Newspaper Page Text
The Monroe County Reporter
marks 50th birthday
1972-2022
Former editor: Reporter still provides
invaluable service recording history
By Jackson Daniel
jackson.daniel@mcschools.org
L ate columnist Lewis Griz-
zard, speaking to a school
group, asked the young
sters what they thought
was the purpose of a newspaper.
The students offered their
opinions:
“To tell the truth.”
“To uncover corrup
tion.”
“To protect the first
amendment.”
Grizzard told the
students their answers
were all good, but they
had failed to mention
what he considered the
most important reason:
“A newspaper exists
to make money’
The fact is, in todays economic
climate and in this new internet
age, a newspaper that doesn’t
make money won’t stay in busi
ness long.
The Reporter is celebrating its
50th birthday and that is a fairly
good indicator that, during its
life, it has been profitable. That
is something that should make
everyone who has had a hand
in putting the Reporter on the
Jackson Daniel
newsstand over the years most
proud.
Certainly, the bottom line of
the newspaper business is most
important. Without a good
advertising base, you can’t pay the
bills. At the same time, it’s vital
to have a high-quality product
that attracts readers (who also
read the ads and then support the
advertisers!). During
my days as editor and
publisher (and writer,
photographer, janitor,
ad staffer, salesman,
and receptionist)
of the Reporter, the
“bottom line” was
always something to
watch. But I, and the
good folks I worked
with, embraced some
other significant tasks to
make sure the Reporter served
the community.
In a small town like Forsyth, it
was less important to break big
news stories than it was to tell a
thorough and accurate story of
the county and its people. For a
weekly publication located half
way between two larger cities, the
likelihood of being the first to get
a story was small. That was why
we always tried to tell the story of
the community a little deeper and
more meaningfully than the daily
newspapers or television stations
in our neighboring communities
could do.
Since we knew we often
couldn’t be the first to print
many earth-shattering stories, we
always put great effort into being
the first to get the story right. As
a staff, we worked hard to check
facts, to use correct spellings - es
pecially of names - and to make
sure our stories were accurate,
responsible, and appropriate to
the situation.
We embraced the Reporter’s
role as a living history book for
the community. The words we
wrote have never gone away.
Whether they were written 25
years ago, 15 years ago, or last
week, the words printed on the
Reporter’s pages compile a week
ly log of the events that make
Forsyth and Monroe County
what they are. For years to come,
people in the community will
read and reread those words to
see what our community is about.
And that was what I have always
considered to be the Reporter’s
highest calling.
In 2007, for the 35th anniver
sary of the Reporter, I wrote a
column listing some of the most
memorable things that happened
during my 11 years with the
Reporter. Those events are still
important to me, and among the
fondest of my working life. But
looking back to those days, I real
ize that the ability to be a part of
something that so well reflected
the community was an awesome
responsibility and one I never
tried to take lightly.
Eleven years ago, my family
found itself the topic of a news
story on the Reporter’s front page.
My two sons were involved in a
serious car accident that changed
our lives forever. Hill’s injuries left
him in a wheelchair with paral
ysis from just above the waist
down. The outpouring of support
and love that came our way was
overwhelming.
Hill’s story was just one in a
series involving young people
from our community who have
faced health crises. Zapareo,
Dusty, Kylie, Ivy, Katie .... all
of these individuals and their
families are now woven into the
fabric of our community. In spite
of their injuries and medical
conditions, they all are doing well
and have become living examples
of perseverance, faithfulness, and
hopefulness.
So as the Reporter celebrates its
birthday, my wish for it and our
community is that 50 years from
now — when the Reporter marks
its 100th year — people will
still be able to look back to the
Reporter’s pages and see a history
of a community that cares. I hope
readers will realize that the im
portant thing is not about county
lines, elections, and politics, and
not even about business and eco
nomics and conflicting opinions
about issues. I pray that readers
will see a history of a community
that continually wraps its arms
around those in need and takes
care of them.
Because it is in those life stories,
rather than in political debates
and squabbles, that our commu
nity is at its best.
Jackson Daniel worked at the
Reporter from July 1985 to June
1996 as news editor, editor and
publisher and editor. He is cur
rently assistant supt. for support
services for the Monroe County
School System. E-mail him at
Jackson.Daniel@monroe.kl2.
ga.us.
j, 9 A $6 > Monroe County Reporter Timeline 1972-2022
Monroe County Citizens Tax
Association, leads protests against
higher property assessments and
is eventually elected commission
chairman over incumbent Chafin
Smith.
September • The Reporter publish
es a column from the Manchester
newspaper slamming Mary Persons
fans and coaches for unsportsman
like conduct, setting off an ava
lanche of response.
• The Methodist Church splits over
where to build a new church sanc
tuary after the building is destroyed
by fire.
December • Mary Persons cap
tures its first and only state football
title by beating Duluth after being
a major contender for 15 years,
becoming the only high school in
Georgia to go undefeated. Students
storm the field and take down the
goal posts. Monroe County Bank
brings the Atlanta Symphony to
Forsyth for a concert.
1981
• Local officials protest state plans
to locate a minimum security prison
with the new Public Safety Training
Center in Forsyth. But when neigh
boring counties begin offering to
host the facility instead, the county
decides to support the location.
• The new Monroe County Library
opens on Main Street.
• Monroe Countys school board
breaks ground on a new Mary
Persons High School.
• Plant Scherer fires its first unit up,
but the plant is beset by strikes.
• The most controversial story of
the year comes from Tift Colleges
newspaper and recounts the
drinking habits of Tift students, and
follows an article about insects in
soup at the cafeteria and ending
the nursing program. The Reporter’s
coverage prompts some Tift sup
porters to accuse the newspaper of
“muckraking.
1982
April 28 • Judge R. Alex Crumbley
orders chief tax appraiser Calvin
Hicks and assessor M.A. Brown
removed from office for lowering
assessments under appeal, but
Monroe County commissioners
object and reinstate them.
Oct. 28 • Forsyth voters approve
packaged liquor sales 471 -356
after an emotional debate.
Nov. 9 • With 1,200 people looking
on, Gov. George Busbee comes to
Forsyth to break ground for a new
$39 million facility that will become
the Georgia Public Safety Train
ing Center. Sheriff L. Cary Bittick
announces that after 22 years in
office he is resigning to become
executive secretary of the National
Sheriffs Association.
1983
Jan. 5 • John Cary Bittick is sworn
in for the first time as sheriff by
probate judge Ben Spear as his son
Chris Spires looks on.
Jan. 26 • Forsyths city council
rescinds an 83-percent pay raise
from $12,000 to $22,000 per year
that had been approved for mayor
Richard Truitt.
Fire destroys the landmark Bowdoin
Store in Juliette.
March 16 • Forsyth voters reject a
referendum to allow mixed drinks by
263-to-165, prompting businessman
Jack Treadwell to say he’s never
been so surprised.
April 6 • Don Daniel sells the
Reporter to the Hometown News
paper Group, owned by Quimby
Melton. Meltons son in law Walter
Geiger is named publisher.
Aug. 17 • Forsyth mayor Richard
Truitt takes a 10-day vacation, then
goes missing, then files for divorce,
then announces hell be seeking
re-election.
Aug. 31 • Georgia school super
intendent Charles McDaniel and
1,000 locals are on hand as the
new Mary Persons High School is
dedicated. The principal is Mike
Hickman. The only hang up is that
the lunchroom is condemned as
having unsatisfactory sinks and the
school has to serve sack lunches the
first day.
Sept. 21 • Forsyth matriarch Cora
Hill, wife of Charner Hill, founder of
Monroe County Bank, dies at age
86. She had been a society colum
nist for the Reporter since 1973.
Oct. 12 • The Forsyth city council
abolishes the Downtown Develop
ment Authority after a developer
from Jackson sought a low-interest
$1.7 million loan from the authority
for a local shopping center which
mi ght have hurt local businesses.
Oct. 19 • Monroe County road de
partment employees are laid off for
a week after their family members
write letters to the editor critical of
the department.
Nov. 2 • UGA football coach Vince
Dooley visits Mary Persons coach
Dan Pitts, and theres speculation
that Dooley is scouting the unbeat
en MP Bulldogs.
1984
Feb. 15 • About 500 enthusiastic
Monroe Countains greet Democrat
ic presidential candidate the Rev.
Jesse Jackson when his bus tour
stops in Forsyth.
Feb. 29 • The oldest Monroe Coun-
tian, 122-year-old Matilda McDow
ell, dies at Forsyth Nursing Home.
She was born a slave on Christmas
Day 1861, and her funeral will be
at Rock Creek Baptist Church in
Indian Springs.
March 21 • With 705 votes, Jesse
Jackson wins the Democratic pri
mary in Monroe County over Gary
Hart.
May 2 »The Reporter moves from
16 E. Main Street to 30 E. Johnston
Street, where it remains for 24
years.
May 30 • Walmart announces it
will build a store in Forsyth.
July 11 • Mary Persons ranks 149th
out of 179 public high schools on
basic skills tests, prompting superin
tendent Charlie Dumas to say they’ll
be taking a closer look at problem
areas.
Aug. 1 • Monroe County recreation
director Phil Walker resigns after six
years at the post, saying he cant
get used to the attitudes of some
parents. “The kids were fine,’’ said
Walker.
Aug. 15 • County commission
challenger Chris Ham says the
county is waiting until after the
upcoming primary to mail out new
tax assessments with big increases
to avoid hurting incumbents. Chief
tax appraiser Calvin Hicks said they
just all werent ready yet.
Aug. 22 • Forsyth loses its radio
station after WFNE is sold Mason
Broadcast Co. of Albany, which
announces it will move the 5outhern
Gospel station to Warner Robins.
The station was founded by Carmen
Trevitt in the 1970s.
Sept. 19 • A 15-year-old black
male is arrested in Chicago for the
shooting of the mother of county
commissioner Tommy Wilson at her
Betsy Lynn subdivision home. Mrs.
Wilson is OK.
"I got 30 jabs from
being in the Reporter/”
When Drew Watson started his pressure washing
business Clear Vision, he figured he’d see if the
Reporter could help him get the word out. But even
he didn’t expect the overwhelming response his ads
received. Watson got 30 jobs off his advertising in
the Reporter, more than $10,000 in business. For a
young man starting out, it was an irreplaceable boost
to his new business. “The Reporter really works!”
said Drew.
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