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The Houston Home Journal
Official Organ City Os Perry And Houston County, Georgia
BOBBY BRANCH
PRESIDFNT-EDITOR-PUBLISHER
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HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL THURS., OCT. U, I»7J,
Boosters Seek Funds
Perry High Needs Stands
We support the Perry High School
Panther Booster Club in their efforts
to obtain new seating at the Perry
High athletic field. Several members
of the Booster Club appeared before
the Houston County Board of
Education Tuesday and presented a
detailed study of seating and costs.
We are constantly reminded Perry
High School has one of the finest
athletic field houses of any high
school in the state and we agree with
this but we strongly feel the fans and
the students need and should have
On Unemployment Insurance
Get Rid Os Chislers
To be unemployed-and to want to
work-is a terrible thing. But it is time
to lake chislers off the unemployment
insurance rolls.
The unemployment insurance
system was designed to aid workers
who, for reasons beyond their control,
lost their jobs and were temporarily
out of work until they could find new
employment. It was not intended as
welfare for those who found ways to
take advantage of the system.
Georgia Labor Commissioner Sam
Caldwell has set out to correct the
situation in this state in an effort to
prevent some people from using
unemployment insurance as a ‘‘gravy
train”. Here’s wishing him the best of
success.
‘‘We’ve concentrated too much ...
on getting the (unemployment)
checks out faster and not enough on
checking up on who gets them.
Drawing unemployment com
pensation is preferable to working for
some people, and I’m fed up with
helping them,” Caldwell said.
The commissioner, drawing on
reports from claims centers in
Atlanta and around the state,
estimates that 20 percent of those now
drawing unemployment com
pensation can be eliminated by a
series of steps.
Caldwell said the major abusers
and the ones he will try to eliminate
from unemployment insurance rolls
are people who quit their jobs without
good reason and then collect unem
ployment benefits; housewives who
City Election Coming
Register To Vote
There is an important election
coming up in Perry in December and
a lot of citizens of the community will
not be able to voice an opinion where
it counts—at the polls.
Registering to vote in Perry is a
simple matter of going by the city hall
and signing up, no matter if you have
A Church Leader
Mrs. Gertrude Miller
Mrs. Gertrude Miller was recently
honored by the membership of The
Greater Union Baptist Church of
Perry for her many years of
dedication to the church and work in
the music department. No honor has
ever been more deserved.
Mrs. Miller has taught countless
PAGE 4-A
adequate seating for home games and
other school events at the field.
We appreciate the efforts of the
Booster Club on behalf of Perry High.
It is just another indication of com
munity pride and enthusiasm in our
schools and that is what it is all about.
The Perry High Booster Club is a
group of hard working, interested
parents and fans and The Home
Journal goes on record as supporting
their efforts in this project and all the
other fine things they are doing for
Perry High School.
—B.B.
quit their jobs but don't seek another,
executives who reach ‘‘mandatory
retirement” but who can collect
unemployment insurance for a while;
and those people who constantly
move from job to job but ‘‘take a
break” in between jobs and collect
benefits.
Caldwell’s department has begun
as permitted by federal law-to refer
‘‘suitable job” openings to persons
drawing unemployment. And if they
refuse the jobs, they-especially those
who have quit their jobs without good
cause or who have been fired for valid
reasons-may be removed from the
unemployment rolls.
Currently, anyone who quits a job
can draw unemployment within five
to nine weeks, if he has not found
other employment. But Caldwell says
he will ask the General Assembly
next year to vote to prohibit unem
ployment benefits to those who do quit
jobs without cause or are fired for
cause.
None of this will affect those people
who find themselves unemployed for
reasons they could not control, such
as recession or company layoffs or
sudden changes in job conditions or
requirements. They are the ones for
whom unemployment insurance was
designed and they deserve it-although
they will remain on it no longer than
absolutely necessary.
It is the chiselers who must go,
those who are making unemployment
insurance into welfare. For them,
there is real welfare, if they want it.
I Atlanta Constitution, Tues., Oct. 7)
only lived here for one day.
We have said it many times but it
bears repeating: If you don’t vote
don’t gripe. Register to vote today
and go to the polls on election day and
voice an opinion on the future of
Perry.
—B.B.
Perry youngsters in her church to
appreciate and understand music.
She has been an inspiration to the
church and to her many friends and
admirers over the years. We proudly
salute Mrs. Miller and wish her well
in the future. (See story and photos
elsewhere on Mrs. Miller.)
SoneTlME s \
R HHMMER LA i\ »A
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- IS^MIET STRENGLINKS
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HHJ NEWS EDITOR
Cy* kjk S touted Side
BY JOE HIETT
i —/
By how, at least ten HHJ readers
have asked me if my “application”
for food stamps was approved. The
answer is “No”. I quickly learned
that my meager salary, coupled with
the deductions to which I am
qualified, render me too rich for food
stamps, doggone it.
Although I am well aware that
much has been said and been written
about persons receiving food stamps
fraudently, probably the majority of
such snide remarks are unfounded.
Nevertheless there are doubtless
people driving Cadillacs who are on
food stamps.
So with all due respect to the DFCS,
I am going to repeat a story that is
presently going around town; It
seems there was a man who stole a
ham out of a farmer’s curing shed.
The man then sold the ham for $26.00
to a local non-100 reputable grocer.
The man next ventured to the Post
Office and purchased $50.00 worth of
food stamps with about $20.00 cash.
Following that, the man went to the
grocery store and spent his $50.00
worth of food stamps, and in so doing
bought the ham back from the grocer
for $29.00.
The man returned home with $6.00
in his pocket, and $50.00 worth of
groceries. He had made a profit and
so had the grocer. The only loser was
the farmer, but the man returned the
ham and the farmer never noticed it
being missing.
Now obviously the story is kind of
overly simple, but it is interesting,
isn't it?
/ 11 “
UNTO
C«f THE HILLS
T)on-JmoiC
» J
I will lift up mine eyes
unto the hills, from whence
cometh my help.
Psalms 121:1
There Is something
about a mountain which
makes us feel a sense of
exhileration and closeness
to God, whatever season It
may happen to be. But
when the leaves of fall are
flaming with glorious
color, it almost makes us
cry out with Edna St.
Vincent Millay: "Lord, I
do fear thou'st made the
world too beautiful this
year."
This past weekend, my
family and I traveled with
a church group to a retreat
Anyone who attended last week’s
Fire Prevention Week demonstration
by the Perry Fire Department (along
with other county firemen) was
startled by the final part of the show
when Greene’s Propane lighted the
“gas tree”, and white-hot flames
leaped fifty feet into the air. That
thing was hot, just ask me, I know. I
ventured about five feet closer to take
the picture in last week’s Home
Journal, and almost singed my
eyebrows, contact lenses, and hair.
Two members of Mayor James
McKinley’s Youth Advisory Council-
Lee Grant from Perry High, and
Steve Rodgers from Westfield High
attended last week’s City Council
meeting, listening with obvious in
terest to the ninety minute session.
I assured them that most Council
meetings last only an hour, but I’m
not too sure they believed me. It was
good to see the two young men take an
interest in their city government.
Now if only more citizens would show
the same inclination, the voters would
be better informed.
What most people do not realize is
that the Council members, if active at
all, spend far more time on city
business than just an hour every two
weeks. Take as an example, Coun
cilwoman Barbara Calhoun, who is
becoming known for working many
hours in efforts to operate the city
more efficiently. To Barbara and the
other Council members, I say
“Thanks” as a Perryan who ap
preciates you.
in the mountains near
Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
The awesome heights and
the magnificent colors
were gorgeous beyond the
power of human
description. The lodge lay
nestled among towering
hills which were covered
with sober evergreens
standing guard amid
prodigal displays of golds,
reds, yellows, orange, and
brown; a stream just to the
rear splashed and laughed
its way along, providing
delight for the ear while
our eyes were feasting.
The big fireplace turned
oak logs into a nostalgic
perfume which spread its
way through the valley,
mingling with grey
morning fog.
It is strange how
mountains can make us
teel so small to be among
their lofty grandeur; yet at
the same time we sense the
importance of man for God
to have lavished all of this
beauty on him, for none of
the rest of creation has the
power to enjoy it.
This is, of course, a
sentimenfal interprefafion
of nature as offering
evidence of God's love.
Nature also offers witness
to cold unconcern and
brutal struggle. And yet
the hills are alive with far
more than music; the hills
and the heavens declare
the glory of God, shouting
of his greatness and his
majesty. These hills are
big and impressive (like
God); they have been
around for a long time
(like God); they are a
source of great beauty and
inspiration (like God); and
they give us a good feeling,
just to be around them
(like God).
Qmcb '*Tl
OUT <?N A
BRANCH *'**
- 1 j:/
People Make The
Newspaper Happen
National Newspaper Week came and went last
week with hardly a flutter of the eye but I cannot
let it slip completely away without saying a word
or two about what The Home Journal is at
tempting to do in the community and the role we
all feel we play here at the newspaper.
No matter what our efforts may be nothing is
more important to a newspaper than its readers
and advertisers. I don’t say it but once a year but
it needs to be told that The Home Journal is not a
non-profit organization although our books in
dicate it as such during some months of the year.
Everyone on our staff works hard to publish a
good, community newspaper for our readers each
week. So much for the profit angle, but it is
necessary at least once a year to remind
folks that the government is not supporting us and
the only thing we have to sell is space on the pages
of the paper.
Not many of our readers are familiar with who
does what here at the paper and how we manage
to publish it once a week and during this National
Newspaper Week I am going to alot this meager
space to recognize one of the outstanding weekly
newspaper staffs in the state.
Joe Hiett and I cover all the governmental
meetings as well as some club meetings and
special events. We both take photos of just about
anything that comes up during the week. Joe’s
beat is primarily the county commissioners, the
school board and the hospital authority. He
probably knows more about the workings of these
bodies than do some of the members of the
He has made it his business to know what is going
on so that he can relate it to our readers. I cover
the city scene which includes city council and
whatever happens in the mayor’s office that the
citizens of Perry ought to know about.
So what else does the editor do? I take the heat
from the readers and the politicians (two different
types, you note). So, sock it to me about anything;
I am well insulated.
Phil Byrd is our sports editor. Besides being
responsible for our sports pages, he developes all
of our film and photographs. Le is also primarily
responsible for seeing that the pages in the
newspaper get made up early in the week so
on Wednesday morning we don’t have 20 pages to
go before deadline. He covers all sporting events
at Perry High School and many of the junior high
schools. Joe Hiett covers the Westfield Schools
sporting scene. For the past two years, The Home
Journal sports pages have been judged the best
among weekly newspapers in Georgia. Enough
said.
Jimmy Chapman, who, next to me, has been
here longer than anyone on the staff, is the
production manager. He gets all the pages ready
for the press, makes sure they are right and
makes up many of the ads that go in the paper. He
is responsible for making sure everything gets
done in the back shop. He will also be running the
commercial printing operation we plan to open
here in November.
Janice Colwell runs the front office, keeps our
books straight, handles countless problems that
come up around the office every day and keepV'he
staff straight, including the editor. She is also the
most popular person in the office on Friday, when
she makes out the payroll.
Vennie Moss is our computer operator and
typesetter. She sets all the text copy that goes into
The Home Journal each week and if you don’t
think that is a lot of typesetting, try counting the
words on just the front page.
Janet Lewsader is the newest member of our
staff. She works in the front office and handles
subscriptions and classified ads.
There are other part-time members of our staff
who are most important to the total newspaper.
They include Mildred Warren, who has been
writing the Cook’s Nook for more years than she
will admit. Mildred is a very vital part of
newspaper and her column is one of the most
popular in the paper.
Emily Montgomery handles society news and
personals for us and she is a valued member of
our part-time team.
Jackie Cooper’s entertainment column has
grown to be extremely popular among our readers
and we appreciate his efforts.
Our community correspondents are most im
portant to the newspaper. Mrs. Ruby Tharpe is
one of our biggest boosters along with writing her
weekly column. Mrs. Doris Thames keeps us
informed on what’s happening in Henderson; Mrs.
Patsy Watson tells us all about Houston Lake;
Mrs. Harriett Forehand keeps us up to date
Hayneville community.
There are others and we appreciate everything
that anyone does to help provide our readers with
what we think is a good, community newspaper
each week.
Our full-time staffers have been working here
for an impressive number of years; Jimmy
Chapman, 9Mi years; Phil Byrd, 5V* years; Joe
Hiett, 4Mi years; Janice Colwell, 8 years; Vennie
Moss, 3 years, and I have been kicking around
here for lOVfc years.
Happy Newspaper Week to us from us.