Newspaper Page Text
VOL. 106 NO. 31
State Official Tells Chamber:
ft
Perry ’s Future Better Than Ever
An appreciative throng
of more than 250 persons
attended the Chamber of
Commerce quarterly
membership meeting last
Thursday morning, held in
conjunction with "Open
"•House" at the Holiday Hall
convention center at the
Holiday Inn. Guest
speaker at the meeting
was Robert King, deputy
commissioner of the
Georgia Industry and
Trade department.
Present from his
Gainesville, Georgia home
was Jack McKibbon,
owner of the Holiday Inn of
Perry with McKibbon
Brothers, Inc. Pete Dlearo
of Perry is vice president
iOf McKibbon Bros. The
and Dlearo
earlier this year persuaded
McKibbon to construct the
convention center facility
at the Holiday Inn here.
Presiding over the brief
meefing was Chamber of
Commerce president Jim
Geiger. He noted that the
Chamber now has more
than 170 members, with
more merchants and in
dividuals joining every
day. He also recalled the
loan closing the previous
Tuesday afternoon of the
soon-to-be new
quarters on Washington
Street in a house owned by
the Paschal Muse estate.
Presently Chamber offices
are in City Hall.
Local president Geiger
also announced that Alton
Hardy (former City
Councilman), chairman of
the Chamber's legislative
committee, had secured a
Pre-Legislative Forum for
the convention center in
November. A similar
function was held here two
ago, featuring
President
Georgia Press
Elects Branch
Houston Home Journal
Bobby Branch
I elected President of
the Georgia Press
Association on Saturday,
July 24, at Jekyll Island,
Ga., during the
association's 90th annual
convention. The G.P.A.,
with headquarters in
Atlanta, represents the
■
Bobby Branch
The Houston Home Journal
Published Every Thursday At Perry, Georgia- - - A Certified Georgia City
Speaker of the state House
Tom Murphy.
Geiger mentioned other
recent important Chamber
efforts, including the fact
that the Chamber paid for
the initial survey on the
downtown re-development
project. Also noted was the
Industry Day tours of
Magee and Continental
Can.
McKibbon then took the
podium and briefly
remarked about the
persistence of the Perry
contingent who persuaded
him to authorize con
struction of Holiday Hall.
"Y'all wouldn't take no for
an answer," he laughed.
He saluted Pete Dlearo
and Richard Harris of his
staff for their work.
Peaches, Pecans & Pabst
Special guest speaker
Bob King predicted a
glowing future for Perry,
Retail Sales To Climb
Business Outlook
‘Good’ For Perry
While business in
general in Perry and
Houston County slacked off
after the July 4 holiday
weekend, most merchants
feel the trend beginning to
pick back up pointing
toward the best Fall
buying and pre-Christmas
shopping season in the past
weekly and daily
newspapers of Georgia.
Other officers elected
were vice president Jim
Wood Jr., Publisher of the
News-Dailey, Jonesboro,
Ga., and Otis Brumby Jr.,
Treasurer, Publisher of
the Marietta Daily Journal
and the Neighbor
Newspapers of Atlanta.
Branch succeeds W.H.
Champion, Publisher of
the Dublin Courier-
Herald, as president. He
will serve a one year term.
The G.P.A. is recognized
as one of the leading press
associations in the nation
and is a strong member of
the National Newspaper
Association in Washington,
D.C.
Branch's election
marked the second time in
the Home Journal's 107
year history that one of the
newspaper's publishers
was elected president of
the G.P.A. In 1956, the late
Cooper Etheridge served
as president of she G.P.A.
He was a former publisher
partner in The Home
Journal along with Byron
Maxwell of Perry.
PERRY. HOUSTON COUNTY. GA„ THURSDAY JULY 29, 1976
“Peaches, Pecans, Pabst.. .And People”
the convention center, and
tourism down 1-75. He said,
"Perry is at the crossroads
of Georgia. Tourists think
of peaches, pecans and
Pabst when they hear
Perry's name. Your
presence at this meeting is
an indication of your in
terest in the tourist in
dustry."
King outlined the impact
of the tourist industry in
Georgia- from service
stations to motels to
restaurants- by noting the
23,000 retail outlets and
annual payroll of 620
million dollars. Tourist
related businesses pay
each year $342 million
in taxes.
"Ten million people pass
by Perry each year on I
-75," King affirmed. "You
can induce them to spend
more time and money in
several years.
James N. Geiger,
President of the Perry
Area Chamber of Com
merce, stated, "We feel all
indicators point toward an
increase in sales in the Fall
over the same period last
year and that the overall
economy of the Perry area
James Geiger
Armco Steel may break ground on its schedtded
A plant here by the end of this year. That announ
/vrmco cement came last Thursday morning by Perl^y
Chamber of Commerce president Jim Geiger *L,
1 ]V/| the Chamber ’ s quarterly membership meeting,
held at the new Holiday Hall convention center at
the Holiday Inn.
Geiger reported that latest information in-
DrCaK dicates Armco, based in Middletown, Ohio, will
seek authority from its board of directors to break
ground toward the end of the year in Perry’s
OrOllllQ Industrial Park. The company last year an
nounced plans to come south to Perry, after
If r T T L • months of negotiation with local Chamber and city
Here 1 ins officials.
The Armco Steel plant to be located here will
Y employ upwards of 125 persons and construct steel
103 T buildings. A forty acre tract on Valley Road at the
Industrial Park has already been chosen.
Perry. How? 1) Get behind
the Chamber of Commerce
and its tourism committee
and develop special ac
tivities. 2) Train your
people to be friendly; sell
Perry- the more Southern
they sound the better it is.
3) Place cards in outlets
that suggest spending time
here. 4) Brochures and
flyers advertising events.
6) Get a big eraser and
erase the city and county
limits. Look at the area.
Perry could be the base for
trips to Andersonvllle,
Plains, Fort Valley, and
other locations.”
King suggested Perry
capitalize on the relative
nearness of Plains - home
of a man named Carter. He
closed by asking Perry to
develop the concept for
tourists of "Perry
peaches, pecans, Pab
st...and people.”
is indeed on the upswing.
We are basing most of our
predictions on data and
statistics available to the
chamber from a number of
state and national sources
and I would have to say
right now we feel good
about the months ahead
from an economic stand
point."
During this same period
of 1975, many local mer
chants were in the grips of
an economic recession that
never got as bad in Perry
as it did in other areas of
the country but did
manage to leave some
financial scars here.
Alvin Dickerson, owner
of True Value Hardware,
said, "We are looking
forward to a good Fall and
Christmas season and we
are buying heavily for
these months in order to
offer our customers
everything they can find in
Macon or Atlanta at
competitive prices. Our
philosophy is that the more
See Page 2-A
\ iHßßftk. V I || if k\i I. to
I ||.' ' I # ttw S #■« m ip! }f It it $ :
/ vl« AuMMIb n ? SUfIH
I I I I —if I ■K : f -•« | mm
II If w f fl m Hp
Holiday Inn of Perry owner Jack McKibbon (C)
was present last Thursday morning as the Perry
Chamber of Commerce held its quarterly
*mftmbV¥shlp meeting at the new Holiday Halt
convention center. Left to right are: Bob King,
deputy state Industry and Trade commissioner;
W
i
IL
The Perry Pottery doubledecker bus provided
transportation from downtown to last Thursday’s
Chamber of Commerce meeting at Holiday Hall
convention center. Left to right are Holiday Inn
officials and Chamber members prior to a return
trip back downtown: Chamber president Jim
Geiger, state Industry and Trade official Bob
King, Holiday Inn vice president Pete Dlearo,
banker Jimmy Stubbs, Holiday Inn restaurant
Home Journal Receives
Georgia Press Awards
The Houston Home
Journal was awarded two
third place honors In the
annual better newspaper
contest held at the Georgia
Press Association's 90th
annual convention at
Jekyll Island, last week.
The Home Journal took
honors in best local news
coverage and best photos
for all weeklies in Georgia
with a circulation more
t . than 3,000. The H.H.J.
Chamber tourism committee chairman Don
Parkinson; McKibbon; Chamber president Jim
Geiger; and Chamber executive vice president
Elwyn McKinney. More than 250 persons attended
the “Open House” as the new convention center
attracted visitors from all over middle Georgia.
manager Joe Lambert, Kevin Monroe, banker
Lewis Meeks, tourism committee chairman Don
Parkinson, attorney Sheet Hulbert, attorney
George Nunn, radio executive Lowell Register,
banker Tony Edmondson, Chamber treasurer
Tom Holland, attorney David Moore, Holiday Inn
innkeeper Glen McGee, and Chamber executive
president Elwyn McKinney. Not pictured is Perry
Pottery manager Ed Cook.
circulation is more than
4,400 subscribers.
The judges in the contest
stated that the H.HJ.
coverage of local news is
"outstanding" and "in
novative". They cited The
HHJ coverage of city and
county meetings as
especially outstanding.
The judges in the photos
contest said: "Our hats are
off to the darkroom people
and printers at The Home
Journal for the fine job
2B PAGES 2 SECTIONS
they do in reproducing the
many photos used in the
newspaper. Also, the
paper's photographers do
an excellent job."
Attending the convention
were Branch, his wife,
Becky, and children,
Robby, Lee and Geoffrey.
Also attending the con
vention from Perry were
former Home Journal
publisher- partner Byron
Maxwell and Mrs. Max
well.