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The Official Legal Organ of Chattooga County Georgia
WINSTON E. ESPY DAVID T. ESPY, JR. TOMMY TOLES
PUBLISHER GENERAL MANAGER EDITOR
WILLIAM T. ESPY
ADVERTISI‘G MANAGER
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3‘9LN ’0 Freedom of
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Address all mail to: THE SUMMERVILLE NEWS, P. O. Box 310, Summerville GA 30747
TELEPHONE (404) 857-2494
Our Opinion
Help Commissioner Powell
The sole commissioner of Chattooga
County has a thankless, grueling, mind
numbing and increasingly complex job.
Even in small counties such as Chat
tooga, it has become necessary for the
governing authority ta have a thorough
knowledge of the mutual concerns and
responsibilities of local and state govern
ment. It is also imperative that an effec
tive commissioner have a good, personal
working relationship with all other local ci
ty and county officials and the heads of
various state agencies and departments.
A good sole commissioner must know
how to delegate his authority to compe
teat, trained staff members. It’s no longer
possible for one person to keep every detail
of every project and decision in his mind
during every second of the day. A good
manager — one of the most important at
tributes of a sole commissioner — must
hire dedicated, knowledgeable people who
can carry out the day-to-day work of the
county if he becomes ill or incapacitated
for brief periods of time.
Chattooga County is growing at an in
creasingly rapid pace and significant
changes are likely within the next four
years. If county government stagnates
and doesn't keep pace with those changes,
every citizen and community within its
boundaries will suffer.
A commissioner should have a very
high energy level because of the many,
many long hours that will be required to
study thoroughly the many major and dif
ficult decisions that must be made
throughout the four-year term. It can't be
an"B a.m. to 5 p.m. job. That is, if the job
is done well.
The next commissioner must deal with
a multitude of difficult and expensive
issues when he walks in the front door of
his office on Jan. 1, 1989. Among them are
tax reevaluation costs, the hospital crisis,
ambulance service costs, a public relations
problem for the county, the end of the one
percent sales tax levy for roads and
bridges, the purchase of thousands of
dollars of new road equipment, com
puterizing county government to stay
abreast of its finances daily and the wise
investment of special and surplus funds.
No matter who the next commissioner
is, he'll find that he can’t operate the coun
ty out of his hip pocket. If he tries, Chat
tooga won't progress and will, in fact, fall
farther and farther behind more pro
gressive neighboring counties and Georgia
as a whole.
Commissioner Harry Powell has of
fered for reelection. There's not much
doubt in anyone’s mind that Mr. Powell
thinks he's the best qualified person for
the job. His current term in office was
more the result of a fluke similar to that
of the Talmadge-Mattingly race of 1982.
Despite the numerous controversies
that have swirled about Commissioner
Powell's head during the last three and
one-half years, it was obvious that he had
the county's best interests at heart
throughout most of his trials.
The health of Commissioner Powell —
who will turn 71 in July — isn’t the best
in the world. He has been beset with severe
and recurring heart problems dnring the
From QurEarly Fil
; 2 48 YEARS AGO
The following are excerpts from the June 13, 1940, edition of The Summer
ville News.
A GROUP OF young people, accompanied by the Rev. J. G. Kirckhoff, left
Tuesday to attend the Presbyterian Young People’s Conference at Darlington
School in Rome. Those going from here were Mary Meadows, Serena Wepf,
Mary King, Betty Gamble, Pauline Ash, Hazel Hughes, Stuart Marks, Billy
Espy, Winston McWhorter, Leon Gamble Jr., Stanley Green and Otis Fulmer.
They will return home next Tuesday.
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Opinions Expressed By
Editorial Columnists Are Not
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last few years, and with a debilitating and
painful eye condition. It appears that his
eye problem has improved and for that, all
men of good will must give thanks.
Admittedly, it is difficult for any public
official to ‘‘let go” and turn the reins of
government over to a new generation, no
matter the circumstances. That must be
doubly true for Commissioner Powell, who
is known for his persistence and record of
service.
It was impossible for him to step aside
this time and enjoy his retirement years
with his devoted wife and watch the seeds
of his years of service prosper and flourish
under the capable hands of a successor.
The voters of Chattooga County would
do Commissioner Powell, his family and
supporters a great favor to perform that
difficult task for him on Aug. 9.
He deserves the rest and relaxation
that would come through retirement from
government service and its long, hard
hours, endless and complex decisions, and
sometimes difficult personal relationships
with local and state officials.
That recommendation wouldn't be easy
for this newspaper to make if there were
no qualified candidates in the race for com
missioner this year.
However, Democratic hopefuls Jim
Parker and David Tidmore are both
qualified in every respect to operate Chat
tooga County’s government during the
next four crucial years.
Both have four-year college degrees.
Tidmore majored in economics with em
phasis on management and finance.
Parker received a business administration
degree with a double major in accounting
and general business.
They have proven themselves in the
real world of management, business or
government. Parker is a successful Lyer
ly farmer and he once served as an in
dustrial engineer. Tidmore has significant
talents in management, personnel direc
tion and computerization of complex data
systems.
Furthermore, Tidmore and Parker are
tough, independent, commonsense men.
But they are also amiable individuals who
should find it very easy to get along well
personally with all local and state officials.
That talent will assume increased impor
tance in the years ahead as local and state
governmental relationships become more
and more entwined and interrelated.
The nominee of the Democratic Party
must, of course, face Fondren Wright, the
Republican candidate, in November.
Wright is a capable and honorable Teloga
businessman.
The intelligent choice for the Aug. 9
Democratic Primary then, narrows down
to Parker or Tidmore.
Either candidate would provide the in
dependent, capable, progressive, educated
and energetic leadership that our county
needs for the next four years.
Therefore, The Summerville News at
this time commends to the voters of Chat
tooga County the candidacies of David
Tidmore or Jim Parker. We look forward
to the full development of their respective
platforms and positions between now and
Aug. 9.
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oil In Chattooga?
IT WAS sometime in the late 1970 s or
early 1980 s, as I recall, when one or more
oil companies were exploring the Nor
thwest Georgia and Northeast Alabama
areas for possible reservoirs of natural gas
or oil.
A lot of property owners received let
ters explaining that a representative from
an oil company would be around soon to
obtain a lease on drilling rights. As I recall,
the offer was in the range of $1 per acre
the first year and a small sum each year
thereafter.
/ - * *$ %
STRANGE-LOOKING trucks crawled
slowly along the roadways in Chattooga
and in Cherokee County, Ala., occasional
ly emitting rumbling-humming sounds
that would vibrate your teeth if you were
close enough. We figured out that the area
was being surveyed with sound waves and
a seismograph.
The oil boom soon became a bust in the
United States and plans — if any existed
— for drilling exploratory wells in Chat
tooga apparently fell by the wayside. It
would be interesting to know whether the
preliminary test results found any promis
ing sites for oil or natural gas formations
in our county. .
WHO KNOWS, if big reservoirs were
found, Summerville might become the
“Dallas” of Northwest Georgia. Now, of
@ Cheri’s Copy |
.\’ " By Cheri Teague
B
Refuse To Grow old
ALL THE SIGNS such as graduation
are pointing to the idea that I must be
growing up. This idea was reinforced last
Saturday when I attended the wedding of
one of my best friends who is only one year
older than me.
The wedding was beautiful. I've never
seen a prettier bride.
. N s
IT GOT OFF to a great start because
the groom had left the marriage license at
home. His father, who was in a more stable
state, went back to get it.
There were a few more funny moments
in the ceremony like when the preacher
called the groom by the wrong name.
* * *
I’VE NEVER seen the bride’s dad look
like he was having as much fun as when
he was writing on his new son-in-law’s car
with soap, and making jokes about the
new name the preacher had blessed him
with.
There was a white bird hanging on the
curtain that looked like it had flown into
the curtain and had gotten its beak
caught. The bride even asked where it
came from. Luckily, she waited until after
the ceremony to ask about it, unlike what
Viewpoint
By Tommy Toles, Editor
course, Dallas, Texas has fallen on hard
times because of the relatively low
domestic oil prices.
The American Petroleum Institute
(API) once said it was a myth that oil is
found in huge underground lakes. Instead,
it’s usually found in the small spaces that
form the pores between the grains in rocks,
such as sandstone.
* * *
PLUS, API SAID, natural gas and oil
aren't found everywhere. Petroleum being
found today formed over a long period of
time, supposedly, and migrated from the
source rock into the reservoir rock. Fin
ding where those reservoirs are is a fine art
and science.
The next one surprised me a bit. API
said ‘‘small”’ fields containing less than a
million barrels of oil are “‘very important,”
and actually account for 40 percent of all
the oil produced in our country.
* * *
WE'RE BEGINNING to hear — again
— that we're about to run out of oil.
Similar predictions have been made since
it was discovered in Pennsylvania in the
1800 s. Each of the predictions turned out
wrong and there’s no reason to believe that
the United States doesn’t have adequate
oil and gas reserves.
The problem, of course, is getting past
the wild-eyed extremist environmentalists
to find it. But that’s another column.
she did as she was walking down the aisle.
AS SHE CAME down the aisle, the
nervous bride proclaimed in a rather loud
voice, “You're stepping on my dress.” Her
dad was doing the best he could, but he
was nervous, too.
I was as nervous as they were. My
heart was beating 90 mph. I don’t think
I could ever handle the stress of getting
married.
THE BRIDE had to throw the bouquet
twice, because no one caught it the first
time. She almost hit me with it both times.
Of course, I didn’t want to catch it. I'm
not really superstitious. But why risk it?
Several of the people I went to school
with are also making plans to get married.
Does all this mean it’s time for me to grow
up and become a mature, responsible
adult? Is it time for me to stop acting like
a little kid? Does this mean that a person
can’t be young as long as he lives?
* * *
OF COURSE, I decided that the
m;lswer to all these questions is simply,
““ o!!‘
3 m o
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Thanks, Mr. Perry
NOAH WEBSTER in his dictionary defined the word,
teacher, as ‘‘one who instructs, especially as a profession.”
Basically, I guess he's right in his nomenclature. And yet,
I also believe that more is involved than just instructing.
Teachers have classroom contact with their students,
but I think it should go beyond a professional status to
the point of a teacher being a student’s friend. That's
something that I've always felt :vas important.
* *
I PLAN TO use this space now to write about one of
my former teachers, who also happens to be a good friend
of mine. I owe him a lot, and I hope that this will somehow
compensate for part of it.
Alan Perry has taught English and literature at Chat
tooga County High School for the past nine years, if 1
remember correctly. He's taught journalism for the past
four, which is really how I came to know him, when, for
a reason still unknown to me, he chose me to be on the
newspaper staff.
* * *
I'D NEVER HAD any experience whatsoever with
journalistic writing, but he gave me a chance, despite the
terrible sample story I applied with. I like to think I've
not let him down.
It would be really easy for me to say that the success
of the publications at the GSPA convention this year was
due to my effort and input, but it would be slightly
fallacious (and immodest) to say so. In truth, if not for
Perry and the work and guidance he put into our publica
tions, none of it would have been possible.
* * *
WHEN AN organization as such receives henors, it is
often the students who receive the glory, with the advisers
in the background, out of the limelight. Indeed, Perry step
ped back and let us have it all. But it was this guy’s leader
ship that brought his staff more scholastic journalism
awards than were given to any other school in the state.
It's time he was recognized, and he alone.
As far as teaching goes, Perry does his job and he does
it well. I'd be hard to find a more devoted educator, one
who cares more about the students he works and deals
with. From taking a group of 20 loud-mouthed, insulting
students to Athens with him every year, to spending ex
tra hours working with his students on assignments, he
does it all.
* * *
I’'M SURE THAT there are others who would fall into
the same category with Perry, but he stands alone as far
as I'm concerned. As T said, I owe him quite a bit, and
I simply wanted to use this to say, ‘“thanks.”
Guest Column
By Jim Ransom
In The Small Things
IN MY experiences of working with people, I've found
myself making judgments based on their attentativeness,
or the lack of it, to the smallest of matters.
Take for example the person who has a deadline to meet
for turning in a relatively routine report, yet who waits
until the last minute, or even one who fails to make the
report at all. We see these kind of people standing in line
every spring to buy their automobile tags even though
they've had weeks to do it in.
THOSE EXAMPLES may hardly be worth making an
issue about, yet they represent a pattern that paves the
way for carelessness in far more critical areas of life.
Maybe this is something of what Jesus meant when
He commended those who had invested their master’s
talents wisely, ** . . . well done thou good and faithful ser
vant; thou hast been faithful over a few things. I will make
thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of
sex tll 4 MN, page 6:A
Commentary
By Buddy Roberts