Newspaper Page Text
Page 4 — Wednesday, April 21,2021, 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 20 20ll
The Waynesboro City Council approved a restructuring
plan that would provide as many as 10 police officers on the
streets of the city during peak crime times.
Terri Lodge Kelly announced she would be a candidate for
the Burke County Commission seat left vacant by the death
of Alphonso Andrews.
Waynesboro business and civic leader Joe Goldberg died at
the Georgia War Veterans Nursing Home in Augusta. He had
been involved in a number of civic and charitable organiza
tions in Waynesboro and Augusta and was a member of the
U.S. Navy during World War II.
25 YEARS AGO-APRIL 25, 1996
Preston B. Lewis, III, Faye F. Herrington and Wayne
Cochran announced their plans to run for the Probate Court
Judge’s post being vacated by the retiring Mary O. Herrington.
While those three would be running as Democrats, David
Dixon said he would seek the post on the Republican ticket.
The Waynesboro Rotary Club awarded Paul Harris Fellow
ships to Bobby Neely and Ricky Flakes for their service to the
community. $1,000 was donated to the Rotary Foundation in
honor of each of the recipients.
Twenty seven local businesses and organizations honored
their secretaries and receptionists during Professional Sec
retaries Week.
50 YEARS AGO-APRIL 21,1971
Mims R. Oliver was recognized for 50 years of service to
the Bank of Waynesboro by the Georgia Bankers Association.
The award was presented at the association’s annual conven
tion at Jekyll Island.
Waynesboro High School football coach Danny McIntyre
said he was “surprised and disappointed” when he was told
that his contract would not be renewed. He had come to
Waynesboro in 1969 and his team had posted a 5 and 5 record
the previous season, the school’s first since desegregation and
its move from Class B to AA.
The WHS track team won the men’s relay event at a meet
in Statesboro. Members were Jimmy Holmes, Mule Abrams,
Willie Sims and John Sharpe.
70 YEARS AGO-APRIL 26,1951
Southeastern Stages announced new bus service between
Girard, Sardis, Waynesboro and Augusta.
Due to a shortage of flowers, three local garden clubs
canceled the flower show scheduled for May 3. Mrs. Pres
ton Lewis was chairperson of the event and thanked all the
members for their efforts.
Harold Stone was elected president of the newly organized
Waynesboro Shrine Club. Officers from the Alee Temple in
Savannah presided at the event which launched the local club.
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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
Published every Wednesday by The True Citizen, Inc.
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Citizen, P.O. Box 948, Waynesboro, GA 30830.
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BEN ROBERTS
benroberts@bellsouth.net
The truth is still the truth even
if no one believes it. A He is still
a lie, even if everyone believes
it. - Unknown
On a normal evening, a Burke
County Commission meeting
will probably draw between 20
and 30 people. Last Tuesday
was not a normal evening.
When the meeting started, it
was standing room only, with
people crammed in the comers
and lining the walls almost
behind the commissioners’
dais itself.
The issue everyone came to
see was actually a person, Barry
Fleming, the county’s long
time attorney. Fleming is from
Harlem in Columbia County
and also represents that area in
the Georgia Legislature. He is
a powerful man in Republican
circles in Atlanta and through
out the state.
It was Rep. Fleming’s work
as chairman of the Special
Committee on Election Integ
rity and specihcally his support
of various bills overhauling
the state’s election laws that
has made his name and picture
show up on news sites across
the country.
Roughly half of Tuesday’s
crowd, most likely identifying
as African American and Dem
ocrat, was there to demand that
Fleming resign or be bred from
his position with the county.
The other half, probably
white and Republican voters,
had shown up to give their
support to Fleming and to take
a stand against the so-called
“cancel culture.”
As one individual told me a
few days before the meeting,
“We’ve got to push back against
the Liberals.”
I’ll say this frankly, even at
the risk of sounding conde
scending: you folks on both
sides of the issue got duped.
I’m willing to bet you could
count on one hand with a few
fingers missing, the number of
people in that commissioners’
chambers who had actually
read Senate Bill 202, the re
cently passed legislation that
changed Georgia’s election law.
I’ve skimmed through all of it,
reading some of it looking for
specific items. It is 98 pages
long and full of legalese, dif
ficult for most of us ordinary
folks to comprehend.
To read it and read it where
it makes some sort of sense
takes time, time that most of
us don’t have or aren’t willing
to make. So instead of gather
ing the information firsthand
for ourselves, we turn to some
news source or talking head or
a social media post that seems
to lean in the same political
direction that we do and we let
them tell us what this law means
and does.
To those of you who wanted
Fleming gone, you couldn’t
have chosen a more divisive
issue over which to make your
case. By repeating the claims
of “voter suppression,” you
guaranteed yourself opposition
and support for a man and a
position most folks didn’t even
know existed.
Those of you that showed
up to defend Fleming because
he has an “R” behind his name
are no better. You came to lend
your support to a man you know
very little about outside of his
political affiliation.
If I asked either group to tell
me why Fleming should stay or
go without mentioning SB 202,
I’m willing to bet I wouldn’t get
much in the way of a coherent
answer.
I will remind everyone, in
cluding our commissioners and
Mr. Fleming himself, that while
the county attorney is employed
by the commission, he actually
works for the citizens of Burke
County. And in that regard, I
don’t know that we’re getting
our money’s worth.
You must remember that
Fleming helped usher Senate
Bill 9 through the Legislature
this session. That bill allowed
Columbia County to break
off from the Augusta Judicial
Circuit, leaving Richmond
and Burke counties as the only
remaining members. The bill
states that Burke will be respon
sible for 10 per
cent of the budget SEE
moving forward. BIRD DOG,
The catch is no 6
Don Lively
MY FIVE
I read a lot of books in a
year's time and every now and
then I will begin one only to
realize that I've read it before.
It happened recently when I
picked up The Five People
You Meet In Heaven. It was
a bestseller over 15 years ago
but frankly, it didn't do much
for me, so I added it to the stack
that I'll donate to Goodwill.
Still, it did get me to ponder
ing about folks we'll run into
in Heaven. So I made a short
list of five people who I want to
meet up there, most of whom I
never met here on Earth.
Now let me preface this. Of
course the below listed people
are not the first five that I want
to find when I get there. Jesus
will be first, followed closely
by Mama and Daddy, Winston
Churchill, and Davy Crockett.
But these five, for reasons
that I will explain, will be high
on my list.
Here goes.
Jerry Jeff Walker.
Many of you might not know
who the Gypsy Songman was,
but I discovered him in the mid
seventies. Though I never met
him in person, I did see him
live in Colorado over thirty
years ago. JJW led a rough
and troubled life during the
first years of his career, often
having to be helped on and off
of the stage because he was so
drunk, or high, or both. Many
creative geniuses fight demons
and Jerry Jeff was no different,
but the stories that he told with
the songs he wrote or recorded
(like Mr. Bojangles) throughout
his long career have kept me
company during thousands of
miles of back-road road-trips.
He finally got his life straight
when he met the right Texas
woman and some of his later
songs reflect a quiet faith that
got him through. That's some
thing I understand. I want to
find Jerry Jeff in Heaven, I'm
pretty sure he's there, and thank
him for the music.
That ancient Indian who
made the best arrowhead that I
ever found. The perfect point is
made of beautiful white quartz
and has no flaws even though
it had been buried in the dirt
for thousands of years before
I found it in Daddy's plowed
held. That kind of quartz isn't
found right around these parts
and the arrowhead was made,
and presumably lost, long be
fore Native Americans began
using horses, so the maker had
to have traveled a long way on
foot, or traded for the quartz.
If the fellow who made it is in
Heaven, I want to complement
him on his craftsmanship and
ask him if he was sad when I
lost such a beauty.
Uncle Hayward.
He was actually my cousin
but was close to Daddy's age
so calling him by his first name
was out of the question. Uncle
Hayward was one of the nicest
human beings I've ever known.
He never married or had chil
dren of his own, but he was a
great teacher and mentor to me
and many of my cousins. He
often took me dove hunting
and taught me how to bring
the birds down even though I
was shooting a short barreled
12 gauge. He would some
times take me to University of
Georgia football games where
he seemed to know everybody
in Sanford Stadium. Uncle
Hayward lived into his 90s
and, sadly, the last time I saw
he, he didn't know me. I look
forward to re-hashing UGA's
last National Championship
game where we were both in
attendance.
The man who imported John
son grass to the United States
thinking it would be good cattle
feed. Farmers have pretty much
eradicated the nasty stuff but
much of my young life was
spent pulling the invasive plants
out of the cotton or peanut fields
all over our far-flung farmlands.
My hands were stained green
for most of the summer and
my fingers were stiff and sore
for weeks. I don't know if God
would allow me to whup any
of His children "up there" but
maybe I could at least give that
rascal a piece of my mind.
Anybody that was there when
Stonehenge was built.
Because I'm cu
rious. I want to SK
know how it was LIVELY,
accomplished, but 6A