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TheTrue Citizen, Wednesday, March 16,2011 — Page 5
Dixie Divas
Burke Happenings
By Ronda Rich
There is something about the
banging of a screen door - soft,
sweet
and low
that
warms
the in
nards of
my be
ing.
Per
haps it is
that it
takes me back through a jour
ney of memories to a time when
everyone I loved was still alive.
That is, I suppose, the greatest
loss of innocence for me,
though there have been many.
For I failed to realize then that
so many folks I cherished would
all too soon become mere
memories decorated by names
etched in stone. Mortality was
something I simply did not un
derstand nor cared to compre
hend.
Throughout my childhood,
there are scattered memories of
softly banging screen doors,
ones that usually had a slight
squeaking from the aging spring
that controlled the motion of the
door.
“It’s cornin’ up a cloud,”
THE CALLING OF
Mama would say. “Run out
there quick and get the clothes
off the line.”
I’d dart out the kitchen door,
throwing the screen door open
so fast and hard that it hit the
side of the house, then hear it
close with a loud thump behind
me.
Every night, I’d hear the
squeak of the spring as the door
opened and knew that Daddy
was home before he turned the
knob and pushed open the heavy
wood door.
There was not a spring or
summer morning that Mama did
not push open with a nudge of
her right elbow, the screen door
leading to the side porch and
tote out a pan of dishwater.
Dedicated to her Scotch-Irish
upbringing, she did not waste a
drop of anything. The discarded
liquid was used to water her
flowers, most especially her
prized red roses.
Growing up in a house with
out air conditioning, I recall
those screen doors were vital in
letting in the gentle breezes as
well as the smell of fragrant
honeysuckle and the occasional
scent of cow manure. Since the
house was brick, the yard was
Other Voices
A SCREEN DOOR
well shaded with mighty trees
and since the small, cooling river
was only fifty or sixty yards
from the back door, we were
often cool enough, with the ex
ception of a few miserable days
in late July. To this day, I still
prefer minimum air condition
ing, choosing, instead, open
windows, ceiling fans and, yes,
screen doors.
Sometime during my young
adulthood, Mama and Daddy
gave up those trusty screen
doors, trading them in for more
efficient storm doors. I remem
ber strongly my heart’s sadness
when I visited and found the
shining aluminum and glass that
had replaced wood and screen.
I moaned about it a bit to
which Mama unsympathetically
replied, “Aw, hush. This is much
better.”
But I’ve gotten the last word.
I suppose you knew I would.
Now that I own the house, I
make the decisions. Finally.
After the unfortunate water line
break and the subsequent recon
struction, I righted that wrong
my parents had done when they
cruelly removed the screen
doors. It took five months, a
nice contractor, a helpful insur
ance company and untold hours
of mine to reconstruct the
house. It felt like the renova
tion had become my full-time
job.
“We’re going to have to re
place these outside doors,” said
the contractor and the insurance
adjuster agreed.
Immediately, I saw my chance
to rid my beloved childhood
home of those horrid storm
doors and replace them with the
appropriate screened ones,
happy to pay any additional ex
pense. I laugh now at my seri
ousness in picking out the per
fect doors. You would have
thought I was selecting a fine
crystal chandelier for Carnegie
Hall. To me, though, it was
more important than that.
Each one of those doors
brings a big smile to my face
when I look at it. And each time
I walk out the door and hear the
stretch of the spring, and the
thump of the door as it closes,
my heart sighs contently.
There’s nothing like hearing
the echoes of a happy childhood.
Ronda Rich is the best-sell
ing author of What Southern
Women Know About Faith. Visit
www. rondarich. com
WHS Class of 1959
Members of the class of
Waynesboro High and Industrial
School are looking for addresses
or phone numbers of fellow
classmates. If you have any con
tact information, call Mary
Gainer Kelly at 706-871-1247,
Ruby Jackson Mack at 706-554-
5693 or Mae Ida Bennett Birt
at 706-554-7109. They are try
ing to plan a reunion for Au
gust.
SCLC
A Jefferson County Georgia
Chapter Burke County Circuit
meeting will be held 4 p.m.,
Friday, March 25, at the Burke
County Library, located on
Highway 24 in Waynesboro.
Girls’ Night Out
Town and Country Woman’s
Club is planning a Girls’ Night
Out in China Town 7 p.m.,
Thursday, March 31, at the
Burke County Office Park Au
ditorium.
Dinner, a fashion show fea
turing styles from Chico’s of
Augusta, and a performance by
Steve Chappell honoring the
memory of Elvis are special fea
tures of the evening. Jittery Joe
coffee provided by Burke Perk
and door prizes round out the
night.
Tickets are available from
any club member for $30. For
more information, contact
Linda Alexander at 706-554-
5385 or by e-mail at
alexanderprop@msn.com.
BCMS school council
The Burke County Middle
School school council will meet
at 3:45 p.m., Thursday, March
17, in the BCMS conference
room.
Yard Sale
The Waynesboro Optimist
Club will have a yard sale at the
Southern Bank pavilion on Sat
urday, April 2 at 8 a.m. Pro
ceeds will be used to provide
scholarships for area youth.
Plant sale
A plant sale is set for March
28-April 2 at Burke County
High School.
Buy begonias, ferns, peppers,
tomatoes, impatiens and more
from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m.
Rape Crisis/Sexual
Assualt Services
Training
Rape Crisis and Sexual As
sault Services will have volun
teer training May 12-16, at Uni
versity Hospital. Volunteers will
receive 23 hours of training in
order to become advocates for
victims of sexual assault. Advo
cates must be able to respond to
Burke Medical Center within 30
minutes. For more information,
call 706-774-2746 or 706-724-
5200.
COMMUNICATION
By F. Leslie Jenkins Jr.
Burke Banter Boy
Since the beginning of time,
and certainly since God confused
the speech and language of man
kind at the Tower of Babel, the
peoples of this Earth have been
trying to understand each other.
God feared men and women
would get too smart for their
britches, so he twisted their
tongues and scattered them
throughout the world. Even Eve
misunderstood the commands of
God. Do not eat the fruit or
touch the tree in the midst of
the garden for you will surely
die, so she and Adam were mis
lead by the serpent and they
died. Cain misunderstood God’s
expectation of offerings from
the heart, so out of jealousy he
murdered Abel.
Today, a cell phone compa
nies’ advertisement wants to
make certain its customers can
be heard and understood from
any place in the world. Their
technician roves the planet and
from the most remote places he
ask, “Can you hear me now”?
In our need to communicate
with others, we frequently use
questions such as: “Do you un
derstand me?, Do you know
what I’m saying?, Are you lis
tening?, Do you hear me?”
Down South we use just one
word or maybe two, and they
after most every sentence;
“Hear” or “You hear.”
The lack of properly commu
nicating has lost battles for
armies, has lost money for busi
nesses, has lost the lover his
sweetheart, and sadder still,
many lives have been lost when
the right words were not heard.
Our greatest fault seems to be
that even when we do commu
nicate, we fail to understand
each other. Time and time again
men will settle on a plan of ac
tion only to see it thwarted when
one or the other get their wires
crossed. “The best laid plans of
mice and men is what might
have been”. What might have
been if there had been the right
communications. Poor commu
nications are the worse problem
to beset the human race.
Throughout the centuries
mankind has continually devel
oped his means of
comunications. From the beat of
African drams to the fast run
ners of the Roman Empire, the
message was delivered. From
the Tom Toms and smoke sig
nals, to the Pony Express, the
word got through. On the sea,
Semaphore and Signal Flags
were used to communicate with
ships of both friend and foe.
Then came the modern age.
First was the telegraph and soon
afterwards the telephone. Soon
the Continent was spanned with
telegraph and telephone wires
from coast to coast. Next cable
was laid beneath the ocean’s
surface and soon the whole
world was connected. But the
marvels didn’t stop there. Ra
dio was invented and the voice
of man could be heard around
the world. It traveled upon the
air waves alone. While radio
was still in its infancy television
came upon the scene. Marvel of
marvel images could be trans
ported through the air as well.
Now we have the Internet. Will
these miracles never cease?
Even with all these new fangled
means of talking and seeing one
another, are we communicating
any better?
As can be seen communica
tions between men can be poor,
poorer and poorest. But when
County to assist with grading
on Lichtenberg/Galaxy expansion
By Angie Lee
adlee863 @ hotmail
County roads personnel will
help a local industry prepare for
expansion at the Lichtenberg
site in Waynesboro. Burke
County Commissioners said the
county will help with “rough
grading” necessary to expand
Lichtenberg Holdings Galaxy
Building.
The development au-
thority still must offi
cially weigh on the plan,
however.
At its March 8 meet
ing, the board approved
a “memorandum of un
derstanding” between it
self, the Development
will focus on basic improve
ments. It will not include silt
fencing, piping, etc.
In other business, Burke
County’s Land Development
Code will soon be revised.
Commissioners approved the
first reading of a measure that
will clean up a paragraph that
gave an exemption from the
subdivision process to plats
‘You’ve got to make tough
decisions if you want the
county to go forward, ”
Lucious Abrams
way 25. Nearly 10 acres of land
is involved. The three property
owners are Jason B. Smith, Rob
ert and Deberinia McKinzie,
and Johnny Christian.
Commissioners discussed the
proposal at length before Com
missioner Lucius Abrams
moved to start the process.
“You’ve got to make tough
decisions if you want the county
to go forward,” the com
missioner said.
Commissioner Henry
Tinley seconded Abrams’
motion and the board ap
proved the measure.
The panel okayed a
new drag testing policy
for the Burke Transit
Authority of Burke County and
Lichtenberg Holdings II, LLC.
Lichtenberg has operated at the
location for years.
It wants to add nearly 65,793
square feet to the facility. Ex
pansion will include real prop
erty improvements and building
fixtures the company will con
struct.
Rough grading will be accom
plished on the land on which
new improvements will be lo
cated. Commissioners agreed
the county’s portion of the work
where no new roads were cre
ated.
“It gets rid of a loophole,” said
Merv Waldrop, county admin
istrator.
Commissioners will consider
the change for final adoption
when it meets in April.
With an eye on completing a
road paving project, commis
sioners voted to invoke eminent
domain proceedings to obtain
three parcels of property needed
to complete paving on Coleman
Young Road, between Porter
Carswell Road and State High-
System. Officials said the move
is necessary if the county wants
to receive federal funds for the
transit operation.
Officials said the new policy
requires additional testing for
transit employees.
Commissioners okayed three
beer license requests. The first
is for Annie Bell Blount at 3193
Farmers Bridge Road. The sec
ond is for Nirav Shah at 138
Highway 23 South. The third
is for Rena Flakes at the Kurve
Kuntry Store, 158 Porter
Carswell Road.
it comes to men communicat
ing with women it is a total di
saster. Women use the opposite
side of the brain from men.
That in itself is hairier enough.
Women and men seem never to
have thoughts or ideas that are
aligned. I back this statement up
by the fact that I have been liv
ing with the same woman for
over 62 years. Though we do
agree on occasion it is usually
because I concede to
the”stronger sex.” What man
can withstand the logic of a
woman? Of course I jest. My
wife and I communicate quite
nicely. We contribute the lon
gevity of our union to the fact
that we are able to communi
cate. There is only one other
person with whom one should
have better communications
than their spouse, and that is the
Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ greatly desires to
have regular communications
with you.
To communicate with Jesus
one has no need for a cell phone,
nor a land line, no email nor
snail mail, just open your heart
in prayer. You will not be put
on hold, here is no time limit
and the charges are prepaid. Talk
as long and as often as you wish,
but be silent at times and listen
to God. He probably has a mes
sage for you.
Looking Back
10 years ago: March 14, 2001
Gary Safe International announced it would close its local
manufacturing plant. Approximately 75 workers would lose their
jobs.
Capital City Bank, headquartered in Tallahassee, Fla. began
doing business here after acquiring the Waynesboro branch of
First Union Bank.
The Medical College of Georgia Keysville Family Health Cen
ter was averaging 3-4 patients per day. The facility, housed in a
temporary location next to the community building, provided
basic physicals, immunizations, diabetic and hypertension man
agement and basic wound care.
25 years ago: March 13,1986
Burke County Commissioners voted to buy four new sheriff’s
patrol cars for $10,722 each from Cates Auto Sales. The panel
also agreed to build the first rural fire station in the McBean
area.
Waynesboro business and civic leader Henry C. Daniel died at
the age of 75.
Hearings were being held by the Nuclear Regulatory Commis
sion on the operating licenses for Plant Vogtle.
50 years ago: March 16,1961
Midville eighth grader Amanda Holloway won top honors in
the Burke County Spelling Bee.
Former Washington Redskins player Bill Fulcher was sched
uled to speak at “Christian Athletes Night” at the Waynesboro
Methodist Church. Fulcher, a native of Augusta with ties to Burke
County, had played football at Georgia Tech before joining the
Redskins in 1957.
John Gardner, general manager of Perfection Products, was
elected president of the Waynesboro Rotary Club.
75 years ago: March 13,1936
Russ Cohen, head football coach at the University of Cincin
nati, spoke to the Waynesboro Rotary Club on the various as
pects of college football.
“The Eagle’s Brood” starring William Boyd as Hopalong
Cassidy was playing at the Grand Theatre.
Character. Responsibility. Achievement. Faith.
€tmtunb liutlit Scabem.p *■
www.burkeacademy.org
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