Newspaper Page Text
Page 4A — Wednesday, May 12, 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 - MAY 11,2011
EBA golfer Will Mobley took top honors at the state golf
tournament, being named GISA Class AA state champion.
Burke County High School’s Georgia High School Gradu
ation Test scores were higher than state and regional averages
in all but one category. James Epps, Director of Instructional
Technology and testing attributed the improvement to the hard
work of both students and faculty.
Burke Medical Center completed the installation of a digital
mammogram machine and the associated computer aided
detection system.
25 YEARS AGO -MAY 16,1996
Alfonzo Williams, Eddie Allen, Philip Dalenberg and Pres
ton Purvis were the four finalists for the post of Waynesboro
police chief. City Administrator Jack Brantley said a candidate
would be selected after all four are interviewed on May 27.
Joanne Dixon of Sardis was elected president of the
5,000-member Georgia Federation of Women’s Clubs for a
two year term.
A Burke County Grand Jury declined to indict Waynesboro
police officer Doyle Windham and Investigator Ron McMil
lan for their roles in the accidental shooting of Cpl. Marvin
Jones in March.
50 YEARS AGO-MAY 12,1971
The Boggs Academy a Capella Choir was scheduled to
perform for the General Assembly of the United Presbyterian
Church in New York City. The choir was directed by C.W.
Francis, who also served as the school’s Dean of Academic
Affairs.
Linda Bailey was named valedictorian of the graduating
class at Waynesboro High School. Lisa Dolin was the salu-
tatorian. Top honors at SGA went to Van Zeigler, with Sherry
Heath as salutatorian. Patsy Taylor was valedictorian at Burke
Academy with Dave Stone as salutatorian.
Waynesboro Postmaster Harley Drew announced that the
cost of first class postage stamps would increase from 6c to
8c on May 16.
70 YEARS AGO-MAY 17,1951
Frank Cates Griffin of Waynesboro won the 100 yard dash
at the State Track Meet in Macon. He was the first athlete in
memory to win first place in the state competition.
A new $20,000 school cafeteria was completed on the
Waynesboro school campus on Academy Ave. The grand
opening of the facility would be a fund raising barbecue for
band uniforms.
Charlie Evans of Waynesboro was named “Best all-around
boy” at South Georgia College. He had served three quarters
as president of the student council and two years as president
of the Student Christian Association.
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tising Manager/Printing Assistant; Diana Royal, Feature
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Don Lively
CALLIN' BOSS
(Reprintedfrom 2012)
It’s that time of year again.
When we are graced with the
first Magnolia blossoms.
Warm days, cool nights.
Scattered evening thunder
storms.
The woods coming alive with
the sounds of Springtime.
Boss Hog.
Boss Hog?
Yep.
The Boss is back.
I like to tell folks that I am
Boss but the truth is, Boss isn’t
really just a person. It’s a hap
pening. A Dixie style, loud and
proud shindig that can only be
produced by blessed people
from the Blessed South. It’s
great fun, great music and the
best slow cooked barbecue
competition in America.
The Boss is an event like no
other.
But, paradoxically, I am also
Boss.
The one who gets to dress
head to toe in white, like the
buffoonish character from
Dukes of Hazzard, and try to
avoid getting splashed, sloshed
or slathered with red or yellow
barbecue sauce.
This year the producers of the
affair wanted to come up with a
new idea, something that hadn’t
been done before here in our
neck of the woods.
I suggested a chitlin spittin’
contest, it seemed quite apropos
to me, but nobody rushed to
embrace the idea. Not sure why.
Every single time I’ve ever put
one of the nasty things in my
mouth my first inclination was
to spit it as far away as my lung
capacity could muster.
My motion was dismissed for
lack of a second.
The ladies came up with their
own idea.
So this year my duties have
expanded. Normally all I am
required to do is dress up in
the white monkey suit and
stand around in the ninety-five
degree weather looking smash
ing, have my picture taken a
few times, and then drive the
overall winners on their victory
lap around the complex.
Easy enough.
But this go-round I have been
put in charge of the first annual
Boss Hog hog calling contest.
Yes, it’s true. All over Amer
ica there are competitions to
see who is the best hog caller. I
find it to be a little silly myself.
I raised hogs in a past life and
I can attest that they don’t nor
mally need calling. Our hogs
were such pigs at dinnertime
that all it required was walking
out of the bam with two buckets
of feed corn bump-
ing together and the acc
daily mud-caked LIVELY,
stampede would 6A
Michael N. Searles
There have been many refer
ences to our “fragile” democra
cy over the past several years.
Cries have been heard that our
democratic institutions were
under attack and in danger of
falling into an autocratic state.
In the 2020 presidential
election, Joe Biden won
81,009,468 votes to Donald
Tramp’s 74,111,419 with Pres
ident Biden receiving 51.33%
of the popular vote. These
results seem to clearly indicate
that our democracy is still on
track and the will of the people
still prevails. Yet, the nearly 7
million vote majority belies
another reality. We do not elect
Presidents by popular vote.
President George W. Bush
won with a minority of the
popular vote as did President
Trump in 2016. How did Bush
and Trump win the presidency
and lose the popular vote? The
answer is the Electoral College
that allows smaller populations
to outweigh regions with larger
populations. It was reported
that if Trump had received
42,000 more votes in certain
states, he would be President.
If there was ever an example of
the tail wagging the dog, this
is it. A population of 42,000
could outweigh the votes of
OUR FRAGILE DEMOCRACY
6,898,049 people. We are for
tunate Joe Biden is President; it
could have gone the other way.
What happens when the will
of the majority is ignored? The
results do not bode well for the
society.
There are so many issues
where the American people
support positions that we can
not get legislators to pass.
According to a Public Policy
Polling survey, 83 percent of
gun owners support expanded
background checks on sales
of all firearms, including 72
percent of all NRA members.
With these overwhelming sta
tistics, it would seem that a
background check on guns
could easily pass Congress and
become the law of the land.
Yet, we do not have a gun law.
Members of Congress fearful of
the NRA and strident gun own
ers would rather demagogue
the issue and make false claims
rather than pass a law. This is
another example of democracy
gone awry.
About 61 % of Americans fa
vor “Dreamers” being allowed
to stay and become citizens if
they meet certain requirements,
and 17% favor “Dreamers” be
ing allowed to stay and become
permanent residents. This in
dicates that 78% of Americans
support letting “Dreamers”
legally stay. However, Con
gress cannot pass a
bill. This is another
example of democ- SEARLES,
racy gone awry. 6A
Diana Royal
QUEENS OF THE BOSS
(Reprintedfrom May 2018.)
I love BBQ.
Pulled pork. Chicken. Bris
ket. And those amazing little
wings that can be packed with
just about any flavor imagin
able. I’d rather eat chicken
wings than steak any day of
the week. Spicy (not blistering
hot) and juicy. I thank God for
chicken wings.
I never knew how coveted
BBQ truly is, not just here in
the South but across the world,
until I got involved with Boss
Hog 13 years ago. I cannot
begin to tell you the prep work
and investment
(both time and money) that
come along with competing in
serious BBQ contests. What I
can tell you is that Waynesboro
rolls out the red carpet every
second weekend in May, and
we have a heck of a good time
with our guests.
I remember sitting around
the conference room table at
First National Bank, a small
group of us discussing what we
could do to enhance our local
cook-off way before it became
sanctioned by the KCBS. I was
halfway joking when I suggest
ed doing a womanless beauty
pageant, but the look on (our
fearless leader’s) Nan’s face
was anything but a joke. “That
could work!” she said as she
told me to come up with a plan.
And that is when the Queen
of the Wing was born. I some
how managed to find a giant,
swishy chicken wing hat that
doubles as a crown and, even
more surprisingly, a number of
men who were not just willing
to wear tight dresses and lip
stick but were excited to do so.
They came up with stage names
and dance routines and didn’t
mind going toe to high-heeled
toe in a bobbing for celery
competition that involved a vat
of ranch dressing.
Since the very first pageant,
I have bought wigs, loaned out
old prom dresses (Beaver Sapp
looked better in my dress than I
ever did!) and had a man ask if
he could borrow a bra. I’ve seen
grown men and teenage boys
practice their female voices,
talk about which song is better
for dancing, hold discussions
on what makes a more natural
bust line (toilet paper verses
foam) - all while their mamas,
girlfriends or wives did their
hair, nails and makeup. (Yes,
some of these guys get full
manis and pedis for
the big night!)
While QOTW is ROYAL,
part of Friday night’s 6A