass,
countless
football and
baseball games
on the yards,
basketball
games in the
driveways and,
sadly, the day Sassafras
our Dachshund decided
to chase a motorcycle.
Both the bike’s wheels
rolled over Sassy. She
ran to some bushes and
died.
We were crushed.
No pets had ever been
killed on our street.
While Daddy buried her,
Mama gave us ginger
ale to drink. 1 have a
distaste for ginger ale to
this day.
That was followed
by the remembrance of
the time 1 bought an ice
cream sandwich from
the truck that circled
through almost daily
filled with dairy de
lights. 1 got food poison
ing, was sick as a dog
and still cannot look at
an ice cream sandwich
without gagging.
Mostly 1 remembered
all our playmates. There
was a gang of us guys,
sprinkled with a few
girls, who roamed the
neighborhood. We had
heated BB gun wars in
a big ditch we called
Snake Canyon and got
into all sorts of mis
chief.
As 1 walked the
neighborhood at 10:30
on a Saturday morning, 1
didn’t see a single kid.
1 wondered where
they were.
1 wondered if they
knew what they were
missing by not getting
outside.
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@bamesville.com.
GEIGER’S
COUNTER
Walter Geiger
Editor & Publisher
A nation of
‘gimmes,’ The
politics of blame
-{•vi
KAY S. PEDROTTI
kayspedrotti@gmail.com
In a book 1 once read
there’s a quote that goes
something like, “The
path of blame is never
straight
like an
arrow,
but scat
tered
like rain
drops
in the
wind.”
Think
about how true that is
today in our country.
It’s always “some
body’s fault.” People
who used to have lunch
together now take sides
and don’t speak to each
other. Working together
with people of all shapes,
sizes, colors and opin
ions is very nearly a lost
art. The reason 1 used the
euphemism of “gimme”
in the headline is that
there are too many of
us out there who don’t
care about anybody but
ourselves. “Gimme ev
erything I want, not what
1 need,” is a common
failing.
Think about it. Ath
letes have always fought
on their fields over ref
erees’ or umpires’ calls,
but 1 have never in my
life seen a pitcher liter
ally tackle a homerun hit
ter on his way to home
plate. This is baseball? 1
think not. On one hand,
competition is getting
fiercely rough, some
times violently so; but
there are places where
people think competi
tion for younger children
should be eliminated
altogether. Nobody gets
the MVP trophy because
everyone does. In my
book, that discourages
children from striving
for excellence in their
schoolwork or in sports
- nothing to look forward
to, even if you if you
work hard.
Now we come to
“whose fault is it” that
we’ve lost so much kind
ness, common sense,
willingness to work, and
just plain manners. 1
cannot complain about
where 1 live, Lamar
County, as being one
of those places where
people have become
hateful. With my gray
hair has come a great
outpouring of help from
many younger people of
all kinds. 1 don’t think it’s
just “let’s help the old
lady,” but a sincere need
to be nice to people. It
also speaks volumes that
many of those young
people who have done
good deeds for me, male
or female, have been
wearing uniforms of the
military or law enforce
ment.
1 can tell you that
there is plenty of blame
to go around - no one
group or race or political
entity should bear it all.
If you’re a Republican,
you may think it’s all
the Democrats’ fault. If
you’re a Democrat you
may be likewise con
vinced that Republicans
are to blame for every
thing. These parties
get labeled with such
nonsense as “the party
of millionaires” or “the
party of tree-huggers.”
Whatever label you at
tach - if you do, which
1 hope you don’t - you
must accept a label for
yourself, because some
body inevitably will give
you one.
Not a single one of
us can be right about
everything, or wrong
about everything. In my
lifetime, there have been
14 United States Presi
dents (if 1 counted right
from the Wikipedia list),
generally bouncing back
and forth between each
party. Not a single one
of them was right about
everything, or wrong
about everything. Some
were thought better than
others - but that’s ac
cording to whether you
liked them or not.
It just could be that
politics closely re
sembles the Oklahoma
weather about which
Will Rogers notably said,
“Don’t like the weather?
Wait a few minutes - it’ll
change.” Just takes the
big guys a bit longer.
Kay S. Pedrotti has spent some 50
years writing for newspapers. She
is active in the Lamar County com
munity and lives in Milner with her
husband Bob Pedrotti.
Letter printing guidelines
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For a letter to be considered for publication, please
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 P.O. Box 220, Barnesville, 30204,
email it to news@barnesville.com or drop it by 509
Greenwood Street, Barnesville.
Boy Scout Troop 38 holds Court of Honor
Boy Scout Troop 38
held the Court of Honor
at Aldora United Meth
odist Church on Thurs
day, March 24 at 6:30.
The following 10 scouts
received a combined
total of 42 awards:
Aaron Crenshaw:
Pioneering MB, National
Outdoor Achievement
Award Camping, Nation
al Achievement Award
Conservation, National
Achievement Award Hik
ing and 50 Miler Award.
Heath Dorn: Citizen
ship in the Community
MB, Camping MB and
Pioneering MB.
Sam Edwards: Pio
neering MB, National
Outdoor Achievement
Award Camping, Nation
al Achievement Award
Conservation and
National Achievement
Award Hiking.
Robert Erickson:
Star Rank, Pioneering
MB, Cyber Chip Award
and National Outdoor
Achievement Award
Camping.
Wes Gassett: Emer
gency Preparedness
MB, Personal Fitness
MB, Pioneering MB, 50
Miler Award, National
Outdoor Achievement
Award Camping, Nation
al Achievement Award
Conservation, National
Achievement Award
Hiking.
Sam Oliver: Pio
neering MB, National
Outdoor Achievement
Award Camping, Nation
al Achievement Award
Conservation, National
Achievement Award Hik
ing, 50 Miler Award and
Fisher Peoples Pioneer
ing MB.
Josiah Raynie: Pio
neering MB, National
Outdoor Achievement
Award Camping, Nation
al Achievement Award
Conservation and
National Achievement
Award Hiking.
Tobias Raynie:
Pioneering MB, 50 Miler
Award (Eagle), National
Outdoor Achievement
Award Camping, Nation
al Achievement Award
Conservation and
National Achievement
award Hiking.
William Woodall: Star
Scout Rank, Pioneering
MB, Camping MB, Cyber
Chip Award and Na
tional Outdoor Achieve
ment Award Camping.
Five Scouts are set to
finish or have already
finished Eagle within a
year:
Aron Crenshaw: Eagle
Board completed, wait
ing on final paper work
(Next)
Heath Dorn: Project
finished, waiting on
paperwork and Eagle
Board.
Sam Edwards: Project
Assigned
Wes Gassett: Project
Assigned
Tobias Raynie: Com
pleted, ceremony held.
Troop cleaned Adams
Road from Rose Ave to
Greenwood Cemetery in
preparation for Mothers
Day.
Troop 38 meets every
Thursday 6:30 p.m. at
the Aldora United Meth
odist Church. John Gas
sett Scoutmaster, John
Briley Troop Committee
Chairman.
LAMAR
FLASHBACK
May 1-7
10 years ago
The Board of Regents
of the University System
of Georgia was seeking
input on changing the
name of Gordon College
to Gordon State College.
The school began gath
ering data from stake
holders. A decision was
expected in July.
25 years ago
A sampling of real
estate prices: 85-acre
cattle farm, fenced, cross
fenced, two streams,
pond, barn $250,000.
Large hunting tract, long
creek frontage, $80,000
timber value, planted
pine and original hard
woods. $1650 per acre.
50 years ago
Byron Smith and Law-
son Farmer of Barnesville
won the annual Four Ball
Invitational golf tour
nament at Thomaston
Country Club. They were
10 under over two days
at 134, one stroke better
than Dr. Doug Head and
Bethel Ingram. Each won
a set of Spalding irons.
100 years ago
An advertisement for
Florodora Cigars read,
“Here’s where all meet
on common ground.
The rich can pay more
but can’t get better”.
The cigars boasted all
Havana tobacco filler and
were “Good enough for
anybody”.
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