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PAGE 2A —THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. NOVEMBER 26. 2009
Thanksgiving Feast
Reagan Dobbs shares a moment with her dad, John Dobbs, during Friday’s
“Thanksgiving feast” in Christa Pearson’s kindergarten class at Ila Elementary.
Pearson said she is thankful for her dad, who brought roasted venison for the class.
Margie Richards/staff
Thanks .. • cont’d from 1A
my hoi feme (whole family) and fens (friends),
“Haley” noted.
“I am thankful for my mom, dad and luv,”
said “Chloe
When the class returns from the Thanksgiving
holidays, they will begin a study of “Christmas
around the world,” Ms. Pearson said. “We’ll
talk about a different country every day and
learn how they celebrate Christmas,” she
said.
Budget... cont’d from 1A
the grant for 2009, they
rejected the governor's
request to take back the grant
for 2008, a measure that ulti
mately would have added yet
another $240 to homeown
ers' payments this year.
While the economy has
floundered, the BOC has met
repeatedly over the past few
months, reviewing each line
item in the county budget,
cutting numerous figures in
hopes of bringing anticipated
expenses in line with pro
jected revenues.
One cost saving measure
is the elimination of some
employee holiday pay. The
board discussed eliminat
ing all holiday pay, but after
insurance premium tax rev
enues came in higher than
initially projected, the group
decided to cut five, rather
than 10, days of employee
holiday pay, which will
decrease county expenses by
$112,500.
Commissioners spoke at
length last Wednesday about
next year's budget. And they
expressed dismay with delin
quent property taxes, noting
that the failure of many prop
erty owners to pay their taxes
is putting local governing
bodies such as the BOC and
school board in a financial
bind.
“Some people who could
pay just aren’t paying,” said
Commissioner John Pethel.
The county has over $3
million in unpaid property
taxes. Those delinquent taxes
date back to 2004.
The tax commissioner’s
office has a list of delinquent
property owners that runs
approximately 250 pages.
“I know that some of
these people can't pay,” said
Commissioner Bruce Scogin.
“But I saw a world of people
on there (the list) that we
know are able to pay their
taxes.”
Scogin said that he would
like tax commissioner Louise
Watson to let the board know
when she plans to hold a tax
sale and how much money
she thinks such a sale could
produce.
Scogin said he’d also like
to know if the county has
enough money in reserves
to cover revenue shortfalls in
the 2010 budget.
The state government rec
ommends that counties keep
reserve funds equaling at
least 15 percent of their oper
ating budget.
Commissioner Stanley
Thomas said the board needs
to be very careful with its
reserves. He said he attended
a recent meeting with com
missioners and legislators
from various counties.
“They (the legislators)
didn’t paint a pretty picture,”
said Thomas. “They said
in a year their (the state’s)
reserves will be empty.”
Thomas said counties will
be expected to shoulder more
responsibilities as the state
government struggles through
its funding issues. He said
Madison County needs to
maintain an adequate reserve
balance to weather likely
troubles in 2011.
Clark...
in the Pacific. Clark
describes the Haynsworth
as a “floating arsenal,” with
little in the way of human
comforts.
One of their jobs was to
rescue pilots who’d been
shot down by the Japanese
out of shark-infested
waters.
His ship also encoun
tered several major battles
in the Pacific near Taiwan
(then known as Formosa).
One day off Tokyo Bay
the Haynsworth sank three
small Japanese ships and
took 12 prisoners.
But the most significant
battle came on that April day
when the Kamikaze plane
struck the ship. The ves
sel struggled to stay afloat
for three days and nights
and was reported missing in
action during that time. “It
was on fire all over,” Clark
remembers.
Eventually, the
Haynsworth limped to port
in California. After that, the
sailors were granted leave
and Clark went home to
visit his worried parents for
a few days. It was on his
way back to California by
plane that he sat with two of
the six men (three had been
killed) who had raised the
flag on D-Day at Iwo Jima.
Clark remembers the crowd
that was gathered to meet
the men in the famous photo
when the plane landed in
California.
By the time he was 21, the
war was over and Clark was
back home, but he’d had
enough of picking cotton, so
he went off to college on the
GI Bill, entering first ABAC
near home, before mov
ing on to Middle Georgia
College in Cochran. It was
there that he met his future
wife, Ann Clements.
“Things sure got lively
when the service boys got
there,” Mrs. Clark recalls
with a chuckle.
The two were separated
for a time, while Clark
attended Florida State to
complete his degree in busi
ness administration and
Mrs. Clark attended GSCW,
where she earned degrees in
psychology and education.
They were eventually mar
ried in 1950 in Porterdale.
They moved to Athens
where Clark received his
master’s degree at UGA.
He sold real estate for a
living and the couple even
tually purchased a large
tract of land in Madison
County and built the spa-
Support
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J
cont’d from 1A
Louie Clark and his wife, Ann, hold his medals
earned for his military service in WWII.
cious brick home they still
live in today.
FROM BUSINESSMAN
TO STATESMAN
Clark says he was always
interested in politics and after
a four-year stint on the local
board of education, he sought,
and won, a seat in the Georgia
General Assembly in 1975.
Clark says he’s proud of
his political career and proud
of some of the things that
he accomplished during that
time, including helping to
found ACTION Inc., a com
munity-based human devel
opment agency that operates
programs in ten Northeast
Georgia counties, including
Madison.
He also donated the land
for the multi-purpose build
ing (which originally housed
the Madison County Library,
known as the “reading room”)
in Danielsville, which now
houses ACTION, the food
bank, 4-H Club, probation
office and MART, offices.
Following the Uagic death
of a young child in Madison
County, he also authored the
bill that put strobe lights on all
school buses in Georgia.
“I also am proud to say I
helped move Madison County
out of the mud by helping get
200 miles of dirt roads paved
in this county,” Clark said.
“And I never took a penny as
a bribe.”
CLARK AND
THE $2 BILL
Many, particularly the
younger generation, know
Clark as the soft-spoken gen
tleman who passes out his
ever-ready stash of $2 bills to
those he encounters around
the county.
He first became enamored
“I have so
much to be
thankful for,
my God,
my family,
my country.”
— Louie Clark
of the $2 bill while serving in
the Navy. “One of my duties
was as paymaster and store
keeper and paying sailors in
$2 bills cut the time in half,”
he said.
Clark says he passes out the
$2 bills these days as a good
will gesture, purchasing them,
uncirculated, in $100 stacks.
“I’ve probably given out $2
- 3 thousand over the last
eight to ten years,” Clark said.
“It makes people happy and I
believe most people save and
keep them.”
Clark likes to point out the
beauty of the bill, noting that
the signing of the Declaration
of Independence is pictured on
the back. He also sometimes
uses them to teach a short les
son in history to children and
adults alike, noting that three
northeast Georgians (Button
Gwinnett, Lyman Hall and
George Walton) signed the
Declaration and each of these
men have a county named
after them.
He loves it when folks tell
him they still have the $2 bill
he gave them years ago.
“I have so much to be thank
ful for, my God, my family,
my country,” Clark said.
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T DANIELSVILLE
|g| AMERICAN LEGION
'^0' Post 39
Meets last Thursday, 7 p.m.
JANUARY - OCTOBER
American Legion Building
Crawford W. Long Street
BANKS COUNTY
ip AMERICAN LEGION
Post 215
Meets each 3rd Thursday, 7 p.m.
In Homer, GA at the
American Legion Building on
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v|f| VETERANS OF
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Post 4872, Hurricane Shoals Convention Ctr.
Each 4th Tuesdasy, 7:00 p.m.
Jason Mergele, Commander
Phone 706-367-7237 263
JEFFERSON ROTARY CLUB
Meets Tuesdays
Jefferson City Clubhouse
12:30 p.m. • (706) 367-1109
Gina Mitsdarffer, President
547
A UNITY LODGE
W F&A.M.
No. 36, Jefferson, GA
1st Tuesday of each month, 7:30 p.m.
Dwayne Potts • 706-367-4449
Borders St. behind Tabo’s mo
JEFFERSON LIONS CLUB
Meets 2nd & 4th Monday
Jefferson City Clubhouse
6:30 p.m.-(706) 387-1156
Mack Cates, President
542
HO BANKS COUNTY
gJjAMERICAN LEGION
Riders Post 215
Meets each 2nd Thursday, 7 p.m.
In Homer, GA at the
American Legion Building on
Historic Highway 441 pd.oa/io
Georgia Real Estate Investors
»«™ Association, Inc. - Athens
Meets the third Thursday each month
6:30 pm at the UGA Conferen ce Center
1197 South Lumpkin Street,
Athens, GA 30601
Tom Hewlett - Chapter President
thewlettl@charter.net Pd. 12/09
BANKS COUNTY
HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC.
meets first Monday each month
7:00 p.m. in the Banks Co. Historial
Courthouse at 105 U.S. Hwy. 441
North in Homer pd.-07/io
NORTH EAST GEORGIA
AMATEUR RADIO CLUB
Meets the 1st Thursday
each month at the
Commerce City
Public Library
1344 South Broad Street
www.ne4ga.org pd. 12
JEFFERSON
HI AMERICAN LEGION
Albert Gordon Post 56
Each 3rd Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.
Harvie Lance, Commander
Phone (706) 654-1274 jio
St. Catherine Laboure
Catholic Mission
Mass Schedule: Sat. 4:00 p.m.,
Sun. 11:00 a.m., Thurs. 12:10 p.m.
First Friday Adoration 9 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Website: www.stcatherinelabourega.org
706-367-7220
Pd. 1/10