Newspaper Page Text
WEEKEND
EDITION
250
Perry & Houston County's
official Legal Organ
SATURDAY, MAY 29, 1993
Good
morning, Perry
HOME JOURNAL
HIGHLIGHTS
Deaths
Bertha Williams West, Pearl
Lee Plant Rogers, please see
details on page 3A
Give it back
The fate of the Perry Annex
has become a hot-bed of con
troversy, following a threat by
the school board to tear it down
if the City of Perry doesn't buy
the building. We agree with
many local citizens that the
structure should be returned to
the city—free of charge, please
see page 4A
New building
Members of the Houston Lake
Baptist Church will hold a spe
cial service June 6 to dedicate
their new church building,
please see page 5A
Heading out
Shane Hester, one of
Westfield's standout atheletes
will be heading to Oglethorpe
University on an academic
scholarship, please see page
1B
'Possums!
If itweren'tforpulpwoodtrucks,
'possums might take over the
world because they have no
natural enemies, according to
outdoors writer Bobby Tuggle,
please see page 2B
Salute to seniors
Watch for your Wednesday
Home Journal for a complete
pictorial salute to the graduat
ing class of 1993 at Perry and
Westfield schools. You'll want
to be sure and save this keep
sake section.
INDEX
AGRICENTER EVENTS 3A
CALENDAR 3A
CLASSIFIED 4B
DEATH NOTICES 3A
EDITORIALS 4A
BRIAN LAWSON 1B
PERRY SCRAPBOOK 4A
POLICE REPORT 3A
SPORTS 1B
JIM SHIPLEY ~~ !a
STREET TALK 4A
BRENDA THOMPSON 4A
JOHN TRUSSELL 2B
BOBBY TUGGLE 2B
WOODS 'N WATER 2B
Mail service
upgrading
in the works
By ROBIN BOOKER
Staff Writer
Service is the name of the game
for the U.S. Postal Service these
days, and the Perry Post Office is
doing its part to provide top-of-the
line service to its customers.
Postal customers received no
tices in the mail earlier this week
advising them service in all areas of
the post office are being improved.
Additionally, response cards were
provided to each postal customer to
solicit comments concerning postal
service.
"The people in Perry are our
business, and it's our goal and re
sponsibility to meet their needs as
efficiently as possible," said
Postmaster Butch Kirkley. "We
Please see Postal, page 6A -
PERRY, GEORGIA'S HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER SINCE 1870-FQR COVERAGE CALL 987-1823~
f The Houston Homeff
Journal
Perry rallies to save air base
By ROBIN BOOKER
Staff Writer
Dig deep, Perry, because The
Perry Area Chamber of Commerce
Military Affairs Committee needs
your help and financial support.
The committee is working dili
gently to raise funds as part of
Perry's contribution to the cause of
keeping Robins Air Force Base
open. As part of that committee's
efforts, local residents, organiza
tions, businesses and government
entities are being petitioned to dig
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(HHJ photo by Eric Zellars)
Olin Taylor, Ernest Eubanks, Harry Bretz, Earl Cheek,,Horace Woodruff, Bill Kelly, Don Ncufisand
Tommy Wood, all past war veterans, take a moment to reflect on the importance of Memorial Day .
Eubanks, second from left, will be 100 years old in September and is a WW I veteran.
Firemens' drill curbed by real thing;
mystery blaze burns empty house
BY BRENDA THOMPSON
Staff Writer
A firefighters’ training drill
turned into the real thing early
Wednesday morning resulting in
some uneasy moments and heat
damage to a neighboring home.
Arson is suspected, Perry Fire
Chief Gary Hamlin says.
According to Hamlin, both paid
and volunteer firefighters from sev
eral area agencies gathered at a con
demned house on W. F Ragin Drive
in Perry early Tuesday evening for a
planned training session.
More than 40 firemen polished
up on various firefighting tech
niques from search and rescue to in
terior blazes. They were finished by
8:30 p.m., and, with the intention
of returning next Tuesday evening
to finish the job, cleaned up and
headed for home.
Somehow, however, the house
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2 SECTIONS—IO PAGES, PLUS SALES CIRCULARS
deep in their pockets and support
the base.
"We are asking people to give
according to what impact they feel
the base has on their lives and
businesses," said Chamber
President Jimmy Faircloth. "If that
means they give SIS, that’s fine. If
it means they give $15,000, that’s
fine, too."
Only four days into the fund
raising effort to help save Robins
Air Force Base, almost $120,000
has been collected to fund the battle
couldn’t wait. At 5:48 a.m.
Wednesday a 911 call came in say
ing the home was ablaze and by
5:51 a.m. when the first Perry fire
truck arrived was totally consumed.
The house next door sustained
some heat damage which resulted in
the evacuation of its sleeping occu
pants, the bursting of a window and
fully melted window shades. Even
the tail lights on two nearby parked
cars fell prey to the heat.
Firefighters had the blaze under
control within 10 or 15 minutes,
Chief Hamlin said. Foul play is
suspected. .
“I really feel like somebody set
the house on fire sometime early
Wednesday morning,” Hamlin said.
“Of course, some of the residents in
the area were extremely upset think
ing it was something the fire de
partment left there. We have since
talked to them and assured them
Westfield High School Class of 1993
to preserve the base.
As the local commission, The
Robins Air Force Base 21st
Century Partnership, works toward
presenting the base in its best light
on June 9, mid-stale businesses and
governments have begun to send
support in the form of dollars and
cents the the commission. The dale
for the presentation was originally
set for June 10, but the latest in
formation is that the RAFB presen
tation has been re-scheduled for
June 9.
that is not the case.”
According to Hamlin, the con
trolled training fires used by the
participating departments were
completely extinguished when fire
fighters left the scene around 9 p.m.
Tuesday evening. The house was
inspected and a local police officer
was commissioned to make frequent
patrols of the structure throughout
the night, his lajt patrol occurring
at approximately 5:25 a.m., just 23
minutes before the blaze was re
ported.
“If anything was going to rekin
dle from our training session, it cer
tainly would have done so before
5:48 a.m.,” Hamlin said. “It’s not
the point that the house was de
stroyed, because we were going to
do it anyway. It’s Lhe fact that the
lives of people in the neighboring
houses as well as our own firefight-
Please see Fire, page 3A
The City of Perry has already
contributed $2,500, the Hospital
Authority has given $5,000, several
banks have pledged $5,000 each,
Flint Electric has given $25,000
and many other businesses are do
nating to the the fund.
Warner Robins Chamber of
Commerce Executive Vice-Pesidcnt
Dick Walden said the presentation
committee has been hard at work to
formulate plans for the official pre
sentation next month. The effec
tiveness of the presentation may
Service to honor
those who died
to protect U.S.A.
By ROBIN BOOKER
Staff Writer
Memorial Day is a time to
honor men and women who have
given their lives for this country in
past wars. It should be a solemn
and reverent time to remember the
supreme sacrifice that others have
made to preserve our freedoms.
For a group of war veterans
living in Perry, the Memorial Day
weekend is a bittersweet time. It is
a holiday to be celebrated because of
what it means to our country, but
for most war veterans, Memorial
Day brings back memories most
would prefer to forget.
"A Tot of men we served with are
• not fortunate enough to be here
because they gave their lives
overseas," said Earl Check, an
Army Air Corps World War II
veteran. "Memorial Day makes you
stop and think about that and about
how lucky we are to be alive.
Honoring those who died on the
battlefield is the least we can do."
Harry Bretz, a Navy veteran from
WW II feels strongly that Memorial
Day should be observed with the
seriousness of what the day really
means.
"If it weren't for our veterans, we
wouldn't have the country we have,
and people need to lake the time to
reflect on that," he said.
Horace Woodruff, another Navy
vet from WWII, said Memorial Day
brings back memories of his lime
in the service and reminds him of
the other men he served with in the
war.
"It's good to remember those
who have gone before us. It helps
us realize how fortunate we are to
be here, still enjoying our lives,"
he said. "It's important to make the
youth of today realize that as well,
and riot just view Memorial Day as
another day of fun.”
To give honor to those who did
give their lives for this country, the
Robert D. Collins Post No. 24 of
Time has come to move on,'
as seniors accept diplomas
By ROBIN BOOKER
Staff Writer
Amid the smiles of pride and the
tears of joy, the Westfield Class of
1993 received their high school
diplomas Friday night, May 28, as
the last step of their high school
careers.
Held this year at the Georgia
Agricenter's New South Arena, the
graduation services gave classmem
bers and parents one last opportu
nity to take pride in the seniors' ac
complishments as they all look
ahead to next year. Many will go
on to attend college, while others
will enter the work force. All can
look back with pride on their years
at Westfield Schools.
In her valedictory address, Jenny
Larkin Goss compared the steps the
Westfield graduates have taken and
will continue to take to Kahlil
Gibran's "The Prophet," sharing
123RD YEAR—VOLUME 43
mean the difference between RAFB
being put on the closure list or
staying off the list.
"The Base Realignment and
Closure Commission is not a polit
ical group and they are doing a good
job in trying to evaluate which base
closures will most effectively cut
spending," said Houston County
Development Authority Director
Dick Ulm. "Their job is to find the
best way to trim the defense budget,
and it’s a job they are taking seri-
Please see Base, page 3A
|| - -
A lot of of men we served
with are not fortunate
enough to be here because
they gave their lives over
seas.—WW II veteran Earl
Cheek
ii
the American Legion will have a
Memorial Day Service at Perry
Memorial Gardens at 3 p.m.
Sunday. The public is invited to
attend to show their appreciation for
the service the fallen war heroes
gave to our country.
Materials for
sex classes
are reviewed
By ROBIN BOOKER
Staff Writer
Is this newspaper article accept
able? Can that book be used? Does
this film meet the criteria for the
state mandated objectives?
The above are just a few of the
many questions local educators have
been asking themselves in recent
weeks concerning the new sex edu
cation curriculum objectives to be
taught in the county next year.
As part of implementing the
new curriculum, all materials used
to teach any sex ed objectives had
to be reviewed by Coordinator of
Health, Drug and Physical
Education Frankie Ross and com
mittees drawn from each school
level. According to Ross, the re
view of materials went well, but
there is still a great deal of work to
do.
"This is a very in-depth and in
volved process, but we feel we will
Please see Sex ed, page 6A
that like the wandering man in the
work, Westfield graduates may feel
divided between the desire to stay
with all that is familiar to them and
the desire to graduate and sail into
life on their own.
"We know that the time has
come to move on, and that we have
gathered all this place has to offer,"
she said. "Our teachers have taught
us well and given us the tools we
need to lake us to our next destina
tion. It is to that destination we
must travel alone."
Goss also spoke of the contribu
tions teachers, family and friends
have made in each graduates’ suc
cess, and shared that graduation docs
not mark the end of growing, but
rather anew beginning.
Salutatorian Meredith Pierce re
flected on the past 13 years of
school and what each step in their
Please see Seniors, page 3A