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Houston Times-Joumat Volume 124 No. 26 Dogwood Fest Activities Are In Full Bloom BY BRENDA THOMPSON Staff Writer Just like the beautiful Dogwood trees speckling the city, the Perry Dogwood Festival is in full bloom this week. A major attraction for both Perry citizens and out-of-towners, the fes tival kicked off this past weekend with two nights of pageants and a Family Day at Rozar Park. Events continue through this Saturday, April 2. “The first weekend of events was wonderful,” Perry Area Chamber of Commerce President Peggie Williams said Monday morning. “If it keeps up like this, we will defi nitely be entering this one in the record bocJcs.” Several hundred people attended both nights of the Dogwood Pageants which crowned five new Miss Dogwoods and the crowd at the Rozar Park Family Day was es timated at 2,000. Events coming up this weekend include: •6:15 a.m.-lO a.m.—Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast; Houston County Extension Building, Carroll Street; tickets are $3 each. •10:15 a.m.—Dogwood Festival Bake-Off judging. A popular event featuring a number of delectables, the Bake-Off will be held at the Perry Book Store in downtown Perry. Following the contest, many of the entries will be available for purchase during a day-long bake sale. •7 a.m.-7:30 a.m.—Registration for the Sixth Annual Dogwood Fes tival 5K Run/Walk; comer of Car roll and Ball streets. Cost to enter the day of the event is sl2. Pre-reg istration forms can be obtained at Perry Hospital or the Perry Area Chamber of Commerce offices. Early entries are $lO. March Of Dimes To Hold Kick-Off For Walk America BY BRENDA THOMPSON Staff Writer A local kick off luncheon for Walk America, the nation’s largest walking event held annually by the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, is scheduled from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, March 31, at the Perry Hospital with the actual walk slated for Sat urday, May 7. Anyone interested in forming a walking team or getting otherwise involved in the local March of Dimes event is invited to make Perry Schools Getting School Board Attention BY BRENDA THOMPSON Staff Writer Construction of music, art and physical education facilities at all of Perry’s elementary schools and the search for a solution to parking problems at Perry High School have members of the Houston County Board of Education busy these days. According to Bill Loudermilk, director of facilities and mainte nance for the county school system, workers will be working diligently throughout the summer to finish up a seven-year, multi-million dollar project giving 10 county elementary schools-including all four in Peny-freestanding facilities for their many cultural and physical education programs. The first two such facilities to be completed were at Lindsey and Bonaire Elementary schools seven years ago, with construction on the Page 5B More on the festival appears on pages 8-A and 9-A! •8 a.m.-Sixth Annual Dogwood Festival 5K Run/Walk kicks off at the comer of Carroll and Ball. This run is an official event of the “Run and See Georgia Grand Prix” circuit and is sponsored by the Perry Hos pital and PPG Industries. For more information, contact Marti Tolleson at 987-3600 or Ty Sturgeon at 987- 2459. •9 a.m.-3 p.m.-Free and Ac cepted Masons Open House at Houston Lodge #35, 756 Carroll Street Event is in celebration of their 150th Anniversary. For more information call Blake Walston at 987-3696 or James McKinley at 987-2253. •10 a.m.-4 p.m.—Arts and Crafts on Carroll Street featuring more than 50 artists and crafters display ing and selling unique handmade Please see Waakend, page 11A reservations by calling Shelby Adams at 743-9165. “This is sort of a pep rally for our Perry Walk,” Suzy Wasserman, Director of Field Services for Geor gia’s March of Dimes organization, said this week, adding that Walk - merica is the fundraiser from which the majority of her organization’s funds are raised. “Hopefully, we will have people from local compa nies, churches, clubs, schools and other organizations attend and form walking teams. Information on the March of Dimes and Walk America remaining eight beginning some two and a half years ago. Order of construction was deter mined by school size and need, ac cording to Loudermilk. So far, five of the eight started a couple of years ago have been completed and opened, with only three more-the Perry schools of Kings Chapel, Momingside and Perry Elementary-yet to go. Kings Chapel School is set to open their facility as early as next week, while Momingside’s is expected to be completed by the fall. The furthest behind is Perry Elementary, where the construction site is nothing more, at this point, than a concrete slab. Tucker Elementary’s new facility was opened last year. “Our original goal was to have all of the facilities completed by this coming fall,” Loudermilk said Pleas* see School, page 11A Official Organ For Houston County, City of Perry & State of Georgia ■ ‘ I! A 1 P . pf * Heather Jo Wilder, the 19-year-old daughter of Joyce Wilder of Perry and Bill Wilder of Cornelia Is the new Miss Dogwood for 1994. A freshman at the University of Georgia, Heather was crowned Friday night. fundraiser packets will also be dis tributed on that day.” Wasserman added that some where between 250 and 300 walkers are expected to participate in the Perry walk, a five mile route which runs from Perry Hospital on Mom ingside Drive to Kings Chapel Road, Keith Drive, Tucker Road, Ball Street, Main Street, Morning side Drive and back to Perry Hospi tal. The way the event works, walk ers recruit family, friends and col leagues to sponsor them by making '-v**' ju* --..y h B The City of Perry and The Houston County Board of Education are working together to solve the parking problems at Perry High School and to fill In this ditch, which Is located alongside the Perry Village Shopping Center and runs down to the school. The ditch Is both an eyesore and a safety hazard, the city says. For News And Subscriptions Call 912-987-1823 Sports Page 6A Wednesday, March 30, 1994 a donation before the event. All col lections are then turned in by Walk America Day and walkers hit the pavement for a fun-filled day with fellow workers and family. All monies raised support the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation in its fight for healthier babies. A national voluntary health or ganization, the March of Dimes was started in 1938 by Franklin D. Roosevelt for the purpose of finding a cure for polio. It became Classified Page 4B and remains the only organization to eliminate the disease it set out to conquer. Today, the organizations mis sion is to prevent low birthweight babies and infant mortality, the most serious birth defect of all. Up until just recently, Georgia had ranked first in the nation in the number of babies who die before their first birthday. As of this week, statistics showed that the state had improved to fourth. Perry, Georgia - 25 Cents Weekend Shooting Hurts One BY BRENDA THOMPSON Staff Writer One local man is behind bars and another is hurting this week follow ing a Friday night shooting at the intersection of Lucille and Houston streets in Perry. According to reports filed at the Perry Police Department, 20-year old Eldis Kendrick of Westwood Trailer Park, Lot 14, allegedly fired more than 20 shots from a Tec-22 pistol, striking 18-year-old Travis Barnes of 1324 Houston Street, Perry, twice in the back just after 7 p.m. Friday. About one hour after the inci dent, Kendrick turned himself in to local police, and Barnes, who took himself to Perry Hospital, was treated for his wounds and released that same evening. Police reports indicate that the incident probably stemmed from some previous domestic situations and that the two men appeared to be arguing over a girl. Several witnesses were reported to have been present at the shooting and the weapon as well as 21 empty shell cases were recovered from the scene. After turning himself in, Kendrick was booked and charged with two felony charges, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, and two misdemeanors, discharging a firearm near a highway and carrying a pistol without a license. He is being held at the Houston County Jail on bonds totaling $34,000. He will attend trial in the Superior Court of Houston County and faces serving one to 20 years in a penitentiary for the aggravated assault charge alone. Local Clinic To Open In The Evening The Perry office of your Houston County Health Department announces evening clinic hours. Beginning Thursday, April 3, services will be offered each Thursday evening until 6:30 p.m. Services included in the special extended hours are immunizations, pregnancy testing, family planning refills, marital blood tests, enrollment for free mammograms and pick up for WIC vouchers, TB medications and blood pressure medications. "We're happy to be able to expand our services in Perry. Extending hours will be especially helpful to working parents, children and teenagers in school, and families with limited transportation resources," said Bill Carter, Health Department Administrator. "We want to make our services available to everyone. If this test program is successful, we'll expand our Pleas* see Health, page'll A 2 Sections, 20 Pages Inside Today Legals 5B Outdoors 7A Classifieds 4B Editorials 4A Calendar 10A Obituaries .’..2A Sports 6A