Newspaper Page Text
Page 4 — Wednesday, January 24, 2024, 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}
20 YEARS AGO -JANUARY 28,2004
Burke County was spared for the most part during
an ice storm that hit the area. BCHS was opened as an
emergency shelter after power outages were reported in
the northern part of the county.
Burke County Commissioners again turned down a re
quest from the recreation department for salary increases
for five employees.
Isaac Beard retired after a long career with the U.S.
Postal Service. He began his employment with thr USPS
just five years out of high school and capped off his tenure
as Postmaster of Sardis.
50 YEARS AGO-JANUARY 23,1973
State Rep. Preston B. Lewis, Jr. introduced legislation
to make the death penalty mandatory for the crimes of
murder and armed robbery. The bill also established in
what circumstances the death penalty could be imposed
for other offenses.
Pamela Jo Davis and Constance Perry were named
semihnalists for the Governor’s Honors Program. The
program was designed to provide gifted upcoming 11th
and 12th graders challenging and enriching opportunities
not available during the regular school year.
Lisa Dolin of Waynesboro, a student at Washington
University in St. Louis, Mo., was one of 35 men and
women from 18 different colleges set to leave for the
“Vienna Semester” in Southeast Europe.
70 YEARS AGO-JANUARY 28,1954
Bill Tallent was named manager of the Welt Store in
Waynesboro. He had previously managed the company’s
store in Sparta. The company also had stores in Millen
and Augusta. Active in the Baptist Church, he was also a
member of the Masonic Lodge and Lions Club.
Waynesboro druggist Lamar Allen was named Civitan
of the Year by the local club. He was recognized for his
service on the Burke County Betterment Council.
G. Samuel Stone, a native of Laurens County, was
named as the new Assistant County Agent. He had a
B.S. degree in Agriculture from Savannah State College
and a Masters degree in Agronomy from Tennessee State
University.
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Roy F. Chalker Roy F. Chalker Jr.
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Editor; Brannon Braddock, Sports Reporter; Tracy
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Sales; Roy F. Chalker, Jr., Printing Manager.
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Don Lively
BLOW AWAY
Aren't y'all loving this cold
weather?
No?
Well, I am. I'm one of those
folks who enjoys the spring,
tolerates the summer, relishes
the fall and loves the winter.
Yes, I'm aware that I'm in
the minority on this particular
issue.
Here's my reasoning for my
position.
In cold weather, I can stay
warm. I can layer on enough
clothes to keep toasty. I can
keep a nice fire going in the
fireplace, or the hrepit. I can set
the thermostat to a reasonable
setting, then slip into a hoodie
and cozy britches.
Nice and warm.
In hot weather, or more par
ticularly, in the stifling, sweaty,
humid climate that attacks our
neck of the woods for several
months a year, I can't take off
enough clothes to cool off,
can't set the thermostat low
enough to keep the house cool
without having to take out a
yearly second mortgage to pay
the power bill, and can't scarf
down enough Bahama Mamas
to make me forget that Hades
itself can't be much hotter than
the Blessed South in August.
So there.
Now I do have a caveat about
my affection for cold weather.
I'm not real crazy about those
frigid Southern winds.
I actually enjoy nearly every
aspect of earthly weather, other
than the above mentioned heat.
And cold winds. I like rain. I
like snow. I love thunder and
lightning storms. I've survived
two Southern hurricanes and
numerous Rocky Mountain
blizzards and most of those
experiences left me oddly ex
hilarated.
But for some reason, the wind
blowing through these parts
the last few days has not been
particularly enjoyable.
I drove down to The Pond
yesterday, out of boredom
and to have a look around,
something I do every couple
of weeks. It was cold but calm
when I first got there so I de
cided to walk the gully for a
bit. About halfway up the hill,
and quite a way from my truck,
the wind kicked back up. It felt
like it had ice shards in it and
the thick Carhartt barn coat I
was wearing did nearly nothing
to stop it. It felt like it took an
hour to get back to the truck and
another half hour to thaw out.
It reminded me of a long ago
drug bust that I worked when
I was a cop in Colorado. I had
been temporarily assigned to
the narcotics unit and we fol
lowed a lead in our city all the
way up into the mountains. It
was March, one of the coldest,
windiest months in that part of
the world. I had dressed in what
I thought were warm clothes,
plus I mistakenly believed that,
once we made entry into the
suspect's house, we'd be semi
warm.
I was very wrong.
There were several barns and
sheds on the property that had
to be methodically searched,
and none of which were heated.
The wind was blowing down
through the canyons and we
were directly in its path. West
ern winds, when they whip
around trees and buildings and
parked vehicles, actually howl
like some unseen banshee. I
actually liked the howling part,
just not the arctic blasts. We
stayed there until well after dark
and before the day was over
my face was so numb I could
barely speak.
All because of the wind.
They call the wind Mariah.
If you've ever seen the clas
sic movie Paint Your Wagon,
you've heard Harve Presnell
sing about western elements.
"Away out here, they've got
a name, for rain and wind and
fire. The rain is Tess, the fire
is Joe and they call the wind
Mariah."
Just before that song begins a
character called Mad Jack Dun
can summed up many settlers
feelings about the wind.
"It's a living hell up here,
what with the bloody rain,
the bloody loneliness and the
bloody, bloody wind."
The unrelenting, never-end
ing wind warranted two blood
ies from the old Irishman.
East of the Rockies, out on
the plains, the wind almost
never stops. The blowing sand
and grass and weeds literally
drove many farm folks mad in
the early days of settlement,
causing thousands of families to
abandon their claims and head
back east.
Never-ending.
Lately, it seems like our own
winds rarely let up.
I love a gentle breeze while
I'm sitting on the north porch,
or on some beach, somewhere.
But I don't care for icy wind
such as we've had recently, so,
Mariah, you can stop anytime.
Nice name though, Mariah.
Ronda Rich
Sometimes, I have decided,
rudeness works. Sometimes,
it’s even called for.
I had to do a lot of thinking
on this because I advocate kind
ness and courtesy.
But if someone is being
abused publicly, I can see the
need for rudeness to spare the
victim.
When I experienced a home
invasion several years ago, I
was quite rude. There was no
graciousness and I did not offer
them a cold drink as I always do
to delivery drivers.
Instead, I used the full
strength of my mountain rais
ing. I jumped out unexpect
edly from another room as they
reached for a box of costume
jewelry. I used the rebel yell.
Have you heard of that? The
Scotch-Irish, in the Southern
Appalachians, first used it in
the War of Independence when
they beat back the British and
preserved the victories that
George Washington’s troops
had scored.
When Stonewall Jackson led
his mostly-Virginia Military
School-trained cadets into early
Civil War battles, they were aid
ed mightily by mountain boys
who used the ghastly screech
which terrified the enemy and
often caused retreat. Jackson
quickly learned to put those
mountain boys in front to send
forth the yell.
It became so legendary that
author S .C Gwynne even named
his bestselling biography of
Stonewall Jackson: Rebel Yell.
Later, I’ll tell a longer ver
sion but the summary is this:
there was no gun in this house.
THEN. So, all I had was a 5’2”
container of righteous anger and
the rebel yell. It worked just fine
and dandy.
All four were arrested, tried,
convicted, and sentenced on
federal charges. When the coun
ty sheriff’s deputies and detec
tives asked how I managed such
a heroic feat, I demonstrated the
rebel yell. First, it scared them.
Then, it tickled them.
“Would you be willing to
do a video of that?” asked the
RUDENESS AND COURTESY
Lieutenant in charge of the in
vestigation. “That could help us
a lot in training.”
That’s a case where rudeness
worked rather nicely.
But to be fair: extreme cour
tesy, pleading, hyperventilat
ing, or even a tart, almost rude,
“Ma’am. Ma’am! May I speak
with your supervisor?” does not
work with the phone company.
It does not care if you use their
cell service or DSL. And, they
know you have no choice with
landlines. You’re stuck with an
American monopoly.
Not long ago, a woman with
the phone company “found
some discounts” for me. She
was very sweet and I was em
barrassingly joyous. Then, I
didn’t get the discounts on the
next bill. A woman claiming to
be from the company’s Presi
dent’s office (like I believe he
cares) finally called and said
there were no discounts and
implied I was lying.
“Ma’am, I assure you that
I wouldn’t have spent seven
hours on this phone trying to get
these discounts if I hadn’t been
told that. I’d just sit outside and
watch the grass grow.”
“Let me see if I can pull up
that phone call.”
Of course, she couldn’t find
the call. I laughed. “Trust me.
I knew you wouldn’t.” When I
said I’d write the FTC and FCC,
she calmly replied, “Every
complaint will come back to
me and nothing will change.”
I was certain I was being re
corded so I didn’t pull out the
rebel yell.
Recently, Tink and I were
in Nashville for a book event
to honor our beloved Diane
Ladd — a proud Mississippian-
-and her daughter, Laura Dem,
hosted by Reese Witherspoon.
Diane had seen to it that we
had front row seats but when
the gracious lady escorted us
to our seats, a woman was in
mine. She stared straight ahead
and did not offer to move so we
went to the second row.
This bit of rudeness kept me
from sitting next to pop star,
Sheryl Crowe. Which goes to
show that for some people,
some times, rudeness works
quite well.
I should get that woman to
call the phone company for me.