Newspaper Page Text
4A
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL, SATURDAY, JULY 1, 1989
. . j
The Houston Home Journal
OFFICIAL ORGAN, CUV OF PERRY AND HOUSTON
COUNTY, GEORGIA, SINCE 1870
PUBLISHED EACH WEDNESDAY AND SATURDAY MORNING
807 CARROLL ST„ P.O. DRAWER M, PERRY, GA, 31069
TELEPHONE: (912) 987-1823
Tne Housion Home Journal (USPS 252-780) is published biweekly for $lB per year by Ihe
Houston Home Journal, Inc , 807 Carroll St, Perry, Ga. 31069. Second Class Postage paid
at Perry, Ga, POSTMASTER: Send address change to The Houston Home Journal, P.O.
| Drawer M, Perry, Ga, 31069,
ROY H. PARK, President A Chairman o) the Board, Park Newspapers
JAMES B. KERCE
Editor & General Manager
RALPH MORRIS
Managing Editor
".I '
Opinion 1
John Barton: A faithful servant
Perry will miss John Barton, who died Tuesday of
cancer.
The former mayor and councilman, who served
Perry loyally and faithfully, was known to all as a pa
triot who loved America.
Barton was a lifetime member and past commander
of Perry's Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 126. Just re
cently, the post presented Barton with an award for his
service to the organization, the town and his fellow
man.
Barton was a kind and gentle man, committed to the
truth. If he told you something, you could count on it.
His service to the city is distinguished. Barton served
on the city council from 1968 to 1972. He was elected
mayor in 1972 and served until he resigned the office in
1974 for business purposes.
During his time as mayor, Barton was instrumental in
forming the Perry Hotel and Motel Tax Commission,
and he served as its chairman until two years ago.
Former mayor James McKinley, who succeeded
him, said Barton protected "the little man, the low-in
come-type people" while he served as the city's chief
executive.
Barton also was a former assistant chief of the Perry
Fire Dept.
The city will miss John Barton. We appreciate all this
good man did to make our city a better place.
Protect our flag from desecration
Congress should approve and the states should
ratify -a constitutional amendment to protect the
American flag.
The Supreme Court’s recent decision to strike down
a flag desecration statute has outraged a vast majority of
the American people, including Perryans.
We call upon our congressmen and senators to act
with haste on a constitutional amendment.
Perry Mayor Jim Worrall, in a letter to Congressman
Richard Ray, said the "people of Perry, Ga., are upset
over the recent ruling of the Supreme Court in regard to
the burning or desecration of the American flag."
Mayor Worrall added, "I hope the Congress will
move swiftly to address the matter so that proper re
spect of our national symbol will be protected."
U. S. Senator Sam Nunn of Perry said he "will join
the efforts of members of Congress in rectifying this
action, including supporting a constitutional amend
ment, if necessary."
Sen. Nunn said the court's ruling "treats the Ameri
can flag as just another symbol like many others, and
thus held desecration of the flag to be a form of political
expression protected under the First Amendment."
And it's not, the senator said. "In my view, the
American flag represents the preeminent symbol of our
republic and all for which it stands," he said. "The
American flag also serves as a living memorial to our
nation's brave war veterans, those still living, the over
one million who died while serving, and those who to
day still bear the wounds of war."
That is also the view of most all Americans, who
want to see the American flag protected from those who
would bum it, shred it or trample on it in the name of
legitimate political protest.
What Congress must do, and do quickly, is send the
right kind of message to the people. That message
should be simple; Do what is necessary to protect our
flag from desecration.
Perry Bypass: Dream to reality
Everything seems to be on track for the proposed
Perry Bypass, a project that may take a decade to com
plete.
Most of the rights-of-way have been obtained. The
next major step facing the project is funding.
The good news is the state highway department is
funding perimeter roads in other cities, so Perry has a
chance to tap into this source of money, too.
The bypass would connect Highways 41 and 341 at
Perry.
The bypass is needed. It will relieve traffic through
Perry, particularly truck traffic.
The bypass has been a dream of local officials for
years. That dream is turning into reality. We look for
ward to the day grading and construction will start.
m The Houston Home m
Journal
I Perry scrapbook 1
v^gphs
The 1909 Model Maxwell
This is a photo of the 1909 Model Maxwell
automobile that was written about two weeks ago
in the fifty years ago section of The Home
Journal's "Remember When?" column. The
photo was sent in by Martha Head Heavy of
Byromville. Her father, W, W. Head, who lives at
616 Pine Ridge Street, Perry, is the person
Perry tackles its mosquito problem
Fifty years ago: June 29,
1939 We, the undersigned gro
cers and hardware merchants of
Perry hereby agree to close our
businesses at 1 o'clock every
Thursday afternoon, beginning June
29 through Aug. 31: W. B. Sims,
W. C. Talton, Shumate Cash Gro.,
E. F. Barfield, Rogers Store Inc.,
Andrew Hdw. Co., J. W. Blood
worth, Houston Hdw. Co. • A re
port to Mayor S. A. Nunn from the
State Board of Health on mosquito
breeding places in Perry shows that
two branches around the city and
three fish pools are breeding
mosquitoes. Notices will be sent to
the property owners by Mayor
Nunn. Citizens are urged to observe
a cleanup campaign in order to re
move all potential breeding spots
for mosquitoes, such as old tires,
cans and containers. • Mrs. J. M.
Tolleson and children, J. M. Jr.,
Joyce, Barbara, and Mcll, accompa
nied by Mrs. Francis Stanton of
Macon, left Wednesday for Daytona
Beach, Fla., for a two-week vaca
tion.
Forty years ago: June 30,
1949 -- Houston County farmers
this week cast anxious eyes at the
skies, hoping for some hot, dry
weather to help them control the
boll weevil. The weather was hot,
but the humidity was high and rains
fell almost every day. Insecticides
sold like hot cakes during the week,
for farmers found more than normal
weevil infestations. 801 l weevils
thrive on rainy weather but can't
stand hot, dry days and nights. •
Hentz Houser, son of Mr. and Mrs.
F. M. Houser of Perry, has been
initiated into the Order of the Arrow
of the Boy Scouts. The high honor
was accorded Hentz at ceremonies at
PERRY. GEORGIA'S HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER SINCE 1870-FQR COVERAGE OF YOUR EVENTS. CALL 987-18?a
Freedom is the pursuit of happiness
Out across the wooded land and
harvest fields, the land is peaceful.
The hot green paint of the sea
son drips from the trees. And the
invisible winds blow warm across
the Middle Georgia landscape.
The precious drops of rain that
fall sustain our crops - and our
lives.
The lay of the land is serene on
the 213th anniversary of our inde
pendence as free people.
On that long ago July 4, 1776,
the virgin land of America too lay
in peace and innocence, under the
same sun that has shone on all men
in history.
But that July 4 was a day of
reckoning.
Thomas Jefferson's fiery elo
quence in print - the young red
haired genius was far 100 shy and
retiring to ever utter a harsh word
aloud declared that all men are
created free and equal.
The rallying cry that arose from
a baked Philadelphia - Ben
Franklin was taking daily air baths
Perry viewpoint
Local editorials and columns on events in Perry & S. Houston
shown in the car. The 1909 Maxwell was
purchased by J, M. Tolleson and put on display
at the Perry Court, where it attracted much
attention. This photo was taken at the Perry
Court. If you have an old or historic photo, share
it with our readers in "Perry Scrapbook."
f
Remember
when?
A lookback at the people
and events which shaped
Perry. This column is com
piled from past Houston
Home Journal issues.
: . —.j)
Camp Benjamin Hawkins last
week. Members of the order arc
elected by the scouts themselves in
a secret ballot. • Perry High School
has been designated by the Houston
County commissioners for the July
term of Houston Superior Court
opening here Monday, July 18, for
two weeks. The school auditorium
will be used for the courtroom. • Jo
Alice Moody, a Perry High senior,
Thursday was duly inaugurated as
governor of the 1949 Girls Slate in
ceremonies at the stale capital in
Atlanta. With her was her staff and
more than 250 girls, who went to
Atlanta as a climax to three days of
elections at Wesleyan College.
Miss Moody, running on the
Federalist Parly ticket, edged out
Joan Terry of Valdosta for the high
office. Jo Alice is the daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Frank Moody of
Perry.
Thirty years ago: July 2,
1959 -- Postmaster J. Lawrence
Hunt said yesterday that a site has
been selected for a new post office
building in Perry and that bids will
be sought on the construction in
the next few weeks. The site is the
Ralph Morris
HHJ Managing Editor
V J
in the nude - shattered the peace.
There soon would be war again
in this world. This time between
England and her disobedient North
American colony.
The young American nation won
the war and forever removed the
chains of tyranny.
Today, we arc free people.
Free to chart our own destiny, free
to find our own happiness.
Freedom as Jefferson conceived
it, and as we should live it, is based
northwest corner of Carroll and
Meeting Streets, on property owned
by the Perry Loan and Savings
Bank. Also, the Perry Loan and
Savings Bank will begin construc
tion soon of a modem bank build
ing of Georgian colonial design on
the corner of Carroll Street and
Washington Avenue, President C.
E. Andrew announced yesterday.
The new bank and the proposed new
post office building to be con
structed on the same block will be
similar in architecture, and both
will face the Perry Methodist
Church. • Perryans set a new record
Tuesday in the use of water - resi
dents used more than a million gal
lons of water in a day. Water Supt.
Edward Warren said Tuesday's
pumpage was the most water
pumped in a day in the city's his
tory. The 100-dcgrcc weather of the
last few days, during which no rain
has come, is responsible for the
heavy water usage.
Twenty years ago: July 3,
1969 -- Miss Debra Chapman,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. N. C.
Chapman of Perry, was named
Miss Harvest Festival at the Peach
Harvest Beauty Revue here Saturday
night. The beauty revue was held
at the Perry High School gym. •
Cell Tolleson, daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. T. R. Tolleson of Perry, left
by plane July 4 to join the Foreign
Study League French Language and
Civilization summer study pro
gram. One hundred and sixty stu
dents and 25 staff members will
have Reims, France, as their focal
point. Each student is expected to
participate in a minimum of 100
hours of classroom instruction,
plus the related field trips and ex-
Continued on Back Page
on the pursuit of happiness.
Yet, throughout the land today
there is little genuine happiness
among the people.
Happiness has wrapped itself
around the quest of pleasure, of new
experiences and excitements.
Instead of accepting Jefferson's
philosophy of happiness as a stale
of mind, we have changed it to a
stale of being and attaining. And
that has brought on the woe.
Happiness, in a sense, has
become personal greed. A bigger,
fancier car. A larger, more beautiful
house. The best of everything.
It might be wise to end this, with
something Jefferson said about the
American presidency.
When asked if he enjoyed the
power and prestige of the job, the
man who walked to his inaugura
tion from a Washington boarding
house without any breakfast quietly
said he would rather be home in
Virginia playing the violin.
His pursuit of happiness...
The best
of Bobby
rflj-,
«c:. /
OUT ON A
BRANCH
* >
(Editor's Note: "The Best of
Bobby" is a regular feature
on The Houston Home Jour
nal's Saturday editorial page.
The columns which appear
here were written by former
HHJ editor Bobby Branch
during the 15 years he ran
the paper. Branch was a
popular personality and civic
leader in Perry. We believe
these old columns will spark
memories for local "old
timers" and will provide
newcomers an insight into
recent Perry history.)
Retirement
Thursday, August 7, 1969 --
They came to Perry in a "home on
wheels."
The bus, complete with two
bedrooms, kitchen, and bath, was
about 50 feet long. It was an old
commercial bus that had been clev
erly and painlessly converted into a
comfortable, neat home for the
couple in their sixties.
They slopped in Perry one day
this week to stock up on groceries
and after about a half hour of talk
ing and interviewing, I made up my
mind that what they were doing
was the only way to retire.
"We're originally from Cleve
land, Ohio, but we've been travel
ing now for about four years," the
fiftyish-looking 60 year-old man
said.
"We bought this bus and fixed it
up about seven years ago and when
I got to be 56 1 just decided to sell
out my insurance business and get
away from the rat-race and all that
before I ended up with ulcers and a
bad heart," he said.
"We've travelled in 21 stales,"
his wife said, "and we hope to visit
all the states, except Hawaii and
Alaska, over the next few years."
This writer, who thinks about
retirement all the lime (40 years
from now at the minimum) was
curious as to how someone retires
thaUway and lives the good life,
beginning at 56. The insurance man
said he made enough from the sell
ing of his business and from life
and retirement insurance policies he
had bought when he was a young
man getting started in the insurance
business,..A plug for Perry's life
underwriters... But don't call me, I'll
call you about a retirement pro
gram.
Their "home on wheels" was re
ally something. All the comforts of
home had been built-in and added to
the bus during the years. They said
they are continually adding some
thing else to the bus and improving
its operation.
"Our bathroom facilities, water
and electricity is all self-contained
for 2 or 3 days use in case we can't
park at a place that has the hook-up
facilities,"the man said.
Then I asked a real dumb ques
tion . I asked if they ever got bored
with retirement like a lot of retired
people talk about.
"Hell, are you kidding? Since the
day I walked out of my office for
the last lime, neither one of us has
been bored for one minute. Retire
ment is what you make it. Os
course, I can understand the
dilemma of many retired people
who, at 65, retire on a small, set
income. That could be a difficult
situation but there again, it would
be what the person made of it"
There was two bicycles lied on
Continued on Back Wage