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Chur< 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 JE JL * *> ! jimni JBBmnm MM » -is ■Bp ./ mm: i A Whiiiiiiff t- v'T 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 C V && ; Sh! * «,<• H# 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 A ' !™ ■" i ■■<■ i ■ 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.