Newspaper Page Text
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Page 3A
Houston Times-Journot
Volume 124 No. 21
1 Section, 10 Pages
Inside I
Today |
Legal Ads 10A
Church News 3A
Classifieds 9A
Editorials 4A
Outdoors 7A
Obituaries 2A
Sports 6A
Dogwood Pageants
Will Be Held At PHS
On Match 25-26
BY BRENDA THOMPSON
Staff Writer
With the passing of the applica
tion deadline on Friday, coordina
tors of the Miss Dogwood Festival
Pageants are now shifting into the
second phase of preparation-an in
tensive two weeks of interviews and
rehearsals.
“All applications should already
be in our hands or, at the very least,
in the mail,” co-coordinator Elaine
Stephens said Friday. “If anyone’s
application was sent off late or if
there is some other problem, we
need to be contacted immediately.
The interviews are next weekend.”
Sponsored by the Perry High
School Athletic Department and ac
tually divided by age groups into
five separate contests, this year’s
Miss Dogwood Pageants will be
held in the school’s auditorium Fri
day and Saturday, March 25 and 26.
Festivities begin both nights at
7:30 p.m. with more than 75 girls
expected to compete. Rehearsals
begin Sunday, March 20 and inter
views for the three older categories
of contestants are scheduled for 2-4
p.m. Saturday, March 19, at the
home of Mr. and Mrs. Jeff George,
205 Cedar Ridge Drive, Perry. All
contestants must live, work or at
tend school in Houston County.
Of the contests to be held Fri
day, March 25, are: the Little Miss
Dogwood for girls in grades kinder
garten through second; the Junior
Miss Dogwood for girls in grades
three through five; and the Preteen
Miss Dogwood for girls in grades
six and seven.
Competitions for both the
‘Teen” (grades 8-10) and “Miss”
(grade 11 through age 23) categories
will be held on Saturday, March 26.
Judges, all of whom will remain
anonymous until pageant time, will
be experienced evaluators certified
with the Miss Georgia or Miss
America Pageant systems.
All scoring will be done by
computer throughout the pageants
with the Little and Junior Miss
contestants being judged on stage
personality and appearance and the
Preteen, Teen Miss and Miss
contestants being judged on
interview, stage presence,
personality and appearance.
There will be a winner, two run
ners-up and a Miss Congeniality
named in each age category with
scholarships going to each of the
top three places in the Miss cate
gory.
A videographer will be making
tapes of the pageants available to
the public at a cost of sl7 per tape.
For more information, contact
co-coordinators Elaine Stephens at
987-0822 or Dee Hayes at 987-
1711.
D.A.R.E. Cookout
To Be Held Today
Beginning at noon today, a
hamburger/hot dog cookout for the
Perry D.A.R.E. students will be
held at Rozar Park.
Sponsored by Perry Police Chief
C.F. Simons, parents are invited to
stay and watch a softball game to
be held after lunch consisting of
teams of students and law
enforcement officers.
Tie A
Yellow
Ribbon...
Decorate For
Dogwood With
Yellow Bows
BY BRENDA THOMPSON
Staff Writer
Although the famous song tells
'listeners to “tie a yellow ribbon
around the old oak tree”, promoters
of the Sixth Annual Perry Dog
wood Festival say they don’t care
where their decorative ribbons are
tied ... as long as they’re tied
everywhere in Perry!
And, that’s why they have de
cided to make the big yellow bows,
now a trademark decoration for
Perry’s springtime fest, available to
the public at a nominal charge of
$2 each.
Interested persons can stop by or
call the Perry Area Chamber of
Commerce on Washington Avenue
to make their purchase. Proceeds
will benefit the Perry High School
Junior Civitan Club as well as help
defray the cost of decorating the city
for the festival.
“Our goal is to decorate Perry
from Exit 42 to Exit 43, and ev
erywhere in between,” Festival
Chairman Melodie Burrus said this
week. “When people pull of the
highway, whether it is into a busi
ness district or a residential section,
we want them to know that some
thing really special is going on in
Perry.”
Burrus added that in addition to
the 200 bows the chamber plans to
place on utility poles throughout
the city, an extra ISO were sold dur
ing a door-to-door campaign con-
Miss Westfield 1994 To Be
Crowned Friday, March 18
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77mm young ladlaa will v!o tor tho tltlo of Woo Waatflald next Friday.
On Friday night, March 18, nine
Westfield students will vie for the
1994 Miss Westfield crown
The event will be one of the first
in the school's new gymnatorium,
that evening to be transformed into
a scene out of "Arabian Nights".
As part of the competition, tro
phies will be awarded to the contes
tant with the highest academic aver
age, the winner of the interview
competition and the first place con
testants in both the evening gown
and talent competitions.
The five girls with the highest
total points for the first round will
then compete for the overall title
and its accompanying $1,500
scholarship as well as for the posi
tions of first and second runner-up.
Emcee for this year's pageant will
be Jackie Cooper of Perry.
Intermission entertainment will be
provided by the past three Miss
Westficlds, Jennifer Nunn, Susanna
Official Organ For Houston County, City of Perry & State of Georgia
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Pony Ana Chamber of Commerce President Peggie Williams
and 1994 Perry Dogwood Festival Chairman Melodie Burma put
up the first Dogwood Fest decoration this year.
ducted by members of the Junior
Civitans. The goal is to sell at least
200 more to both private citizens
and businesses through the chamber
office prior to the March 27-April 2
Turner and Mary Margaret Brannen,
as well as the Westfield Chorus
under the direction of Melissa
Rabun.
Contestants in this year's pageant
include:
•Senior Kelly Coleman, the
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harvey
Coleman of Perry. Sponsored by
her parents, Kelly will perform a
comic monologue entitled "I Used
To Think"
•Junior Amy Anderson, the
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joel
Anderson of Perry. Slated to per
form William Gillock's "Fountain
in the Rain" on the piano, Amy is
sponsored by her parents and her
grandmother, Mrs. R.B. Anderson.
•Junior Windy Biggers, the
daughter of Eddie Biggers of
Cochran and Gale Dawson of
Musella. Sponsored by her father,
Windy will be doing a gymnastic
floor routine to music by a variety
For News And Subscriptions Cali 912-987-1823
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Sports
Page 6A
Saturday March 12, 1994
of artists during the talent competi
tion.
•Junior Jennifer Breedlove, the
daughter of Bubba Breedlove of
Musella and Sybil Chapman of
Fort Valley. Scheduled to perform a
ballet to "A Whole New World",
Jennifer is being sponsored by her
mother.
•Junior Andrea Kirk, the daughter
of Clay Kirk and Michel]e Guthrie
of Elko. Sponsored by her grand
parents, Mr. and Mrs. W.E. Cain,
Andrea will be doing a
tap/jazz/ballet routine to a medley
of songs from "Thoroughly Modem
Millie."
•Sophomore Anna Greene, the
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest
Greene of Fort Valley. Anna will
be singing "I Got Rhythm" while
accompanying herself on the piano
and is being sponsored by her par
ents.
Please see PAGEANT, page 5A
festival.
For more information on the
Dogwood Festival bow drive, call
the Perry Area Chamber of Com
merce at 987-1234.
Classified
Page 9A
Letter Sent To
Hinnant From
Citizen Group
This letter was delivered to
School Superintendent Tony
Hinnant Friday on behalf of the 107
concerned citizens who met to
discuss the recent school board
announcement that two new middle
school sites have been established
in the northern end of the county.
The concerns of the group stem
from the over crowding at Perry
Middle School and that, although
Dear Superintendent Hinnant,
I am writing this letter as a representative of a group of Houston
County Citizens concerned about the recently announced site selections for
the two new middle schools soon to be built Like the Board of Education,
we are not in the development business. We do not advocate any specific
site(s) for these schools. We are also aware that there are a number of over
crowded schools in Houston County and we do not advocate the closing of
the present Perry Middle School. Mr. Blackmon is correct in his
assessment that such action would be logistically and financially
irresponsible.
We are ordinary people. We come from a variety of ethnic and socio
economic backgrounds. Some of us have lived here all our lives while
some have recently moved here from distant places. Yet despite this
diversity, we have united as parents and as advocates for that which is in
the best interests of our children.
We pay property taxes that, in part, are used in funding the operation of
the Houston County Public School System. Through the electoral
process, we have placed a significant responsibility for the education,
safety, well-being and, in a real sense, the future success of the youth of
Houston County into your hands and the hands of the Board of Education.
We are your customers.
Although there are a significant number of issues involved with these
site selections, any dialog, at this point, would be based upon half-truths,
rumor and emotion. This, obviously, would not be in the best interest of
either the school system or Houston County. All we ask is to be provided
with a current, complete and accurate understanding of the criteria and
processes utilized by the Board of Education in approving these sites. To
that end, attached is a request for data. This request was developed by
identifying those data elements that would be required by any rational,
prudent individual in making an informed decision of this magnitude and
importance. Therefore, the information should be readily available.
We further request that these documents be provided by 4 p.m. March
18, 1994 or sooner. Our group has scheduled a meeting for Tuesday,
March 22 at the Agricenter at 7:30 p.m. We would like to extend an
invitation to yourself, Mr. Blackmon, Mr. Hutcherson and/or any other
BOE member to make a presentation that includes any or all the data re
quested. We will gladly change the date, time and/or location for your
convenience.
Due to the substantial controversy surrounding these site selections, we
would expect the Board of Education to delay making any further decisions
concerning the construction of these schools until after we have had an
opportunity to review the data and discuss it with you on March 22.
Sincerely,
Thomas E. Whitten
A member of a group of
Concerned Houston County Citizens
Northrop Announces
Plans To Buy Grumman
Northrop Corporation will make
an offer to buy 100 percent of
Grumman Corporation for S6O per
share in cash, announced Northrop
officials.
The offer to buy Grumman Cor
poration, which has facilities in 10
states including Georgia, will be
made Monday, March 14. The offer,
valued at $2.04 billion, is $5 per
share higher than a bid announced
earlier this week by Martin Marietta
Corporation. '
"Since we just made the offer yes
terday, it’s too premature to com
ment about the impact to Georgia
and Perry," said Northrop spokesman
Mike Graywitt.
"We firmly believe the combina
tion of Northrop and Grumman
serves the vital interests of U.S. na
tional security and the best interests
of both Grumman's and Northrop's
shareholders,” said Kent Kresa,
chairman of Northrop. "Achieving
critical mass in our respective areas
of expertise will provide the com
bined company with the staying
power necessary to compete in this
new defense environment, thereby
enabling the firm to better retain
critical defense industrial skills and
jobs.
Perry, Georgia - 25 Cents
one of the new schools is expected
to take 150 students from Perry
Middle, bussing students from
Perry to Bonaire may not be in the
students' best interests.
As the letter states, another
meeting to discuss the issue will be
held at the Agricemter Tuesday,
March 22 at 7:30 p.m. Any
interested parents or citizens arc
welcome to attend.
"We believe Northrop-Grumman
together will create a formidable
competitor in bomber, fighter, elec
tronic warfare, surveillance and strike
aircraft, as well as in commercial and
military aerostructures, electronics
and information systems," said
Kresa.
Grumman manufactures compos
ite parts for aircraft in Mill edgevi lie.
The Northrop Perry plant pro
duces fbselages parts for Boeing.
Northrop recently announced it was
transferring floor beam operations to
the Perry plant in June, 1994, in
creasing the plant's employment by
40 workers.
Graywitt said it was too early to
say how many workers would trans
fer from California and how many
workers would be from Perry. How
ever, a Northrop official, who asked
to remain unidentified, said that
about half the jobs would be filled
by workers transferring from Cali
fornia and half from Perry workers
laid off at the Perry plant.
The Perry plant will also produce
the Tri-Service Standoff Attack Mis
sile once production contracts are
signed.