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The Summerville News
The Official Legal Organ of Chattooga County
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Address All Mail to: THE SUMMERVILLE NEWS, P. 0. Box 310, Summerville, Ga. 30747
Editorials
Memorial Day
Memorial Day began — as a national
observance — during the Civil War, first
in Mluiuip‘pi (Columbus and Vicksburg),
Virginia (Winchester) and other states.
In 1866 it was observed nationally.
That year the U.S. Army suggested
graves be decorated throughout the coun
try.
Christianity, idealistic and moral prin
ciples and philosophies notwithstanding
~ unless a g'oe nation contains those will
ing to fight and die, if necessary, for
Russian Cold
There's dismay in some Washington
circles, in and out of the Reagan Ad
ministration, because Mikhail Gorbachev
is now seen as the toughest Russian
leader to steer the helm in Moscow in
many years,
One veteran Washington journalist
reports that Gerald Ford recently
repeated his conviction that the late
Leonid Brezhnev sincerely wanted
detente with the U. S.
"At one ‘ro(nt in his summit meeting
wg:r‘ Ford, Brezhnev grasped the
American president’s hands and told him
there should never be another war, that
America and Russia must achieve real
detente, -0
President Richard Nixon reached
satisfactory agreements with Brezhnev
on two occasions. They embraced and
respected each other. Jimmy Carter
shared an emotional embrace with
Brezhnev also, but then Congress refused
to ratify SALT Il
But tough words from Moscow these
days from Gorbachev hold out little hope
for such emotionalism. Gorbachev didn't
experience the horrors of World War 11,
so remembered by Brezhnev, Khrushchev
Changing Values In 30 Years
The Starch Advertising Readership
Service, which has been polling American
households since 1932, polled 4,547
households to learn what the basic in
terests of Americans are today.
The results (for the year 1983) show
quite a chn:g: in the attitudes of
Americans in last two decades.
In 1953, the top 10 basic interests of
men were: sports, automobiles, entertain
ment, home building, religion, gardening,
business, politics, travel and books. But
in 1983, U.S. men's top interests were:
business, sports, automobiles, travel,
science, politics, health, cultural ac
tivities, entertainment and education.
3
10 YEARS AGO
The following are excerpts from the May 29, 1975 edition of The Summer
ville News.
* * »
LOCAL VFW GROUP HOLDS SPECIAL RITE — Members of VFW
Post 6688 and the Ladies Auxiliary gathered in Trion's West Hill Cemetery
Monday afternoon to pay tribute to Chattooga County's deceased veterans.
The impressive Memorial Day ceremony was held at the gravesite of the late
James (Sloppy) Floyd, one of the county's most dedicated veterans, in the
presence of VFW and Auxiliary members, members of Mr. Floyd's family and
friends.
. * L
GRADUATION NEARS FOR CHS, TRION SENIOR CLASSES —
Graduation time is just around the corner for more than 200 seniors at Trion
and Chattooga High schools. At Trion, some 59 young men and women
prepare for a new kind of life in the "“outside” world. Talks will be heard from
honor students Russell Jennings, Elizabeth Arlene Bentley and David
Snow ... Some 170 seniors at Chattooga High School will gather to hear
valedictory and salutatory addresses by Ruth G. Ledford and Greg Stewart,
respectively. Class president Bill Ellis will deliver remarks of welcome.
- - .
STATE PARK TO BE RENAMED — Gov. George Busbee has signed into
law a bill which will change the name of Chattooga Lakes State Park to Sloppy
Floyd State Park. The late Rep. Floyd was instrumental in securing approval
for the local park which contains two fishing lakes and other recreational
facilities.
freedom, liberty can’t survive.
To those who responded to the call of
duty and gave their lives, the nation is in
debted. »
It's too much to expect each in
dividual soldier, sailor or airman to pass
individually on the rightness or
wrongness of the foreign policy of his
government and act accordingly.
So we remember those who have
uc;lficed and died, for country, on the
27th.
and other recent Soviet leaders.
He has publicly accused the Reagan
Administration of not being serious
about nuclear arms limitation
agreements. He needled President
Reagan publicly), on the president's re
cent European trip, by saying the U.S.
was the war menace in the present-day
world.
These are not the words and actions of
a leader eager for detente. Nor are other
actions since Gorbachev took power —
such as the shobting without any apology
of an American officer in East Germany.
Such behavior in fact has convinced
some in the White House that a summit
meeting any time soon between Reagan
and Gorbachev would be pointless.
Earlier hopes that Gorbachev might be
more inclined to reasonableness have
evaporated.
A fall “meeting’’ is still a possibility
but a chill has settled over U. S.-Soviet
relations just when Mr. Reagan was
ready to make an effort to improve them.
Gorbachev is looking more and more
like a very formidable foe, one confident
that time favors Russia (in Central
American and elsewhere),
Books, religion, gardening and home
building disappeared from the list.
In 19563 U.S. women were most in
terested in: religion, food, homemaking,
child care, home furnishings, fashions,
entertainment, gardening, books and
education. The latest polls, for 1983:
fashions, food, health, home furnishings,
cultural activities, child care, travel,
homemaking, education and enter
ui'l;‘r;nm/books.
ese results, reported in the Chris
tian Science Monitor, indicate our chur
ches need to work hard to make their
message and appeal more realistic, rele
vant and practical in today's society.
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W{umr
r‘”*‘” Dialogue . ..
3 1“ by James Budd
Powell Limited Options
On Tax
There's been a lot of talk about the
limited local option sales tax which will
come up for a vote June 4. Will it pass or
won't it seems to be the Ngoqmtion?
Chattooga County mmissioner
Harry Powe’l wants to use the nearly $1
million expected to be generated by the
tax for roads and bridges as required by
the law allowing the special sales tax.
Money normally generated through the
millage would be used instead to pay off
:.h;t Powell calls the county’s 81 million
t.
It seems Powell had to borrow $1
million just like the previous administra
tion in order to make ends meet. But it is
not uncommon for county and municipal
governments to borrow money with the
anticipation of tax revenues coming in.
Voters are naturally suspicious of tax
ation and rightfully so. Americans loathe
taxation. You remember the Stamp Act
imposed by the British on the Colony of
America around 200 years ago? Led to a
Revolution.
Powell says property taxes might
have to be raised to possibly as high as 25
percent in order to clear the debt. But, un
fortunately, Commissioner Powell and
the auditor had a falling out at the first of
the year, and the county's audit won't be
ready for 60 or 90 days” — long after
voters have voiced their opinion on this
new-fangled limited local option tax.
The people have not been presented a
clear picture of the facts. We don’t have
the audit, so how can we expect to draw
our own conclusions about the county’s
finances. 1 financed a car through the
bank like most people, and | owe the bank
some money, but I'm not having a finan
cial crisis over it. Sure it's a debt, but I'm
Guest Column
Take Amtrak Off
Federal Payroll
By EDWIN FEULNER
You may not realize it, but every time
a passenger boards an Amtrak train, the
federal government dishes out an average
of $35 to subsidize the cost of the trip.
In fact, since Amtrak was created in
1971, $lO billion in federal subsidies has
been poured into the system.
Despite this, rail passenger service
continues to have great difficulty attrac
ting riders — with trains currently ac
counting for only three-tenths of 1 per
cent of intercity passenger miles. In order
to continue operating, Amtrak has re
quested an additional $774 million in sub
sidies for Fiscal Year 1986.
Given the fact that Amtrak has never
made a profit and its losses have grown
considerably, does it really make sense to
force taxpayers to provide rail passenger
service for the small segment of the
population that actually uses this mode
of transportation?
Contrary to popular belief it isn't the
poor who rely on passenger trains these
days. Lower-income travelers tend to ride
buses, which have lower fares. For them,
it's “Go Greyhound” or Trailways — or
not at all. Indeed, studies show that Am
trak riders have higher incomes than the
national average. Along the New York-
not “over my head” in debt. Could it be
that the $1 million Powell borrowed dur
i'::flthe winter is the cause of all this tur
?
It seems to me that the 1984 audit
should be used as proof by Commissioner
Powell that this additional tax is needed,
but unfortunately we don't have the
audit.
The sales tax would also have a better
chance of passing if the county's four
municipalities could draw a share of it.
Summerville is faced with a $1 million
project for removing its utilities along
Hwy. 27. Menlo, Lyerly and Trion are
worried that the abolition of the federal
Revenue-Sharing Program will put
strains on their finances. The law allow
ing for the local option for limited use,
specifically states that the county and the
municipalities can agree to share the
funds generated by the tax. However,
Commissioner Powell rejected the
mayors’ request last month.
By sharing the tax money, which will,
by law, expire within four years if passed,
Commissioner Powell could have ex
pected more support from the four
municipalities in the county.
I long ago gave up trying to guess
what voters in this county will do and 1
won't make any projections about what
will occur June 4.
There have been a lot of unanswered
questions concerning the tax. The confu
sion might cause a negative backlash by
voters. It will likely be a light turnout,
which could favor its approval. Stay tun
ed. You never know what’s going to hap
pen in Chattooga County politics.
Philadelphia-Baltimore-Washington cor
ridor, one sees mostly business travelers.
Proposals to get the federal govern
ment out of the passenger train business
continue to arouse great passion. The one
given is that Amtrak's annual operating
deficit (read that “loss”) is paid for by
U. S. taxpayers, most of whom never set
foot on a train.
One reader of this column, Henry O.
Jenkins of Portales, New Mexico, tells me
“there are a lot of us out here in the
hinterlands that are absolutely ‘FOR’ the
continuation’’ of the Amtrak subsidy. He
suggests that perhaps the states through
which Amtrak long distance trains run
could help support the service through
“diversion”” of part of the revenue the
states gain from businesses that locate in
those states as a result of Amtrak service.
He argues that Amtrak is being ““turn
ed into a political scapegoat.” Like
others, he is concerned that if the federal
government withdraws its support, the
residents of many communities will find
themselves without any form of inter-city
travel, other than automobiles. These
concerns are genuine.
This doesn't, however, justify taxing
the many for the convenience of the few.
see GLEST COLUMN, page ie-A
1y Mountain
. p Echoes
{ Jimmy Townsend
Tennessee Travels
Traveling through Middle Tennessee, you can see
where winter took its toll. Boxwoods are used more
throughout this area for landscaping than anywhere |
have ever been. And, so, that's the sad story. Every box
wood in this part of Tennessee was killed by the 17
degrees below zero weather. I counted 32 boxwoods in
one yard that were brown instead of the usual green.
This is a beautiful area to travel and there is much
history here. The Veteran's Administration Hospital at
Murfreesboro is an 842-bed facility that was constructed
with Georgian architecture in 1938, with major additions
in 1944, 1946 and 1956, and as recently as last year.
The entrance to the main building is a reproduction of
the front of the Hermitdge, home of Andrew Jackson. The
buildings are made of brick with modern windows,
situated on 150 acres of land. The grounds ‘are rolling
Middle Tennessee “Walking Horse'’ country, with many
trees, in a tranquil setting. Just recently, the name has
been changed to The Alvin C. York V. A. Medical Center,
and what a tribute to that fine World War I soldier, Sgt.
York.
The “Trail of Tears” march of the Cherokee Indians
goes right in front of the hospital grounds. Driving across
the high mountains from here to Knoxville is breathtak
ing scenery. Every town that we went through is laid out
in a square and has an inviting look. Of course, there is an
interstate from Nashville to Knoxville if you are in a
hurry.
Murfreesboro was the home of the late Uncle Dave
Macon, the banjo picker of Grand Ole Opry fame. He is
buried here in the church yard of a quaint little church on
the highway going to Dayton, Tenn. Oldtimers around
here talk about Uncle Dave coming to the square in town
on Saturdays, always picking his banjo. :
Dayton, Tenn., is another pretty Tennessee mountain
town. This was the scene of the Scopes (“Monkey ") trial
in 1925. There are oldtimers sitting on the benches
around the courthouse who remember and can detail that
trial for us. But most recall how hot and dry it was that
zlw.wheneveryfarmrin’l'enmmloatsfimtd
s crop. :
You cross a ferry between Dayton and Cleveland,
Tenn. This is one of the few ferries left. The ride is ap
proximately one-half mile over Nick's Jack River and
Lake. The ferry operates from sunup to sundown, and
many commuters use this route rather than going the
long way around by Chattanooga.
Then there is Cleveland, Tenn., another town on a
square, but the town has “outgrown its britches.”” There
are now shopping centers and mills in every direction.
Next is 411 Highway, where you can travel to
Cartersville and get on 1-75, or you can go the river route
from Ocoee to Ducktown, Tenn. This is the river that is
transferred to a wooden box upon the mountain at times.
When the river is in its bed, there is a steady stream of
people floating on rafts.
This is an interesting trip for anyone, and I highly
recommend it. There is much more history than I could
give, but you can stop at all the historical places because
they are well marked.
I suppose it is nice to travel all around the country
gzd abroad, but it's amazing what we miss so close to
me.
DON'T WORRY
You can't change the past, but you
can ruin the present by worrying about
the future. — Sac City (la.) Sun :
* - -
: WISE
It is a wise man who can be thrifty
without being stingy; who can be
generous without being wasteful. — Grit
- * »
News FOLLOW THE CORD
Parents concerned about where their
Clips teen-ager is might try following the
telephone extension cord. — Des Moines
Tribune
* * *
MIDDLE AGE? ;
Middle age is that period in a man’s
life when he'll do anything to feel better
except give up what's hurting him. —
Great Lakes Bulletin