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PAGE 4A — THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. JULY 30. 2009
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Opinions
Frankly
Speaking
frankgillispie671@msn.com
By Frank Gillispie
Memories, what
would we old men
do without them?
Haying season is here. The row crops have had
their last plowing, side dressing (sodium Nitrate) has
been applied to the com, and the cycle of activity on
the farm is at a lull while the crops mature. Harvest
season will be here soon.
On the small farms of my youth, this period was
used to gather in supplies of wood and hay. Wood,
preferably oak that had been cut earlier and given
time to cure, is cut and split and piled into a pile to
provide fuel for the stove and fireplace. Hay has been
cut and turned to make sure it dries evenly. Then the
neighborhood hay bailer is brought in to compact and
tie the hay into big square bails.
Among my fondest memories were summer visits
to my grandfather Fortson Sorrow's farm, where I
and any number of other grandsons would help to
gather in the wood and hay, process it and store it for
use in the upcoming winter.
We were typical teenagers, the kind who worked
harder avoiding work than we did getting the work
done. So when we were told to take my uncles old
pickup truck to the back field and bring the bails of
hay back to the bam, we decided to bring them all
out with one trip.
We rigged a frame of pine limbs around the bed of
the truck, filled bed with bales of hay, stacked them
up on the supporting pine limbs, even packed bales
of hay on top of the cab. Finally we managed to get
the entire crop of hay stacked on that one little pickup
truck. The trick then was to drive the truck out of the
field back to the bam without the hay falling off.
I don't know how many of you are familiar with
field roads, especially here in the piedmont. They
consist of nothing more than a cleared track through
the trees, rocks and hillsides. They have small gullies
washed out by the spring rains, stony outcrops that
make the road unleveled, and occasional creeks or
spring runs with their accompanying mud.
Well, I was the more “experienced” driver of the
group which was not saying much, so I was chosen
to drive the truck out of the field to the bam. The
load of hay was so large and unstable that almost any
bump, tilt or sudden stop would send it tumbling onto
the ground. I sent my cousins out ahead to move any
sticks or rocks from the road and started out.... very
slowly. I probably averaged no more than one half
mile per hour, gingerly edging through overlapping
tree limbs and over rocks and gullies. And eventually
we got the load to the bam without spilling it.
We finished with a great sense of accomplishment.
We brought out the entire field of hay in one trip! No
doubt we would have finished sooner, with less stress
and aggravation, had we made two trips, but teenage
boys are teenage boys and we were convinced that by
getting it all in one load was quite a triumph.
We stacked the hay in the bam loft and headed out
for our reward. We had left a watermelon in the creek
to cool, and by the time we finished with the hay it
was ready to eat. We were hot, tired and satisfied
with our effort, so the watermelon was a fitting way
to end the day.
Ah, memories. What would we old men do with
out them?
Frank Gillispie is founder of The Madison County
Journal His e-mail address is frankgillispie671@
msn.com. His website can be accessed at http://
frankgiUispie.mpod.com/
The Madison
County Journal
(Merged with The Danielsville Monitor
and The Comer News, January 2006)
P.O. Box 658
Hwy. 29 South
Danielsville, Georgia 30633
Phone: 706-795-2567
Fax: 706-795-2765
Email: zach@mainstreetnews.com
ZACH MITCHAM, Editor
MARGIE RICHARDS, Reporter/Office Manager
BEN MUNRO, Reporter/Sports Editor
MIKE BUFFINGTON, Co-publisher
SCOTT BUFFINGTON, Co-publisher
FRANK GILLISPIE, Founder of The Journal.
Jere Ayers (deceased) former owner
of The Danielsville Monitor and The Comer News
Periodical postage paid at Danielsville, Georgia 30633
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
Madison & surrounding counties $19.75/year
State of Georgia $38.85/year
Out-of-state $44.50/year
Military personnel with APO address $42.50/year
Senior rate $2 off all above rates
College student discount rate $2 off all above
rates
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
THE MADISON COUNTY JOURNAL
P.O. Box 658, Danielsville, GA 30633
A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc.
More questions than answers on Hwy. 29
Will the Town Center shopping
complex in Danielsville — and
other businesses in the town —
be negatively impacted if Hwy.
29 is reshaped to bypass the
county seat?
Would a bypass on the eastern
side of Hwy. 29 serve Madison
County better than one on the
west, considering that the schools
are to the east?
The Hwy. 29 project is on
the drawing board again and
Department of Transportation
officials will be on hand today
(Thursday) to answer questions
and receive input from local resi
dents about what’s proposed.
Local officials certainly have
their questions about the Hwy.
29 project. For instance, Madison
County Commission Chairman
Anthony Dove voices concerns
about a bypass hurting business
in Danielsville by taking the traf
fic flow out of the town. And
he expresses a pretty common
sentiment in the county in pre
ferring an eastern bypass to a
western one.
Meanwhile, property owners
along Hwy. 29 have faced a con
siderable waiting game, one with
few certainties and too many
maybes. The Hwy. 29 widening
In the
Meantime
zach@
mainstreet
news.com
By Zach Mitcham
and bypass project was a hot
topic about 10 years ago when
the DOT held public meetings
on the matter and folks won
dered about their future. The
change seemed imminent.
But the DOT quickly put on
the brakes and the talk of the
project died away. Now, there's
federal stimulus money flowing
and the discussion is alive again.
But there are still no definites, no
dates. The project is considered
“long range,” according to DOT
spokesperson Teri Pope.
And despite this week’s pub
lic meeting, I anticipate a long
period of frustrated head scratch
ing for those who could be most
affected.
Of course, state officials must
look at transportation through
a big lens. How a road project
affects a little town is something
the DOT will consider, but the
overall transportation picture is
the focus of state officials. There
are local interests to consider,
but they must be aware of state,
regional and federal transporta
tion flows, too.
Ultimately, what do the traffic
counts show? How can that traf
fic be accommodated?
I understand big picture think
ing, but I’m also puzzled at times
about the decision making. I’m
appreciative of efforts to keep
state routes properly surfaced. If
you get outside of Georgia, you
can quickly recognize that our
roads are in better shape than
many other places.
But some projects seem like a
stretch. I felt this way about the
Hwy. 106 project, which was
initiated in October 2007 and
continued for many months. It
cost $4 million and caused con
siderable inconvenience for local
residents, along with wear and
tear on local roads that were
used as alternate routes. I drive
that road frequently, but I still
don’t understand the necessity
of the alterations. As it was, the
road was hilly, but not really
curvy.
I think improving the path of
Hwy. 29 makes more sense than
the Hwy. 106 project. There are
more dangerous curves and blind
spots. Think of that left turn off
Booger Hill Road. It’s pretty
dicey. And if the DOT can elimi
nate some of those danger zones
and improve safety, then it's
accomplished something worth
while.
However, I don't see the Hwy.
29 project as particularly neces
sary from a traffic flow point
of view. There is considerable
traffic in Danielsville at school
time — less now that the middle
school has moved — but the
highway seems capable of han
dling the overall traffic flow.
There are highways in this state
that are frequently clogged. And
Hwy. 29 is not one of them.
Ultimately, the DOT will move
or sit on 29. And many folks will
move or sit, too, depending on
what they do.
We'll follow the story as
it unfolds. But 10 years ago,
the Hwy. 29 project loudly
approached like a mufferless
Mustang — one that petered out
before it reached us. And I’m not
sold on this current engine hav
ing the fuel to reach us either.
Zach Mitcham is editor of The
Madison County Journal.
Get ready to be counted
The older I get the more
important my history - and the
history of my family - becomes
to me. I suppose I find some
comfort in knowing something
about how I “fit” in this world.
I wish I had known grow
ing up how important all those
old family stories, told by rela
tives that have now passed on,
were going to be to me one
day. Since they weren't writ
ten down, many of the stories
passed on along with the story
tellers, and that’s a real shame.
But besides listening to family
stories and folklore, most of us
can find at least some kinds of
information that documents our
ancestors by searching through
legal documents, or by turning
to the Internet.
One of the most valuable
places to start is with old cen
sus records. Called decennial
censuses, and mandated by the
U.S. Constitution, one has been
taken every 10 years since the
first one in 1790.
I’ve found a lot of infor
mation using the census as a
guide. For example, I found my
By Margie Richards
great-grandmother in an 1870
census, living near where I do
now. She was listed as “head of
household” with the occupation
of farmer and was caring for
her mother and five children,
the youngest of which was my
grandfather. I don’t know any
where else I could have found
that out.
And speaking of the census,
it's almost time for the next
one. Work on the 2010 census
is already under way.
Census workers, this time
armed with GPS systems,
have already been sent out to
document where residences
are located. And beginning in
February of next year, every
one should get a census packet
that contains just 10 questions.
(According to the website, the
Census Bureau estimates that it
should take about 10 minutes to
complete it.)
Some people, particularly in
this day and age, are leery of
participating in the census, and
understandably so. But the cen
sus not only serves as a way to
keep a count of the population,
it also serves a myriad of other
purposes.
For example, census data are
used to distribute Congressional
seats to states, to make deci
sions about what community
services are needed in a particu
lar area and to distribute $300
billion in federal funds to local
and state governments each
year. Local governments also
use the data to determine what
types of services are needed in
their communities. Information
from this data is used to apply
for state and federal grants and
loans as well.
The very first census was a
“simple count” according to
the Census Bureau’s website. It
consisted of six questions and
counted approximately 3.9 mil
lion people for the purpose of
apportioning the U.S. House of
Representatives.
For next year’s census, one
million enumerators will assist
the Census Bureau in counting
the more than 300 million peo
ple who now inhabit the U.S.
And besides apportioning state
representation, 2010 census
data will be used to make deci
sions that will ultimately affect
every one of us in some way.
Decisions like where highways,
hospitals, schools and govern
ment assistance programs need
to be located, to name a few.
The information we provide
to the Census Bureau is pro
tected by federal law, and the
law requires that we participate
in the census. I look at it as a
duty and a privilege, like vot
ing. Let’s all make the effort to
stand up and be counted.
Margie Richards is a report
er and office manager for The
Madison County Journal.
Water ruling will affect all of Georgia
The federal court ruling that
set a three-year clock ticking on
water withdrawals from Lake
Lanier won’t just affect metro
Atlanta and North Georgia - its
impact will be felt in every comer
of the state.
Even with the most optimis
tic outcome where a settlement
is worked out between Georgia,
Alabama, and Florida over the
use of Lanier, the amount of water
available to metro Atlanta gov
ernments will likely be reduced
to a level that cannot support the
current trends of development
and growth. What then?
The first reaction of metro
and state officials could well be
attempts to start taking water
from other areas of Georgia. They
might move eastward towards
Athens and the Savannah River,
in a northerly direction towards
Rome and the Coosa River basin,
and southward to the areas below
the fall line where ground water
is more abundant.
We saw the first hints of that
movement several years ago
when officials working for
Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin
proposed the construction of a
cross-state pipeline that would
transport desalinated water from
The Capitol
Report
tcrawford@
capitol
impact.net.
By Tom Crawford
the coastal area around Savannah
to the capital city.
These efforts to grab water far
from home will obviously be met
with fierce resistance from the
folks who live outside the metro
area. Some of that hostility has
been on display for years from
Columbus and LaGrange, down
stream users of Chattahoochee
water who don’t like what Atlanta
has been doing. It could result
in some of the nastiest political
fights this state has ever seen.
Another likely development
could be attempts to build new
reservoirs that would provide
water supply alternatives to Lake
Lanier. Those reservoirs would
require a long permitting process
because of environmental regula
tions and the costs of impound
ing these lakes would probably
require substantial tax increases
for all Georgia residents.
You can bet that people liv
ing far south of Atlanta are not
going to be happy about attempts
to impose higher taxes so that
developers up north can continue
to build their office parks and
shopping malls. This also has the
potential to bring on political war
between the northern and south
ern ends of the state.
There could be a happier end
ing here as well.
With a future of limited water
supplies on the horizon, our
elected leaders should seriously
consider moving more of the state
government offices out of Atlanta
to areas where water supplies are
not in such a crisis mode.
There have already been some
moves in this direction. Former
secretary of state Cathy Cox
shifted her department's licens
ing division to Macon several
years ago. Gov. Sonny Perdue
wants to move the corrections
department headquarters to the
Tift College campus in Forsyth.
Perhaps the person who replac
es Tommy Irvin as agriculture
commissioner when Irvin retires
after 2010 will consider moving
that department’s headquarters to
middle or south Georgia where it
would be more centrally located
for the industry it serves.
More of these government
relocations should be brought up
for discussion. They make sense
from the viewpoint of custom
er service and they could bring
some badly needed jobs to areas
far from Atlanta.
Along the same lines, busi
nesses and industries that may
want to move to Georgia but also
require a plentiful supply of water
will think long and hard about
whether they want to relocate to a
metro area where consumption is
going to be tightly controlled.
There are opportunities here for
communities in the other parts
of Georgia to sell themselves as
more water-friendly to the needs
of industry. Metro Atlanta’s water
future has always been question
able because of the limitations
of the Chattahoochee River. It's
time for some of that develop
ment to move to areas where
the water is more plentiful and,
frankly, where the growth would
be more appreciated.
Georgia’s leaders should also
let go of the idea that they can
— See ‘Crawford” on 5A