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Vol. 141, No. 15 - Waynesboro, Ga. 30830
Established in 1882
Wednesday, June 2, 2021 - $1.00
Miss Jessie Holmes turned 105 years old May 24. She celebrated May 29 with more than 100
guests including her children, (left to right) Anne Price, Everett Holmes, Miss Jessie Holmes
and James Holmes.
Local centenarian weighs
in on societal changes
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
Miss Jessie Holmes, born
May 24,1916, celebrated her
birthday for the 105 th time
last week.
“There sure has been quite
a few of them,” she said and
laughed. “I thank the Lord for
every one of them.”
Some things have not
changed over the course of
her life. She still loves to
eat sweets and still bakes
chocolate cake. She still
works in her flower beds.
Holmes loves to sew, a
hobby she developed around
the age of 12 when a yard
of material cost about five
cents. She said when she was
a child, she spent a lot more
time at home than children
do now. Occasionally, she got
lucky enough to find a penny
on the ground, left behind by
a visitor. Adding the penny
to her collection, she would
save up enough for a yard of
material after a few months;
that is, if she did not give in to
childish temptation and spend
it on penny candy instead.
She taught herself how to
sew with needle and thread,
but now she sews on a sewing
machine.
Another thing that hasn’t
changed is her fear of storms.
As a child, she was taught to
find a space and sit down until
the storm ended.
“That is what I do now,”
she said. “When it starts to
thunder and lightning and
the wind gets high, I go and
sit down and meditate to the
Lord.”
Even at 105 years old,
Holmes said she is still
growing and learning. A
recent storm brought a better
personal understanding of
Christ’s resurrection and
God’s power.
“You worship the Lord
in spirit and in the truth,”
she said and pointed out
that weather is an example
of God’s power and man’s
inability to be in total control.
Without question, Holmes
has seen a lot of societal
changes in more than a
century. One of the things
that strikes her the most is
the way clocks rule over
people now. When Holmes
was young, sunrise meant it
was time to begin working
and sunset meant it was time
to quit for the day. “There was
field work, there weren’t any
factories like there are now,”
she said. “Back in those days
we went by the sun.”
Even lunch breaks were
marked by the ringing of a
bell.
While she finds the
importance of time to be a
curious transformation, she
believes it is a positive change
that people are able to enjoy
nighttime activities and travel
in the modern era.
“Back in those days, you
didn’t have anywhere to go at
night,” she said of her youth.
“Now, you can get in your car
or train or whatever, but back
in those days, you could not.”
Another significant societal
change Holmes has witnessed
is the seriousness of crimes
that are committed in the
present time.
“People do such bad things
to one another,” she said.
“You know - evil.”
Holmes recollected that
when she was younger, people
could be known for entering
other people’s homes to take
food and clothing and other
items of value, but they
were not as prone to violent
acts against one another.
Holmes attributes the spike
in violence to a movement
toward secularism.
“They don’t love the Lord,”
she said. “I have learned this:
to treat people as I want to be
treated.”
Holmes admits that is not
always an easy thing to do,
especially when someone
feels offended by the actions
of another.
“I learned to take things
even if I was right,” she said.
“The Lord will always fix
things.”
It is not just
an increase
in violent MISS JESSIE,
crimes that 3
County forges ahead with airport
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
The county continues to
move forward in its plans to
turn the airport into an eco
nomic asset.
At a meeting of the com
mission’s airport committee
May 24, consultant Amanda
Hill noted that work on the
fuel system has begun, in
cluding tanks for the fuel
farm that have been ordered.
Additionally, contractors are
beginning to move dirt.
The committee is waiting
on approval from the De
partment of Transportation
and the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers regarding wetlands
elimination. Mitigation bank
ing is a system devised to
ensure that ecological loss,
especially loss to wetlands
and streams resulting from
various development works,
is compensated by the pres
ervation and restoration of
wetlands, natural habitats,
and streams in other areas so
that there is no net loss to the
environment.
The current mitigation
bank is full and the commit
tee needs to find another one
in which to purchase credits.
Surveying has been com
pleted and the appraisal pro
cess will take place on two
properties the county is look
ing to acquire. One of those
properties includes a home
owned and occupied by Jean-
nie Joyner. Joyner has ex
pressed disinterest in selling.
The committee is looking at
alternatives rather than the
normal purchase and reloca
tion process for that parcel.
All gave some, some gave all
What a blessing it is to live in a small town who still celebrates our true heroes. Happy
Memorial Day. Above, Hallie Kate Cowart pictured with her late Uncle Clyde E. Saxon’s
memorial cross. Below, American Legion Post 120 of Waynesboro held its annual obser
vation of Memorial Day on Monday, May 31. Post Commander Jim Reeves welcomed the
attendees for the service. The post also placed wreaths at the courthouse monument and
crosses along Liberty Street memorializing deceased members of the post.
Medical Center CEO leaves as new company takes over
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
The Attorney General’s
office officially approved
the leasing of Burke Medical
Center to Burke Hospital
Company May 27.
In the Report of Findings
by the Office of the Attorney
General, the hospital’s
deterioration of patient
volume was attributed to a
lack of referrals and a lack
of specialists practicing
medicine in Burke County.
Burke Hospital Company
co-owners Dr. John George
and Michael Kleinpeter
pledged to invest $2 million
into the facility effective
on the starting date of the
lease. The company agreed
to lease the hospital and its
assets for a period of 7 years
with six automatic 5-year
renewals and one 3-year
renewal until the expiration
of 40 years. The Hospital
Authority will oversee lease
performance, including rental
payments of $20,000 per
month for the first 2 years of
the lease. Afterward, the rent
will increase to $30,000 per
month for the remaining 5
years of the initial term. If the
lease is renewed, the monthly
rent will increase by 3% per
renewal term provided that
such amount falls within a fair
market value range.
Once operations at the
hospital become profitable,
BHC will contribute 10% of
any distributions made by
the company to its owners
into a trust fund to be utilized
by the authority to maintain
the facility and fund capital
repairs and replacements.
Following a public hearing
on April 26, the Attorney
General’s office received
one written public comment
raising concerns about the
amount of
subsidies and
the exercise of HOSPITAL,
due diligence 8
Michael Hester
Tiffany Varnadoe
*1000 APPRECIATION CASH
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OFFER ENDS 7/6/21 - EXCLUDES BRONCO SPORT
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