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PAGE 4A
November 21, 2012
^Reporter
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Opinion
Declare among the nations,
and publish, and set up a standard;
publish, and conceal not;
Jeremiah 50:2
MP students hold up the “Go Dogs” posters found in last
week’s Reporter. (Photo/Kim Holderfield)
OUR VIEW
Proud of
our Dogs
Nelson. As is an MP tradi-
It’s the talk of town:
Do we have a chance on
Friday?
There’s good reason to
wonder. The Mary Persons
Bulldogs have not won
a Round 2 state playoff
game since 1998, 14 years
ago, in the first season
A.D., that is, After Dan
(Coach Pitts).
Yet, after watching
the 2012 edition of the
Bulldogs through 11
games, most fans respond
with, “Why not?”
The Bulldogs have
already far exceeded
expectations for a team
that returned just six
starters from last year’s
squad. They’re already 9-2
(and would be 10-1 if not
for running out of gas at
Jackson) and have secured
their best region finish
since 2003.
There’s something spe
cial about the first team
of new head coach Brian
tion, these Bulldogs are
rarely the bigger team
on the field. But there’s a
spirit and effort in these
kids befitting their nick
name. Friday’s win over
powerhouse Statesboro
was no exception. Many
key tackles were made
from behind the play -
that is, by players who’d
been passed by a running
back. Rather than giving
up, more than once, MP
defenders redoubled their
efforts and caught the ball
carrier from behind.
That’s a sign of some
special kids giving spec
tacular effort, teaching us
all a lesson not just about
sports, but about life.
Persistence. Hard work.
Drive and determination.
These attributes make not
only a great football team,
but a great community.
Let’s go and do likewise.
MCR POLL
What do you think President
Obama’s re-election will mean?
Things will get better,
9 votes
he’s a good leader.
13 percent
More misery and eco
45 votes
nomic decline.
63 percent
A president doesn’t
5 votes
have much affect, he
can only do so much.
7 percent
Pondering Costa Rican
13 votes
citizenship
18 percent
is published every week by
The Monroe County Reporter Inc.
Will Davis, president
Robert M. Williams Jr., vice president
Cheryl S. Williams, secretary-treasurer
www.mymcr.net
OUR STAFF
Will Davis
Publisher/Editor
publisher@mymcr.net
Richard Dumas
News Editor
forsyth@mymcr.net
Amy Haisten
Graphic Artist
graphics@mymcr.net
Trellis Grant
Business Manager
business@mymcr.net
Carolyn Martel
Advertising
Manager
ads@mymcr.net
Amy Knight
Webmaster
webmaster@
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Diane Glidewell
Community Editor
news@mymcr.net
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Deadlines noon on Friday prior to issue. Com
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Publication No. USPS 997-840)
On the Porch
Why Ilk^Kate Ga. Tech
I f I were a betting man, I’d
wager that my Uncle Wayne is
sitting on a futon somewhere
in Eugene, Oregon ponder
ing whether to hit the “send”
button on a smart aleck
e-mail about redneck Georgia
Bulldog fans.
I sense this is true because
of what may happen on
Saturday, and because Wayne
Parker is the black sheep of
the family, the after-thought
child born later in life to
Ralph and Mary White
Parker of Hartwell, Ga.
His two older siblings, my mother
included, went to their state’s flag
ship university in Athens, developed
good social skills, and chartered pro
ductive lives.
Wayne? Well he went to Georgia
Tech, grew his hair long, hitch
hiked through Europe and bought a
Volkswagen van.
My grandfather, a quiet man who
never went to a university and didn’t
know much about college rivalries,
would just shake his head.
“The problem with Wayne,” he
would say only half-teasing, “is he
went to THAT school.”
Despite these clear signals of dan
ger emanating from Wayne and his
matriculation at the North Avenue
Trade School, I too had my dalli
ance with the devil. In 1990, Uncle
Wayne, by then gainfully employed
as a Georgia Tech alumni coordinator
(i.e. Star Trek convention direc
tor), took me to see the Yellow
Jackets play in the Citrus Bowl
against Nebraska. Yes, I was
among the urine-colored throng
cheering on Coach Bobby Ross’
team as they clinched a share
of the national championship.
Wayne even got me to wear
a GT shirt. I still have night
mares.
Alas, I must confess Georgia Tech
has always had a certain twisted
appeal to me. While the words of the
Tech fight song include an unfortu
nate tribute to drunkenness (which
may explain why Soviet premier
Nakita Kruschev sang it to President
Nixon), it does have a catchy tune.
And their cute little stadium looks
nice next to the downtown Atlanta
skyline, especially since they down
sized Bobby Dodd Stadium to get rid
of the empty seats.
But what really makes me not hate
Tech as much as my Bulldog breth
ren is a more basic thing: They just
haven’t been very good. They’re 1-10
against Georgia the past 11 years.
How can you hate Tech? It’s like
hating the Washington Generals,
the team that perenially loses to the
Harlem Globetrotters. Or like hating
Charlie Brown when he keeps miss
ing Lucy’s football. Why bother?
Readers of this paper know I have
a soft spot for the underdog against
those in power. And besides, Uncle
Wayne has cut his hair, put away his
Grateful Dead albums and turned
into a fine gentleman with three
beautiful children.
And yet, now that our Georgia
Bulldogs have an opportunity to do
what we’ve longed for these 32 years
- play for a national championship
- I’m rethinking this. I now recognize
that the only thing that stands in the
way of UGA’s dream (besides that
little team out of Tuscaloosa) are the
Bumblebees from The Flats.
The thought that the Slide-rule
Jockeys could ruin our chance at
a national title washes away all
sympathy I have felt for our little
brothers in Atlanta. Twelve months
of snide remarks from Tech-sters
amidst a ruined UGA season would
be misery. Just the thought stirs me
to righteous indignation. You might
call it, clean, old-fashioned hate, a
bile that spills out in two little words:
“Wreck Tech!”
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Bass: Guns are deadly, not for fun
BASS
To the editor:
I he accessibility
| to weapons in the
United States opens
our communities
to increased social
problems and tragedy.
Now I see in the current
issue of the Reporter that
the Forsyth-Monroe County
Chamber of Commerce is spon
soring a gun raffle, publicized
as a “Month of Guns.”
The Chamber’s attitude
seems to be “Have Fun! Buy a
Gun!” Guns are deadly weap
ons, not toys for amusement.
It seems to me that the
Chamber could have made a
better choice in its efforts to
raise money.
Ralph Bass
Forsyth
Edge: Lots to like
about Reporter staff
To the editor:
W e appreciate your reporting and the spe
cial care of your staff. Business manager
Trellis Grant is so helpful and kind, and
we admire reporter Diane Glidewell’s
courage.
Thank you for loving Monroe County enough to keep
us old folks informed.
Cecil and
Dorothy Edge
Forsyth
Sorry, no lights on
Smith Road this year
To the editor:
F irst we would
like to thank
the entire
community
for your won
derful comments and
participation with our
Christmas lights on
Smith Road. We wanted
to let everyone know
that we will not be able
to put out any of the
lights this year due to
C.J. having had recent
foot surgery. We would
like to wish you all a
very Merry Christmas
and don’t forget about
us next year.
C.J., Kristie,
Amber, Kody
and Trinity
Upright
Forsyth
Civil War Sesquicentennial
Confederate Ga. banned corn liquor
O ne hundred and
fifty years ago, the
Georgia House of
Representatives in
Milledgeville passed a
bill, introduced by Judge Elbridge
Gerry Cabaniss of Forsyth, to pro
hibit the distillation of “wheat, rye,
barley, corn, or other grain.”
Alcohol had been a serious social
problem in the antebellum period,
and there had been a significant
prohibition movement in the state.
Judge Cabaniss, as a member in
good standing with the Baptist
church, probably had religious and
moral objections to the consumption
of whiskey.
Gov. Joseph E. Brown, an active
Baptist layman, too, had very strong
feelings about the use of alcohol as
a beverage. In February 1862 when
the legislature was not in session,
he proclaimed a ban on the distil
lation of grains for liquor. He held
that “the distillation of corn into
ardent spirits has grown to be an
evil of most alarming magnitude.”
Liquor, he said, “dethrones
the reason of our generals” and
“degrades and demoralizes our
troops.”
More germane perhaps to the
movement against distillation was
the urgent need of the Confederate
armies for grain to feed the troops.
Wheat, barley, and rye were needed
for bread, not for alcohol.
The war had resulted in a scarcity
of whiskey. In the antebellum peri
od much of it sold in Georgia had
come from Kentucky and Tennessee.
Now with federal troops operating
in those states, production of liquor
was down, creating opportunities for
entrepreneurs in Georgia.
Brown’s February proclamation
allowed the state government to
seize any still in production after
March 15, 1862. The governor said
that he would have the metal in
those stills converted into arms.
Gov. Brown’s proclamation was
in effect until the legislature
met. When the legislature met in
November 1862, Judge Cabaniss
took up the governor’s cause. Both
the House and the Senate agreed
to the ban against distillation of
grains.
While the November law seemed
to provide for a general prohibition,
the legislators allowed for some
exceptions. “At a distance of more
than 30 miles from any railroad or
navigable stream” the law permit
ted distillation to meet the medical
needs of the Confederate army as
well as for the use of “practicing
physicians” in the state.
The legislators also allowed Gov.
Brown to license individuals to dis
till in order to meet medical, chemi
cal, and mechanical demands for
alcohol.
When the law went into effect,
150 years ago, some distillers in
Georgia quickly found ways to cir
cumvent it by using mash made
from substances other than grains.
They used potatoes, dried fruits,
molasses, sweet potatoes, peas, and
pumpkins. Some distillers claimed
that they were using mash made
from these legal products, but in
fact were using grain. Others, in
the best tradition of moonshiners,
simply ignored the law.