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The Official Legd FO‘rgan of C'hattooga County Georgia
WINSTONE BSPY. ... ccooiivivaisnsninesssis. .o PUBLISHER :
BUDDY ROBERTS ............... ASSOCIATE NEWSEDITOR
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V 4 08% A 1990 Published Every Thursday By
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2 ¥ S Contest At Summerville GA 30747
: ?Qt % Winner
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; Opinions Expressed By
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Address all mail to: THE SUMMERVILLE NEWS, P. 0. Box 310, Summerville GA 30747
TELEPHONE (404) 857-2494
Our Opinion
Vote Next Week
The run-off election for sheriff will be
held next Tuesday in Chattooga County.
It is vital for all registered voters to inform
themselves about the issues and both can
didates and then go to the polls and cast
a ballot.
Two fine, honest men are candidates
for sheriff: former sheriff’s department
Inv. Larry Kellett, and Ralph Kellett, ser
vice manager of a local new car dealership
for 18 years. Both have sterling character
and loving families. And both have the
Flood Plan Needed
Trion residents were frightened again
last week when heavy rains caused the
Chattooga River to swell out of its banks.
Fortunately, the rain halted and the flood
crest was reached before the water could
endanger the Trion schools and homes in
the immediate vicinity of the river.
The Trion school system has already
adopted a formal flood emergency plan
designed to minimize damages in the
future and to protect the lives of faculty
and school children. It appeared at one
point last week that the plan might have
to be implemented.
But the Town of Trion still doesn’t
have a formal emergency preparedness
plan designed to deal with the possibility
Honor Chief Knox
When Stanley Knox left Summerville
in the mid-19505, he had no reason to think
that he'd one day become the police chief
in one of the nation’s largest cities.
But today he is standing tall and pro
.ud as chief of the Detroit Police Depart
ment and its 4,400 employees. He's been
a resident of Detroit since 1959 but
Stanley Knox hasn't forgotten Summer
ville and his friends and relatives here. He
often visits them, most recently as last
- year.
The new chief has warm thoughts and
memories of Summerville. He still tells
anyone who asks where he is from that his
hometown is ‘“Summerville, Georgia.”
From the accounts of his friends and
relatives, and even the Detroit daily
STAR Recognition
The Summerville-Trion Rotary Club
has again recognized two outstanding
students in the Trion City and Chattooga
County school systems, along with two
fine teachers.
Andrea Hall, is the STAR (Student
Teacher Achievement Recognition) stu
dent for the Trion system. Her STAR
teacher is Mrs. Wanda Blalock, a Trion
High English teacher. Jennifer Parker is
the county system’s STAR student and
her STAR teacher is Elaine Allred, a
science teacher at Chattooga High School.
Both students and both teachers are
outstanding representatives of their
-respective systems. They will now com
pete in the district STAR program in
Rome, trying to earn an opportunity to
compete on the state level.
The Rotary Club has sponsored the
STAR program for 31 years, since 1959.
It is only one of the club’s community pro
jects. It also annually presents SI,OOO to
five or more deserving local students to
best interest of Chattooga County in their
hearts and minds.
It will be a tough decision for most peo
ple. The vote could be close, depending on
the turnout and who works hardest to get
his supporters to the polls.
We encourage each of our readers to
become fully informed about the can
didates and then go vote next week. This
election is as important — if not more so
— than the original election earlier this
month.
of another Great Flood. We suggested that
it adopt one shortly after the Feb. 16, 1990
disaster. Nothing was done.
It was brought up again at the town
council's January meeting by a member of
the panel. But the mayor shrugged off the
request, telling the recorder that she could
come up with one if she wanted one.
The near-disaster last week dramatical
ly pointed out the folly of the mayor’s
approach.
It's past time that the town council
force the appropriate officials to develop
an effective, formal flood plan. Next time,
the town might not be as lucky as it was
last week.
newspapers, Chief Knox has been the very
epitome of a police officer. He turned one
of the city’s worst precincts into a
showplace. He doesn't swear, smoke, drink
or eat red meat.
Chief Knox is due all the plaudits that
can be heaped at his feet. We want to add
our congratulations and express our pride
in his achievement.
It would be commendable if the Sum
merville community were to invite him
back home after he's had a chance to get
his feet on the ground as chief, sponsor a
banquet or dinner in his honor, and give
him an opportunity to speak in our
schools. He is an excellent role model and
a perfect example of dedication and hard
work being rewarded.
help them attend college.
We congratulate the club, Misses Hall
and Parker, Mrs. Blalock and Ms. Allred.
% %k %k
News Clips-
REPAIRS NEEDED
If there are no new worlds for this
year’s crop of graduates to conquer, there
is a lot of repair work needed on this one.
— St. Louis Globe-Democrat
* * *
MODESTY-
When a man hides his light under a
bushel, if someone doesn’t notice pretty
soon he begins to pound on the bushel. —
Tere Haute (Ind.) Tribune
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CAN'T BE
The trouble with being a leader today
is that you can’t be sure people are follow
ing or chasing you. — Gosport
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Charlie’s Baleful Eye
IT'S DANGEROUS to write about the
weather. At least that’s how Capt. Charles
Dunn of the Chattooga County Sheriff’s
Office felt about it last week.
The Summerville News on Feb. 14 pro
duced a volume of stories and photos
about the February, 1990 flood that innun
dated Trion and other parts of the county.
THE DAY AFTER the reports were
published, an arctic storm roared into the
area, dumping a little snow on the ground.
Temperatures fell to 10 degrees or lower
the day after that. Then on Sunday, Feb.
17, ice started covering trees in parts of
the county. Temperatures warmed, ending
tHe ice threat, but rain continued to fall.
By Tuesday night, Feb. 19, Trion
residents were beginning to think that the
Great Flood of 1990 was going to be .
revisited. The Chattooga River continued
to rise, causing the Trion schools to close
as a precaution. Some Park Avenue and
Frogtown residents started hauling items
out of their homes or placing them on the
second story . .. just in case.
* * *
CHARLIE DUNN just shook his head,
Letters To The Editor
Summerville Man Supports Troops
Dear Editor:
At a time when the men and women in our
armed forces are facing their greatest test, we
at home are facing a test as well. Our test is
to maintain our unity and resolve, as our troops
are doing in the Persian Gulf.
We don’'t want Saddam Hussein to take this
country’s tolerance for anti-war demonstrators
as a signal he should wait out our resolve in a
long and bloody war.
I'm outraged at the brutal treatment of our
POW'’s. And I'm saddened to see the media
give so much attention to the small number of
anti-war protesters who have sprung into ac
tion. It seems that every time a few protesters
i)ick up their signs, the cameras swarm around
hem, and they end up on the news.
Saddam Hussein Must Be Stopped
Dear Editor: :
In 1787, following a brief armed revolt of
Massachusetts farmers against heavier taxes,
*“Shay’s Rebellion,”” John and Abigail Adams
were frightened into believing that the United
States might be threatened with anarchy. To
reassure and comfort them Thomas Jefferson
wrote a letter to Adams’ son-in-law, William
tSfi,eghens Smith. In that letter Jefferson noted
at:
“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from
Iraqi People Not Our Enemy
Dear Editor:
‘The grim realities of war have begun to
weigh heavy on the minds of Americans. A war
is not a football game. And even the most re
sounding victory in the Middle East will echo
with the tragedy of the human lives lost.
The famous German strategist, Karl Von
Clausewitz, said, ‘“War can never be separated
from political intercourse.”
But it is increasingly clear to Americans
that bullets, bombs and missiles are an expen
sive last resort to enforce what is just and right.
Wideli'“acclaimed author L. Ron Hubbard
writes in his bestseller ‘‘Dianetics,” ‘' Insanity
does not exist without a confusion of definitions
Viewpoint
By Tommy Toles, Editor
“Thomas, you've put a hex on us,” he said.
I wasn’t sure whether he was serious or
joking. There was some talk of sacrificing
the editor of The News to the ‘“water
gods’’ by tossing him from the walkway
over the river between the community
center and Mount Vernon Mills. Others
wanted to toss him off the bluff above the
dam. .. just to make sure.
Charlie and other dedicated members
of the sheriff’'s office, along with Trion
police officers, kept a close watch on the
river. So did most Trion residents, many
of whom drove through the community
center parking lot where the view of the
river is unobstructed. Mount Vernon
employees watched from the other side.
THE POSSIBILITY of writing a
second-year follow-up to the Great Flood
of 1990 was mentioned, but only briefly.
Charlie cast a baleful eye on the editor and
flicked the ashes of his cigar into the mis
ty nighttime air. He didn't need to say
anything. I guess we'll skip a follow-up on
the flood next year. It seems to be the
healthy thing to do.
Our soldiers have said that they have a job
to do and are going to get it done. I feel I have
a job to do, too. And that’s to stand up in
strong support of our troops.
I want them to know that I and the
American peggle are ver{ proud of them. We
are all inspired by their bravery.
I hope that you'll firint my letter, and others
like it, in the g’ays ahead. Thousands of local
American newspapers arereaching our men and
women in uniform every day. Your newspaper
may be one of them. I want the troops to,i)mow
that we hold them in our thoughts and prayers
every day.
Sincerely, !
Joseph W. Ashley
Summerville
time to time with the blood of patriots and
tyrants.”
There have always been petty tyrants, like
Saddam Hussein. There always will be. But
patriots will stop them, lest thei;obecome big
ger, perhaps nuclear, tyrants who could then
tyrannize the world.
Signed,
Stephen Alan Wohlgemuth
Summerville
and Yurpose. The solution to the international
problem does not lie in the refiulation or cur
tailment of weapons nor yet the restraints of
men .. . it lies in the establishment of rational
goals toward which societies can collectively
and individually work; and it lies in_an inter
social competition of gains so lEreat that none
become dispensable to any other.”
We must remember that the ordinary peo
ple of Iraq are not our enemy. They were the
ones first terrorized by Hussein's ruthless
regime.
Sincerely,
Linda McCarthy
Los Angeles, Calif.
The Way *
I See It @RI
By Meg McGriff 0 : L L |
Meeting Mentor
Dream Come True
ATHENS — I MADE a point of personally greeting
Celestine Sibley when she was in Athens recently for the
Georgia Press Institute. I shook her hand, and hoped that
perhaps some of her inspiration and talent might magically
transfer itself to me ala E. T.-to-Earthling.
The long-time celebrated reporter and columnist for the
Atlanta Constitution has been a mentor for me. We all
have role models — people we respect professionally.
Paragons of success and talent give us high goals to work
toward. Miss Sibley personifies my dreams of success in
the newspaper business.
o 0
AFTER WORKING in this field for almost 20 years,
I often require a bit of jump-starting. It astounds me that
a writer like Celestine Sibley can continue to offer her
readers columns of worth. Several times a week. It's a feat
of great achievement. Once a week is my max. And even
then, often it's not truly as good as I wish.
Miss Sibley spoke to the group of journalists about her
long-time professional association with Ralph McGill. She
tolg us about the human side of the famed editor and
reporter. She sought to make him seem like an ordinary
man.
* * *
AS I LISTENED. I couldn't help but be amused by
her own humble persona. She seemed a bit uncomfortable
standing behind the podium. The microphone made her
wince. I chuckled to myself as she took her position on
stage, and then subtly stepped out of her high heel shoes.
I guess she felt ‘‘grounded’ and more secure in her stock
ing feet. It was so “‘Celestine.”
I would have preferred spending the hour in her com
pany clustered around a kitchen table. I wanted to break
the barrier between the theatre seats and the stage. I
wanted to hear more about her own career.
* * *
AS WE CHATTED briefly before time to convene, I
did have an opportunity to ask her about her grandson.
David, to whom she is so devoted. He had been hit in the
eye last year by a child throwing a green peach. A freak
accident. But the child suffers loss of sight because of the
prank. She seemed so touched that I would inquire.
When I face a Monday morning, uninspired, yet
desperately needing a subject for a column, I think about
my mentor. She can make me chuckle over an incident with
a speeding ticket. Or agonize over the time spent in line
to get a car tag. She can make me ache over the pain suf
fered by a family tragedy. Gutter cleaning at her home
Sweet Apple can be turned into sheer entertainment with
her down-home prose.
* * *
WE BOTH WRITE about the mundane. It’s not un
common for me to address the woes of the harried
housewife, the stressed working mother or the joys of shar
ing family holidays. In my column, I've never chosen to
interject my views on world politics or the plight of the
homeless and hungry in America. I prefer to chat with
readers about ordinary issues — affairs of the heart, Lit
tle League baseball, laundry blunders or chocolate
dependency. :
As a writer, humor is not my strong suit. I leave that
to Lewis Grizzard and Erma Bombeck. But folksy chit
chat that hits a familiar chord is where I get my best in
spiration. I sense it’s Miss Sibley’s preference as well.
*. * *
WHEN I WORKED at The Summerville News, a
reader once took issue with my work. He felt I needed to
address more meaty topics. Like the school drop-out rate
and the high number of DUI arrests in Chattooga Coun
ty. In response to his letter to the editor, another reader
defended my right to stay close to topics relating to the
ordinary. He called me ‘“Chattooga County’s answer to
Celestine Sibley.”
I wish. If only he knew how complimented I was. It
was the ultimate. :
*k % %k e
News Clips— :
RESTRAINT
Will power is having the same ailment a friend has and
not mentioning it. — Atchinson (Kansas) Globe.
e
AND PATIENCE
Tolerance is the ability to keep your shirt on when
you're hot under the collar. — Grit. :