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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 Nadison County SHOP LOCALLY Sponsored by The Nadison County Chamber of Commerce CHRISTMAS ANGEL PAGEANT December 12, 2009 Cultural Arts Building Commerce, Ga. Ages: Newborn to Adults For information and entry form call 706-247-9404 r \ \ ' Apple Specialist Great products. Great values. Great service. That's why everyone loves shopping at PeachMac. peachmac macs • ipods • software • service • 1850 Epps Bridge Pkwy (across from Lowe's) • Athens • 706-208-9990 visit peachmac.com • also in Augusta & coming to Macon 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. FOR ONLY $5 PER MONTH, YOU CAN LIST YOUR GROUP'S MEETINGS! Let your members know when your group is meeting! Call (706) 367-5233 to advertise your meeting time, place and date in... • The Jackson Herald • The Commerce News • The Braselton News • The Banks County News • The Madison County Journal 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 Historic Highway 441 pd.oe/io v|f| VETERANS OF W FOREIGN WARS 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