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Page 4A — Wednesday, May 19, 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 18,2011
Citations were issued to employees of 31 local businesses
who sold alcohol to teenagers during an undercover operation
by Waynesboro and Burke County law enforcement officers.
The new Augusta Judicial Center Courthouse was named
for Waynesboro native John H. Ruffin, Jr. Ruffin had served
as a Superior Court Judge as well as a member of the Georgia
Court of Appeals. He had been the first African-American
member of the Augusta Bar Association.
25 YEARS AGO-MAY23, 1996
Sardis City Council received a letter from fired police chief
Ed Wilson demanding $1 million “for specific claims arising
out of his employment activities” while with the city. The
council instructed City Attorney Ed Grunewald to acknowl
edge receipt of the letter but to refuse payment on the claim.
Plans were being formulated for Waynesboro’s Olympic
Torch Ceremony. Mayor Martin Dolin suggested that no
political candidates be allowed to speak at the event to avoid
politicization.
Dr. Hugh Scott was presented with the Dan McGill Award
for outstanding support of the Georgia Bulldogs. The award
was presented at the Waynesboro Rotary Club by Clifford
Lewis.
50 YEARS AGO-MAY 19,1971
Billy Tinley was installed as the new president of the
Waynesboro Jaycees. Vice-presidents were Bobby Fulcher
and Henry Tinley.
Waynesboro Boosters Club president Tommy Purser pre
sented Coach Buck Brannen with a plaque commemorating
his eight years of service as head basketball coach at Waynes
boro High School. Brannen was retiring from coaching to
assume the position of Athletic Director of all Waynesboro
schools.
Darriel Broome of Waynesboro won the Jensen-Norrie
Golf Tournament in Vidalia after shooting nine-hole rounds
of 37, 36 and 38.
70 YEARS AGO-MAY24, 1951
Cicero Garner, Paul Lovett and Bobby Glover received
their Eagle Scout Awards at ceremonies at the Waynesboro
Methodist Church. The awards were presented by Rev. Eade
Anderson and pinned on by each boy’s parents.
Graduates of Mrs. Roger Fulcher’s 1951 Kindergarten
class included Cynthia Jones, Nancy Anderson, Alice Allen,
Charlie Johnson, Gilbert Godbee, Brigham Simmons, Charles
Degenhardt, Brother Hankinson and Lowell White.
Waynesboro attorney Preston B. Lewis was in the Burke
County Hospital recuperating from injuries he received in
an automobile accident on the road leading from Vidette to
Gough. He suffered a broken collar bone when his car over
turned twice after a steering mechanism failed.
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Waynesboro, Georgia 30830
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BEN ROBERTS
benroberts@bellsouth.net
Back on a Saturday on the
first of this month, the Burke
County Board of Commission
ers held a morning’s long “re
treat” to discuss various county
business.
According to the unofficial
minutes of the meeting, the
topics for discussion included
the need for internet service
throughout the county, more
recreational opportunities, the
possibility of improving blight
ed areas, the continued desire
to build a lake on the grounds
of Yuchi Wildlife Management
Area and the development of
“agri-tourism” opportunities.
We could debate the level
of need or worthiness for each
of these proposals and those
opinions would range from
one end of the spectrum to the
other. What we should be able
to agree on is that all of these
projects will cost money, lots,
and lots of money.
At some point, the discussion
took the natural progression of
answering the question of “how
do we pay for these things?”
Among the possible answers
was the creation of business
licenses in the county and a
proposed fee for all the RV
spaces currently housing many
of the individuals working to
complete the expansion of Plant
Vogtle. Both of these ideas were
scrapped due to legal and logis
tical concerns, combined with
the question of just how much
revenue could one or both of
them really generate.
What I have always found
odd, and personally frustrating
about these conversations, is
how surprised the commis
sioners - or really any Burke
County elected official - seem
to be by these discussions when
they realize they cannot afford
to do everything they want.
Every household in this coun
ty, from its richest to its most
poor, has this same discussion
on some level on a repeated ba
sis: We have this much money
coming in this month, but it’s
going to cost us this much to
get by. The goal, of course, is
to make sure the month runs
out before the money. That’s
far easier for some than others.
Our commissioners are no
different. They each have
homes somewhere in their
district, vehicles to put fuel in
and mouths under their roof to
feed. The concept should not
be foreign to them, but when it
comes to spending tax dollars,
they seem to not understand
how the process works.
The obvious answer to any of
these discussions is simple: quit
spending so much. If there’s not
enough money - and there will
never be enough money - then
you will have to make some
decisions about your priorities.
The problem for our commis
sion is the same as the problem
for most any elected official: the
inability to say no to their voters
and constituents.
During this same meeting,
commissioners were told the
county will receive an estimated
$4.3 million from the American
Rescue Plan Act passed by
Congress back in March. The
consensus was to put the bulk of
those funds towards the county
wide internet proposal.
It is estimated it will take
roughly $20 million to run in
ternet throughout the county, so
the $4.3 million will not cover
the cost but it is a start. There
is some federal and state money
out there and commissioners
plan to ask the board of educa
tion to join in as well and maybe
the project becomes part of the
next SPLOST plan.
It is an expensive plan but a
sensible one that benefits every
resident of the county. It aids
in education, quality of life and
economic development, again,
for every citizen.
Unfortunately, before the
discussion ended, someone
brought up sharing some of
those funds with some local
non-prohts to assist in whatever
mission they serve.
I will go ahead and be the
jerk in the room and say please
do not do that. I will also play
the role of fortune
cff
teller and say that
if you set this prec- BIRD DOG,
edent, it will con- 6A
Don Lively
Yes I know, you don't need
to tell me.
Although one of my good
friends did just happen to men
tion it recently.
She told me she's noticed that
I seem to have a near obsession
with my porches.
Guilty as charged.
I do indeed write about sitting
on my porches so often that,
to some, it might appear to be
inordinately documented.
But, it's not obsessive.
It's therapeutic.
From the time I turned 18
years old and left for college,
for all intents and purposes,
I lived in cities. Cities have
their advantages. I was never
more than five minutes from a
grocery store or a gas station.
Movie theaters or bowling al
leys or good restaurants were
nearby. There seemed to be
a shopping mall every few
blocks.
Cities offer convenience.
Cities also offer around-the-
clock noise.
They offer air that's usually
laden with gas or diesel fumes.
Higher crime.
Too close neighbors.
For over four decades I never
lived anywhere where there
weren't other humans living a
few yards from me.
Even after I left Out West
to move back to the Blessed
South, I lived for a while in
Metro Atlanta and later in
Charleston, lovely cities both,
but cities just the same.
No matter how genteel the
town, no matter how nice the
neighborhood, there are always
a few jackasses who believe
that everybody on Earth wants
to hear their rap music at 10PM
or their Harley roar at 2 AM.
Or there's a neighbor who
leaves his barking dog out all
night.
Or a couple who argue loudly
every few evenings, apparently
unconcerned that everybody
within five blocks is can hear
them.
So you can understand why
these days I prefer countryside
sounds.
Along those lines, it's also
been pointed out to me that
I often write about the joy of
listening to the sounds coming
from the trees all around the
SPRING NOW
wooded enclave.
I'm happily guilty of that too.
Good writers write about
what they know, and I am well
acquainted with the solace that
those forest critters provide
with their sounds.
So, at the risk of being re
petitive, here I sit again on the
North porch listening to some
unidentified lone bird sitting
in a tree not 20 ft from me.
He's there. I can hear him. But,
because of all the greenery,
he's camouflaged. It makes me
wonder if he can see me. Not
that I think it would matter to
him and his song.
I've sat in this same spot for
many hours over the years,
listening and sometimes sing
ing along.
The point of all of this is,
springtime has once again come
to our neck of the woods.
Wherever I was over the
years, when spring arrived
it made me nostalgic for my
Southern homeland.
In addition to the sounds I
hear while porch sitting, I can
also smell the recently turned
Earth just across the road at
our old home place which is
no longer our home place. The
100 acre held has been planted
in corn. I'm not really a farmer,
but even I can tell corn as soon
as it sprouts out of the ground.
The other held, what we call the
triangle held, has just recently
been turned and planted. Rich,
earthy smells dominate the area.
Those smells take me back
decades.
I have no idea what chemicals
and components and ingredi
ents comprise the soil that we
are blessed with around these
parts but I know that it must be
some nearly perfect combina
tion because it's possible to
leave the area for a two week
vacation just as a held is being
planted, and to see a healthy
crop already growing when you
return. I witnessed just such a
spectacle recently.
Another wonderful part of
springtime in the South is the
rain. In recent years, though it
might become overly dry later
in the summer, the spring con
sistently sees several days in a
row of life sustaining rainfall.
Have I ever mentioned how
much I love hearing the rain
hit the roof while sitting on my
north porch?
Yes, I have.
There are occa- SEE
sions when I miss LIVELY
the hustle and bustle -.
. . . , 6A
of city living, but