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PAGE 4A
October 15, 2014
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On the Porch
When daddy’s girl
becomes a teen
W hen she was
a little bit
younger, we
called her
“Doogen”
because that’s all she said
again and again.
“Doogen, doogen, doogen.”
I started to wonder if she
only spoke German, and I
worried that she had been
sired by a Franz in Helen,
Ga.
As she
grew
up, my
worries
ceased
because
Abbie
Davis is
too much
like her
old dad to
deny her.
The poor
girl.
For one,
she’s a
mess. She
loses stuff
all the
time and
on those
days
when I summon the cour
age to enter her room, I
am tempted to go ahead
and buy a Haz-mat suit
even before Ebola strikes
Monroe County.
There are old socks under
books under soccer jerseys
under lunchboxes under
headphones under the cat.
Which reminds me of
something else we have
in common: horrendous
allergies. After “doogen,”
her second nickname was
“snots”, after the overac-
tive-sinus dog in Chevy
Chase’s “Vacation” movies.
We’re both blind and
because of the aforemen
tioned allergies it takes
both of us two hours to put
contacts in our eyes.
But it’s not all bad
being Little Will-ma. My
little girl is also creative
and smart. She’s a great
painter, and not only on
the canvas but also on the
counter, in the sink, on the
floor and wherever else her
brush sprays. She’s got a
quick wit and on the Smart
Butt Scale of 0-10, 0 being
dull as a butter knife and
10 being Rudi Huxtable on
the old “Cosby Show”, she’s
definitely a 10. Her mother
and I often have to disguise
smiles when trying to cor
rect her big mouth.
I don’t know much about
girls. I had no sisters, and
in school most girls avoided
me. I have tried to study
my only daughter these
last 13 years but I can’t say
I know
what to
do with
her.
She’s
like a
dia
mond
- every
day I
can look
at her
from
a dif
ferent
angle
and see
another
view
of her
spirit
and
personality. But I still can’t
totally understand her, and
older dads smile and tell
me not to try.
On Thursday, my little
Abbie will celebrate her
13th birthday. Oh my. It
seems like yesterday we
welcomed her into our
arms at East Georgia
Regional Medical Center
in Statesboro. It was 10
days after President Bush
had started bombing
Afghanistan in retaliation
for 9-11, and I wondered
if it was smart to bring
a child into such a dark
world.
But I have learned that
wonderful, beautiful daugh
ters are one of the things
that, make this world so
much brighter.
You may not have pig
tails anymore, Abbie. As
you sprout up past your
mother’s height, I may
not be able to put you on
my shoulders or sling you
around. But you’ll always
be my only daughter, my
female Will Jr., and I will
always love you very much.
MYMCR.NET POLL
What do you think of Forsyth’s city council backing
away from a vote to end property taxes?
It’s the prudent thing to do. City 17 votes
needs that revenue. 63 percent
Cowardly. If you make a promise,
you stick to it. People need the relief 10 votes
and the city can afford some cuts.. 37 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
OUR STAFF
Will Davis
Publisher/Editor
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Business Manager
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Community Editor
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Deadlines noon on Friday prior to issue. Comments featured on
opinion pages are the creations of the writers, they do not necessarily
reflect the opinions of The Reporter management.
Publication No. USPS 997-840)
^Reporter
Opinion
Declare among the nations,
and publish, and set up a standard;
publish, and conceal not;
Jeremiah 50:2
No cell
To the editor:
A t Mary
Persons’
homecom
ing game
on Friday,
during the National
Anthem when everyone
THE EDITOR
during anthem
LETTER TO
phone
was standing and pay
ing respect and honor to
our country and flag, the
head cheerleader coach
was found walking down
the steps, below the
flag that everyone was
looking at, talking on
his cell phone. It raises
the question, what are
our kids being taught
in school? Well it’s not
“respect your country”
or “lead by example”. I
think he owes everyone
an apology. Unless he
has no respect for our
country that I personally
fought for, if so then he
doesn’t need to be teach
ing our kids.
Byron Pitts
Juliette
Civil War in Monroe County - 150 Years
Forsyth noted soldier’s character
BY RALPH BASS
ralphbassjr@gmail.com
ne hundred and fifty
years ago, Samuel
L. Stanford died in
Forsyth. In all prob
ability, he would
not want to be remembered as
a Confederate soldier, although
he was one. In all probability, he
would want to be remembered
as a Christian, perhaps second
arily as a member of the Baptist
church in Forsyth.
Stanford was not from Monroe
County; he came here from
Columbia County about 1840.
He had a small farm just east
of Forsyth. With the help of a
few slaves, he produced a
little wheat, Indian com,
and sweet potatoes. He
had a few draft animals-
-mules and oxen--and
some hogs that the family
killed in the fall for meat.
In time, though, he
turned to brick masonry
for his livelihood. It was
his family’s traditional occupa
tion. His grandfather had built
the Columbia County courthouse
as well as the Kiokee Baptist
Church with its 18-inch brick
walls. Both buildings still stand.
Stanford and his wife, Elender,
had seven children.
These included Julia Stanford,
who attended Monroe Female
College and later taught orna
mental arts there. The ornamen
tal arts encompassed Grecian
and Oriental painting, embroi
dery, wax flowers as well as hair
and shell work. Her diary is an
important source of information
about Forsyth during the first
year of the war.
Their son, the brick mason
Jabez D. Stanford, was with the
Quitman Guard when it became
a part of the First Regiment,
Georgia Volunteers, and went
first to Pensacola, Florida and
then to Virginia. The “Yankees
shot Bro in his coat,” his sister
noted in her diary, but young
Jabez seems never to have suf
fered anything more serious than
a bullet-torn coat.
Samuel L. Stanford for
almost a quarter of a cen
tury identified with the
Baptist church in Forsyth,
joining it in 1840. Even
before he came to Monroe
County, he was a Baptist,
having been a member of
Kiokee Baptist Church in
Appling.
Although Samuel L.
Stanford was a good mem
ber, the minutes of the local
Baptist Church suggest that he
was not involved in the leader
ship of the congregation.
Although he was a dea
con, his name hardly
ever appears in the
church minutes.
In 1863, Samuel L.
Stanford joined Company
H of the Thirty-second
Georgia Regiment. He
was then 48 years old,
well beyond the upper draft age
of 45 in the second Confederate
conscription act of 1862. There is
no documentation to explain the
decision of this brick mason, who
had never been involved in the
contentious politics of the period,
to join the ranks.
As a soldier in the Thirty-
second, he fought at Ocean
Ponder (Olustee) in Florida. He
was slightly wounded there. He
then went with the Thirty-second
to Charleston, S.C., where he
became ill. Sick, he returned to
Monroe County and died here
150 years ago in October 1864.
Samuel L. Stanford was never
elected an officer of his military
company; he never had great
financial resources. He has no
stone in a cemetery to mark his
grave.
However, he left a profound
impression on those who knew
him. Fifty years after his death,
the obituary of his son, the
Confederate veteran Jabez D.
Stanford, reminded its readers
that Jabez’s father was “known
for his deep piety.”
A family story recalls that Dr.
S. G. Hillyer, president of Monroe
Female College, said that Samuel
L. Stanford was the best deacon
he had known. “He’d turn his
stock in the pasture on Sunday
morning, take his children by the
hand, and walk to Sunday school
and church,” Dr. Hillyer remem
bered.
The depth of Stanford’s piety
comes through, too, in the reso
lutions adopted by members of
the Baptist church in Forsyth
following his death. When a com
mittee composed of Hillyer, R. T.
Asbury, and Cincinnatus Peeples
worked on a memorial tribute,
the writers emphasized not
Stanford’s Confederate service
but his generosity. “Others,” they
said, “Give of their abundance;
he of his penury.” They remem
bered that Stanford was known
at times to sell property and on
other occasions to borrow in order
that he might give to those in
need.
Stanford’s circumstances
were modest, but when this
Confederate soldier died 150
years ago, the community remem
bered him for his piety and his
quiet generosity.
Ralph Bass Jr. writes about
Monroe County history for the
Reporter. E-mail him at ralph-
bassjr@gmail.com.
BASS
Rates
continued from page 1A
agreed on Thursday it’s the only
way they can balance their bud
get.
Interim city administrator
Janice Hall told Forsyth’s mayor
and council on Wednesday that
she does not see a way for the
city to balance its $17.2 million
budget for 2015 without raising
power rates to make ends meet.
The city’s financial auditor A1
Hopkins and financial consultant
Charles Grinstead concurred to
council members at the budget
work session.
Grinstead said Forsyth is pay
ing 30 percent more than three
years ago for the electricity it
buys from the Municipal Electric
Authority of Georgia (MEAG)
and cannot continue to operate
without passing on the increased
cost to customers.
“You’ve had a 21 percent
decline in gross profit; that is
your problem,” said Grinstead.
“That is really half your budget.
You have to keep revenue up to
keep out of the hole. You have to
have the power to sell.”
He said that in 2013 the city
had roughly $600,000 in reserves,
which is not enough to cover the
city’s bills for a month.
“If you buy it for a dollar, you
can’t sell it at 90 cents,” said
council member Jimmy Jones.
“It’s smoke and mirrors if you
don’t pass it along.”
“You had a $724,000 deficit
last year. You have to go back
to 2011 to find a surplus,” said
Buckley. “You’ve let your profit
margin go away. You need anoth
er $700,000 to get ahead.”
Jones asked Hall to get together
information for the council on
how the city’s utility rates would
compare with the other 93 elec
tric providers in Georgia if it
raised rates 10 percent, since
that would be the rate increase
needed to generate $700,000.
Council member Eric Wilson
said he thought Forsyth could
increase electric rates 7 or 8
percent without going above the
state’s average rate. He sug
gested raising the rate 7 percent
each year for the next three
years, to catch up the 21 percent,
plus adding any additional rate
increases from MEAG and pass
ing it on to the city’s electric cus
tomers.
Council was advised that the
water and sewer departments’
revenues and expenses are
balancing because the city has
increased rates 3 percent each
year. However, rates need to be
increased more to have surplus
for infrastructure repairs and
upgrades.
“We’ve made $300,000 in cuts
in the last year or we’d be at a $1
million deficit,” said Jones.
Hall said the city needs to look
at all costs, such as raising fees
on returned checks from $28 to
$35 and noted the city recently
raised the cost of cemetery lots.
Wilson said he would still like to
see the city cut property taxes by
at least half.
“The $570,000 for taxes equals
one monthly MEAG bill,” said
Grinstead. “Don’t jump the gun.
You don’t have any cash in the
bank. You’ve got to build up
reserves. You have certain expen
ditures you have to pay.”
Hall told council it has to make
a decision on taxes and set the
millage rate by Oct. 16 in order
to collect property taxes by the
end of the year. Council agreed to
set a public hearing on the mill-
age for 9 a.m. on Thursday, Oct.
16 and to hear the report from
Hopkins on the 2013 audit of the
city at that meeting.
Council asked Hall and Mayor
John Howard to work together to
come up with two proposals on
the budget.
Council member Greg Goolsby
asked Hall if the city had always
absorbed the increases in MEAG
rates without passing them on
to customers. She said the last
across the board rate increases
were in the 1990’s. After that
the city had a surplus for a time.
The city was hit with a need to
increase rates at the same time
the economy fell and customers
were not able to pay higher bills.
She said now the city can no lon
ger afford to absorb MEAG rate
increases.