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Page 4A— Wednesday, October 6, 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-OCTOBER5,20ll
Waynesboro police officer Daniel Windham was released
from the hospital after being accidentally shot by another
officer. WPD Chief Alfonzo Williams said the accident oc
curred when Burke County deputy sheriff Mark Gatlin, who
was assisting the WPD in a liquor house raid, tripped over
a curb and accidentally fired his shotgun.
Burke County Commissioner Terri Lodge Kelly was named
to the parent advisory council of the State Department of
Education by Superintendent Dr. John D. Barge.
Owner Howard Dye closed Dye’s Southern Restaurant in
order to focus on the catering business. It had only been open
for a few months before Dye made the decision to close.
25 YEARS AGO-OCTOBER 10,1996
A record 9,388 people attended the 37 th annual Exchange
Club Fair. Club president Richard Bailey reported there were
4,080 on the grounds on Saturday alone.
The White Columns Woman’s Club announced plans for
the ninth annual Cotton Country Festival to be held Nov.
7-9. World renowned Elvis impersonator Steve Chappell
was scheduled to appear.
Members of the Waynesboro Shrine Club raised $1,400
during their newspaper sale supporting the Shriner’s Hos
pitals.
Seven year-old Christopher Newton of Waynesboro caught
a 6.5 pound largemouth bass at Robbins Pond in Burke
County.
50 YEARS AGO-OCTOBER 6,1971
Edmund Burke Academy defeated Pinewood 36-6 as Paul
Anderson scored the first two touchdowns for the winners.
Mike Smith, Lamar Murray, Jr. and Joe Daniel added insur
ance TDs later in the game.
Advertisers included J&J Sky Farmers, W.E. Pace Stock-
yard, Coleman Lake Restaurant, Waynesboro Motor Court
and Restaurant and Davis Drive-in.
70 YEARS AGO-OCTOBER 11,1951
Burke County’s population dropped from 26,520 in 1940
to 23,458 in 1950. Only the City of Waynesboro, with an
increase of 17.6%, showed any substantial growth among
local communities.
Movie stars Dan Duryea and Norma Eberhardt were
scheduled to make an appearance in Waynesboro as part of
the “Movie Time Down South” caravan moving through
the state.
“Samson and Delilah” starring Victor Mature and Hedy
Lamar was playing at the Grand Theatre.
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Waynesboro, Georgia 30830
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BEN ROBERTS
benroberts@bellsouth.net
Burke County was abuzz
around lunch last Friday when
a Facebook post by The Austin
Rhodes Show concerning the
City of Waynesboro started
making the rounds.
The post alleged that a city
employee was suspected of em
bezzling more than $120,000. It
went on to say that Waynesboro
officials were refusing to ask
for the Georgia Bureau of In
vestigation’s (GBI) assistance
in looking into the matter.
Since Facebook is not known
for its discernment of the facts
or application of common
sense, that was all it took for
folks to start making assump
tions and the rumor mill to kick
into overdrive.
Waynesboro City Manager
Valerie Kirkland released a
statement Friday afternoon stat
ing that the city was aware of
the allegation and that they and
the city attorney were currently
investigating the matter.
Waynesboro officials need
to wrap this investigation up as
soon as possible and come to a
conclusive ending. You either
call in the GBI because you be
lieve the allegation could have
merit based on what you find
or you can show the evidence
you used to dismiss the alleged
crime completely. Nothing in
between will do, and you cannot
let this drag on for weeks while
the speculation builds.
This is an opportunity for
interim Mayor James “Chick”
Jones and the rest of council to
show the citizens of Waynes
boro they’re capable of righting
the ship and putting the city
back on a more business-like
approach.
Speaking of Waynesboro, my
Monday morning was made
a bit more interesting when a
Waynesboro Police Department
(WPD) investigator showed up
at the tax assessor’s office to
tell us one of our county trucks
had been involved in a shooting
Don Lively
It was like it was happening
in slow motion.
I had driven over 2000 miles
and was finally where my real
vacation was to begin, at a
quaint little motel in a beauti
ful mountain town with a hot
sulfur springs that all of my
"war wounds" were screaming
to soak in. I'd checked in at the
office and was in the process of
bringing things into my room.
That's when the slow motion
thing happened.
I opened the back door of
my truck and saw movement.
I knew immediately what had
happened, but before I could
react, the object rolled toward
the open doorway, fell over
the edge and shattered on the
asphalt. I watched a $27 bottle
of British Navy Pusser's soak
into the blacktop.
In slow motion.
I admit, I said a dirty word
under my breath, but, I decided
that it was a signal that I was
not destined to drink rum after
the long road trip, so I didn't.
The Jameson was, thankful
ly, better packed and therefore
unscathed, so, Jameson it was.
Within an hour I was up to
my chin in 104 degree water.
There's another, larger pool that
is 87 degrees and the therapeu
tic part is going back and forth
between the two. I've been
visiting the pools for over 40
years and as I soaked this trip,
I had so many memories of be
ing there with my children. All
of them liked to pretend they
couldn't swim and all three
hung onto me for hours all
over the Olympic sized pool.
I remember thinking how nice
it would be when they were
older and weren't dead weight.
These days I'd give anything to
go back to the days when they
depended on me.
When I left the little town I
took an extended route back
across the mountains. I drove
over the magnificent Indepen
dence Pass. My timing was
ideal. The colors were dazzling
and the weather was picture
perfect. I couldn't drive five
miles without pulling over to
take a picture. The aspen and
birch leaves were turning yel
low and red, mixed with the
blue spruce and the pines and
firs, they created a landscape
that made me truly wistful for
my adopted home.
over the weekend.
We all hied out into the park
ing lot next to the old court
house to survey the damage.
Sure enough, we found a bullet
hole in the side of one county
vehicle, and the officer pulled
a large caliber round out of the
tailgate.
Upon further inspection, we
found where two other trucks
were hit and helped the inves
tigator locate several spent cas
ings in the parking lot.
I won’t pretend to be a crime
scene investigator, but I can
tell the difference between a
bullet’s entry and exit. By the
look of the marks on the truck,
there were shots fired from two
different directions, giving the
impression of a shootout with at
least one shooter taking cover
behind a county-owned pickup.
Mind you, all of this took
place mere steps from the old
courthouse and a stone’s throw
away from the WPD office -
in the middle of downtown
Waynesboro.
It would appear missing
BEING THERE
About three hours after
crossing over the pass, I was
back where I spent 30 years
of my life living the dream.
I hadn't been back in over a
year, thank you Covid 19,
but as I drove eastward and
came around Lookout Moun
tain (Yes, Tennessee cousins,
there's a Lookout Mountain in
Colorado.) suddenly I saw the
bright lights of Denver sprawl
ing for a hundred miles across
the high desert.
The memories immediately
began to flood back.
Over there is the hospital
where all three of my children
were bom. I was right there for
all of them. Their mother did
all of the work, but I was there.
Right there is the apartment
complex where I shot a gunmen
on his own porch. Of course
he was shooting at me and my
fellow officers at the time. He
survived but a few months af
ter shooting him, I put him in
prison so I doubt he ever had
much nice to say about me.
Here's the neighborhood
where my kids grew up. There
are the streets we walked at
Halloween while they trick-or-
treated. There's the community
pool I spent many afternoons at,
dozing in the shade while the
kids swam. The sloped street
money is just one of the city’s
current concerns.
Last Friday, Oct. 1, marked
the start of a new budget year
for the county. It was also the
deadline Burke County Sheriff
Alfonzo Williams had given to
commissioners to meet a long
list of demands he wanted or
he would move forward with a
lawsuit against the county and
commissioners - with taxpayers
paying both sets of attorneys.
The irony of his threat was
that Williams says if he were
no longer bound by the county’s
rules, like purchasing policies
and salary schedules, he’d be
able to save taxpayers a half-
million dollars a year.
Oddly enough, one of his first
demands was for the commis
sioners to give him half of his
budget - more than $5 million -
by last Friday. Tax bills haven’t
even been mailed
yet so in order to SEE
do that, the county BIRD DOG,
would be forced to gA
where I pushed them on their
sleds every snowfall.
It's been a nostalgic time.
I saw, for the thousandth
time, what is purported to be
one of the most photographed
scenes in America, the view of
the Front Range of the Rocky
Mountains from the crest of
1-70. Years ago the state con
structed special pull-off areas
just for the Kodak moment. To
make it even better, there's a
sizable buffalo herd at the same
location. Who doesn't love the
big woolies?
And, I saw friends.
I was able to visit with several
old friends who, though I rarely
get to see them, hold special
places in my heart.
People I worked with. People
I played with. People I wor
shiped with. Even one who I
once loved until "life got in the
way", but now we're friends
again.
When I decided to return to
the Blessed South, I'd lived Out
West for thirty years, at that
time over half of my life. That's
a long time. Way too much to
document in one column.
Suffice to say, when I leave
it will feel like leaving home.
And, like I'm headed home.