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Page 4—Wednesday, August 17, 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 22,2010 Nearly 100 workers at oneCare (formerly Evercare), locat ed on Burke Veterans Parkway, will be out of job by the end of the year as the facility is turned into a distribution center. The Burke County Hospital, acting on financial forecasts for the coming year, intended to ask the county for more than $5.7 million to keep the facility open in fiscal year 2013. The world’s largest heavy lift derrick was erected at Plant Vogtle. The 560 foot boom will be used to place components into the new reactors under construction. 25 YEARS AGO-AUGUST 20, 1997 Sonic Drive-In advertised a Sonic Burger, French fries and a Coke for $2.99. Local pilot Robbie McMillan walked away unharmed from the crash of a crop duster he was flying. The plane experienced total engine failure as McMillan was approach ing the Burke County Airport and he had to attempt a land ing on a dirt road. Everything went smoothly until a wing struck a metal fence post, ultimately causing the plane to flip completely over. It was McMillan’s first incident in 24 years as a pilot. Members of the Waynesboro Burke County Humane So ciety asked the county commission to hire a full-time animal control officer and build an animal shelter. 50 YEARS AGO-AUGUST 16,1972 True Citizen publisher Roy Chalker, Jr. was scheduled to serve as interviewer in a debate between U.S. Sen. David Gambrell and his opponent, State Rep. Sam Nunn. The event was to be televised on WRDW TV Channel 12. Final returns from the August 8 General Primary showed that 61 percent of those registered actually voted. It was a record turnout for the county. WHS graduate Tommy Purser accepted a position as math teacher and assistant basketball and football coach for the coming year. 70 YEARS AGO-AUGUST 21,1952 Hammond Blanchard announced that Blanchard Tractor Co. had purchased the Purina Feed dealership from Fred DeLaigle and would move the operation to his dealership. John Reese, president of the Burke County Game and Fish Club, reminded local citizens that no license was required for anyone fishing with a pole and worms. He also said that no license was required for anyone under the age of 16, regardless of the bait or equipment used. The local National Guard unit announced that it needed 81 enlistees to bring the unit up to full strength. Veterans with experience in anti-aircraft artillery were a special need for the unit. 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. Don Lively (Reprinted from 2014) When I was a kid, I spent many hours in the hay loft in our old barn that doubled as my playhouse. It was my tall ship if I wanted to play pirates. My battlement if I was a Rebel soldier fighting off the Yankee hordes. My fort on the western fron tier if I was playing cowboys and Indians before we had to call Indians Native Americans. The loft had openings on both ends, the east looking toward the pecan orchard and the west overlooking the hedgerow that I knew to be full of quail and rabbits. There were great views from the loft of the old barn. But that’s a story for another time. Today I’m talking about a different loft. Therefore, a different view. The choir loft. A few years ago, when I moved back to the Blessed South and to my old homeplace smack in the middle of the Bible Belt, I rejoined the choir that I hadn’t sung a note in for decades. Several of the mem bers were the very same ones who were there back then and have been lifting their voices up to Him all that time. It’s a joy. I have loved every service that I’ve been blessed to be a part of. And, there’s the view. Now you might think that singing in the choir would mean seeing the same thing every week, sitting in the same spot with your back to the rear wall facing the congregation, week in and week out, and, to some extent you’d be right. I see the balcony that was once the Sunday School wing back when the entire church building was under one roof. No add-ons. No annexes. No gyms. I also see the framed docu ment on the back wall, the one that tells good Baptists what debaucheries to avoid in order the remain good Baptists. And, from my perch on the far left end of the back row, I can watch the front door and see who comes in late and who leaves early. But there’s another kind of view. The faces. When you attend the same church where your Mama took you for the first time when you were two weeks old, that’s my history, many of the faces out LOFTY RECOLLECTIONS in the congregation are mostly familiar, mostly friendly and nearly all memory provoking. Like the cousin who recently came back for a visit. She was a senior in high school when I was a sophomore but we were good buddies and she even claimed me as her own on a long-ago Sadie Hawkins Day. She moved away and met with a lot of success but back in the day she was just one of the boys. You read that right. She could, and would, try pretty much anything that the boy cousins would. There’s also that sweet face of Miss Joanne who recently lost her husband. They were some of our closest neighbors and she helped raise me. I crashed my bicycle on the road in front of her house and tore a chunk out of me knee. She got to me before Mama did and made it all better. There are two faces that look nearly identical. Understand able since they are identical twins. Their daddy and mine occasionally farmed together and I remember them as teenage farmboys working in the peanut fields. These days, between the two of them, on some Sundays their families, children, grands and great-grands, fill a couple of pews. On some Lord’s Day morn ings, if I really look hard, I can also see many faces that are no longer there among the wor shipers but who I am confident are all currently worshiping on a higher plain. Mama and Daddy of course. They used to sit on the east side, near the front, second or third row. I was always amazed and how often both of them sang the hymns, word for word, holding but not really using the hymnal. Grandma is there too, al ways wearing a Sunday-go- to-meeting dress and always somewhere near the front. I see Mr. Thomas who could and would extend the service by ten or fifteen minutes with his epic closing prayers but who meant and lived by the words he said. On the very front row I see Brother Fred and Brother Bob and Brother Gerald and several other pastors waiting till it was time to step into the pulpit and get to preaching. All in Heaven. All absent from the body but present with the Lord. But the faces remain. I can see them. From the loft. Don Lively is a freelance writer and author of several books of Southern Humor. He lives in Shell Bluff. Email Don at Livelycolo@aol.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 Citizen, 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; Brannon Braddock, Monica Mobley, Daniel Hannah, Sports Reporters; 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. Harriet Dixon Guest Columnist PAINFUL I have lived in the City of Sardis for all my life, which consists of 74 years. I love Sardis and it is immensely painful to hear the false in formation being circulated among some of our current citizens regarding issues they seemingly have no facts to support. I am not insensitive to the issues we are facing, and it would be irresponsible of me to dismiss them; however, I believe there is a proper way to address our concerns. So cial media is a wonderful tool that many of us use to keep up with the lives of those we hold close, but it can be damaging, especially when used to ex press concerns of any nature whether true or false. Many threats have been posted to social media ref erencing contacting news outlets about brown water, the city falsely overcharging citizens for water service and much more. Brown water has been in this city since late 70’s early 80’s. Water rates, historically, have been below other cities for years and have resulted in economic hardship for the city. Meters are old and outdated. Based on informa tion discussed in our council sessions, meters should be replaced every 10 to 15 years but haven’t been changed for 30 to 40 years. The current administration is being slandered for inher iting major issues that it is doing its best to correct and is intent on solving issues as they are discovered. The ad ministration has reached out to various agencies for grants to replace old and rusted iron pipes that are causing discol oration in the water system. The citizen participation in the 2020 Census was less than desired. If all citizens had participated, grant fund ing for Sardis would have been increased, helping to correct some of the major problems we are currently experiencing. One grant that was requested from CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) was for fund ing to replace corroded iron pipes and to assist in Mag gie Valley roads. I cannot say with assurance why the census or grant surveys were not completed but I know that the refusal to participate has greatly impacted our abil ity to obtain funding as our numbers do not meet certain requirements. This administration dili gently searched for funding to replace all manual water meters that are legally con nected. Proudly I say, the funds have been received and digital meters will be installed in the coming months. With these meters being electroni cally read through a com puter system, all the myths/ untruths will be dismantled. This is one example of how the present administration has worked tirelessly to ac complish and bring our city up to par. This city can only be as suc cessful as the individuals liv ing in it. We have repeatedly requested attendance by our citizens at our monthly coun cil sessions, but participation is consistently low. This is not the time to spread hurtful myths and untruths about our administration but to band together so that we can ef fectively and efficiently make changes for all our citizens. Everyone is being treated equally and the goal is to en sure that we, the citizens, have what we need.