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PAGE 4A —THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. DECEMBER 24. 2009
Frankly
Speaking
frankgillispie671@msn.com
By Frank Gillispie
Reflections on a
Christmas past
I knew when I left camp that I would experience
a memorable Christmas. But it turned out to be
much more than I had imagined.
The year was 1962. I was serving in the U.S.
Army stationed near the tiny town of Dahn, in
the Westphalia area of Germany. I had learned of
a tour bus coming out of Frankfurt going to Italy
with a vacant seat. I asked for leave, booked the
seat and prepared to see the sights in Italy.
Now you have to picture an inexperienced
21-year-old Georgia redneck riding across
Southern Europe with a bus load of total strang
ers, (they were Canadians.) The rest of the people
on the bus knew each other. I knew none of
them.
We passed through Austria, toured Venice, saw
the leaning tower at night and made our way to
Rome in time for Christmas. We toured the cata
combs and the Vatican on Christmas Eve. I was
with the group, but not part of the group during
this part of the trip.
We returned to the square in front of St. Peter’s
to hear the Pope’s midnight blessing. And that is
where I had my epiphany. I stood there, all alone,
in the center of a tightly packed crowd of several
hundred thousand people, watching a dying pope
give his final Christmas blessing. Pope John
XXIII died a few months later.
This sharp awareness of being alone in a crowd
in the center of a major Christian site immedi
ately changed the tour from a site-seeing trip to
a pilgrimage of self discovery. A pilgrimage that
continues today.
I became acutely aware of my surroundings
and the way I reacted to them. Christmas Day we
were left to explore Rome on our own. I spent the
day walking alone around the strange, enchanting
city. I found the Coliseum, the forum, the Spanish
Steps and the famous fountains. On a small street,
I found an American style hamburger joint were
I ate lunch. I found the Olympic stadium where
the Rome games were held, and many other well-
known locations.
During this fateful day, I never lost my direc
tion. In my wandering, I crossed many busy
streets, mostly filled with people I couldn’t under
stand. When I became tired in the afternoon, I
simply turned and walked back to the hotel.
This intense awareness of myself continued as
we completed the tour, seeing Pompeii, the Isle
of Capri and parts of the Italian Rivera on the
trip back north. When the bus dropped me off in
Heidelberg to catch a local train back to camp, I
knew I had changed. I didn’t know the extent or
nature of the changes for some time to come.
The adventure was not over. Later that year, the
Berlin Wall was built. We were on a war footing
for over a month, with all the physical and mental
pressures that brought along. But I never had a
sense of fear or uncertainty.
When I returned to the U.S., I had developed
a love of philosophy, and a deep interest in the
world’s religions. A survey of my private library
will show just how much time, energy and money
I have devoted to my studies.
And it all started on that dramatic Christmas
Eve in Rome.
Frank Gillispie is founder of The Madison
County Journal. Flis e-mail address is frank@
frankgillispie.com. Flis website can be accessed
at http://www.frankginispie.com/ginispieonline.
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.
As if this world needs another Tiger Woods column
I grew up obsessed with golf. I had
the yips at times, an occasional shank, a
tendency to snap hook a drive when the
pressure was on, but I wasn't too bad.
I knew there were plenty of people
who didn’t care for the game, who
posed questions like: What’s the point
of chasing a ball around with a stick?
Why min a good walk? Isn’t it just a
game for rich guys with too much time
on their hands?
Maybe all those things are true. But I
was addicted to the game. It’s beautiful
when you feel that perfect click off your
clubhead, the ball rapidly rising into the
sky on a direct line for the pin. There is
the momentary illusion that things are
going to be good from now on. You've
figured it out. Just remember that same
swing thought — slow and smooth —
and apply it to the next shot. The walk
down the fairway after ripping one
down the middle is a moment to savor,
the silent “you da' man." Your human
frailty and imperfections can be forgot
ten. Then you stand over the nine iron,
giddy with yourself, imagining a birdie
circle on your scorecard. You swing,
feel the ache of metal on ball, then look
up, unable to find its path. Anybody see
that? The pine tree answers you with a
clunk; the ball drops out of bounds.
The game is king. You are not. None
of us are.
I remember the first time I heard of
Tiger Woods. There was a brief article
in Sports Illustrated about a skinny,
13-year-old black golf prodigy, who
hit blistering drives farther than many
tour pros. I still remembered Sports
Illustrated’s Sidd Finch hoax from
In the
Meantime
zach@
mainstreet
news.com
By Zach
1985, an April 1 article about a young
pitching prospect who wore only one
shoe, a heavy Inker's boot, and threw
the ball 168 mph. I was so excited about
the possibility of a superhuman pitcher
and was really disappointed to learn
writer George Plimpton was just pulling
our legs on April Fool’s Day.
But when I read about the amazing
kid golfer, I wasn't excited. No, I was
jealous. It’s the same way I felt when
I went to junior golf tournaments and
saw some guy on the driving range who
was clearly a stud. There were always
kids with prettier swings, better games.
Between the ages of 14 to 16,1 traveled
to Dothan, Ala., for the Future Masters.
My final year, I sank a 25-foot sidehill
putt on the 18 th hole for a 75. About
12-to-15 people applauded from the
greenside grandstands and I raised my
hand up to them as if I was somebody. I
was elated, thinking that putt had earned
me two more rounds. Too bad I had
yipped a par putt from two feet on 17,
missing the cut by one shot.
Anyway, I realized my golf limita
tions around the age of 17 and started
plucking on a guitar instead of pick
ing up a club. My interest in the game
waned. But later, as Woods came on
tour, my old jealousy gave way to
amazement. With Woods, the game is
not the impossible humbler of men.
Maybe it can be conquered. For a dozen
years. I’ve paid attention to all four
yearly majors, looking for Woods and
the large negative red number that usu
ally accompanies his name atop the
leaderboard. I haven't been as much a
golf fan as a Tiger Woods fan. I've never
been very interested in what kind of guy
he is. I simply like watching someone
reach a 640-yard par 5 in two, or smack
a six-iron 210 yards out of a fairway
bunker to a tucked pin, or chip in off the
16 th green of Augusta with the Masters
on the line, the ball pausing at the cup,
then dropping.
Anytime I've played the rare round
of golf as an adult. I've thought of
Woods, wondering what he would do
on a recreational course of 340-yard par
4’s. How many greens would he drive?
When I'm hitting a three iron, would
he hit a seven or eight iron? Would he
break 60?
But our thoughts about Woods are dif
ferent now. The sex scandal is jaw drop
ping. And it seems there is something
weirder every day, the photographed
makeout session with a waitress in a
church parking lot, the seedy Vegas par
ties, the possibility of tax troubles for
paying for prostitutes with money from
his corporation. This is sadly fascinat
ing. It is a tragic American fall-from-
grace story and I admit I can’t look
away. I check Google News about once
a day to see the latest headlines. It’s
really surreal.
Despite all the terrible personal tales,
despite the fact that he was sleeping
around while his wife was bearing his
children, his game on the links will
remain a source of fascination and
admiration for all golfers.
Or wifi it?
Amid all this, the doctor who helped
Woods recover from his knee surgery
has been arrested for having banned
human growth hormones.
Woods was a skinny kid, whose
friends jokingly called him "Erkel” for
the nerdy sitcom character, when he
first arrived on the golf scene. But he
has bulked up in recent years, looking
more like an NFL free safety than a
golfer.
I hate to be suspicious. But it's hard
to ignore that twinge of skepticism now,
given all the ugliness and deception in
his personal life.
I fear he may become the new Barry
Bonds, and Jack Nicklaus — the all-
time majors win leader — the new
Hank Aaron, with no one wanting to
see the honest record shattered by the
tainted one.
Obviously, he betrayed his wife, but
did he betray the game, too? We may
never know.
As a humbled golfer, I have enjoyed
watching Woods master the game over
the years. It's like seeing Mozart in our
time. But it’s hard to know what Jim
Nantz will wax poetic about as Woods
strides up 18 at Augusta — that ultimate
golf great exposed as something else.
Zach Mitcham is editor of The
Madison County! Journal.
Mitcham
Remember those in need not only at Christmas, but afterward
This has been a good Christmas
season for me, and I’d like to tell you
why -1 have been blessed to witness
some of the goodness and kindness of
our community and it has helped to
renew my faith in human nature.
Times are hard for most of us, but
as the saying goes, there’s always
someone worse off and it has been a
wonderful thing to go to places like
the food bank and animal shelter and
see that many folks really do care.
The food bank is striving to reach
more and more people now that the
cold and the damp has set in - and the
needs will likely continue to escalate
as we head into 2010. But so far, the
donations have continued to come in
and those with a need can still find a
helping hand there.
And it’s great that though the need
is up, so are the donations. What a
tribute to human nature, that we can
find it in our hearts to give, even when
it may not come as easily as it has in
the past.
And at the Madison-Oglethorpe
Animal Shelter, a place that I hold
By Margie Richards
closely in my heart, donations have
picked up also. People who can afford
to do nothing but donate a roll of
paper towels or some Clorox are
doing that, and those that can do more,
are doing more. It doesn’t matter that
you can’t do much, as long as you do
something.
An anonymous donor has stepped
up to offer a $10,000 donation to
the shelter, if the community and/or
local governments will also step up to
match their generous offer. In response
to this challenge, the Democratic
Party of Madison County presented
a $500 check to the animal shelter last
week, saying in part that they want to
encourage other civic and government
groups to donate as well.
Please find it in your hearts to give
a donation to this valuable and neces
sary asset to our county. Many of you
may not know, or remember, but the
shelter is not a “county-run” facility.
It is operated by a non-profit humane
society that is largely dependent on
donations to keep the doors open.
Less than a third of the annual operat
ing expenses come from Madison and
Oglethorpe counties.
We, as a society, cannot afford to
forget “the least" of us - particularly
in hard times. And the effort doesn't
stop at places like the food bank and
animal shelter. There are many elderly
and homebound in the county who
may need someone to check on them
or provide assistance. Sometimes
just a kind word goes a long way if
someone is feeling lonely and alone,
particularly during these long winter
days.
And the needs certainly won’t stop
when January rolls around - in fact
they will likely increase. Many folks
will still be in need of food, shelter
and other types of assistance and if
the economy doesn't improve, things
may get even worse.
And as for the animal shelter, sadly
puppy and kitten season is just around
the comer and as long as pet owners
don’t spay and neuter their pets the
shelter will once again be flooded
with litters of baby animals, all need
ing care while they wait for someone
to adopt them. Then there are those
who adopt pets for Christmas who
may return them in the New Year
when that cat or dog proves to be
more than they anticipated.
May we all continue to be mindful
and to remember those, both human
and animal, who are in need of a help
ing hand as 2010 begins.
God bless you all and Merry
Christmas.
Margie Richards is a reporter and
office manager for The Madison
Coun ty Journal
GOP hopes the scandals go away
This has not been a happy holiday
season for Republicans who hold
the reins of power at Georgia’s cap-
itol. One after another, embarrass
ing scandals have thrown a harsh
light on the ethical shortcomings of
the state’s political leaders.
The divorced wife of House
Speaker Glenn Richardson went
on TV and confirmed that, yes,
those rumors you had heard for
the past three years were true. The
speaker had a “full-out affair’’ with
an Atlanta Gas Light lobbyist while
he was sponsoring legislation that
would benefit the gas company.
It didn’t take long for pressure
from within the House Republican
ranks to force Richardson to step
down as speaker. The second in
command, Speaker Pro Tem Mark
Burkhalter, at first indicated he
would step up and serve as a long
term replacement for Richardson.
Three days after saying that,
Burkhalter abruptly told his col
leagues he had “changed his mind’’
and wasn’t going to run for speaker
after all.
Shortly after Burkhalter’s exit,
a Carrollton newspaper and an
Atlanta TV station revealed that
Rep. Mark Butler (R-Carrollton)
had an affair that lasted more
than two years with a woman
who worked as a lobbyist for the
University of West Georgia.
When Butler learned that his girl
friend’s job had been eliminated,
The Capitol
Report
tcrawford@
capitol
impact.net.
By Tom Crawford
he got on the phone with a univer
sity official and warned him that
he “had ticked off a whole political
party’’ by dismissing the lobby
ist. (In fairness to Butler, he was
unmarried during his relationship
with the university lobbyist.)
An Atlanta TV station then aired
a sizzling report about Insurance
Commissioner John Oxendine,
the Republican frontrunner for
governor, attending the 2007 and
2008 Oscar award ceremonies in
Hollywood while an Atlanta doctor
paid the expenses.
Oxendine’s expenses on those
junkets included a room at the
Beverly Wilshire Hotel, limousine
service, and meals at restaurants
like Spago’s. The Atlanta doctor
who picked up the tab for the
trips, by the way, had also asked
Oxendine’s insurance department
to help him in a dispute with a
health insurance company.
After all of that bad publicity,
which Democrats will mention
at every opportunity during the
2010 election campaigns, you had
to figure that at some point the
Republicans would catch a break.
That may have happened last
week when House Republicans
held a caucus to nominate the
replacement for Richardson as
speaker.
The two leading contenders
for the position both had some
personal baggage in their back
grounds.
Rep. Larry O’Neal (R-Bonaire),
while he was the real estate attor
ney for Gov. Sonny Perdue, was
deeply involved in the passage of
legislation in 2005 that gave Perdue
a $100,000 tax break on some ear
lier property dealings. When that
bill was up for its final vote in the
House, O’Neal didn’t bother to tell
legislators that the measure had
been amended in committee to
give Perdue that tax break.
Rep. David Ralston (R-Blue
Ridge) had some major tax prob
lems of his own a few years ago
caused by an embezzling employee
in his law firm. Ralston ordered a
forensic audit of his books and then
paid the government the delinquent
taxes he owed.
Faced with a choice between
O’Neal and Ralston, House
Republicans picked Ralston to be
the new speaker.
“It’s a change message," Ralston
said after the vote. “It’s not busi
ness as usual anymore, and I think
people will appreciate that."
Ralston said he will make some
changes in House rules and com
mittee assignments that may slow
down, even if they don’t stop
entirely, the parade of scandalous
events.
He even went so far as to say:
“We going to have to put the lob
byists and the special interests in
the background."
If Ralston is serious, that could
mean an end to many of the free
bies that legislators have been
receiving from lobbyists, such as
expensive trips to exotic locales or
nights on the town during General
Assembly sessions. For those of us
who’ve been observing the behav
ior of this crowd over the past five
years, that would truly be a drastic
change.
Shortly after Ralston was nomi
nated to be the next speaker of the
House, the old speaker, Richardson,
was seen running away from the
capitol building with a TV reporter
and camera crew in hot pursuit.
That was a very appropriate sym
bol of the changes that took place
last week.
Tom Crawford is the editor of
Capitol Impact’s Georgia Report,
an Internet news sendee at www.
gareport.com that covers govern
ment and politics in Georgia. He
can be reached at tcrawford@
capitoIimpact.net.