Newspaper Page Text
MIDWEEK
EDITION
250
Perry & Houston County's
official Legal Organ
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31,1993
Dogwood Festival begins this week
Get ready, Perry! It's Dogwood
Festival Time, and this year's festi
val has plenty of events planned for
men and women and boys and girls
of all ages.
The fifth annual festival will fea
ture a multitude of events begin
ning with the Dogwood pageants to
be held Thursday and Friday and the
"Oldies" Street Party featuring the
music of 99 WAYS Radio Friday
night.
Perry
historian
Bill Mills uncovers
graves of Parker
family soldiers
BY BRENDA THOMPSON
Staff Writer
Thanks to the curiosity and
extensive research of a local man,
the descendants of a native Perry
family will get a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity this Sunday to discover
their roots and meet dozens of
distant and not-so distant relatives
now living throughout the nation.
It all started rather modestly just
over six months ago when Perry
plumber Bill Mills decided he
wanted to know more about the
property he and his family pur
chased when they moved here 15
years ago. Specifically, he wanted
to know who his Langston Road
land initially belonged to and what
it was used for.
His first, and only planned stop,
was the deed department of the
Houston County Courthouse. It
was there he discovered not only
that his land was once owned by a
very prominent family which in
cluded three Civil War soldiers, but
also that it tied into adjoining
acreage that contained, among other
things, a cemetery-the “James
Parker Family Cemetery”.
His interest peaked, Mills al
most immediately launched an all
out research campaign which has
now consumed 556 hours of his
time and has warranted the inter
ested involvement of Mike Burch, a
member of a local chapter of Sons
of Confederate Veterans (SCV),-
many of Burch’s fellow SCV chap
ter members, members of the Perry
Chapter United Daughters of the
Confederacy and local Parker family
descendants.
After carefully reviewing the
deeds and land plots, Mills set out
in search of the legendary cemetery
he had unearthed on paper. Now
lost amid the thick brush and
wooded growth of more than 100
years, his actual physical search re
quired the help of a neighbor. To
gether, however, they finally found
iL-just off the road and enclosed by
an old, dilapidated fence. A closer
look revealed a few aged
tombstones and slabs hidden
underneath the tangled forest
Mills’ next journey into history
Houston school may benefit from bill
By ROBIN BOOKER
Staff Writer
The Elberta Center is already an
innovation among schools in
Houston County. Thanks to a bill
passed by the General Assembly al
lowing parents and educators to cre
ate charter schools, the center may
become even more of an innovation
next year.
Charter schools will give the
community the opportunity to
establish schools which operate free
of state rules and standards, allow
ing the school officials to govern
the way its students are taught.
This educational concept will give
local educators and parents the free
dom to work with the board of edu
cation and adopt their own guide
lines for teaching.
"We're waiting to get the partic
ulars about this program, but we
are very interested in getting the de
tails and seeing how our system
Events during the fifth annual
spring festival range from athletic
competitions to cooking contests to
an Easter Egg Hunt. No matter
what your interests, everyone
should find something fun and en
joyable at the festival.
In addition to children's games
and several dancing exhibitions,
there will be a parade Saturday,
April 3 as well as Arts and Crafts
on Carroll Street and the Dogwood
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(HHJ photo by Brenda Thompson)
Keith Fletcher, (left), commander of local Sons of Confederate Veterans, Camp 1399, and
Perryan Bill Mills, pay a visit to the recently re-discovered and restored Parker Cemetery.
took him to the local library where
he spent hours on end in the history
room. He found a book entitled
Cemeteries and Obituaries of
Houston County by Addie Howell
which not only included a section
on the Parker Family Cemetery,
but also provided a basic outline of
many of those buried there-starting
with the original James Parker who
is believed to have died in the
1830 sand ending with James
Myrick Parker who died in 1958.
Then it was on to the microfilm
files where past issues of The
Houston Home Journal dating back
to 1870 revealed additional informa
tion on the family of which Mills
was now a great fan. It was here he
may take advantage of this pro
gram," said Superintendent Tony
Hinnant. "The program is more
geared toward the non-traditional
school, so The Elberta Center has
already indicated an interest in ap
plying for the charter school con
cept."
Hinnant said the application pro
cess will be handled on an individ
ual school basis, not on a system
wide basis. Any school in the sys
tem may apply for the program, but
Hinnant said Danny Carpenter,
Elberta Center's principal, is the
only principal to express interest in
the concept.
Carpenter said he is waiting to
get more details on the project but
hopes The Elberta Center will qual
ify for the program.
"This program would make it
much easier for us to operate be
caase we are already a special entity
PERRY, GEORGIA S HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER SINCE 1870-FOR COVERAGE OF YOUR EVENTS, CALL 987-1623 ,
■ The Houston Home*
Journal
3 SECTIONS—3B PAGES, PLUS SALES CIRCULARS
Be sure to use The Dogwood Journal in
today's edition to find out more about
this week's events.
Festival Ball will be held that
night. Family Day at Rozar Park
will be the highlight of April 5,
with a multitude of events sched
uled for that Sunday afternoon.
discovered who married who in the
Parker clan, when they were bom,
when they died and other interesting
trivia such as the fact that three of
James Parker’s sons, Archibald,
William and Weeks Parker, were
actually soldiers who served in the
famous Captain Minor Havis
Aritillery Battery from Peny during
the Civil War. As soldiers, they
were involved in many of the Civil
War’s most important battles,
including Chickamauga, the Battle
of Atlanta and the Battle of
Clinton.
Mills’ research also revealed that
the Parker brothers’ grandfather,
John Parker, was one of the origi
nal minutemen in the Revolution
and cannot operate like other
schools in the system," Carpenter
said. "The Elberta Center is not
your run-of-the-mill school any
way, so the charter school concept
would make things easier for us."
Under the proposed guidelines,
charter schools will operate under a
renewable three-year agreement with
the State Board of Education and
their local systems to work toward
educational goals outlined by the
state and national education plans.
Charter schools would be responsi
ble for creating their own strategies
and methods for evaluating educa
tional performance.
Board of Education Chairman
Zell Blackmon said he looks at the
charter school concept as a positive
sign and anticipates Houston
County's involvement in the pro
gram.
Please see BILL, page 6A
New events this year include the
Dogwood Festival Historic Tour of
Homes, "Wild Hair ’93" hair and
fashion show and a Dogwood
Festival Wild Game Cook-Off.
ary War, 1776-1783; one of their
uncles was a Commodore in the
U.S. Navy during the early 1800s
and another was the governor of
North Carolina during the Civil
War.
Armed with the knowledge that
three confederate soldiers were
buried in the re-discovered Parker
Cemetery, Mills, contacted Mike
Burch, a customer and friend he
knew to be a Civil War buff.
Burch, a member of Camp 1399
Sons of Confederate Veterans in
Warner Robins, in turn solicited the
help of his fellow SCV chapter
members in cleaning up and restor
ing the cemetery. Burch, himself,
Please see MILLS, page 6A
iji~
mr' Good
morning, Perry
INDEX-
PEGGY BLEDSOE IB^
CLASSIFIED 10A
CALENDAR EVENTS 5A
JACKIE COOPER 2B
DEATH NOTICES 5A
EDITORIALS 4A
BRENDA GIBSON 4A
LEGAL NOTICES 3B
TIM LEWIS 1B
POLICE REPORT 2A
REMEMBER WHEN 4A
SPORTS 8A
BRIAN LAWSON ~ 8A
Your hometown
newspaper since 1870
Also, on Saturday the city will ded
icate a courtyard street clock in
memory of W.G. Mullins at the
comer of Main and Ball streets.
Besides the Dogwood pageants
to be held later this week, annual
events being held again this year
will be the day long festivities
Saturday during "Carroll Street
Celebration" which will provide a
full day of entertainment, great food
and fantastic events and of course
Perry student
struck by car on
the way to school
Boy sustained minor injuries ,
released from hospital Tuesday
BY BRENDA GIBSON
Staff Writer
A 14-year-old Perry boy was
treated and released from Perry
Hospital Tuesday morning after be
ing struck by a car on Houston
Lake Drive.
According to police reports,
Laura Elizabeth Brewer, 17, of
Perry, had just turned off of
Houston Lake Road onto Houston
Lake Drive early Tuesday when the
boy stepped into the street in front
of her.
The youth reportedly entered the
thoroughfare from behind parked
B.C. Moore's will open at
Perry Marketplace today
By ROBIN BOOKER
Staff Writer
In spite of a troubled economy
across the country, Perry continues
to attract new business and industry
in the form of Moore's, anew de
partment store opening in Perry
Marketplace tomorrow.
Moore's has a 69-year-old reputa
tion for offering its customers qual
ity service and merchandise. With a
total of 78 stores, Moore's represen
tatives take pride in the store's rich
heritage of providing a Southern
shopping tradition for so many
years.
"We're proud of our reputation of
being a full-service department
store," said Joey Brock, store man
ager. "We're looking forward to
showing Perry the services we pro
vide our customers and why we re
main a Southern shopping tradition
after 69 years."
Moore's will officially open for
business following their Grand
Opening ceremonies at 9 a.m. to-
Hospital begins plans for
new surgical/labor wing
BY BRENDA THOMPSON
Staff Writer
A major addition for Perry Hos
pital has made it to the drawing
board.
According to Jim Peak, Perry
Hospital administrator, the Houston
County Hospital Authority has
given him the go-ahead to have ar
chitectural drawings made of anew
$2 million-plus surgery and labor
and delivery wing proposed for
Perry Hospital. The recent ap
proval, although only the first of
many needed before the new wing
can become a reality, is an impor
tant step.
"By far, many things still have
to happen before we can turn the
first shovel of dirt, but we have def
initely made a major step toward
turning this proposal into a reality
for our community,” Peak said in
an interview this week. “We are cer
tainly moving in the right direc
tion.”
The new surgery and labor and
delivery wing was proposed to the
Hospital Authority in January as a
part of Perry Hospital’s Xong
123RD YEAR—VOLUME 26
Sunday is "Family Day at Rozar
Park".
The Dogwood Festival is spon
sored by the Perry Area Chamber of
Commerce and affords Perry resi
dents and area citizens to sample the
charm and beauty of Perry when the
dogwoods are in bloom. Local
businesses and civic clubs play a
large role in the festival, putting on
a show for all of Middle Georgia to
Please see FESTIVAL, page 6A
cars located in the Lumpkin Shell
Station parking lot. Six witnesses
were present to confirm Brewer’s
statement and no charges are
expected to be filed, Perry Police
Chief Frank Simons said.
The boy reportedly suffered only
minor injuries in the accident, but
was transported by ambulance to
the Perry Hospital for observation.
He was released a few hours later
and is said to be doing fine.
The youth was on his way to
Perry Middle School where he is a
student.
morrow. Brock will host the open
ing day program, which will in
clude participation by various Perry
dignitaries. Additionally, several
Moore's officials will be on hand
for the first day of business.
The store will feature a No-
Service-Charge Lay-Away Plan and
a flexible charge account for
Moore's customers. Purchases can
be put on lay-away with a small
deposit or customers may charge
purchases on a Moore's charge ac
count. The charge account offers a
payment extension of 30 days
without interest, with a moderate
interest charge assessed after the 30-
day period.
Once the official ceremonies are
concluded, shoppers will have the
opportunity to look over the store
with the first 200 visitors receiving
a gift certificate. Shoppers may reg
ister for over $2,000 in free prizes
throughout the Grand Opening pe
riod.
Range Facilities Plan”, a plan
which is presented annually as a
part of the yearly budget process
and which outlines the future needs
of the hospital. The next step,
according to Peak, is to file a
certificate of need request with the
State Health Planning Agency. If
approved by that agency, the local
Hospital Authority must then give
permission for a detailed
architectural drawing before
actually selecting a contractor.
If constructed, the new wing will
be added behind the hospital’s
existing emergency room and will
replace the current surgery ward and
labor/delivery rooms which were
built in 1969. The existing surgical
ward will be refurbished into anew
laboratory.
“Surgery and delivering babies
have changed dramatically in the
past 25 years,” Peak continued. “In
addition to a lot of new and different
equipment, the number of patients
requiring surgery has tremendously
increased, and our presently facili-
Please see WING, page 6A