Newspaper Page Text
Page A— Wednesday, November 17, 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- NOVEMBER 16,2011
Mimi Cohen, who recently retired as organist at the First
United Methodist Church, was honored by the City of
Waynesboro for her 51 years of service to the church. She
started her work there in 1960 under Rev. Billy Key.
Full scale construction was expected to begin in a few
weeks on the expansion at Plant Vogtle. Over 1,750 workers
were already on site making preparations for the construction
of Units 3 and 4.
More than 30 regional artists were expected to showcase
their works at the 8th annual Liberty Art Show the coming
weekend.
25 YEARS AGO -NOVEMBER 21,1996
Sunbeam Outdoor Furniture employees, who had been
laid off for several weeks, were being called back to work.
BCHS senior Tyree Ware had 11 solo tackles and three
assists in the Bears’ 7-6 loss to Swainsboro. Ware, who was
named player of the game, also caused a fumble.
Ellis Godbee and Wayne Crockett agreed that a complete
recount was needed in the race for County Commission
District 3. Two earlier counts had resulted in two different
winners of the contest by narrow margins.
50 YEARS AGO-NOVEMBER 17,1971
Three candidates qualified to succeed retiring Waynesboro
Mayor Earl Lauderdale. They were Waynesboro businessman
Paul S. Stone, newspaper publisher Roy F. Chalker, Jr. and
retired Postal Service employee W.H. Walters.
U.S. Senator Herman Talmadge was scheduled to speak
at a joint meeting of civic clubs here. Members of the Civi-
tan, Exchange, Rotary and Lions Clubs would meet at the
Waynesboro Shrine Club to hear the veteran political leader.
70 YEARS AGO-NOVEMBER 22,1951
All candidates for Waynesboro city offices were unop
posed. H. Cliff Hatcher was the only candidate for mayor.
R.U. Harden, C.E. Johnson and J. Winston Borom were all
unopposed for council posts.
John R. Dinkins announced as a candidate for Burke
County Tax Commissioner, opposing incumbent Frances
M. Cates. Frank S. Burney was running for Ordinary, O.J.
Cliett for sheriff, E.M Price for Judge of City Court, John
Ward for coroner, Albert B. Daniel and Hubert Rackley for
county commission.
The seventy-member Burke County Marching Band, under
the direction of W.W. Williams, won first place honors in the
Augusta Christmas Parade.
We welcome your letters
Letters to the editor of The True Citizen are welcomed and encour
aged. These are pages of opinion, yours and ours.
Letters to the editor voice the opinions of the newspaper’s readers.
The True Citizen reserves the right to edit any and all portions of a
letter. Unsigned letters will not be published. Letters must include the
signature, address and phone number of the writer to allow our staff
to authenticate its origin. Letters should be limited to 400 words and
should be typewritten and double-spaced or neatly printed by hand.
Deadline for letters to the editor is Tuesday at 9 a.m.
Email Letters to the Editor to: truecitizennews@live.com.
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.
Periodical Postage Paid at Waynesboro, Georgia (USPS
642-300)
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The True Citi
zen, P.O. Box 948, Waynesboro, GA 30830.
Roy F. Chalker Roy F. Chalker Jr.
Publisher Publisher
1945-1970 1970-
Lavonna Johnson, Managing Editor; Shellie Smitly,
Feature Writer/Reporter/Associate Editor; Tracy Parker,
Office Manager; Martha Chalker, Advertising Sales; Roy
F. Chalker, Jr., Printing Manager.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
$1 per single copy at locations all over Burke County. By
mail: In Burke County, 6 months, $22,1 year, $34,2 years,
$56; outside Burke County, 6 months, $29, 1 year, $49,
2 years, $82; outside of Georgia, 6 months, $34, 1 year,
$59, 2 years, $96; One-year online edition only, $25. All
prices include state and local tax.
BEN ROBERTS
benroberts@bellsouth.net
In my days as a newspaper
writer, I have attended just
about every type of public
meeting under the sun: city
council, commission meetings,
board of education meetings,
planning commission, zoning
hearings, employee termina
tion appeals, budget sessions,
millage rate adoptions and just
about anything else that makes
the list.
Up until recently, however,
I’d never been to a Burke
County finance committee
meeting. I’d been told I should
attend because it was at these
meetings that Commissioners
discuss bid approvals and other
spending measures in a less
formal setting and, sometimes,
with greater detail.
Last Wednesday’s meeting
revealed an interesting tidbit:
the Burke County Sheriff’s Of
fice is no longer purchasing its
vehicle fuel through the county.
You see, the county buys its
own fuel in bulk and has gas
pumps at the county shop. A
county vehicle, whether it’s
a dump truck, patrol car or
tax assessor’s truck, fills their
vehicle up at these pumps and
their usage is charged back to
their corresponding department.
In his ongoing dispute with
the county commission, Sheriff
Alfonzo Williams has opted to
provide his employees with
“gas cards” to purchase their
fuel at any convenience or ser
vice station.
The fuel card issue came
up at the commission’s 2022
budget adoption meeting, at
which Sheriff Williams was in
attendance.
Commissioner Evans Martin
specifically asked Williams
about the gas cards and their in
tended purpose. Martin pointed
out that buying fuel at gas
stations was going to cost the
BCSO - and taxpayers - more
because those places are trying
to turn a profit.
Williams explained that the
fuel cards were an effort to cut
down on time and miles for
BCSO deputies that might be
in another area of the county
and needed fuel. The cards
would allow those employees
to purchase gas without making
a trip back to the county pumps
in Waynesboro.
That’s a logical answer and
Evans agreed with the sheriff
on that point.
A review of those gas card
purchases in last week’s finance
committee meeting, however,
told a different story.
A report compiled by the
county’s finance director
analyzing the fuel purchases
found that the BCSO purchased
10,270.985 gallons of gas in the
month of October for a total
cost of $29,904.03. Of those
gallons, 9,586 (93.33 percent)
were purchased in the city of
Waynesboro, mere miles from
the county shop. The report
found that only 685 gallons
were purchased outside of
Waynesboro.
More problematic is the fact
that, on average, the Sheriff
paid — I’m sorry, we, the tax
payers paid - 28 cents more per
gallon than if those vehicles had
filled up at the county shop.
The report stated that, based
on the purchases and usage
amounts for October, the BCSO
was on track to overpay for fuel
in the amount of $29,766.05 in
2022.
I spoke with Sheriff Williams
Tuesday morning and asked
him about the logic behind the
fuel card purchases, particularly
when deputies are in Waynes
boro and close to the county
pumps.
Williams had several reasons
to justify the cards, the safety of
officers being present at Burke
County businesses at any given
time being one of them. He
believes taxpayers and busi
ness owners will see the benefit
of that as far outweighing any
possible additional costs.
His biggest reason, how
ever, was his contention that
he is saving taxpayers “several
thousand” dollars because the
county tacks on “additional
fees” for using the county fuel
ing system.
I was not aware of any fees,
so I went back to Michael
Wiseman, the county’s finance
director, for clarification. Turns
out, there are no additional
fees or charges associated with
the county fueling
system. His report SEE
on the recent fuel g|RD DOG
purchases is ac-
Don Lively
THE STRETCH
Eight tenths of a mile.
Not very long, as far as coun
try roads go.
Less than one mile of black
top.
I assume that the short road
was there in some rough form
long before Daddy arrived on
Earth. Eve been told that the
road was once a thriving little
community in itself with three
stores and a post office, and
several family homes dotting
the stretch.
Back in the day it was simply
known as part of Rural Route 2,
just another dirt road connect
ing two state highways.
Route 2.
That’s how the mail carrier
knew where to leave our mail.
Route 2, box 123.
Later it was Route 2, box
360 after the area became more
populous.
I ran up and down the road
hundreds of times as a child,
barefoot and carefree, but at
some point, during my early
years the county decided that
the road needed to be paved
to make it easier for buses to
pick up and deliver kids to
and from school. The soles
of my farm boy feet became
even tougher after the paving
because I continued to traverse
the road, barefoot, on the way
to the store, or to Grandma’s
house or a cousin’s house, just
down the road.
Somewhere along the way
the powers-that-be decided that
all rural route roads deserved
their own names. Our little
road became known as Shell
Bluff Spur (How creative is
that?), and the road that crosses
over the Spur became known
as Seven Oaks Road. I have
no idea why they chose that
name. There are thousands of
oak trees on that road, which
seven did they honor?
Anyway, those two roads,
which Eve always called the
crossroads, are a part of every
memory that I have from child
hood. Except for time spent at
school or at church, my young
life was mostly lived within a
mile or two of the crossroads.
There were still two stores on
the road when I was growing
up. One was owned and run by
my great-aunt Annie. As I re
member, she mostly sold candy
bars and packages of crackers.
She was already a very old
lady when I was old enough to
remember but still as feisty as
the day is long. She kept a full
garden and a neat and orderly
yard, and if I happened to be
walking by her house when
she needed something done,
she’d stop me to come help
her. Her house was a sturdy
white clapboard on one side of
her property, always neat and
clean, and her little store was on
the other side. Both buildings,
though having been unoccupied
for decades, are still standing,
though the store is in bad shape.
Mr. Scott ran the other store,
the one that was really the heart
of our little community. His
place sat right on the northwest
corner of the crossroads, less
than a quarter mile from our
“old house” and was almost
directly across the Spur when
we moved to the “new house”.
Mr. Scott was a one-eyed man,
a country storekeeper right out
of Hollywood central casting.
He would spin you a tale while
he went about the business of
providing goods to his custom
ers. One rainy days Daddy and
the other farmers in the area
would gather at the store, sit
on upturned Coca Cola crates
and swap stories or debate
politics. One of the great joys
of my childhood was sitting and
listening to those men cuss and
pontificate.
The Spur led to Grandma’s
house one direction and to
“town” the other. Seven Oaks
led to church one way and to the
“city”, Augusta, the other way.
Until they were paved, when
they were still mostly red clay
and sand, going to school, go
ing to church or going shopping
could be an adventure, though
Mama and Daddy never thought
so when we’d be slipping and
sliding, and occasionally get
ting stuck.
Much has changed about the
Spur but a lot hasn’t changed.
The hundred-acre held, once
known as ourhomeplace,is still
producing fine crops every year.
Our closest neighbor back
then,Miss Joanne, is still there.
The road still leads to Grand
ma’s house but these days it’s
occupied by a cousin.
And it’s still only eight tenths
of a mile long.
Although it’s only SEE
a short measure of LIVELY,
mileage, for all of the 6