Newspaper Page Text
Page A— Wednesday, August 10, 2022, 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 - AUGUST 15,2012
High winds damaged buildings at Edmund Burke Academy
and felled several large trees in the city. Altogether nearly
200 trees fell around the county during the unusually fierce
windstorm. No tornadoes were reported.
Burke County’s chapter of Communities in Schools re
ceived national accreditation by demonstrating compliance
with all the organizations Total Quality Systems standards.
Isabelle Harper of Waynesboro was named a “Champion
of Justice by the Georgia Legal Services Program for her
work with senior citizens and families with housing issues.
25 YEARS AGO - AUGUST 13,1997
Waynesboro native Harry Coursey retired after 26 years
with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. He had risen to the
rank of Assistant Director after serving in several capacities,
including head of the Drug Enforcement Division.
A white German shepherd, which had been cared for by
many passing motorists on Highway 25 South near the Burke
County Airport, was found dead after being hit by a motorist.
Kavin Douglas, 39, formerly of Philadelphia, was arrested
barely an hour after the armed robbery of Jenkins Foodland
in Sardis. He had used a piece of garden hose camouflaged
as a pistol.
50 YEARS AGO-AUGUST 9,1972
In a hotly contested race, James D. Smith defeated Mattie
Kane Henderson for Burke County School Superintendent.
The vote was 1,807 to 1,732. Margery Banks would face
Manton Horton in a runoff for tax commissioner.
Educator C.W. Francis was honored with a reception for
his many years of service to Boggs Academy.
Town and Country Homebuilders of Thomson advertised
a new home with payments as low as $49 per month. The
total electric home featured a brick exterior, paneled kitchen,
complete insulation and custom cabinets.
70 YEARS AG0-AUGUST14,1952
A fight broke out at a Burke County Commission meeting
between R.C. Neely and Judge E.M. Price. Neely had made
a motion rescinding a pay raise for three local officials, in
cluding Price. Several commissioners intervened and the two
combatants were persuaded to shake hands after the meeting.
Several local citizens, including Mr. and Mrs. L.C. Scar
borough and Eva Whetstone, reported seeing what appeared
to be “flying saucers” flying over the county. Earlier sight
ings had been reported over the nearby bomb plant in South
Carolina.
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OLIVIA NEWlDM-vJoHM
-202Z
BEN ROBERTS
benroberts@bellsouth.net
There’s an old saying that
“Elections have consequenc
es.”
It’s a reminder that how
one votes or who one chooses
to vote for, will have lasting
effects moving forward. It
seems an obvious conclusion
but given some of the things
currently going on in our com
munity, and across this country,
it bears remembering.
Most of us would agree that
words, too, have consequences.
I'll go a step further and say that
the words of elected officials
can have significant conse
quences.
Take for instance, at last
month’s Waynesboro City
Council meeting, when Coun
cilman Dick Byne made a
reference to whether the people
of Waynesboro could or would
support a bowling alley in this
community.
A subsequent article in this
newspaper and a Facebook post
previewing that article was the
match to a conversation that
then burned fast and wildly
out of control. The comments
section of the post - where the
sanest thoughts and most care
fully crafted ideas are shared
- turned into a Christmas wish
list of commercial projects
no rural community like ours
could ever see or hope to sup
port.
The always present desire
for a new grocery store was at
the top of the list, followed by
entertainment activities like a
movie theater, miniature golf,
a skating rink, etc. More chain
restaurants made the list too.
Some of the suggestions ap
peared to be in jest, but in the
realm of Facebook, it can be
hard to tell.
I was at the meeting, and in
Mr. Byne’s defense, he wasn’t
really asking whether the citi
zen’s wanted a bowling alley.
He was discussing the need for
data and demographics to aid
in the discussion of economic
development opportunities. Un
fortunately for him, he used a
poor choice of phrasing and his
point was lost on the masses.
My biggest issue with his
statement is that it perpetuates
the idea that local government
has the power or ability to re
cruit or bring such businesses
to this community. That’s not
how private business works
and it’s certainly not the job of
local government. Sure, indus
try recruitment to provide jobs
has become an integral part of
many local governments, but
that’s by people who specialize
in that profession - not local
city councils and county com
missions.
In my opinion, too many of
our local governments have
forgotten what their duties are
in the first place.
Much like the question of
“what came first: the chicken
or the egg,” there is the ques
tion of what draws quality
growth to a community. Does a
ready-to-work population with
disposable income draw more
business or do more and better
business opportunities attract
citizens and families to a place?
The role of government in
this situation is to ensure that a
community functions in prop
er order. The cities of Burke
County, Board of Commission
ers and the Board of Education
provide services to its citizens;
those services should be the
grease on the wheels of prog
ress . They have the power to tax
and spend, wisely one hopes, to
create an environment where
people and business opportu
nity can thrive.
It’s not rocket science but it
does require some inkling of
common sense and the ability
to see this community for what
it is and a realistic view of what
it could be. Pipe dreams and
complaints about why we can’t
have a Publix grocery store are
nothing more than wastes of
everyone’s time.
That process could be aided
by elected officials who are
honest and thoughtful when
they discuss the needs and op
portunities of this community.
And voters could do us all
a favor if we didn’t elect the
snake-oil salesmen who can
never deliver on their false
campaign promises.
For more Burke County po
litical news, follow Bird Dog
Politics on Facebook.
Don Lively
RIPE AND READY
Mater.
ma-ter (mader) noun, dat
ed-informal. def. An informal
use of the Latin word for
mother.
If you went to the movies in
the 60s or 70s, and there was
even a hint of British aristoc
racy portrayed, you probably
heard the word mater used in
the dialogue.
“Oh, Mater, thank you
ever so much for the tea and
crumpets!”
So, to Merriam-Webster or
Oxford, mater is what English
kids call their mothers, much
like we Southern Americans
call ours Mama.
Around these parts, mater has
another meaning.
Ever heard of a mater sand
wich?
Or a mater pie?
How about a BLM?
Bacon, lettuce and mater?
Of course, I am scribbling
about one of God’s greatest
creations, the one that proves
as much as any of His gifts to
mankind that He really, really
loves us.
Home grown tomatoes.
Or, if you are from the
Blessed South, maters.
The incomparable Southern
scribe, Lewis Grizzard summed
it up this way:
“It’s hard to think anything
but pleasant thoughts while
eating a homegrown tomato.”
Homegrown being the opera
tive word.
If you’ve read me for very
long you know that I am not a
gifted grower of anything that
grows, like my Daddy was. I
grew up on his farm but he and
I struck an informal agreement.
He would help pay for my col
lege if I would never come back
to the farm and break anymore
of his stuff or accidentally de
stroy any of his crops. Those
words were never actually
spoken but the implication was
clear.
It worked out well for both
of us.
I moved Out West and did a
total of zero gardening or farm
ing during my thirty years of
residence there.
However, I would come home
a couple of times every year and
one of the visits was usually
during the summer. Daddy had
a huge garden with all kinds of
vegetables, much of which he
gave away but plenty of which
made its way to Mama’s dinner
table. It seemed that no matter
how early or how late in the
summer I arrived, there were
always fresh tomatoes in the
house.
My very favorite way to en
joy fresh tomatoes is to simply
lay a large slice on a piece of
lacy fried cornbread, add a
sprinkle of ground pepper, and
munch away. Surely such a
simple pleasure will await me
in Heaven.
A few years ago, after I’d
moved back home and had been
living at the wooded enclave for
a while, I began to think about
growing my own tomatoes.
I’d totally given up on store
bought ones that tasted like...
well...like nothing. They had
no taste. Because I still suffer
back pain from a long-ago mo
torcycle wreck, I’m never real
excited about bending over as
most gardening requires. So, I
built myself a raised bed tomato
garden.
To my surprise, and probably
to Daddy’s shock if he was
able to see down from Above,
I actually succeeded that first
year and have had continued
success growing tomatoes for
several years.
But not without a fight.
Every year I seem to forget
to treat my tomatoes against
worms until one day, out of the
blue, dozens of the little devils
appear. This year was no differ
ent. I was blissfully watering
my little patch when I noticed
a big, fat green blob, happily
eating one of my plants. Then,
when I put on my glasses, I
spotted a dozen more. I made
a note to myself to never again
garden without my glasses.
Fortunately, I had a bottle of
organic, yes, organic, worm
killer. I mixed up a double dose
and set to spraying the plants
with a vengeance.
It worked.
The very next day as I was
checking the plants, I found
only one worm still clinging to
a leaf, but, as the Lord is my
witnesses I watched, the worm
took his last breath and dropped
to the dirt.
Victory!
A few weeks after that battle,
I had a mess of tomatoes big
enough to make two of my fa
mous tomato pies which were
consumed forthwith.
A few weeks later my culi-
narily gifted daughter, visiting
from Texas, used a bunch of my
tomatoes to make chili, which
was extra delicious.
Then my friend and I, well,
it was mostly her, not me, used
another batch of my tomatoes to
make our very own salsa.
Salsa!
From MY garden!
Daddy, are you seeing this?
I also successfully grew pep
pers, bell and cayenne, but
those are stories for another day.
Today, it’s all about fresh,
homegrown tomatoes.
Or, if you prefer, maters.
Yeah, maters.