Newspaper Page Text
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-THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 1990
I r —"SI
The Houston Home Journal
OFFICIAL ORGAN, CITY 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
The Houston Home Journal (USPS 252-780) is published biweekly for $lB
per year by the 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, PrMldtnt & Chairman of Iha Board, Park Nawapapara
JAMES B. KERCE
Editor & General Manager
MARK SAMUELS TERESA HAWK
Managing Editor Advertising Manager
... J
Opinion
School rumors exaggerated
The famous author Samuel Clemens—alias Mark
Twain —who was once rumored to have met an untimely
death, cabled the Associated Press from London that:
"The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated."
That famous line, penned nearly a century ago, seems
to aptly apply to the rumors flying around Perry
concerning gangs in a local high school. Apparently, tales
of gangs prowling the halls of Perry High School have
been "greatly exaggerated."
The rumors surfaced last week when students and con
cerned parents began reacting to news that two "gangs" at
Perry High were going to have a "showdown" late in the
week. Reports that "gang" members were carrying guns
and knives to school added fuel to parents' fears.
A couple of incidents of violence at the school were
blown out of proportion and immediately connected with
an upcoming "gang war."
But, by the school week’s end, the tales of
"gangs" at PHS had been pretty much discounted and
Principal Phil Smith and Perry Police Chief Frank Simons
appeared to be fully aware that there are at least two gangs
of kids which have formed in town.
But they are not operating out of Perry High. Ac
cording to Smith and Simons, they never will.
Instead the gangs of youngsters, who have reportedly
named themselves the "Eight Balls" and ".38 Specials,"
are gathering off campus—after school and and night—
and fighting among themselves. Because many of the
gang members are PHS students their hostilities are
spilling over into the school day in the form of threats.
However, Smith and his staff are aware of the situation
and are tightly monitoring those kids involved. Both
Smith and the police chief are also working closely to as
sure that "gangs" are not allowed to disrupt an orderly
education for kids at PHS.
School Board Chairman Dr. Harold Chapman has
further tightened security at PHS by issuing an order that
any unauthorized visitor to the campus be arrested for
trespassing.
From what this newspaper can ascertain from conver
sations with the principal and police chief, the "gangs"
rumored to be operating in the halls of PHS are not doing
so—and won't be allowed to do so in the future.
To paraphrase Mr. Clements, "the reports of gangs at
Perry High School have been greatly exaggerated."
Send in your census form
If you haven't done so, sit down right now and fill out
your 1990 census form!
If you did not receive a form, call 1-800-999-1990 and
ask that one be brought to your home.
it’s vitally important to Perry, Houston County and
Georgia that you be counted, because the results of this
census will determine—to a large degree—where and
how the tax money taken out of your pay check will be
spent. Although some of the census questions may seem a
little "off the wall," one of the basic reasons for
determining how many, and where, residents live in the
U.S. is to distribute tax money back to states, counties
and communities in ratio to population.
That money we have paid into the government in the
form of taxes is, in part, returned to communities in the
form of grants for such things as parks, roads, schools
and other public works projects. Perry and Houston
County have had good luck in obtaining a portion of that
money based on the 1980 census and other factors.
Because the Houston County area has experienced
rapid growth over the past 10 years, we stand a better
chance of having even more tax money pumped back into
our economy.
But this can only happen if each and every local
resident takes the time to fill out and return his or her
1990 census form.
f Your opinion can make
a difference!
II Write a letter to the editor I
PERRY, GEORGIA S HOMETOWN isIEWSPAPER SINCE 1870-FQR COVERAGE OF YOUR EVENTS, CALL 987-1823
f The Houston Home ff
Journal
A Tough Race On One Leg
Space travel still an exciting subject
I remember scampering to sit in
front of our family's only black and
white television set as a child dur
ing the 1960’5.
The walnut paneled television
set occupied a place of reverence in
our home. It sat in what mom
called "the television nook."
Many times my viewing prefer
ences were over ruled by Mom and
Dad.
But on certain Saturday morn
ings, my older brother and I con
spired to quietly travel down the
stairs to our sacred television set.
"The astronauts are going into
space today," my brother would
say. "They will travel around the
earth 20 limes and land in the
ocean."
My brother was a walking sci
ence book. He explained the
physics behind space travel to me
and even let me read a book written
by Wemer Von Braun. (Von Braun
was a German born scientist who
many agree was the father of
America's space program.)
I always thought that was an
outstanding thing for an older
brother tc do.
In fact, my brother and I were
the best of friends during my child
hood, except for the lime I messed
with his chemistry set and blew up
his bedroom. My mom wasn't
thrilled either. (But that's a different
story.)
Festival site a special place in area
In the lifestyle section of today's
paper there is an article on Mossy
Creek Barnyard Festival.
The article covers a lot of the
events happening there, but I
couldn't even begin to tell of the
magic that hits you as you walk in
the gate.
The entire site is covered in trees
and you wander around on paths
covered in straw in the complete
outdoors.
There are benches and picnic ta
bles to sit on and it is not uncom
mon to come across someone just
sitting and contemplating the for
est.
The amphitheater is open air and
there are benches to sit on. Or you
can sit on the straw in the back.
AH of the houses are individual
and there are people in costumes in
each. Each house also contains a
Perry viewpoint
Jan Hampton
HHJ Staff Writer
First we watched the Mercury
flights, then came Gemini and the
impressive Apollo rockets.
"We'll beat those Russians to
the moon," brother would say.
"We've got the technology and
know how."
Then came one of the greatest
days in history, July 20, 1969. Neil
Armstrong took "one small step for
man and one giant leap for
mankind."
I watched the moon walk on
our walnut paneled family televi
sion set and wished my brother,
who was fighting in the jungles of
Vietnam, could be there too.
As long as America has the
challenge of space travel, I think
our country will always be young.
Space research encourages us to
rise above the average and expand
our minds.
Andi Sellers
HHJ Staff Writer
craft or a custom of early America.
It is exactly like walking back
into early America. The feeling
doesn't leave you until you walk
out of the gates and see the rows of
modem cars parked in front of you.
It is not just an arts and crafts
show, it is an experience in early
American life.
When ever time permits, I still
thrill at the sight of watching an
American space shuttle traveling
into space.
And of course, I think of my
brother.
*****
According to state statistics, one
out of every four Georgians cannot
read even the simpliest traffic sign.
It is a nation wide problem with
far reaching implications for all
Americans.
European countries and Japan are
stressing better education for their
citizens.
The only Americans who will
be able to compete for our eco
nomic survival are the ones who are
well educated. Illiteracy leaves
America crippled.
But even more, illiteracy leaves
Americans facing a lower quality of
life with little hope to improve.
Here in Houston County, an
adult literacy program has been es
tablished to help those who want a
better life.
Joyce Compton, an adult educa
tion teacher for the Houston
County Board of Education, needs
volunteers to teach reading to
adults.
Joyce would also like to hear
from citizens who need assistance
learning new reading skills. Her
number is 987-1115 or 987-1341.
If you are looking for a fun and
educational place to take your fam
ily, go to Mossy Creek.
Not only will everyone learn
something, it is a great way to ap
preciate the outdoors.
**•
I received a telephone call from a
mother about my story on the
"gangs" at Perry High School.
Her concern was that the paper
was not taking a serious enough
stand on the issue.
The worst thing we can do right
now is panic. The officials are
aware of the problem and are mak
ing attempts to fix it.
That is exactly what we reported.
I will continue to monitor the
problem and report it as I see it.
And what I see now is educators
and officials doing their best to
contain the problem.
Jim Kerce
HHJ Editor
Dogwood test
an outstanding
spring event
Jottings from an editor's
notebook:
***
Mother Nature surely must have
been paying close attention to the
planning and hard work Kathy
Caldwell, Suzy Leech and other
members of the Downtown
Promotion Council were putting
into making the final big day of
Perry's Second Annual Dogwood
Festival a huge success, because
she served up splendid weather.
Saturday—the BIG DAY of fun
runs, talent shows, children's
activities, food booths, a traditional
parade and many other activities—
dawned crisp, clear and beautiful.
And it stayed that way all day. And,
as if on cue, nature held blooms on
most of the many thousands of
festival-namesake dogwood trees in
the area.
The weather, along with careful
planning by those seeking to
provide a day of family fun, no
doubt accounted for the large crowd
of local and area residents who
turned out to visit downtown Perry.
Anyone who missed the fun run
early Saturday morning, the parade
later on and the wide assortment of
food and entertainment booths
throughout the day certainly a fine
example of the good side of life in a
progressive small town.
***
While on the subject of Perry's
Dogwood Festival, this editor
discovered Monday he must be
entering the "old curmudgeon" stage
in his career.
Specifically, I found that
handling these "new fangled" 35mm
cameras appears to be a bit beyond
my comprehension.
Now, as any amateur
photographer knows the new
generation of computerized cameras
will do just about anything but
walk the dog and hang out wash.
Just touch a "mode" button, or
flick a switch and these Japanese
wonders will pick the right setting,
shutter speed and even focus the
lens on your subject. At least that
is what the user manual says.
Probably, for most folks who
don't depend on a camera to pay for
grits and red-eye gravy on the table
at home, these little independent
thinking, computer-driven dandies
with names like Minoltas, Nikon
and Cannon, may be just fine.
But, sometimes I want to make
darn sure pictures of important
events wind up in the paper. That—
and a recent run of bad luck lately
with color transparencies produced
by my Far East, "gee-whiz"
camera—caused me to take a relic
off the shelf in an effort see if I
really could still take pictures.
While shooting color pictures at
Saturday's Dogwood Festival
parade, I got the uneasy feeling gee
whiz camera's "program" wasn't
going to capture on film the images
I wanted. So I reverted to an old and
long-trusted friend.
The unsophisticated, polished
steel and leather camera has, for
years, been regulated to a side (able
in my office which holds other
memorabilia of a lifetime of
newspapering such as a 1920's LC
Superspeed manual typewriter I
used in those dim, distant pre-word
processing days.
It's a simple little camera, my
32-year-old Leica M 3. Born of pre-
World War II German engineering
by the Leitz company, it depends
almost entirely on the skills of a
photographer to make its still
unmatched optics, precision shutter
and f-stop settings capture news
pictures. The old M 3 does feature
one concession to modern
photography—a light meter sitting
atop its body, which connects to
the shutter setting knob.
Please see KERCE, Page 5A