Newspaper Page Text
Page 4A — Wednesday, April 14, 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-APRIL 13,20ll
Waynesboro Middle School counselor Heather Newman
Hart, 34, of Evans, turned herself in to authorities after being
charged with aggravated child molestation, aggravated sod
omy and other charges in connection with an alleged sexual
relationship with a 14 year-old student.
Arabid cat attack had the citizens of Sardis concerned about
a possible outbreak. The cat had bitten a man and at least five
dogs before being trapped and confirmed rabid.
Construction began on a new $1 million well and water
plant on North Liberty Street. The project, funded by grants
and loans from the Environmental Protection Agency, would
replace the problem-plagued well which had been constructed
at the site in 1994.
25 YEARS AGO-APRIL 18,1996
Waynesboro Police Chief H.L. Ivey, who had led the depart
ment for the past 12 years, announced his retirement because
of health issues. He had been a police officer since 1977.
Joanne Dixon said she would be a candidate for the Repub
lican nomination for the Georgia House seat held by Alberta
Anderson. Anderson had defeated Dixon in a special election
the year before by only 57 votes.
U.S. Senator Paul Coverdell spoke to a group of local citi
zens at the Burke County Airport while on a tour of the state.
50 YEARS AGO-APRIL 14,1971
Miss Martie Rannenberg of Waynesboro, a senior at the
University of Georgia, recently completed the annual spring
tour as a soloist with the Georgia Singers.
Owners John Moseley and Bobby Fulcher announced that
remodeling and expansion of Burke Drug Co. had been com
pleted. The building’s colonial exterior was one of several
added to local buildings here recently.
Cathy Louise Mallard of Waynesboro received her nurse’s
cap in ceremonies at the Georgia Baptist Hospital School of
Nursing in Atlanta. The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Horace
Mallard, she is in her first year of training at the school.
70 YEARS AGO - APRIL 19,1951
Frank Griffin, defending champion in the 100-yard dash,
would lead the WHS Purple Hurricanes in the First District
Track Meet in Statesboro. Billy Hopper would lead the tennis
team in the district meet, with help from Jones Skinner, Louis
Pintchuck, Jack Wilson and Jimmy Radcliffe.
Edwin Fulcher opened an insurance agency in Waynesboro.
He represented Travelers, Aetna and other companies.
Mrs. Dade Durden announced that Confederate Memo
rial Day Services would be held at the school auditorium
Thursday, April 26.
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Cte €mt Ciiisrn
9
P.O. Box 948 • 629 Shadrack Street
Waynesboro, Georgia 30830
Telephone: (706) 554-2111 • Fax: (706) 526-4779
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Citizen, P.O. Box 948, Waynesboro, GA 30830.
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BEN ROBERTS
benroberts@bellsouth.net
More economic growth could
be headed to Waynesboro with
two proposed projects dis
cussed at a meeting of the city’s
Planning Commission and the
Zoning Board of Appeals &
Adjustments this past Monday
evening.
The first is the renovation
and conversion of the office
building at 538 Liberty Street -
across from the former Golden
Pantry -originally known as the
Waynesboro Armory. Liberty
Street Lofts is planned to be six
to eight loft-style rental units
geared toward the “young pro
fessional.” The developer, Vida
Properties Texas, imagines it
as a residential destination for
young teachers or professionals
coming to Burke County who
don’t want or need a full blown
house yet.
There have been attempts,
or proposed attempts, at some
downtown apartments in the
past but for various reasons
those projects never came to
fruition. Some might say the
lack of support from Waynes
boro officials being one of the
chief hurdles.
A conditional use permit al
lowing residential housing in a
commercial district was unani
mously recommended for ap
proval by the Waynesboro Plan
ning Commission. That request
and recommendation was then
approved by the Zoning Board
of Appeals & Adjustments (full
disclosure: I am a member of
that five-person board) allowing
the project to move ahead.
The second development
was a request to rezone 2.2
acres on Woodland Road, off
the Waynesboro bypass, that
was once part of the Louisiana
Pacific wood yard. The current
owners, Scott and Jacquelyne
Telgren, of Augusta, requested
the property be zoned commer
cial to allow for the construction
of a new skating rink, bowling
alley and gaming arcade.
This proposal faces some
logistical challenges due to its
location. The property is actu
ally just over four acres, cut in
half by the city limits. There
is a defunct 5,800-square foot
office building on the county’s
portion that is not currently
zoned for the type of use its
owners would need to legally
operate their facility. According
to both city and county officials,
the building has multiple code
and safety issues.
Then of course, there’s the
problem of having a single
piece of property that falls un
der the ordinances and usage
codes for two different munici
palities. That’s going to present
legal issues for the owners and
the city and the county at some
point in the future.
It’s an ambitious project
but one that has the potential
to provide a local venue for
much-needed entertainment for
children, youth and families.
There was a front page story a
couple of weeks ago about test
scores for the Burke County
public schools. It was difficult
to understand for multiple rea
sons, one of which is the fact
that federal and state teaching
and testing standards are a
mish-mash of complicated and
sometimes conflicting guide
lines and goals.
The school system is just like
any other entity: it is run by hu
man beings which means it will
never be perfect. There are great
teachers and administrators just
as there are mediocre and poor
teachers and administrators,
again, just like any other busi
ness or profession.
But we live in a world where
there is no such thing as person
al responsibility any more. Our
schools are no longer expected
to simply teach students, they
have to feed them, discipline
them, nurture them and, in some
cases, show them the love they
do not receive at home.
That is an incredibly high
standard for a government
agency to live up to.
We, as parents, have respon
sibilities. It is our job to pre
pare our children to succeed in
school. We should be partners
with our children’s schools and
their teachers, holding up our
end of the bargain to ensure our
child gets the most out of what
is being offered.
If we’re going to use stan
dards that measure whether a
particular school is “failing,”
maybe we should consider how
many of its parents are getting
a passing grade as well.
For more Burke County po
litical news, follow Bird Dog
Politics on Facebook
Don Lively
CIRCLING THE SUN
It was a beautiful spring eve
ning in the mountains of North
Georgia.
My brothers and I and our
brides were in the mountain
house of a friend enjoying a few
days away. The ladies had all
retired to bed, and the menfolk
were having a discussion while
also alternating between watch
ing a rain delayed Nascar race
and the classic TV event, Band
Of Brothers.
We were discussing the prop
er way to place a roll of toilet
paper on a toilet paper holder.
Important stuff.
We never came to a resolu
tion; it was two to one for over
the top. It will remain dead
locked in perpetuity, since none
of the three or of us are ever
likely to change positions.
Pardon the pun.
This was how I spent part of
the evening of my most recent
birthday.
I wouldn't have had it any
other way.
Through the years, I’ve hon
estly never gotten too excited
about my birthday unless it
ended in a zero or a five, the
ones I considered milestones.
But these days, as each pass
ing year brings me closer to
what I consider old age, I tend
to ponder more about birthdays
than I used to.
Pondering about my life and
the lives of those around me
is what gives me the ideas to
scribble about. Pondering is not
just something that's done in the
Blessed South, but the concept
was no doubt perfected in our
neck of the woods.
The mountain house where
we were staying at the moment
I completed my latest solar
orbit, is just yards from a creek
that has its headwaters high in
the Blue Ridge Mountains. The
creek cuts through a meadow
on one edge of the property
and then makes a sharp turn
that brings it directly in front
of the house. It provides a
perfectly scenic view from the
front porch.
Moving water, rivers, creeks,
and streams are my favorite of
all of God's natural creations,
and there's nothing I enjoy
more than sitting and listening
to the water travel by while, you
probably guessed it, ponder
ing.
I had a few minutes alone
on the porch, and as I sat there
watching the creek pursue its
course, I wondered how many
trillions of gallons of water
have passed by.
Where does the water end
up?
Has some of the very water
that passed in front of my eyes
made the same journey before,
thousands of years ago?
Who knows?
There are probably natural
ists and scientists and math
ematicians who could attempt
to calculate it, but for me, the
fun is in the wondering, not in
the knowing.
That's the sort of thing that
rolls around my brain at this
advancing age.
Things like that and ques
tions such as, "How did I get to
be this age so quickly?"
Two nights before reaching
this non-milestone birthday, I
was working at an event with
my real job. It was a downtown
fundraiser, busy and exciting
with lots of folks participating,
many of whom I knew and
many I didn't. Suddenly a face
appeared at my work station,
my brain immediately recogniz
ing that I knew the face from
somewhere, but a face that had
aged a tad, unlike my own face
which has stayed pretty much
the same. Okay, maybe not.
Anyway, when it finally regis
tered who it was, I was snatched
back to fifty years ago when I
was in high school, which was
the last time I'd seen this person.
We did some bear-hugging and
catching up, and later that night
as I drove alone to meet the rest
of my group in the mountains,
I once again began to ponder.
How could I lose contact, for
fifty years, with a person who
was a pretty good friend? A fel
low who I saw nearly every day
at school, or football practice,
or just hanging out in the very
downtown where he and I had
our mini reunion?
It didn't seem pos
sible.
Until I started to
SEE
LIVELY,
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