Newspaper Page Text
MONROE COUNTY
Community
Calendar
Calendar items run free
of charge as a community
service each week as space
allows. Mail items for the
Community Calendar to
Diane Glidewell at news@
mymcr.net by 8 a.m. on
Monday.
Aug. 31
Monroe County Library
Centennial Celebration
Monroe County Library, 62
W. Main Street, Forsyth will
hold its Centennial Celebra
tion & Dedication Ceremony
at 10 a.m. on Wednesday,
Aug. 31.
Sept. 6
Monroe County delin
quent property tax sale
The property of those who
have received notice that
their property taxes are
delinquent will be sold on the
Monroe County Courthouse
steps at auction on Tuesday,
Sept. 6. For more informa
tion, contact the Tax Commis
sioner’s Office at 478-994-
7020.
Sept. 10
Voter Enhancement
Festival
The Heart of Georgia Voter
Enhancement Festival will
be Saturday, Sept. 10 from
10 a.m.-2 p.m. at Summers
Field in Barnesville. The
family-oriented festival will
focus on the importance of
voting. The Democrats of
Lamar, Spalding, Upson, and
Monroe counties, the Psi
Rho Zeta sorority and the
Omega Psi Phi fraternity will
co sponsor the event. Along
with music, food, and chil
dren's activities, there will be
information about the three
ways to cast a ballot in this
year’s election. Check voter
registration status and regis
ter, get questions answered,
and meet candidates for
offices at the local, state and
federal levels. Democracy
requires active participation.
The goal is to emphasize
the importance of voting
and to empower everyone
to participate by casting a
ballot in the general election.
For more information, go to
the FB Events link https://
fb.me/e/3nle54xKN
Juliette Roadway
Clean-up
The Juliette River Club will
have a Juliette Roadway
clean-up day on Sept.lOth,
at 8 a.m. Meet at the
Juliette Fire station. All are
welcome to help.
Sept. 17
Flea Market to benefit
St. James Food Distribu
tion
There will be an Flea Market
on Saturday, Sept. 17 from
9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at the St.
James Baptist Church park
ing lot, 110 James Street,
Forsyth. Multiple vendors are
offering a wide selection of
goods, including many deli
cious food items. Proceeds
from vendor fees will benefit
the St. James Food Pantry.
There is still space for more
vendors ($25/tent). The
event is under the leader
ship of Rev. Antonio Proctor.
Contact Gloria at 478-994-
5062 for more information.
Sept. 25
Pam Tillis in concert
Grammy-winning singer Pam
Tillis will be ive in concert
at Monroe County Fine Arts
Center, 25 Brooklyn Ave.,
Forsyth on Sept. 25 at 6 p.m.
Oct. 8
High Falls Triathlon
The High Falls Triathlon
sponsored by the Friends
of High Falls State Park will
return this year on Oct. 8. It
will be a three-mile run, 12-
mile bike ride and a 1.5 mile
kayak paddle to reach the
finish line. The event is limited
to 100 competitors and
benefits High Falls State Park.
The last High Falls Triathlon
was in May 2019. Sign up
at ultrasignup.com/register.
aspx?eid= 15162
Oct. 10
Anchor of Hope Golf
Tournament
The Anchor of Hope Golf
Tournament will be Monday,
Oct. 10 (Columbus Day) at
The Club at River Forest. Tee
Off at 12 noon. Cash prizes
to the top three teams and
for longest drive and closest
to pin. RSVP 478-994-0438
or golfS'anchorofhopefoun-
dation.org.
iReporter
August 31, 2022
Community 8B
Around Monroe County ► ► Forsyth • Juliette • High Falls • Bolingbroke • Culloden • Smarr
Merry Harris makes impression, and a point
foreshadow events, like when she drew a dark
storm cloud around the U.S. capi
tal shortly before Jan. 6. Merry said she enjoys
drawing political cartoons and also enjoys the
political cartoons of others, including those
of AF Branco that have been running in the
Reporter. She noted that the cartoonist has to
be aware of his or her reader.
Merry’s husbands mother was from Monroe
County, and when his father retired his parents
built a house in Forsyth Landing where his
father, Robert Harris, became known for his
bountiful garden, which was featured several
times in the Reporter.
Merry’s family tree has a number of tal
ented artists, including an aunt who lived in
Miami whose work Merry admired. Several
of her works hang in Merry’s home. Beauti
ful cross-stitch works by her sister also hold
prominent spots in her home, alongside an iris
Merry painted when she was 14 and flowers
painted by a South Carolina cousin. A cousin
on her father’s side was the state artist of South
Carolina.
For several years, Merry has taken an art
class with Mark Ballard in Macon. It started
with pencil sketching and has expanded into
other media.
“It’s a bunch of us girls,” she said. “He chal
lenges us; he’s a good teacher and very tal
ented.”
She enjoys learning, creating and sharing
creations and ideas.
By Diane Glidewell
news@mymcr.net
Merry Harris is a talented artist, with a style
that includes focused attention to detail. She
is also incredibly well-informed about current
events, especially in the political arena. Oh yes,
she also has an acute sense of humor. She com
bines these talents to create striking editorial
cartoons.
Now retired, Harris takes the
time periodically to express her
views on political issues by cap
turing them in art. She said she
began drawing cartoons regu
larly before the 2020 election.
She shares them with friends
and occasionally posts one on
Facebook, but hasn’t published
them until she agreed to share
one with the Reporter. She said
she did have one or two pub
lished in the Macon Telegraph
about 20 years ago, but she was
busy with full time work and
other obligations then.
Merry shared a portfolio
about two-inches thick of
cartoons she has drawn over
the last couple of years, with Joe
Biden, Donald Trump, Nancy
Pelosi, Kamala Harris, Anthony
Fauci, Pete Buttigieg, Andrew
Cuomo and other national
figures captured on the pages.
Several represent issues that have passed and
then resurfaced in prominence again. Her car
toons make one smile and grimace and admire
the artist.
With some long time family ties to Monroe
County, Merry and her husband of 52 years,
Robby, moved to Monroe County from the
north Macon area about a year and a half ago.
They live on rural acreage that provides them
beauty, quiet and opportunities for developing
new projects. Merry has a small office/studio
surrounded by windows that is a perfect place
for taking her creative ideas and bringing them
to life.
Merry grew up in Macon, graduating from
Lassiter High School in 1969. She attended
Macon State College a while and then enrolled
in the drafting program at Macon Area Tech
(now Central Georgia Technical College). She
was one of only two women out of about 20
students in her class.
“I loved it!” she said of drafting, and she fol
lowed a career in drafting that brought her to
work for Nottingham, Brook & Pennington
(NBP), consulting engineers, for many years
before retiring.
NBP
had
projects
all around
Georgia.
Merry
drew the
plumbing
for Mary Persons, the Georgia Public Safety
Training Center and K.B. Sutton Elementary,
for example.
Her transition to drawing cartoons came
when the staff at NBP drew names one Christ
mas and she had trouble coming up with a
good gift for the co-worker whose name she
drew. Someone suggested she
draw a caricature. She did, the co-worker loved
it, and her caricatures became a tradition in the
office. She said many were kept over the years,
and she recently became aware of one being
included in a funeral service.
“I usually try to tell a story” she explained.
Soon family members also became the recipi
ents of her sketches that captured personalities,
and she designed special Christmas stocking
for her sons, daughters-in-law and grandchil
dren. From capturing the personalities of those
she knew personally with her pen, it was a
logical step to capturing public personalities in
her cartoons.
Merry said the cartoons take her from 30
minutes to all day to complete.
“Some little statement hits me and I
pick up on it,” she said. “They just keep going.”
Sometimes her cartoons even seem to
f .CfC*-
M.
M
She began in general drafting
but gravitated to drawing plumb
ing because it made sense to her,
compared to electricity, which
you can’t see. She said she used to
watch her grandfather, whom she
described as a mechanic’s me
chanic, working on projects in the
garage and found it fascinating.
J
Cutting out the R.INO weeds
MONROE OUTDOORS by Terry W. Johnson
Attention hunters: Opening days are here
The Canada Goose Season opens Saturday, Sept. 3 and continues until
Sept. 26, then Oct. 9-23, Nov. 19-27 and Dec. 10-Jan. 29. (Photo/Terry
Johnson)
I f you try to hunt during all of
the hunting seasons offered each
year, you have to love the first
couple of weeks in September.
During the span of just two weeks
four hunting seasons begin. Since I
reported on the opening of the Dove
Season (Sept. 3) in last weeks Mon
roe Outdoors, this week I will focus
on the remaining three seasons.
Although the Canada
Goose Season opens the
same day as the Dove
Season, I am certain only a
handful of Monroe County
hunters will choose to
hunt the county’s largest
waterfowl instead of spend
ing Sept. 3 sitting around a
large field waiting for doves
to fly within range. Later in
the fall and winter, however,
many Monroe County
hunters will set their sights
on Canada geese instead
of doves.
The 2022-23 Canada Goose Season
consists of four distinct segments.
Consequently, you might want to jot
down these dates: Sept. 3-26, Oct.
9-23, Nov. 19-27, and Dec. 10-Jan. 29.
The daily bag limit is five geese per day.
Duck hunting kicks off with the
opening of the Teal Season Sept. 10.
During this brief 16-day season (Sept.
10-25), duck hunters will only be able
to shoot green-winged and blue
winged teal. The bag limit on these
two species is six. The possession limit
is 18.
Archery Season also opens Sept.
10. This season extends from Sept.
10-Jan. 8. Archers can legally bag two
antlered and 10 antlerless deer this
year. All antlered deer must possess a
minimum of four points, one-inch or
longer, on either antler or have a mini
mum 15-inch spread to be legal.
According to the Georgia Wildlife
Resources Division the following
weapons can be legally used during
the archery season: “Crossbows, long
bows, recurve bows, and compound
bows. Arrows for
hunting deer must be
broadhead type. Draw
weight, let-off, arrow-
length, and sights are
not restricted.”
Monroe County
archery hunters can
pursue deer on well
more than 100,000
acres of public hunting
lands located within a
short drive from home.
The Rum Creek
Wildlife Management
Area (WMA) permits archery hunting
Sept 10-Oct. 2, and Nov. 19-Dec. 9.
The Rum Creek-Berry Creek Area
is open to archery deer hunting
throughout the entire Monroe County
Archery Season.
The Cedar Creek WMA is open to
archery deer hunters Sept. 10-Oct.l6;
whereas the hunting dates for the Ce
dar Creek-Little River Area are Sept.
10-14 and Oct. 22-Jan 8,
Archers can hunt deer on the B.F.
Grant WMA Sept. 10-18 and Dec. 1-4.
The Big Lazer Creek WMA is also
open to archery deer hunts during two
separate hunting periods. These dates
are Sept. 10-Nov. 1 and Nov. 6-11,
respectively.
Both the Piedmont National Wildlife
Refuge and Bond Swamp NWR offer
archery deer hunting. The archery
hunting dates for the Piedmont NWR
are Sept. 10-Oct. 2.
Please note that the dates for the
Piedmont NWR also pertain to the
adjacent Hitchiti Experimental Forest.
The archery hunting dates for the
Bond Swamp WMA are Sept. 10-Nov.
6.
Keep in mind archers hunting on
the Piedmont NWR and Bond Swamp
NWR must possess hunting permits.
Concomitantly, all archers should
contact the Piedmont NWR office
(478-986-5441) for more information
regarding hunting on both refuges.
Detailed information is also available
via email at piedmont@fws.gov or by
visiting the Piedmont NWR website.
Finally, great archery deer hunting is
also available on the Oconee National
Forest. Archers can hunt deer here
throughout the state season.
I would be remiss if I did not men
tion that scores of other state and fed
eral lands are open for archery hunt
ing. For more information relating to
these hunting opportunities, consult
the 2022-23 edition of the Georgia
Hunting Regulations guide. Hunters
can also access the guide online at Go-
OutdoorsGeorgia.com You can even
obtain the information you are looking
for by scanning the QR code found on
page 26 of the guide.
Terry Johnson is retired Program
Manager of the Georgia Nongame-
Endangered Wildlife Program. He
has written the informative column
Monroe Outdoors for the Reporter for
many years. His book, “A Journey to
Discovery’ is available at The Re
porter. Email him at tjwoodduck@
bellsouth.net.
TERRY W. JOHNSON