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Page A—Wednesday, March 2, 2022, The True Citizen
OPINIONS
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LOOKING BACK
{this week in Burke County history}
10 YEARS AGO-MARCH 7,2012
Tony O’Neal Grubbs, who murdered Ralph and Trudie
Gordon in June, 2010, was sentenced to Life without the
possibility of parole by Superior Court Judge Daniel J. Craig.
Grubbs avoided the death penalty by entering a guilty plea
for the murders.
Newt Gingrich won 49.5% of the votes in the Republican
Presidential Primary in Burke County. Rick Santorum fol
lowed with 27%, Mitt Romney with 17.5% and Ron Paul
with 5.5%.
25 YEARS AGO-MARCH 5,1997
With a resignation bringing its police force down to two
members, the Sardis City Council was considering the possi
bility of merging the city’s police department with the Burke
County Sheriff’s Office. At full capacity, the department had
four officers.
Waynesboro Elementary School’s reading program was
declared as the state’s best. The school won the 1996-97
Georgia Exemplary Reading Program Award presented by
the International Reading Association.
Wesley Williams was named STAR Student at BCHS.
Beth Kozinsky and Pam Johnson shared the honor at EBA
50 YEARS AGO-MARCH 1,1972
The Waynesboro rotary Club celebrated its 50th anniver
sary at its annual Ladies Night banquet. When the club was
founded in 1922 there were 1,095 clubs. In 1972 there were
15,053 in 149 countries.
Billy Tinley accepted the position as chairman of the
county’s Easter Seal Program. M.K. Tucker of the Bank of
Waynesboro was treasurer of the campaign.
The West Burke Civitan Club donated $100 each to the
cities of Vidette, Gough and Keysville to be used for civic
improvements.
70 YEARS AGO-MARCH 6,1952
Local furniture dealer Dan Shuman was among 2000 others
attending a four-day appliance convention in San Francisco.
Walter Yelton, owner of the Southern Auto Store in
Waynesboro, was appointed by Mayor H. Cliff Hatcher to
head up the county’s annual Red Cross Campaign.
William M. “Bill” Smith was elected president of the
Waynesboro Rotary Club.
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Waynesboro, Georgia 30830
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BEN ROBERTS
benroberts@bellsouth.net
We’ve all heard the old say
ing about “walking a mile in
someone else’s shoes.” As a
parent, I’ve always tried to
teach my children to consider
what factors might have led
someone to do the thing they
did and to think about that
before they judge someone too
harshly.
Perspective is a valuable tool
in life. I was reminded of that
fact last week.
If you saw last Wednesday’s
True Citizen, then you are
probably aware that I spoke to
Waynesboro City Council last
Monday concerning what I
believe is their lack of transpar
ency and a failure to properly
follow the law concerning open
records’ requests.
The following night, I was
on the other side of the fence,
hearing the complaints of a
citizen at the Burke County
Planning Commission meeting.
I was appointed to the Planning
Commission as the District 5
representative back in the fall.
Tuesday’s meeting was the
first since I’ve been on that
board that had the real potential
to be contentious. The issue was
one that was going to leave a
group of people upset no matter
which way I, and the rest of the
commission members, voted.
It was a good reminder that
it’s one thing to write this col
umn each week, taking public
officials to task for their actions;
but it’s another to sit in the same
chair and cast a deciding vote
that can have a hand in shaping
this community’s future.
While I believe my judge
ment was correct in the han
dling of both nights’ business,
I realize there are those who
disagree. Last week was a good
reminder for me to take a step
back and try to look at things
from more than one angle.
That’s good advice, not just for
political columnists or elected
officials, but in our everyday
lives as well.
You may recall a few weeks
ago, I said the rumor of a Big
Lots retail store coming to
Waynesboro was just that: a
rumor.
Well, it turns out, I was
wrong.
According to City of Waynes
boro officials, the building
inspection office received a
permit application on Feb. 3
for renovation of the former
Bi-Lo building for a Big Lots
location. The permit estimate
is for $850,000 worth of work
to the old grocery store.
There’s no timetable yet for
when the renovation might be
complete and the store open for
business.
I’m having to eat a double
helping of crow on this be
cause I used the Burke County
Chamber Director as my source
of information when I asked if
a Big Lots might be coming
to town.
Problem number one was the
chamber director didn’t know
she was being used as an of
ficial source.
Problem number two is the
chamber director also happens
to be my wife. So, during the
normal evening chaos of dinner
and ball practices, when I threw
out the question of whether she
knew anything about a possible
Big Lots and she said “no,” I
should have qualified that I was
asking as a reporter, not simply
making conversation while I
loaded the dishwasher. Had
she known, she probably would
have reached out to question
this rumor on her end before
letting me run with unverified
information.
Since I prefer not to sleep on
the couch, I won’t be making
this mistake again.
For more Burke County po
litical news, follow Bird Dog
Politics on Facebook.
“Family ties mean that no
matter how much you might
want to run from your family,
you can 7”
I don’t know who to attribute
that quote to, but it’s dead on
the money.
I’ve often said that family is
like the weather.
You can’t do a thing to stop
the rain or the wind.
By the same token, you can’t
do a thing to change who you
are kin to.
You just have to deal with it.
The past few weeks we’ve
been talking about the differ
ent kinds of folks that we deal
with in our day to day lives.
This week, saving the best for
last, we’ll be chatting about kin
people.
Kin people.
I have hundreds, literally,
maybe you do too.
Now, before anybody gets
offended, I truly, dearly love
my family. I wouldn’t trade
mine for any other in creation.
I get along with 99.9% of my
relatives.
Don Lively
But some of them still drive
me up the proverbial wall at
times, even the ones I love.
You, S outhern re ader s, kno w
exactly what I’m scribbling
about.
My family, like yours, has a
couple of members who never
know when they’ve worn out
their welcome. Mine is as
friendly and accommodating a
family as there is in the known
universe. We all love visiting
with good company. But ev
erybody has their limits. Daddy
had a way of dealing with such
folks. If a cousin, or an uncle
or aunt, or an in-law stayed too
long, he would stand up out of
his recliner, stretch, and say to
Mama, “Come on Miss Kat,
let’s go to bed and let these
good folks go home.”
Only then would some of the
kin get the message.
Every family, mine included,
has their share of members who
think more highly of them
selves than they have cause
to. Their opinions are, in their
opinion, much more relevant
and important than anybody
else’s opinion. And, since my
family is one of the most opin
ionated in the entire Blessed
South, if you are so verbose
that everybody else tries to
KIN PEOPLE
avoid you, you have done a
day’s work.
Along those lines, there are
also no shortage of kinsmen
who will call BS when they’ve
had enough.
I come from a family of sto
rytellers. County folks who can
spin yarns or tell tall tales that
keep folks listening for hours. I
like to think I’m a decent story
teller myself. But in my family,
and again, like yours I’m sure,
there are folks who don’t know
the difference in tall tales and
lies. My advice for folks like
that is simple. If you are telling
something that you want people
to believe is true, keep this in
mind. In the year 2022 there’s
this thing called Google. It’s
one of several options where
information is readily available
and where facts can easily be
checked against non-facts.
Here's the difference.
If I tell you that I once swam
across the Savannah River in
a hurricane with a gator on
my tail and a swarm of cot-
tonmouths waiting for me on
the bank, even if there were no
witnesses, that’s a tall tale.
If I claim that I was once a
well-known actor, or writer
or singer, or that I studied at
Harvard and have a degree
from there, those are lies, eas
ily refuted.
I would advise any member
of my family to stick to tall
tales.
I had an old great aunt whose
been in Heaven for many years,
who had a daughter and a son
a year apart. For unknown
reasons, she began dressing
them alike and calling them
twin girls.
Another long dead cousin
was legendary for his temper
and was said to have once stood
on a rooftop during a lightning
storm and dared God to strike
him. I’m not sure he shares
Heaven with the great aunt,
mentioned above.
An uncle claimed he broke
his arm eating supper during
the Depression. He fell out of
the persimmon tree.
Now THAT is a great tall tale.
Now you might have noticed
that, unlike the three previous
“people” columns, in today’s I
didn’t use names, for obvious
reasons.
Many of my people read my
screeds and are not hesitant to
call that same BS on some of
my words. That’s fine with me.
Because I do know the differ
ence between tall tales and lies.