Funding for the digitization of this title was provided by the Burke County Genealogical and Historical Society.
About The true citizen. (Waynesboro, Ga.) 1882-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 8, 2025)
Page 4A— Wednesday, October 8, 2025, The True Citizen PINIONS The Pledge Of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of die United States of America and to die 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 - OCTOBER 12, 2005 Local businesses were struggling to deal with high fuel costs as the price of regular unleaded gasoline reached $2.75 per gallon. The price had increased about 90c per gallon in the past year. More than 40 local and regional artists were scheduled to exhibit their work at the third annual Liberty Art Show here. Catie Griffin, the featured artist at the event, would display a new series of expressionist style oil paintings. Local RV enthusiasts Richard and Sue Daniels encountered a wounded stray dog while camping at Lake Thurmond. They fed and befriended him before returning home to Waynes boro. But, the old dog stayed on their minds and they returned to the campground, found him and brought him home. They decided to name him Old Fella. 50 YEARS AGO - OCTOBER 8, 1975 Ed McIntyre, Chairman of the Richmond County Board of Commissioners, was scheduled to speak at the 12th Anniver sary Dinner of the Burke County Improvement Association. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held to mark the opening of the new branch of First Federal Savings and Loan Associa tion of Augusta. Mayor Paul Stone did the honors, assisted by branch manager Henry Garrett. Over 300 delegates and singers were expected to gather at the Waynesboro National Guard Armory for the Georgia State Singing Convention. Mrs. G.A. Lewis was hostess for the event. 70 YEARS AGO - OCTOBER 13, 1955 Dr. T. Jack Lance of Calhoun, who had served as superin tendent of the Waynesboro Public Schools from 1917 - 1930, was scheduled to speak at the Methodist Men’s Club. J. Winston Borom and C.E. Johnson, Sr. announced their candidacy for re-election to Waynesboro City Council posts. Advertisers included Reese and Cox Real Estate, Waynes boro Groceteria, Dr. Melvin D. Bentley - Chiropractor, Swiss Cleaners and Blount Fish Co. Letter to the Editor We welcome your letters Letters to the editor of The True Citizen are welcomed and en couraged. These are pages of opinion, yours and ours. Letters to the editor voice the opinions of the newspaper’s read ers. 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. 225 IFIERTON COM HERE’S THE EVIDENCE * 1 *WTYLENOL CAUSES NITISM, ANTIFA IS AN ORGANIZATION, PORTLAND IS A WAR ZONE TAE SHUTDOWN IS ABOUT FREE AN CORE M ERAT ED CRONEPAURN! Don Lively BOOKS, HIKES AND SKY-HIGH TREES Dateline: The Pacific North west. September, 2025. Cape Alava,Washington was on our bucket list. My traveling partner and I had been to all of the other “extremes” in the US. Quoddy Head, Maine is the easternmost point in the lower 48 and we visited there last year. It was an easy one. Key West is the Southernmost, also easy except that we had to stand in line for thirty minutes just to get our opportunity for a selfie in front of the colorfully painted buoy that marks the spot. Angle Inlet, Minnesota, the northern- most point, required a passport and a short trip across a strip of Canada to get there, but then we drove right up to the marker that’s there for our photo op. We had even been to the geo graphical center of America, Lebanon, Kansas, which is out in the middle of nowhere. We had that one to ourselves. Cape Alava was the final extreme, the westernmost point in the contiguous United States. Extreme turned out to be the operative word. The trip out to the cape re quires a 3.5-mile hike in and 3.5 miles out. Several of the reviews that I read about the hike prior to getting there de scribed it as “moderate”. I call BS. Granted, much of the trail is a boardwalk,but many of the planks were rotten and many others broken. In places, the path was very narrow and the boards slippery. Often, where there wasn’t boardwalk, the tree roots were treacherous. In other words, the 7-mile hike was not exactly fun and is not some thing I ever want to do again. It was also quite beautiful. The trail winds through old- growth rainforests, crosses over tiny creeks and springs, and offers views you could never see from a car. Cape Alava it self was magnificent with huge spruce and cedar trees that hug the rocky shoreline. We knew before we went that, unlike all other extreme points, there is no official marker on Cape Alava so we had made our own sign which we held up for the obligatory picture, taken by a nice couple from Oregon. The return hike took and hour longer than the trip in but we did it, by golly. That same young couple from Oregon told us about Powell’s Books, in Portland, the larg est independent bookstore in the world. Since we are both avid readers and because I am a minor bibliophile, we had to go. It was amazing. Powell’s Books covers a square block of downtown Portland and is four stories. Sadly, we got there after the “Rare Book Section” was closed, and, due to time constraints we didn’t get to spend as much time there as we would have liked, but it was quite an experience. Because we were in Oregon, I bought a copy of The Journals of Lewis and Clark and a copy of The Oregon Trail. I look forward to digging into those. My traveling partner had never seen the redwoods and it had been over thirty years since I had, so we made our way to Redwood National and State Parks, in northern California. Because it had been so long since I was there, I had forgot ten just how spectacular those majestic giants really are. The route we took wound for miles through forests of trees so tall that you literally could not see the top. One huge trunk had seen the forces of nature cause a huge hole in one side that was so large that we actually went inside of it. If you know me, you know that I’m all for all kinds of farming, including log ging,but I’m very thankful that places like we saw are protected forever from the chainsaws. The last highlight of the first leg of the journey was a trip to the top of the Seattle Space Needle. Thankfully, since we were still recovering from our seven-mile hike, a very fast elevator took us to the top. The views of Seattle and Puget Sound are worth the price of admission. The walkway at the top gives you 360-degree pan oramas of the northeast corner of Washington, but there are also places where the walkway is just thick plexiglass with clear views between where you stand and a 600-foot drop, and because we are both somewhat prone to vertigo, we cut a wide berth around those. After a simple hot dog lunch that cost close to $100, we returned to level ground and started to get ready for the next part of the trip. If you like to travel, the Pa cific Northwest is not to be missed. Next week: Back to Alaska. The True Citizen 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 General Manager Margaret Anne Brogan, Feature Writer/Reporter; Brannon Braddock, Sports Reporter, Feature Writer; Lilly Herrington, Sports Reporter; 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. Even at the young age of 18,I watched it all in real time. And, though I was short on years and wisdom, I knew it was nothing short of amazing. There is a preface to this story. It isn’t fluff. It’s important to tell. Countless have been the times that I have been at a speaking engagement or book signing and had someone come through my line. It happens almost the same way every time. The person will be in the middle of the line, which keeps others waiting until, finally, five minutes in, I will say, “Would you mind waiting and coming back when I’ve finished sign ing? I hate to hold up all these people.” If Tink is with me, he helps with books but then he gets pulled into a conversation by that same person who asks, “Once this book [they’re pro posing to write] is a bestseller, Ronda Rich how do I turn it into a movie? Or do I write the movie first?” Tink, despite his 30 years in Hollywood, is always kind and patient. Meanwhile, I’m left with no help at the book table. When I finish, I say, “I’m sorry you had to wait. How may I help you?” “I’d like your guidance on writing a book.” I nod. “What do you want to write?” Usually, the answer is similar to one of two: “I’m one of many children. Daddy died and Mama raised us by herself. I put myself through law school.” I love those kinds of ideas. The one I hate is “I don’t know. I just want to write a book.” Most people write books like the ones they read. I have a friend who devours Westerns. He’s written over 23 cowboy books. “What do you read?” I’ll ask. “I don’t.” Wrong answer. My reply? “Then, you can’t write a book if you don’t read them.” This to tell you about a wom an named LaVenier Hicks who wanted to write so badly that she put everything she had into HOW AMAZING IT WAS it. Her full-time job was at a zipper plant where, after many years, she worked her way up to plant manager before it finally closed. She wrote freelance for our local, daily newspaper where I worked as an intern. She got off from work at four and, within an hour, came running into the news room, waving pages of stories she had written. There were days that she wrote the entire front page even though we were well-staffed. I remember one day, that there were four front page stories and she had writ ten every one while working a full-time job. Her ability to turn out mas sive quantities of quality stories was stunning. All while work ing a full-time job. LaVenier may have had a high school degree but I doubt she had a college diploma. Yet, she figured out the art to craft ing a captivating story then did it over and over and over. For $25 per assignment. Imagine working hard on chas ing down sources for days while working full-time. She won awards. She won trust. And she won everyone’s admi ration. She was a star. She could sniff out a story from a country mile away. Her sources were always strong and never wrong. She found an old man at the foot of Blood Mountain in Lumpkin County. He had a farmer’s stoop from all the years a mule had pulled his plow. He handcrafted spinning wheels and fiddles and was considered one of the best fiddle players the Appalachians had ever produced. He took a likin’ to LaVenier and took special care with the table and chairs he built for her. His history, she told with admiration and precision. That man, our Uncle Oscar Cannon, raised daddy. Before she died, she wrote the book of his life and accomplish ments because she knew what she wanted to write and what drew her. Oh, how amazing that woman was. Ronda Rich is the best-selling of the Stella Bankwell Mystery series. Visit www.rondarich. com to sign up for her free weekly newsletter.
