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Page 4A - Pike County Journal Reporter - Wednesday, October 13, 2021
Opinions
Ruffin’s Renderings: Televised frights
As we approach the
Halloween season, 1 find
myself reflecting on my
earliest exposure to clas
sic horror films.
My initiation into scary
movies came via the Dial
ing for Dollars television
program in the 1960s. As
best 1 can recall, it aired
on weekday afternoons
just before the local
news. A television per
sonality named Freddie
Miller—who later became
well-known as a host of
Georgia Championship
Wrestling and its succes
sor World Championship
Wrestling, which 1 also
faithfully watched—
hosted the program.
(Wikipedia says that
Linda Faye Carson and
Don Barber were the first
Atlanta hosts. 1 have no
reason to doubt it, but
1 don’t remember them
doing so.) During breaks
in the day’s movie, Miller
would call people on the
telephone and give them
the opportunity to win
some money—thus the
program’s name.
1 wasn’t interested in
the dollars that Mr. Miller
dialed for, but the movies
fascinated me. Dialing for
Dollars introduced me to
such films as Tarantula!,
Them!, The Blob, The
Thing (From Another Plan
et), the Hammer Films-
produced Dracula (and its
sequels), and many other
horror and science-fiction
classics. Most of them
were pretty cheesy, but
their cheesiness was (and
is) part of their charm.
Some of you remember
a late-night host of hor
ror movies who went by
the name Dead Earnest.
The program aired in the
early 1970s on
Friday nights on
Atlanta’s WTCG
Channel 17 (be
fore it entered
its glory days as
the Superstation
WTBS). A simi
lar program, this
one hosted by
a ghoul named
Sammy Terry
(get it?), ran on
a station in In
dianapolis for thirty years
beginning in the 1960s.
And then there was
(and is) Svengoolie, who
began hosting horror
movies on a Chicago sta
tion in 1970. The original
Svengoolie was later
replaced by someone
known as Son of Svengoo
lie. The “Son of” part of
the name was eventually
dropped, and the second
Svengoolie has hosted
classic horror
films under that
name in Chicago
since 1995.
1 don’t live in
Chicago, but for
tunately Me-TV
carries the Sven
goolie program
at 8:00 p.m.
on Saturday
nights. We build
our Saturday
night schedule
around it. In fact, the only
things that we allow to
preempt Svengoolie are
a Mercer Bears football
game (Go Bears!), a Geor
gia Bulldogs football game
(Go Dawgs!), or an Atlanta
Braves post-season game
(Go Braves!). By pri
oritizing Svengoolie in our
television-watching sched
ule, we have recently seen
such cinematic cheese as
Blood of Dracula (in which
the title character doesn’t
appear), Abbott and Costel
lo Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde, House on Haunted
Hill, and Gargoyles (the
hands-down greatest
made-for-TV horror movie
ever produced).
Those who are wise
enough to watch Svengoo
lie are also blessed with
corny songs, terrible jokes
and puns, and thrown rub
ber chickens.
Every once in a while,
Svengoolie shows a legiti
mate classic. A few weeks
ago he aired Dracula, star
ring Bela Lugosi. And just
last Saturday, he featured
Frankenstein with Boris
Karloff. Speaking of Fran
kenstein, I’d like to offer a
public service, just in case
you ever come across our
grandson Sullivan and the
subject of Frankenstein
comes up (and why would
it not?). If it does, do not,
under any circumstances,
refer to the monster as
“Frankenstein.” If you do,
Sullivan will correct you
(as he should) by inform
ing you that the proper
nomenclature is “Fran
kenstein’s monster.” He
is right (of course). The
scientist’s name is Fran
kenstein. The monster is
Frankenstein’s monster.
You might ask why a
four-year-old boy knows
and cares about such
things. He knows and
cares about such things,
my friends, because facts
matter. It is a principle to
which 1 hope he holds for
the rest of his life. 1 wish
more of us held to it.
Mike Ruffin is a Barnesville native
who lives and works in Macon. His
new book, Praying with Matthew, is
available at helwys.com and Amazon.
SPECIAL PHOTO
The burn ban in Georgia is currently lifted but several ma
terials are still illegal to burn, including household waste
which could cause toxic and/or carcinogenic compounds
in the environment after they are burned.
Why is there a burn
ban? What materials
shouldn’t be burned?
The burn ban has
been lifted. All those
raked leaves and hand-
piled natural vegetation
are legally able to be
burned at this time.
However, backyard
burning is a more
serious threat to public
health and the environ
ment than previously
believed and has been
banned by many state
and local governments.
Burning household
waste produces many
toxic chemicals and
is one of the largest
known sources of diox
ins in the nation.
Dioxins are formed
when products contain
ing carbon and chlorine
are burned. They are
highly toxic, long-last
ing organic compounds.
They are dangerous
even at extremely low
levels and have been
linked to several health
problems, including
cancer and develop
mental and reproduc
tive disorders.
Dioxins accumu
late in the food chain.
Airborne dioxins can
settle onto feed crops,
which are then eaten
by domestic meat and
dairy animals. Dioxins
also can settle on water
or enter waterways
through soil erosion.
These dioxins accu
mulate in the fats of
animals, and then in
humans when we con
sume meat, fish, and
dairy products.
So what is the take
away? Hand-piled natu
ral vegetation is safe
and legal to burn now.
(As is land clearing and
prescribed burns.) But
it is still illegal to burn
household garbage.
Maximum fines can be
up to $25,000 per day
per violation. Be sure
you are burning the
correct material so as
not to compromise the
health and safety of
yourself, your neigh
bors, and the environ
ment.
NAVIGATING LIFE’S CURVES
Mary Musgrove, female pioneer of Georgia
BY BARBARA LATTA
kbkj@bellsouth.net
Mary
Musgrove,
a member
of the Creek
tribe of Na
tive Ameri
cans, was
influential in
aiding James Oglethorpe in
his exploration and settle
ment of Georgia. She acted
as interpreter and peace
maker between Ogletho
rpe and Yamacraw Indian
chief, Tomochichi in the
founding of Savannah.
She was born in 1700 in
the Creek nation, Coweta,
to an English trader and
a Creek mother. She was
named Coosaponakeesa.
One of her brothers was
chief of the Coweta. Her
father frequently took her
and her younger brother
to Pon Pon, South Caro
lina, where she learned
English and changed her
name to Mary.
Her mixed heritage
did not prevent her from
being accepted as a full
member of the Creek na
tion and Wind clan. She
straddled both worlds in
culture and language.
In 1717, she married
John Musgrove, an English
trader. The couple had
three children that all died
at a young age. John and
Mary set up a trading post
around the Savannah Riv
er. Her husband and some
other Creeks accompa
nied James Oglethorpe on
a trip to England in 1734
and the Georgia Trustees
granted some land to the
Musgrove couple in Yam
acraw Bluff up from the
Savannah River.
John died in 1735
which created an inheri
tance problem for Mary.
Her husband owned their
land in South Carolina
and 500 acres in Georgia.
According to Georgia law,
beneficiaries of land were
sons, but all of Mary’s chil
dren had died.
She married again
in 1737 to Jacob Mat
thews, according to some
historians, so she could
keep the land. Matthews
was one of the indentured
servants of John and Mary
and much younger than
his bride. They set up
another trading post near
the Altamaha River. Jacob
died in 1742.
Mary married for the
third time to Reverend
Thomas Bosomworth.
Her union with Thomas
brought Mary’s societal
status up a notch. Her pre
vious husbands had been
from lower colonial status,
but Thomas held a higher
position as a member of
the clergy.
As a couple, Thomas
and Mary continued the
connection between Creek
villages, Oglethorpe, and
the King of England. They
taught the Muskogee
language to missionaries
and invited Creeks and
Americans to their home.
Mary is mostly remem
bered for land dealings
that resulted in contro
versy. In 1737, Tomochi
chi granted her a plot
of land near the Savan
nah River, but the claim
was unsettled when she
married Thomas. A few
years later, Chief Malat-
chi granted the couple
three islands the Native
Americans claimed as
theirs—Ossabaw, Sapelo,
and St. Catherine’s. Britain
refused to recognize these
claims as legitimate on the
grounds that land could
not be granted to individu
als, only to governments,
which seems contradicto
ry as John and Mary were
granted land in Yamacraw
Bluff a few years earlier.
She refused to give in to
the British government. In
1749, along with 200 Creek
Indians, she traveled to
England to state her case.
The Georgia Board of
Trade referred her back to
the Georgia courts. When
she returned to America,
the land was under Geor
gia’s rule.
In 1760, she reached
a compromise with
Georgia royal governor
Henry Ellis. She was given
£2100 and the right to St.
Catherine’s Island. She
relinquished the other
lands and died on St. Cath
erine’s in 1763.
Some sources state
Mary’s husband, Thomas
Bosomworth, was a shady
fellow and pressured
Mary into appealing to the
Indians to make her queen
of the Creeks and bestow
the sea islands into her
possession. There is a
report of a semi-violent
revolt led by Thomas to
force Georgian authority
to recognize the couple’s
ownership of the three
islands. There is no tran
script of his date of death,
but he is not mentioned in
the sources citing her trip
to England in 1749.
Despite that dark blot
on their historical docu
mentation, this biracial
woman’s aid to James
Oglethorpe, no doubt,
increased the speed he
could advance on Geor
gia lands. Without her as
interpreter from 1733-
1743, his task would have
been more complicated.
She was the Georgia
equivalent of Pocahontas
or Sacagawea. The trading
posts provided sup
plies for explorers in the
regions where she and her
husbands had established
businesses. Her diplomat
ic skills aided in relaying
messages between the
British crown, James
Oglethorpe, and settlers.
Mary Musgrove was
inducted into the Georgia
Women of Achievement
in 1993 and should be
remembered as a con
tributor to the history of
Georgia’s settlements and
one of the first icons of
women’s rights.
Pike County Journal Reporter's letter printing guidelines
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Drop letters by the
office on the court
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Zebulon, 30295, fax
them to 770.567.8814
or email them to
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For additional
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Pike County
Journal
Reporter
www.pikecountygeorgia.com
P.O. Box 789
16026 Barnesville St.
Zebulon, Ga. 30295
770.567.3446
The Pike County Journal
Reporter is the official
organ of Pike County, the
cities of Zebulon, Moiena,
Meansville, Williamson
and Concord. It is
published weekly by
Hometown Newspapers
Inc. Second class
postage is paid at the
Zebulon, Ga Post Office.
Publishers: Walter and
Laura Geiger; staff:
Jennifer Taylor,
Brenda Sanchez and
Rachel McDaniel.
AT PIKE
BY BWAIN W. PENN
100 YEARS AGO
October 14, 1921: The Meansville Woman’s Im
provement Club met this week at Mrs. C.S. Slade’s
home. After helpful information and plans of work
were given, iced tea and sandwiches were served.
75 YEARS AGO
October 17, 1947: Zebulon high school seniors
elected officers: Vice President Charles McKinley,
Treasurer Carolyn Reeves, and Reporters Jacque
lyn Harden and Robert Bates. Senior Bette Bush
was elected class president, secretary and Captain
of the reorganized school patrol.
50 YEARS AGO
October 15, 1971: Pike County High School
started driver’s training in the curriculum, taught
by Allen Easton. A prominent auto agency provid
ed a 1972 car for training and school use with 24
students enrolled; 20 the next semester.
25 YEARS AGO
October 16, 1996: The Concord Country
Jubilee made history this year. After a few years
of hosting the event in the fall and spring, 1996
was the year it went back to an annual festival on
October 19 and 20.