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PAGE 2A —THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. DECEMBER 24. 2009
Jenkins
cont’d from 1A
DFCS...
But as she approached 70,
she found herself the lone sur
vivor of the family she grew up
with. Her father, five siblings,
and finally her elderly mother,
had all passed away.
Jenkins said she realized that
if she were ever going to write
down the details of her life,
the time was now. She worried
that without the input of any of
the family she grew up with,
many of those details would
be gone forever. But as the
words flowed from her pen to
the paper, so did the memories
of a girl who began life as a
sharecropper’s daughter during
the Great Depression.
“It’s amazing to me when I
started writing this the things
that came back to me,” Jenkins
said.
“I’ve known how smart she
was since at least 1950,” Rev.
Jenkins said with a chuckle.
“After all, that was the year she
married me.... I had no doubt
she was capable of it (writ
ing the book).” But though he
knew about the book while it
was in progress, even he didn’t
see it until Christmas time.
Jenkins sat and wrote the
chapters in longhand, pass
ing the manuscript to grand
son Matt Smith, a journalism
student at the time, and his
friend Susan Meyers, to type
set and edit it without giv
ing the secret away. The book
ended up being a total of only
81 typewritten pages, though it
contains a wealth of informa
tion and insight about the life
of the woman who wrote it.
Even her husband was sur
prised by some of the things
he read.
“I thought I grew up poor
until I read her book,” Rev.
Jenkins said.
Her children were astounded
when she presented each one
a copy at their annual family
gathering on Christmas Eve
2001.
“I’m so glad she wrote it
down and gave it to us,” oldest
tling cancer in recent months,
and his family wanted to find
a way to boost his spirits and
honor him and Mrs. Burkhalter
at the same time.
“We wanted to keep some of
Dad’s memories alive,” Charles
Jr. said. “A lot of people have
never seen a car like this, it’s
actually a museum piece.”
In fact, the car will appear at
“World of Wheels” a large car
show in Atlanta, next month
and later at other vintage car
shows and races around the
southeast.
The guys began working on
the car in secret several months
ago, after Charles Jr. got the
racing body from a cousin.
Burkhalter said he is amazed
and that the finished product
looks exactly like the one he
daughter Donna Smith said.
“I’m so thankful for it, and I
hope this will encourage others
to let their family know more
about their legacy and history.
I hope her story may inspire
someone to put their own life
down on paper for their chil
dren and grandchildren. My
mom’s story is an incredible
gift that I could never put a
price on.”
The family is sure it is a gift
that will be passed from gen
eration to generation of their
ever-growing family.
Younger daughter, Jan
Filkins, who took over her
mom’s daycare business when
she retired, loved the book but
found it hard to read because
she hadn’t realized just how
hard life had been for her
mother.
“It was just a hard life and
hard for me to read,” Filkins
said. “But it was about survival
and I know that it has made her
who she is.”
Filkins sat up and read the
book all the way through
Christmas Eve night. “We just
didn’t have any idea how poor
mama was,” Filkins said, add
ing that it hurt her to know her
mother had been through so
much in her life.
But for Jenkins, it was not
just about her circumstances
growing up, but about continu
ing to teach her family about
what she feels is really impor
tant in life.
“I want my children and
grandchildren to know a little
of what my life was like as I
was growing up and I want
them to understand that it is
not the material things that
matter in our lives,” she said
in the book’s preface. “If we
have the necessities to live,
we are blessed and should be
grateful to God. Having an
abundance of things alone has
never brought contentment to
anyone. Joy and contentment
come only in knowing and
doing God’s will for our lives
drove.
“It could be that car,” he
said.
The renovation costs thou
sands of dollars, and the res
toration became a community
affair with family members
and friends pitching in with
donations and labor to see the
project finished in time for
Christmas and the anniversary
celebration, held at Shakerag
Hunt Club.
“We "re so grateful to anyone
who had a part in this in any
way,” Charles Jr. said.
The gold race car with the
#75, Burkhalter’s signature
number, is one way for his
sons and family to express
their love and respect for their
dad, Charles Jr. said. And they
didn’t forget their mom either
- stuff is not enough.”
And Jenkins wants to encour
age others to make it a priority
to just take the time to sit down
and write about their lives, even
if only for themselves.
“A lot of it was fun,” she said
of the experience.
BOOK EXCERPTS
“I came on the scene right
in the middle of the Great
Depression, and I know my
parents were struggling to pro
vide for their growing fam
ily, but I really don’t think the
Depression made a lot of differ
ence to our standard of living,”
Jenkins wrote. “There was one
good thing about being poor;
we didn’t have much to lose.”
While she relates stories of
growing up as a sharecropper’s
daughter in lean times, there is
also plenty of joy in the tell
ing of her life story - such as
the games the children played,
the cousins and characters she
knew growing up and the fam
ily events they enjoyed, such as
Christmas time. Though there
were never many presents,
Jenkins remembers Christmas
as an exciting time. “If we got
a book, marbles or maybe a
jump rope or ball, we were
happy,” she wrote. “We would
have some special foods, fruit
and nuts and good time with
our cousins.”
During Christmas in the year
1937, a couple came to visit
them bringing small gifts for
everyone. “I guess I was think
ing only of myself because I
only remember what they had
for me,” she wrote. The gift
was a big, beautiful baby doll
with a head, arms, hands, feet
and legs made of china and a
straw-tick stuffed body.
“But wonder of wonders,
that doll was riding in a beauti
ful little wicker doll carriage
which was not brand new, but
sure looked like it to me,” she
said.
That doll carriage still sits in
the Jenkins’ living room to this
day, though an antique dealer
- the name “Shirley” is proud
ly emblazoned on the front for
all to see.
“He’s been battling cancer
and we hope he’s going to
overcome it and this is our way
of paying tribute to him for all
he’s done and all he’s been
through,” he said.
After getting over the initial
shock, and with some encour
agement from the 250 or so
who had gathered for the sur
prise, Burkhalter donned a rac
ing helmet, climbed in the car
and cranked it, causing a cheer
to go up and bringing tears to
the eyes of many, including his
daughters, Becky Jones, Rita
Alewine and Carol Fyle.
Jones, who is one of the
youngest of her parents’ eight
children, remembers her dad
offered to purchase it years
ago. “I wouldn’t take less than
half a million dollars for it,”
Jenkins said and hopes it will
always be a treasured family
heirloom.
The very next year (1938),
the carriage was involved in an
“unfortunate incident” with her
baby brother. Gene, Jenkins
recalls in her book, after her
mother left the baby in the care
of his four older siblings.
“I don’t know whose idea
it was, but Gene, who was
about two or three months
old, wound up taking a ride
in my cherished doll carriage,”
Jenkins wrote. “With (older
brother) Bud at the wheel, I
tried to keep up as we all ran
across our bare rocky yard and
down the driveway. The car
riage bounced up and down
until it bounced up once and
came down without Gene.”
But other than a nasty scrape
on his head, Gene was none
the worse for wear.
“That was Gene’s first and
last ride in my doll carriage,
and it scared us all so much
that I believe we petted and
spoiled our baby brother from
that day on,” she wrote.
The story has remained a
family favorite over the years,
and like so many others, is
now immortalized in the gift of
written memory that Jenkins
gave her family.
“I lived all my early life with
dirt roads, no running water,
no bathroom, no telephone and
no electricity,” Jenkins wrote in
the book’s final chapter. “Now
I have all of these and a com
puter as well, and it’s no won
der I know so little about using
it. I am still awed by electricity.
The telephone still amazes me.
Only when I get to heaven will
I know what all those keys and
that mouse can do, and what
that cat, who is my adorable
assistant, is trying to tell me.
But I have a notion (that) then
I won’t care. I will have much
better things to do.”
racing when she was a young
ster. “It’s just been an exciting
and emotional time for all of
us,” she said.
“I was just bumfuzzled,”
Burkhalter said of the surprise.
“I was totally surprised - I
just couldn’t figure out why all
those people kept coming (to
the party) for.”
Burkhalter’s racing career
lasted 18 years, during which
he drove in races all over
Georgia and the southeast,
winning many of them.
“He was pretty well-known
back in the day,” Charles Jr.
said.
Now Burkhalter faces a dif
ferent challenge, and his fam
ily wants him to know that, as
always, they are there to cheer
him on.
when workers will take two
furlough days.
But Plank said she’s very
concerned that the state will
be forced to find another
way to compensate for the
lack of funding.
“Because I think the state
has tried everything they
can as far as cutting bud
gets,” she said. “People at
the state office have been
laidoff; there’s furlough
days for employees. There’s
just not the revenue to sup
port it.”
If Madison County DFCS
does lose personnel, it could
have an effect on what ser
vices it can provide. Some
contingency plans may
mean that the DFCS office
won’t open every day.
“We do a lot of resources,
referrals, things like that,
but if we lose staff, we’re
not going to be able to sup
port that as much,” Plank
said. “We’re not able to do
as much in the communi
ty as we once were able
to. And that’s been really
hard for my folks who have
worked here and are a com
munity resource.”
WORKLOAD
INCREASING
Meanwhile, Madison
County DFCS’s Office of
Family Independence (OFI)
— which distributes such
aid as food stamps and
Medicaid — is struggling
to keep pace with increased
demand for services as peo
ple struggle financially.
“It’s OFI that’s really
struggling right now,” Plank
said. “And that’s state
wide.”
That’s especially true of
metro-Atlanta area DFCS
offices.
Plank said that coun
ties like Gwinnett, Fulton,
DeKalb and Rockdale, have
long lines forming before
those DFCS buildings open
at 8 a.m.
In fact, Gwinnett County’s
DFCS office has been shut
down by the fire marshal
because too many people
are in the lobby.
“They’ve been overrun,”
Plank said.
As for Madison County,
the situation is not as dire
yet, but hectic nonetheless,
and the latest stat report
reflects the increased work
load.
Plank noted that in
November of last year 1,300
Madison County residents
were on food stamps. That
number grew to 1,650 this
past November.
The state mandates that
at least 97 percent of food
stamp applications of those
who have at least some
income must be completed
within 30 days.
Madison County DFCS
wasn’t able to process the
required number of applica-
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Madison County 2009 Report on Projects Funded
Through Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax
Year Original Surplus
Project Approved Estimated Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Total Funds
E911
2003
500,000
7,050
116,052
88,077
51,010
25
233,385
495,599
Roads
2003
8,370,000
576,735
889,016
1,244,619
2,375,581
2,406,566
825,053
8,317,570
EMS/Sheriff
2003
630,000
151,333
238,621
137,869
8,305
7,900
92,133
636,161
Jail
2008
3,300,000
Recreation
2008
1,000,000
154,964
8,906
163,870
E911
2008
424,400
94,530
94,530
EMS
2008
270,000
25,026
25,026
Transfer Station
2008
124,800
Roads
2008
3,950,800
347,404
347,404
Courthouse
2008
90,000
7,895
7,895
Library
2008
750,000
cont’d from 1A
tions on time last month.
“It’s just related to staff
shortages and just the
increased volume in work,”
Plank said.
The office has had simi
lar problems with Medicaid
applications.
To help remedy the areas
of increased paperwork —
especially if layoffs come
— the state may mandate
more over-the-phone and
internet services.
In Florida, many of the
OFI responsibilities are
handled through a call cen
ter.
“People rarely see a work
er,” Plank said.
Georgia appears to be
headed in that direction,
especially in areas like peri
odic food stamp reviews.
Food stamp recipients cur
rently make regular office
visits to re-file applica
tions and any paperwork
regarding employment and
expenses.”
“In Florida, a lot of that
is handled through a call
center, like Dial America,”
Plank said.
And some DFCS offices
in the state have already
gone that route.
A person can place a call
to a center in Atlanta, where
the application is processed
and sent to the intended
county’s DFCS offices.
“So it reduces some of
that initial coming into the
office,” Plank said.
Plank said that by March
all six-month food stamp
reviews statewide will be
handled by call centers.
“They’ll do the changes
and folks won’t even have
to come into the office,”
Plank said.
BUDGET
SAVING
The local DFCS office
continues to conserve
money in lean times.
With the year almost over,
Madison County DFCS has
spent only 43 percent of its
funding from the county.
“Our county budget only
goes through December, so
we are in excellent shape,”
Plank said.
The Madison
County
Journal is
your source
for local
news. Call
706-795-2567
to subscribe.
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