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Page 4 — Wednesday, January 20, 2021, The True Citizen
OPINIONS
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
The Pledge Of Allegiance
1 pledge, allegiance, to the flag
of the United States of America
and to the Republic for which
*it stands, one Nation under
God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
LOOKING BACK
{this week in Burke County history}
10 YEARS AGO-JANUARY 26,20ll
Plans for a 110-acre lake in the Yuchi Wildlife Management
Area were scrapped when $2 Million for the project were
“redirected” by State fisheries officials. State Rep. Gloria
Frazier said she was “upset but not surprised,” given the
unprecedented budget woes caused by the recession.
Suzanne Sharkey was named Community Information
Coordinator for Plant Vogtle. She would provide assistance to
those seeking employment or supplier opportunities at the site.
25 YEARS AGO-JANUARY 25, 1996
Ron Stone, grandson of Johnny Stone of Burke County,
was scheduled to play in the Super Bowl with the Dallas
Cowboys against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Stone was an
offensive lineman with the Cowboys and had been with the
team for three years.
Louia “Beaver” Sapp was named Citizen of the Year by
the Burke County Chamber of Commerce for his extensive
volunteer work with several local organizations.
Veteran State Representative Emory Bargeron announced
that he would retire at the end of this term. He had served the
district for 18 years.
50 YEARS AGO-JANUARY 20,1971
Former WHS football coach Bill Fulcher was named head
coach at the University of Tampa. Fulcher, whose annual
salary was set at $15,000, was selected over more than 60
other applicants.
Waynesboro city council approved a new charter which
did away with the ward system and provided that all council
members would be elected city-wide.
W.B.Gathings of Waynesboro was named Illustrious
Potentate of Alee Temple in Savannah at the group’s annual
meeting.
75 YEARS AGO-JANUARY 24, 1946
Newly elected directors of the Waynesboro Production
Credit Association were Frank W. Godbee and John R.
Palmer. Other directors were Dr. J.M. Byne, S.A. Jones and
D. Russell Wright.
E.E. Chance was recognized for 30 years as a dealer with
the B .F. Goodrich Company.
“Colonel Effingham’s Raid” Starring Charles Coburn was
playing at the Grand Theatre.
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POSITIVE NEWS
BEN ROBERTS
benroberts@bellsouth.net
It was suggested that I should
try to highlight some positive
news every once in a while
in this space, and I can’t say I
disagree. If you’re going to call
folks out for what you think
they got wrong, then it’s only
fair to point out the things they
get right from time to time as
well.
At last Tuesday’s Burke
County Commission meeting,
the commissioners once again
elected District 2 commis
sioner, Terri Lodge Kelly, as
their chairman.
Lucious Abrams made the
motion to nominate Kelly and
Evans Martin as vice-chairman.
The vote to approve was unani
mous among all hve commis
sioners.
Kelly is, of course, the coun
ty’s only female commissioner
and she is a small, soft-spoken
woman. What she lacks in
physical stature, however, is
made up for in her calm and
thoughtful demeanor. She does
not get excited, which is a
necessary trait when you’re
running a public meeting where
emotions can run high.
Kelly has led the commis
sion well, and I believe she will
continue to do so as she gains
more confidence in her position
and duties moving forward. Her
male counterparts were wise to
put her at the head of the table
again.
In a somewhat rare occur
rence, two department heads
made requests for personnel
changes within their office that
would affect their correspond
ing pay scales. It’s not that such
a request itself is rare but that
the change in staff positions
didn’t hit taxpayers in the wallet
that was the welcome change.
Chief magistrate Cynthia
Kelley did ask to promote a
position in her office but she
cancelled out any increase in
the budget by lowering another
position to make the salary
changes cancel each other out.
Facility maintenance direc
tor Josh Dailey also asked that
he be allowed to combine two
currently vacant positions in his
department into one. County
administrator Merv Waldrop
told commissioners Dailey
believed he could hire a more
qualified individual for the posi
tion by increasing the salary and
in doing so, increase his depart
ment’s ability to keep up with
their workload. Waldrop said
the request would save taxpay
ers roughly $18,000 this year.
The commissioners unani
mously approved both depart
ments’ requests.
Taxpayers may have also
caught a break in that a potential
buyer has come forward for the
recently acquired lots in Gough.
The three tax parcels were do
nated to the county back in the
fall but presented immediate
questions as to for what pur
pose the county might use them
due to their location and size.
One of the lots also contained
a fire-damaged structure that
presented a liability issue.
Waldrop recommended the
county advertise and accept
sealed bid offers to purchase
the property. A motion to do so
with a minimum bid amount
equal to the current taxes owed
and legal fees accumulated for
the county’s acceptance was
approved 4-1.
Abrams voted against the
measure, telling his fellow
commissioners and those in at
tendance that in order to serve
on the commission, one had to
have “vision.”
Abrams is right, we need
elected officials who can look
beyond today’s vote and their
own current term in office. Too
often our local leaders seem to
have lacked that forethought
Abrams is speaking of.
Admittedly though, I’ll dis
agree with the commissioner
for the need for three lots on a
side street in Gough.
The commissioners began
discussions last year about
how to get broadband internet
service throughout the county.
That’s vision. The construction
of the Family Y took vision.
The jury’s still out on the exact
plan, but a proposed water
system on the north end of
the county, if done correctly,
could be the kind of vision that
impacts this county long after
those of us currently having
such discussions are gone.
For more Burke County po
litical news, follow Bird Dog
Politics on Facebook,
Don Lively
Y'all do know that the first
cavemen were from the Blessed
South, right?
Take my word for it.
The first folks who lived in
caves, who invented fire and
ate mostly meat, had to be
Southerners.
The operative word being
fire.
Southerners love a good fire.
Like hrepits.
Think of five families that
you are close to. I'll bet you cash
money that most of them have
a hrepit, or at least a chiminea,
in the backyard.
Bonfires.
Here below the Mason-Dixon
line, we've perfected the art of
stacking brush and limbs and
logs to create a perfect wooden
pyramid that will burn for
hours.
Barbecue.
This doesn't need any com
ment other than to say that in
the South, slow roasting perfect
cuts of meat is done in com
petition and every competitor
requires, you guessed it, fire.
I love fire.
If I hadn't become a cop, I
might have chosen arson as a
profession.
I love to watch things burn.
That's not to say that all of my
experiences with fire have been
good ones.
When I was a young farmboy,
one of my chores was toting
stumps out of new ground,
wooded spaces that Daddy was
clearing to make fields. The
stumps were piled up on the
edge of the held in stacks as big
as a small house. One summer
my job was to burn the piles.
I was in my glory.
However, one day I got a
little over exuberant, showing
off to my big brother Urb, who
had just returned from travel
ing during part of that summer.
Apparently, I overdid it with the
gasoline I used to start the piles
burning. I also stood a bit too
close when I tossed the torch
at the fuel soaked, accelerant
point. Suddenly there was an
eruption and I was immediately
surrounded by flaming debris. I
turned and ran, and as soon as I
emerged from the inferno, I saw
HOT AS
Urb, always the smarter of the
two of us, standing thirty yards
away, laughing his fanny off at
my miscalculation.
Years later, as a street cop
Out West, I was dispatched
to an apartment fire, arriving
there before the fire department
arrived. As soon as I stepped
out of my cruiser, I was met by
a frantic man, informing me
that his neighbor's unit was on
fire and the neighbor was still
inside. To this day I still remem
ber that the witness was wearing
a black Megadeth tee shirt.
"Give me your tee shirt," I
ordered.
"What?"
"Give me the shirt!"
He complied and I wrapped
the shirt over my mouth and
nose and went into the apart
ment which by then was totally
involved. The tee shirt smelled
like marijuana and sweat until I
was inside, then it just smelled
like thick smoke. I couldn't
see anything and the shirt did
very little to block the fumes. I
searched as well as I could un
der the circumstances and after
what seemed like a half hour
inside, but was actually less
than three minutes, I had to get
out. The first thing I saw when
my eyes stopped watering was
the shirtless witness standing
there with another man.
"Uh, this is him. He wasn't in
there after all."
I wanted to punch both of
them but before I could a para
medic made me get in an ambu
lance and breathe pure oxygen
for a half hour.
Still, I love fire.
I once sat around a fire on a
beach on Maui with some other
travelers as they smoked clams
over the flames. I don't like
clams so I ate hot dogs instead,
but the fire was perfect.
Another time while driving
through the Scottish Southern
Highlands, on a cool March
morning, I spotted a dozen
kids dancing around a large fire
while a misty rain fell over the
landscape. I didn't get to warm
myself by that fire, but the vi
sual will stay with me forever.
Many times during my years
in the Rockies I took my kids
camping and we'd keep a fire
going continuously to roast
wienies and marshmallows.
continued on page 7