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PAGE 2A —THE MADISON COUNTY (GA) JOURNAL. THURSDAY. MARCH 4, 2010
ENERAL STORE
Johny Thornton tells a story about growing up along the Broad River as LaVonda
Fyock listens during a scene about River Memories in the play “A Good Life.” Margie
Richards/ staff
cont’dfrom 1A
Brad Smith portrays a man telling stories of his
grandfather’s life in the early part of the twentieth
century during a performance of “A Good Life.”
Margie Richards/staff
said. “Without that. I’m not
sure it would have been pos
sible.”
These repeat performanc
es were especially poignant
since a few people who were
part of the original produc
tion have been lost in the past
two years.
Howard Floyd, who provid
ed much of the material for
the opening dialogues on the
county's early history, passed
away recently, as did actress
Charlene Phillips (who played
“Wanda” in the original per
formance), and most recently,
another contributor, Oneita
Threlkeld, whose charac
ter “Uneeta” (portrayed by
LaVonda Fyock) talks about
what “a good life” she has
had, living in the country.
“It really makes you real
ize how many stories are lost
with each person who passes
on,” Jones said. “It’s great
that we were able to get these
(stories) from folks while we
still had them.”
New to the performance was
Comer’s Howard Sims, who
portrayed himself this time,
telling of how he dreamed
about the stars as a child and
grew up to build his own tele
scope and observatory.
The play highlighted stories
gathered from the county’s
past and present, all told and
portrayed by its residents.
Many of the stories have been
passed down, generation to
generation, while others were
from the more recent memo
ries of those still living. But
wherever they came from,
they were all part and parcel
of the rich, sometimes color
ful, history of the county and
its people.
There were stories from the
early days of the Cherokee,
of Hill House Forge and
Furnace (the first iron found
ry south of Virginia), the Paoli
settlement, the birthplace of
Crawford W. Long, racial and
cultural issues, and even a
story of how Pocataligo got
its name. Some were amus
ing, some sad, some even
ugly (such as segregation and
the Klu Klux Klan) with a
few ghost stories sprinkled in
the middle.
Whatever the tale, it was
all related as what it was — a
part of the county’s history —
a memory of what was.
“You know this is anoth
er day,” ‘Ida’ (portrayed by
Frances Green) said near
the end of the play. “....You
gotta’ move on from where
you are.”
Debbie Lester portraying the town’s “cat lady,” chastises storekeeper “Theodore
Amos” (Todd Lister) about his treatment of one of her many cats during a scene from
“A Good Life.” Margie Richards/staff
Danielsville council to meet Monday
The city of Danielsville's
regular council meeting for
March has been changed
from Monday, March 1, to
Monday, March 8, at 7 p.m.
Agenda items for the
March 8 meeting include:
Old business
•Madison Street lift station
•BOE meeting - wastewa
ter pond (in progress)
•Water billing procedures
•Appointment of election
superintendent
•Water rate increase
New business
•Police chief monthly
report
•City clerk monthly report
- budget and finance
(two budget resolutions:
Capable Solutions and fur
lough days)
•Administration - over
time
•Old Danielsville cemetery
- funding options
•Memorial Garden cem
etery - software
•Health and dental insur
ance renewal
•Police officer - take home
vehicles
Rezoning
Johnson said Phillips has
not been able to sell the 25
acres for residential use.
Johnson said the property is
at the intersection of major
roadways and that a business
use zoning would be in line
with the comprehensive land
use plan. He noted that a
nearby property was rezoned
for Jackson EMC as business
use.
But neighboring proper
ty owner John Barton said
Phillips priced the land too
high to sell. He said the
Jackson EMC property was
rezoned under a restriction
that if the land wasn’t used
by Jackson EMC, it would go
back to its original zoning.
Barton said he is primar
ily concerned about traffic
safety.
Colbert...
where the bottom of the wall
meets the floor.”
Peck believes the floor will
have to be jacked up.
Former Colbert mayor John
Waggoner, currently a city
advisor, said this the floor
ing problem has plagued the
building for decades.
“It’s been that way ever
since we’ve had it (the
depot),” he said.
Waggoner suggested that
Colbert call Marvin Smith,
who performed repairs at
the city’s old schoolhouse,
to evaluate the situation and
determine a price.
“Just to find out what
we’re looking at,” Waggoner
• •• cont’dfrom 1A
“My major concern is that
it’s in a dangerous curve of
Hwy. 29,” said Barton, who
added that accidents happen
about twice a year in that
curve and could occur more
frequently with more traffic.
Commissioners Bruce
Scogin, Mike Youngblood
and Stanley Thomas all
spoke up against the pro
posal. Thomas said he sup
ports business, but fears the
traffic situation will be too
dangerous with approval of
commercial property at a bad
curve.
Youngblood, who made the
motion for denial, said the
property has already been
rezoned.
“It seems that a couple of
years ago they rezoned it and
now they’re coming back,”
cont’dfrom 1A
said.
Then, the city could bid
the project out.
As for the awning, the city
wants to add some form of
cover to remedy dripping
and other problems present
at the depot entrance during
inclement weather. Colbert
leaders heard from resident
and city council meeting
frequenter Ellyn Trinrud,
who’s investigated different
options on the city’s behalf.
Her suggestion to the
council was to adopt a “walk
out” plan with a roof with
the same pitch as the depot’s
existing roof. Essentially,
her idea would recreate an
said Youngblood. “What are
we going to do next year if
this doesn’t work, come back
in and rezone it to some
thing else? I think the safety
issue over there would be a
big problem. It’s a big prob
lem now. I just can’t support
this.”
In other hearings, the com
missioners approved requests
by:
•Susan Berryman to rezone
6.16 acres on Cheek Pulliam
Road from A-l to R-R to
subdivide two acres for her
son.
•Walter Smith to rezone
4.49 acres on Shirley Road
from A-2 to R-R to subdivide
two acres for his son.
•Mark Hansford to rezone
.6 acre of 26.7 acres on Hwy.
72 from A-2 to B-2.
outside waiting area that
would have been available to
train passengers in the early
1900s, further enhancing the
depot’s vintage look.
“I don’t think it would be
terribly expensive to build
something like that,” Trinrud
said. “It could have the same
tin roof that we put on top
of here (the depot), and then
we just kind of match it to
the trim colors and make
it look like it was always
there.”
Colbert leaders, however,
are still undecided what
course of action they take
and will revisit the awning
issue at its April meeting.
SPLOST.. • cont’dfrom 1A
And leaders will soon dis
cuss what can be done with
less revenue than expected.
The county planned numer
ous projects with SPLOST
revenues, including dou
bling the capacity of the
county jail. But those plans
have been put on the back
burner during the current
economic crunch. Leaders
have expressed reluctance
to take on costly projects
during such tight times.
Nevertheless, Dove said
he’d like the board of com
missioners to meet soon to
discuss SPLOST issues. He
said the board may con
sider SPLOST at its next
agenda-setting meeting,
which is March 29.
“I think we need to look
at what we want to do and
how we want to move for
ward and where we’re at,”
said Dove.
SPLOST
breakdown:
Here is the breakdown
on how $12.6 million in
projected sales tax money
was to be divided over six
years:
•Roads: $3.95 million
•Jail expansion: $3.3 mil
lion
•IDA (sewage/water
sources): $1.19 million
•Recreation department
projects: $1 million
•Library expansion:
$750,000
•911 upgrades: $424,000
•EMS upgrades:
$270,000
•Transfer station
upgrades: $124,000
•Historic courthouse
renovations: $90,000
•Comer: $580,000
•Colbert: $269,000
•Danielsville: $252,000
•Ila: $181,000
•Carlton: $128,000
•Hull: $88,000
Madison County
Journal's
Easter
Service
Guide
2010
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