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Che Summeruille News
Summer Jobs Scarce For Young Chattoogans
Prospects Could Improve After Mid-Summer Plant Closings
_—_—
By BUDDY ROBERTS
Staff Writer
%
Fewer summer jobs will be available to youngsters in
Chattooga County this year than in Past years, but the
situation could improve in July when local plants re-open.
According to Berita Ruff of the Rome office of the
Geor%a Department of Labor, summer éob.opportunities
have been slow in coming this {ear in Chattooga.
“We usually don’t get a lot of jobs for youths, an{way,
but we've only had three so far this year,” she said. “‘I wish
employers would use our department in looki‘r;& for young
emplok'ees, and we encourage them to do so. We're in sup
port of the idea, and would like to help as much as we can.”
Two of the three cases handled by the department this
year have been fulltime jobs while one is for parttime work.
NO WORK
“The situation does not look good rfl)t now,’’ said
Evans Scoggins, the job development specialist for the local
Job Training Partnership Act (5. TPA) program. “‘We've had
a horrible time finding work for these school children.
“The job market this year is about like it was last year,”
Former Resident’s Murder Trial
In N.C. Scheduled For June 27
By RICH JEFFERSON
. Staff Writer
*
Life was easier for Thomas
Lee Bonney and his wife,
Dorothy, wl‘;en they lived in
Summerville 20 years ago.
Dorothy is now a resident of
Chesapeake, Va., and Thomas
is a resident of Central Prison
in l(l)aleigcllx‘, N. C. : ]
‘the couple’s five
chfldif‘én', the ydu%g‘est four
have been placed in foster
homes in southeastern
Virginia. The oldest child, a
193'ear-old girl named Kathy,
is dead.
Thomas Bonney goes on
trial June 27 in Camden Coun
ty, N.C. He is charged with
murdering Kathy last Nov. 22.
ADDRESS
According to one of
Dorothy’s sisters who still lives
in Chattooga County, the Bon
neys lived in Sitton Apart
ments a little less than a year
in the late 19605. George Sitton
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Photo By Rich Jefferson
HOWARD OWINGS AND PURPLE MARTIN HOMES
Gourds Are Stored During Winter
WIC Program: More To Receive From Government
Family Of Four Grossing $20,720 May Be Eligible For Giveaways
More than 400 women, in
fants and children in Chat
tooga County are receiving
foqg through a federal program
administered by Georgia’s
county health departments.
ManK more people are eligible
for the program-than are now
receiving help, said Joan
Whaley, head nurse at the
Chattooga Health Depart
ment.
The special swplemental
food program for Women, In
fants and Children (WIC) pro
vides milk, cheese, juice, e%gs,
cereal and beans or peanut but
said he has no records of a
Thomas Bonne{ ever renting
an a%artment rom him, but
said he doesn't always get a
renter's name or a tenant’s
name as long as the rent is paid
on time.
Bonney may have used a
false name, Sitton said, or the
couple may have stayed with
friends and not rented an
apartment for themselves.
KATHY
Kathy was born while the
Bonneys lived there. People
here who saw the Bonneys as
recently as 10 or 15 years ago
say Kathy was a wonderful lit
tle girl. S[‘l,e was blonde, and as
she grew older, she became
very pretty.
According to reports in the
Virginian-Pilot, a newspaper
that covers Chesapeake, Bon
ney allegedly abused his wife
and children.
On Nov. 20 he found a let
ter in Kathy's room she was
goinf to send to a man she was
involved with. The man was
married and had a child, and
for Thomas Bonney, a jealous,
protective father and a man
with an explosive temper and
ter to low-income women and
children who have health
problems.
PROBLEMS
Not only are more Chat
tooga Countians eligible for
help, Whaiey said, but often
people start the I\E)rogram and
abruptly stop. Needy people
aEply for help, the agency goes
through all the steps to com
plete the paper work, gives a
client their first set of vouchers
for food, and then often never
sees the client again.
“When they are offered
Thursday, June 16,1988 . . .. ..
Scoggins added. ‘‘The unemployment rate is up from last
summer, but the situation hasn’t changed mucg for young
people.”
IMPROVEMENTS
Scoggins said that while the outlook is not bright now,
he feels it will improve after the first week in July. “A lot
of the plants are getting ready to close down for the Fourth
of July holiday and don't want to hire until after that. We
feel it will l?iCk up at that point.”
The JTPA progran is desifined to help disadvantaged
students find employment and to provicga them with job
experience. It has ;)een operating in the county for the past
five years.
FIRST TIME
The first summer employment program in Chattooga
began in 1965 as the Nej, h[‘;orhoog Youth Corps. It was
then operated under the (fomfirehensive Education Train
ing Act (CETA) before the JTPA.
“JTPA is a totally different pro%ram than CETA," said
Melvin Mosley, who {as been the JTPA coordinator for the
past four years. ‘“Unlike before, the program is set up to
gi\'lgfstpdents practical work experience they can use later
in life.”
“The JTPA program gives a student good job training,
because he is working unge‘ar real conditions,” said educator
Will Hair. “It’s an excellent chance for young people to gain
a short fuse, this was too much.
On the evening of Nov. 21
Bonney and his faughter left
home together. Bonney return
ed home by himself, but the
next day Kathy’'s nude body
was found near a canal. Accor
ding to the reports in the
Virginian-Pilot, the body was
found 40 Nyards south of the
Virginia— orth Carolina state
border, in Camden County. She
had been shot 27 times with a
small caliber hand gun.
‘“‘Jealousy had nothing to
do with it,""v Bonneyh a::iold
reporters. ‘We just had a
dx‘gagreemenfl Tl%é gun just
went off ... we got in a big
argument and it just went off.”
CAMDEN SHERIFF
Although there was, exten
sive news coverage of the case
earlier this year, the Camden
County Sheriff's department
said Tuesday that a change of
venue had not been filed by the
Bonney's defense. “‘But that
could happen any time,” said a
spokesman for the Sheriff.
Superior Court starts in
Camden County on Monday,
June 27, and Bonney’s trial
could start early that week, the
High-Wire Gourds Are For Birds
Chattooga Man Looks Forward Each Year To A Summer With Purple Martins
By KAREN COOK
Contributing Writer
+
Driving along Chattooga
County’s country roads, one is
likely to see bulb-shaped
gourds strung from wires, high
above the ground. These
hollowed-out gourds are man
made homes for purple mar
tins, the largest sw?ilows in
North America.
Mr. Howard Owings and
his wife Virginia, residents of
Gore, love purple martins and
have put up about 50 such bird
houses.
“The first year I put up
6ourds I ’fix()t martins,” said
wings. ‘‘They are pretty birds
and I like to watch them,” he
said.
THE BEGINNING
Mr. Owings became in-
something for nothing, it
seems like they could come
pick them up,” said Mrs.
Whaley. And just because peo
ple don’t come back for more
vouchers doesn’t mean they’ve
found a job.
“It might mean it's not
worth the hassle and they just
don’t come back.”
ELIGIBILITY
According to Doreleena
Sammons, WIC program direc
tor with the Georgia Depart
ment of Human Resources
Division of Public Health, as
1-B
spokesman said.
VERIFIED
An earlier story about
Dorothy Mae Bonney appeared
in The Summerville l\fiews on
May 5, but The News was
unable to identify her at that
time. Since that story ran, two
Chattooga women have iden
tified themselves as Dorothy’s
sisters.
Dorothy’s biological
parents were the late Willie Lee
and Myrtle Teems Reynolds,
thfia sisters said. Ther(e: fire other
relatives residing in Chattooga
and Floyd Coell:tglm, the sisters *
said. The Reynolds childrén
were reared by relatives after
the fire in Atlanta that took
their mother’s life.
In the story published on
May 5 it was reported that
Dorothy said her mother died
of burns sustained when her
bathrobe caufiht fire. This part
of the story has been verified
by the two sisters and other
sources.
The sisters said they want
to contact Dorothy an(i, bring
her and her children back to
Chattooga. '
terested in purple martins
several years ago when he was
driving along and noticed a
number of gourds hanging in a
farmers field. He sto;(?)ed to
find out what the gourds were
for. It Froved to be the be%in
nipfi of a ten year love affair
with martins.
“I was advised on the mat
ter and then I went to work,”
he explained. After buying
some gourds he began the
lengthty process of preparing
them for habitation.
HOME MAKING
“First you drill about a two
inch hole in the front of the
gourd. It’s a lot of work to get
all of the seeds out. You clean
the gourds really well and then
you drill about four one quarter
inch holes in the bottom of the
gourd for drainage and ventila
tion.”
Owings has painted some of
the gourds white because
they're cooler for the birds
than the plainly varnished
mar:i\; as 279,000 women and
children in Georgia are eligible
for WIC, although current fun
ding is not sufficient to serve
all of them.
“We received SSB-million in
federal funds this year for WIC
which means that while we
can’t meet everybody’s needs
we could serve an additional
10-11,000 persons. Our goal is
to have 130,000 in the program
by September.
‘‘Since we have money
available for more people we
are strongly urging women to
call or come by tEeir county
' ) Featdres/Néws \ l
experience in the world of work and see what it's like. In
fact, some of these young people would not have jobs if we
didn’t offer the program.”
STUDENTS
“We employ 15 to 20 students already,” said Dick
Richter, store manager at Wal-Mart in Summerville. “'I
think we're getting six under the JTPA proira.m, but we
use a lot of students during the course of the year.”
Before students can be assisted by the program, cer
tain eligibility requirements must be met. Economic criteria
and barriers to employment are considered. The Private In
dustry Council conducts eligibility status for each student
who applies for help.
EMPLOYERS
Prospective employers fill out agreement and evalua
tion forms, and students are recommended from previous
interviews. Once a student begins work under the program,
he is monitored throughout the summer.
One hundred and twenty-five students had been inter
viewed this year, but only 62 had been assigned work by
last week. “\{’e'll find wori for them all,” Mosley said, ‘‘but
right now we're having problems with the computer system
we use for evaluations.”
This year’s JTPA program has a total particépation
budget of $71,093, and an overall estimated budget of
SBI,OOO, Mosley added.
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KATHY BONNEY, ABOUT
He said the martins prefer
to live in groups or colonies,
which is why the gourds are
strung together. “They also
seem to like to swing,”” he said.
“The gourds attached to
wires suspended in the air,
sway when the wind blows and
it sort of rocks the baby birds
to sleep.”
Mr. Owings has had purple
martins in his field since March
1979. He has recorded dates of
their arrival. Thus far the scout
birds have arrived every year
between March 9-28.
MIGRATION
According to Dr. Jeffery
Jackson, Ga. Extension
Wildlife Specialist, ‘‘Martins
are not a year round bird in
Georgia. TKey winter in South
America. Generally, it arrives
in southern Georgia in early
February and reaches northern
Georgia by mid March or ear
ly April, then leaves during ear
ly fall.”
health department to find out
about WIpC,” says Sammons.
Mrs. Whaley said vouchers
are issued every two months
for specific nutritional needs,
and t?:at eligibility for the pro
gram is established strictly on
the basis of income.
CERTIFICATION
WIC is specifically for preg
nant women, breastfeeding
mothers and children under
age five. To be eligible, families
must have a low or moderate
income. ‘‘For example, a fami
ly of four with a gross income
*Old martins tend to return
to their old nesting areas, while
young birds seek new ones,”
Jackson said. ‘“This means
that once a martin house is us
ed, it probably will continue to
be used and new houses in the
same location will probably
also be used the first year.”
The martins make their
nests out of coarse grass, dead
leaves, twigs and other similar
material. 'Fhe female will lay
‘about three to eight eggs and
incubate them about 13 days.
INSECTS
Over the years in Gore, Mr.
Owir:Fs has continued to add
gourds to his colony. This helps
keep the population of biting
insects lower than it otherwise
would be.
“The birds work all day
long feeding their young ones,”
he said. They feed on insects.
“They won't just go and get
one mosquito and come back to
the nest. They will go get a
see HIGH-WIRE, page 4-B
of $20,720 a year could be eligi
ble,”’ says Sammons.
Women and children can be
certified for WIC with a doc
tor's statement saying they are
at health or nutritional risk or
throufh a health assessment at
their local health department.
Once a person is eligible she
receives a WIC voucher for free
foods which can be used at any
particigat-ing grocery store.
WIC is not restricted to
people on welfare but can go to
women and children with a
father in the home so long as
see W.I.C. PROGRAM, page 4-B
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CUMANDA AND TANYA PEREZ IN TRION
Happy To Be Together Again
Exchange Student
Enjoyed Year Here
Tanya Perez is a quiet girl
who li.[‘(’es a challenge. g}lre
graduated from high school
twice, once last year in
Ecuador where she was born,
and again this year in Trion. In
a few days she will go back
home and start college courses.
She stayed with Russell
and Peggy Baldwin this year
and said their home in Trion
was o%gned to her in every
way. ‘‘They made me feel like
one of them, and that was the
best part of staying with them.
They were always thinking of
what was best for me,” Tanya
said.
10 MONTHS
Tanya came to Trion
almost 10 months ago. She ar
rived in New York Aug. 19 for
a three-day orientation and
gtlalw from there to Atlageta then
attanooga. Du.nnfi the three
day orm:sgnhcnm New York,
Tanya met students from all
over the world. “They were
from Germany and China and
everywhere,”’ Tanya said.
But Tanya’s trip to
America didn't really start
with the orientation. Three
years ago her older sister spent
a year in school in North
Carolina. When she brought a
favorable report of her ex
perience in the United States,
Tanya wanted to come too.
MIXED
Her mother, Cumanda
Hinojosa de Perez, had mixed
feelings about Tanya coming,
“but she knew it was good for
me, and I would learn a lot of
things,” Tanya said. “But it
was hard to be apart that
long.”
When she started school in
Trion on Aug. 28, Tanya
discovered that the classes
were equal in academic difficul
ty to the ones she had taken at
tie private Catholic high
Trion Student Helps
Find Lost Child
A 15-year-old Trion student
was one of four rescuers who
found a missing Villanow child
high atog Taylors Ridge in
Walker County last Friday
afternoon.
He is Matt Dooley, son of
Danny and Sandra Dooley,
East Armuchee Road,
LaFayette.
Matt will be a sophomore at
Trion High next fall. He was
part of teacher Ron Patty’s
science class during the past
year.
Gabriel Adam McNeese, 3,
was playing with his dog in his
yard on Dicks Creek Road in
Villanow last Thursday after
noon when he wandered away.
Matt, aloniwith his cousin,
Jimmy Richardson, who
resides nearby, and two adults,
Larr¥ Hix and Chuck Parkin
son, found the youngster about
1 p.m. last Friday approx
imately four miles from his
home. The dog was still with
Gabriel.
Matt and the other three
searchers brought Gabriel
home with the child riding on
one of the four all-terrain
vehicles driven by the quartet.
Matt and Jimmy hunted for
the child all night Thursday,
stopping about 4 a.m. Friday
to eat and sleep about three
hours before hitting the woods
afain. The search was called off
officially about 1 a.m. Friday
and resumed at daybreak.
Gabriel was playing in the
woods when foun(f. said
Walker Sheriff Mike Ellis.
The youngster wasn’t con
school she attended earlier in
Ecuador.
One big difference,
however, was that in Ecuador
anuch tim; ;as devoted efxo stu
ing and discussing religion.
P{eregl‘anya took Um%ed Sgtes
histo?, trigonometry, physics
and chemistry.
“I took a?us to school but
it wasn’'t a school bus,” she
said. ““I lived 30 minutes away
from school and took a city
bus. City buses go every
where."
CLASSES
Another difference in the
two school systems was that
classes in Ecuador run from 7
am. to 1 p.m. and students
don’t eat lunch at school, she
said.
Some of the sports that
students play are the same, she
said. Baseball is the same
everywhere, basketball is
almost the same, but North
American football was an utter
mystery to her.
“I was lost watchi:f that.
I had to sit by somebody who
could explain it to me,”” Tanya
said. The most popular Latin
American sport is called foot
ball too, she said, but here it is
called soccer.
And it seems that family
life and an interest in family
geneaology are similar in
Ecuador and Chattooga Coun
ty, Tanya said. As most
families Tanya met here,
Ecuadorans carry on oral tradi
tions and stories of their
families rather than spending
the time and the money recor
ding family history in writing.
“It's like here, where you
tell stories to your children,”
she said. And just as some peo
ple in Chattooga have
Cherokee Indian blood in their
ancestry, not all Ecuadorans
are descended purely from 18th
century Spanish settlers. Many
see EXCHANGE, page 4-B
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MATT DOOLEY
cerned about being lost, Ellis
said, since he had been playing
in the woods since he was in
diapers. When darkness came
Thursday night, Gabriel and
his dog f}(,)ung a place to sleep
and curled up together.=
““Moma spank,”’ were
reportedly his first words when
found by Matt and the other
three rescuers.
Those participating in the
search were neighbors, Walker
Correctional Institute inmates,
dog search team, Walker
rescue squad members, the
sheriff's office, two television
stations, a helicopter and Red
Cross volunteers.