Newspaper Page Text
The Summeruville News
The Official Legal Organ of Chattooga County Georgia
WINSTON E. ESPY
PUBLISHER
WILLIAM T. ESPY
ADVERTISING MANAGER
GIA v %
/‘*"3‘3‘ V& A Prize-
O “Et a E Winning
AvN==ty/o & Newspaper
A OCIAT
The Espy Publishing Company, Inc., will not be responsible for errors in advertising beyond
cost of the advertisement. Classified advertising rate 9¢ per word, minimum $1.75. Card of
Thanks, Memoriams, etc., same as classified advertising. Display rates given upon request.
Address All Mail to: THE SUMMERVILLE NEWS, P. O. Box 310, Summerville, Ga. 30747
Editorials
Windle Bold, Right
Buddy Windle, Chattooga County
High School's football coach, has a lot of
courage.
In an interview with The News' Gene
Espy last week, Windle told about alcohol
and drug abuse by CHS students. He
didn’t spare any words when he described
the lack of concern about academics and
sports by all too many parents. And he
probably hit the nail on the head when he
said 70 percent of the county high school’s
students didn't really care whether the
school had a football team.
Tough words. They weren't designed to
make him more popular with a few
disgruntled but do-nothing parents.
Especially after a frustrating and losing
season. But they were candid and honest,
rare commodities in today’s world.
It has been amazing to note that CHS
and Trion High School usually end up with
about the same number of players when
each fall's football season opens. Peculiar
when THS has less than half the number '«
of students to draw from for football. It’s
equally amazing to view the number of
students who go out for football at CHS
and then drop out or slide away after a
week or so of practice.
If this is the kind of perseverance be
ing taught at home, God help us.
It’s no wonder that kids drop out of
classes before graduating in the county
when they don’t have enough guts to stick
out football conditioning. Parents obvious
ly haven't been much help in encouraging
their children to remain in school or to “‘get
tough’ when the going gets tough on the
football field. Can you imagine the kind of
soldiers they would make if the draft were
to return?
Windle was right when he said many
students tell their parents what to do in
stead of parents telling their children what
to do.
Bicentennial Medal
A Chattooga County family has helped
the state of Georgia score a first this year.
John Brannon of Subligna thought up
a unique design for a U. S. Constitution
bicentennial medal for the state. Then he
presented it to the executive director of
the Georgia Bicentennial Commission.
After a brief consideration of the proposal,
it was accepted.
The Commission probably didn't
realize at the time that it was the first
state panel in the nation to approve and
have a state bicentennial medal minted.
But Brannon did.
His sense of history was further
From Our Early Fil
. rEarlyFiles
2
44 YEARS AGO
The following are excerpts from the Dec. 16, 1943, edition of The Summer
ville News.
* * *
T. WALTER HUGHES, state supervisor of the Food Distribution Ad
ministration, said this week that suspension of all quotas on the slaughter of
livestock by commercial slaughters; which was to terminate Dec. 1, has been
extended until further notice. It follows the suspension last week of all limita
tions on farm slaughter of hogs and the temporary reduction in the number
of ration required for the purchase of pork products.
* * *
IT IS ANNOUNCED by the Navy recruiting station in Rome that there
are now openings for qualified men in the Navy in shore patrol ratings. Those
qualified are given petty officer ratings, from third class petty officer to chief
petty officer. These ratings are available for persons between the ages of 17-18
and 38-50.
DAVID T. ESPY, JR.
GENERAL MANAGER
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
Within County ..............$8.93
Out-of-County Rates
Available On Request
Published Every Thursday By
ESPY PUBLISHING CO., INC.
Second Class Postage Paid
At Summeruville, Ga. 30747
PUBLICATION NO. SECD 525560
None of this relieves the responsibili
ty of the schools to educate the county’s
youngsters. But it does point out that
youngsters haven't been given the proper
discipline and attitude of perseverance at
home, in church or in their early school
classes.
“The thing that really bugs me this
year is I probably see more young kids
that I feel like are being influenced by
drugs and alcohol than I ever have since
I've been at Chattooga. I think that get
ting it in the open is the right direction and
do what we can,” Windle said in last
week’s interview.
“...I'm not sure the rules are tough
enough,” Windle said.
It's easy for educators to piously claim
that ‘‘the schools” don’t have a drug or
alcohol problem. That way, they don't
have to try to do anything about it.
Bill Kinzy, Trion school superinten
dent, put it all in perspective in a separate
unrelated intérview'recently when he said
that if drugs are in the community, they're
going to be in the schools. Neither THS
nor CHS is an exception to the rule.
Parents have an absolute responsibili
ty to fight drug abuse by their children.
Law enforcement has a large role. And so
do the schools — even if it means asking
for unannounced visits by dogs trained to
sniff out drugs and alcohol on school pro
perty. Even if it means making the rules
tougher, as discussed by Windle.
One man can’t work miracles if a com
munity, parents and many of his own col
leagues are apathetic or have developed an
‘‘us against them"’ siege mentality.
Windle has performed an invaluable
service in boldly airing some issues that
should have been discussed with more
openness and seriousness in Chattooga
County in the past several years. We need
more men like him in our community.
underscored when he got the Smithsonian
Institution in Washington, D. C., to agree
to accept a three-piece presentation set of
the medal for its numismatic collection.
The first presentation set went to the
Georgia Archives. The second will go to
the Smithsonian.
Not bad for a small family mint located
in a remote area of rural Chattooga
County.
Brannon and his wife, Norma, and his
son, Mike, have put Chattooga on the na
tional map in a positive manner. We offer
them our congratulations and our thanks.
TOMMY TOLES
EDITOR
Z% Places Reagan Shoud Have Taken Garbacher to See
,' (b\fi@id)it) e
”»" i
[ i
v ¢ A%
|
w
i 3 /
Story Oof Two Babes
THE LITTLE girl looked older than
her 2 years. Her mocha features were
perfect and there’'s not much doubt that
she was looking forward to this year's visit
from Santa Claus. '
Under other circumstances, a passerby
would have sworn that she was asleep. She
wasn't. She was dead.
* * *
THE YOUNGSTER was one of five
people killed in a two-car collision near
Rome on Dec. 4. The accident occurred
seconds before I arrived at the scene.
Several motorists ran to both cars to
see if they could help before ambulances,
.rescue persgnnel and law enforcement
authorities arrived. i
* * *
THE LITTLE girl's arm extended out
side a window of the overturned car. But
no one could get to her or get her out. She
had a faint pulse at first. The hand of a
man was lying beside her tiny arm. He was
still alive. The car couldn’t be lifted or
turned back over on its wheels then
because several victims on the other side
might have been crushed.
Smoke started coming from the front
of the car. No one had a car fire
extinguisher.
* * *
ALTHOUGH IT was only minutes
later, it seemed as if a fire truck and rescue
personnel took hours to reach the scene.
On The Funny Side [ws¥
By Gary Solomon %
Diving Into Popcorn
IN THE next week or so, theatres
across the country will be flooded with
movies targeted at audiences primed for
holiday entertainment. Rumor has it,
however, that release of the long-awaited
“Rocky Meets Rambo’” may be delayed
while Sly Stallone tries to decide which
halfwit will win the fight.
This has been a record year at the box
office for the movie industry. Admissions
are up 10 percent over 1986, baffling
analysts who predicted that VCR’s and
cable television would make movie-going
a thing of the past.
* * %*
MOVIES USED to come to theatres
only twice a year, during summer and at
Christmas. Summer movies remained in
town until Christmas, while Christmas
flicks hung around until the following
June. The only items making their way out
of the studios during fall and spring were
called ““films’’ and had either foreign sub
titles or artsy names like, ‘‘Percy Bysshe
Shelley: the Man and the Myth.”’ College
professors and Honor Society members
went to see these. Everyone else stayed
home to rotate their shoe trees.
Things have changed nowadays,
though. Not only are people visiting the
theatres more often, but they are going
year-round. The success of fall releases
such as ‘““Crocodile Dundee” and ‘‘Fatal
Attraction’ ‘attests to that fact.
AN
WHY, THEN, do folks still flock to the
— 7
7
:}/}}/
YV
7 %
4 o
l 3 ~////»‘///#/W’M
R L e PN
g 720000000000
PERSHINGTON G
Viewpoint
By Tommy Toles, Editor
It took about 10 minutes to remove sur
vivors from the other side of the car.
Several men then physically picked up the
crumpled car and held it a foot off the
pavement for at least 30 minutes while
rescue squad members worked desperate
ly with the Jaws of Life to open the car
doors.
Finally, the front door popped open and
a rescue squad member pulled the child
from the wreckage. She was unmarked.
Emergency Medical Technicians fought to
find signs of life with a portable electrocar
diograph machine. There were none. She
apparently died of a broken neck.
* * *
BEFORE IT was over, four of the five
people in that car would die from injuries
suffered in the crash, including the child’s
mother and 13-year-old sister.
They were on the way back to Rome
from visiting the little girl's great
grandmother in Summerville. They never
made it home.
A young Armuchee man died in the
other car. His wife was critically injured.
* * *
BUT THEIR little 2-year-old girl sur
vived the accident. She was shaken up, but
not much more than that...at least
physically.
She had been riding in a child restraint
seat in the back of her parents’ car.
It’s something I'll never forget.
theatre to see their favorite stars on the
wide screen. Here is one fan's list of possi
ble reasons for this phenomenon:
* The popcorn. First and foremost, it's
this. You can gorge yourself on a 12-course
meal before hitting the show and still be
tempted to dive head-first into the popcorn
bin the minute you walk in the theatre.
The aroma is simply intoxicating.
If anyone ever bottles that fragrance,
they’ll be a millionaire before they can say
“Orville Redenbacher.”
* The crowd. A threatre is one of the
few places you can be among people
without having to talk to them. At home
your wife may want to discuss her upcom
ing surgery or other trivial matters, which
can be a drag when you're watching a good
movie.
Emotion, particularly laughter, is also
heightened by having a crowd around to
share it with you. How many times have
you seen a comedy in a packed theatre and
howled with delight, only to watch it by
yourself later and wonder, “What in the
world was funny about this?”
* The anticipation. There’'s something
exciting about waiting for a feature you've
seen advertised. It’'s even more thrilling to
see it the first day it’s in town and then
ruin it for your friends by accidentally
revealing the surprise ending when you tell
them about it.
* * *
WHEN WAS the last time you saw ex
see ON THE FUNNY SIDE, page 6-A
"\‘fl)k\
N —\Q\
7
‘,l’f b:?h :
el ~ 7 wa
. o~ Q LA, S
o “«‘;’ ";:' :‘.‘ "“‘% 'lv,v, A
RS ol oYA
74 A e
‘ - — G
POLISH WORKERS MONUMENT
. 1».?" ’:I? :%
/" ' F%T—;" Al;M\‘\‘: 4
-~ (7 LN/l
:,\,,,ff” ’ r : 1‘" !‘Ql':\\:“
fAR 1
; -\ N \'l.\\
AFGHAN MEMORIAL
Guest Column
College For All
THOUGH MY teen-agers are still a couple of years
away, a friend’s daughter is going through the painful pro
cess of college hunting.
AsU. S. News & World Rerport noted recently, in one
of its more worthwhile coping features, the United States
is blessed with a smorgasbord of college choices: hundreds
and hundreds of them, large and small. Some even offer
good education at legitimate bar*gain-basement prices.
* *
ATTEMPTS by the Reagan administration to tighten
student aid requirements — such nasty things as expec
ting graduates to repay their loans, and limiting loans to
students who probably wouldn't otherwise be able to af
ford college — has provoked a vicious backlash from *‘civil
rights” groups and college administrators, who accuse the
administration of all sorts of anti-intellectual crimes. And,
of course, they are ready with statistical reports that *‘con
clusively’ support the allegations.
For example: On Oct. 22 the American Council on
Education released a new report showing that colleges had
proportionately fewer black and Hispanic freshmen in
1985 (the last year for which complete data are available)
than in prior years — continuing a decade-long trend.
* * *
THE ANNUAL study, compiled by the Council’s **Of
fice of Minority Concerns,” concluded: ‘‘The continuing
decline of blacks and Hispanics in proportional represen
tation in collegiate student bodies is a crisis of substan
tial dimensions for American society.”” Translated into
clear English, that roughly means; “We firmly believe col
leges should have more blacks and people with Spanish
surnames and Washington should see that it happens —
either by insisting on proportional admissions (i. e.,
racial/ethnic quotas) or by greasing the skids with more
federal funds.”
Cornell University President Frank Rhodes spoke for
the highered establishment, saying, “This is a problem
with potentially severe economic implications and
devastating social consequences.”
* * *
THERE ARE reasons for the decline — but it’s neither
racism nor a shortage of financial aid funds.
As Stuart Butler and Anna Kondratas point out in
their pioneering new book, “Out of the Poverty Trap” (The
Free Press, New York), inner-city ghetto kids simply aren't
being educated by the public schools. University of
Maryland Chancellor John Slaughter, commenting on the
report by the Council on Education, put it like this: “What
it means is, we are creating fewer and fewer blacks who
are prepared’ for college.
* * *
THAT’S THE supply side of the coin: fewer minority
students who are prepared for the rigors of college — even
today’'s watered-down colleges.
The demand side of the coin is spelled m-o-n-e-y. Ac
cording to the higher-ed lobby, the niggardly Reagan ad
ministration has tightened the purse strings so much there
simply isn’t enough money in the pipline to help qualified
minority students.
That's where we come back to my friend’s daughter.
* * *
DURING THE past year, she's collected a pile of
literature from colleges and universities around the coun
try: flyers, brochures, catalogues, all sorts of handouts.
Absolutely without exception, every college and univer
sity from which she has received information brags about
the availability of student aid: Grants, loans, scholarships,
work-study arrangements, creative financing — it’s all
available.
* * *
WITHOUT EXCEPTION, the colleges and univer
sities say they evaluate admission applications without
regard to the student’s financial situation. And also with
exception, they stress that they will always find ways to
see that a deserving student is financially able to attend
their colleges.
If language means anything anymore, we will quote
from the literature of a highly regarded liberal arts col
lege in Pennsylvania: “‘Last year 100 percent of those ac
cepted freshman students who demonstrated financial
need received it."”
* * *
THE KEY is that 100 percent: Every studént who
needed aid got aid. And from accompanying material, we
found that lots of students whose families could afford to
pay full-price — 60 percent of the student body — also
“‘received some sort of financial aid.”
see GUEST COLUMN, page 6-A
By Edwin Feulner
e