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Houston limes-Journo!
Volume 124 No. 32
2 Sections, 16 Pages I
Inside I
Today |
Calendar 3A
Classifieds 8A
Editorials 4A
Legal Ads 3B
Lifestyles IB
Sports 7A
New owners of
Holiday Inn will
renovate motel
By BRIGETTE LOUDERMILK
Editor
Sale of the Perry Holiday Inn was
finalized Thursday, April 14, and
the new owners, Natala Corporation
of Tifton, began a major renovation
project this week which is expected
to last anywhere from six months
to one year.
"This major renovation will
include the exterior and interior of
the motel and is a $1 million plus
project," company spokesman
Emerson Hoffman said Monday,
April 18.
Hoffman said other changes will
include some additional hiring and
an aggressive promotion geared
towards building up the restaurant's
business.
He also said several key
employees will remain at the motel
including Manager Allan Read.
"We bought the motel because we
believe very strongly in the Holiday
Inn system. We're committed to
upgrading the motel and making it
number one in the Southeast,”
Hoffman said.
The company also owns a Holiday
Inn in Tifton and one in Atlanta.
McKibbon Brothers, former
owners of the Perry Holiday Inn,
are still owners of Days Inn,
Denny's, Shoney's, Fairfield Inn
and Captain D's in Perry.
Club is gearing up
for annual ball to
be held April 30
BY BRENDA THOMPSON
Staff Writer
Warm up your dancing shoes and
get ready. The Perry Balvaunuca
Club’s famous Dogwood Ball is
just 10 days away.
Slated for Saturday, April 30,
this year’s sixth annual dance will
be held in the Georgia Living Cen
ter at the Georgia National Fair
grounds and Agricenter. Festivities
get under way at 8 p.m. and will
continue through midnight.
Tickets are $25 per person and
are available at several Perry loca
tions including the Perry Area
Chamoer of Commerce on Wash
ington Avenue, Impressions in
downtown Perry, Jesup Furniture
on Valley Drive and Stanley Furni
ture on Macon Street Tickets may
be purchased individually or in
groups of eight per table.
As the club’s primary fundraiser
for the year, all proceeds from the
ball will be utilized to support a
number of local charities.
Last year, the event netted some
$6,000, all of which was funnelled
right back into the community
through the support of several
worthwhile causes from the
sponsorship of several children
through the Department of Family
and Children Services to contribu
tions to charities such as the Salva
tion Army Safe House, the Rain
bow House, the Perry Ministerial
Association and the Perry Hospital
Children’s Ward.
This year, club members arc
hoping to at least meet that same
Please see BALL, page IQA
Page 3B
Tag
time!
Tags for vehicles
must be purchased
by Monday, May 2
BY BRENDA THOMPSON
SUff Writer
So, you’ve filed your income
taxes and are breathing a sigh of re
lief this week?
Well, don’t get too comfy, be
cause there’s still an annual deadline
looming.
According to Houston County
Tax Commissioner Juanita Mason,
time is running out for tesidents to
purchase their 1994 tags. The dead
line is Monday, May 2.
“We’ve been steadily busy, but
we still have a long way to go,”
Mason said earlier this week while
working at the Perry tag office on
Jemigan Street. “And, the longer
people wait to come in and buy
their tags, the longer the lines will
be. It happens every year.”
Speaking of lines, Mason added
that up until this week, there have
been no more than four to five peo
ple in the Perry office at one time.
By the start of next week,
however, those lines are expected to
start growing with deadline day
traditionally producing lines that
stretch down Jemigan and around
the comer onto Carroll-Street The
average wait last year on deadline
day was three hours. Mason said.
Aside from the long lines, an
other reason for not waiting any
longer to purchase tags is the
availability of the special Olympic
tags.
The sale of these colorful tags,
which are available for an additional
Community leader Marion Brown passes away
By PAULINE LEWIS
Staff Writer
Marion L. Brown, 77, 706 Ever
green Street, Perry, active in church
and civic affairs, retired business
man and beloved Perry an, passed
away on Monday, April 18, at the
Medical Center of Central Georgia.
Bom November 30, 1916 in Fort
Valley, he was the son of Robert
E. Brown Sr. and Coralie Scroggs
Brown. When he was a boy, his
family moved to Perry, where he
lived most of his life.
He graduated from Perry High
School in 1934 and Emory Univer
sity School of Law in 1939.
He was a Special Agent for the
Perry Hospital opened its doors on
Wednesday, April 2,1969-one hour
ahead of schedule. The hospital's
first patient, Mrs. Mary Jo
Offenberg, could not wait for the 8
a.m. scheduled opening time and
gave birth to a bouncing baby boy
shortly after the doors to the new
hospital were unlocked.
"The thing I remember most
about that day was Mrs. Offenberg,
her husband and mother standing
outside the hospital waiting for the
doors to open," said Alberta Jarres,
Perry Hospital's first Director of
Nursing. "One of the nurses tried
to tell her that we weren't quite
ready to open yet, but Mrs.
Offenberg shook her head "yes"
with such urgency that we had to
open the doors.”
Mrs. Offenberg, who was under
the care of Dr. H.E. Weems, wanted
her second child to be bom in the
new hometown hospital. Having
spent most of her life in Peny,
Mrs. Offenberg found it comforting
that her family would not have to
travel out of town to be by her side.
"Because the hospital was
than a mile from my mother's
Official Organ For Houston County, City of Perry & State of Georgia
Remembering 'Day One' at Perry Hospital
Wednesday, April 20, 1994
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Deputy Tax Commissioner Judy Kluge puts a new 1994 tag on her car. Remember, the deadline for purchasing *94 tags Is Monday, May
2. Decals go In the upper right hand corner as Mrs. Kluge points out.
one-time charge of sls, have been
going “extremely well”, according
to Mason, and supplies are limited.
In addition to the Perry tag of
fice, which is open from 8 a.m. to
5 p.m. Monday through Friday and
which primarily serves tag buyers
from the south end of the county,
Houston County tags can also be
purchased in the Warner Robins of
Federal Bureau of Investigation,
Department of Justice, 1939 to
1946.
As a businessman in Perry, he
was owner/operator of Perry Veneer
Co. from 1946 to 1980.
Civic involvement included being
President of Perry Jaycees, Presi
dent of Perry Kiwanis Club (1953),
Kiwanis Man of the Year 1963).
He had held every office in the
Perry Kiwanis Club including, in
1994, serving as Advisor to Perry
Kiwanis Club President Earl
Cheek, a position created just for
him by Mr. Cheek.
He also served as Chairman of the
Community celebration to be held
Perry Hospital is holding a
community celebration on the
grounds in honor of its 25 th
aniversary Saturday, April 23 at
1:30 pjn.
Featured guest speaker during the
celebration will be State
Representative Larry Walker.
Festivities include guest speak
ers, performances by Perry Players,
Westfield cheerleaders and a Happy
Birthday performance by babies
bom at Perry Hospital.
There will be a ribbon cutting
for the new lobby and hospital gift
home, everyone was able to come
visit me and Warren," Mrs.
Offenberg explained. "Besides,
once the baby was on its way, there
was no time to go to Fort Valley."
Company was something that
Mrs. Offenberg did not lack.
Shortly after Warren came into the
world : he and his mother were
thrust into instant stardom. A re
For News And Subscriptions Call 912-987-1823
Sports
Page 7 A
flee located at the Houston County
Annex on Carl Vinson Parkway.
For those who do not make the
May 2 deadline, a penalty equaling
25 percent of the purchaser’s tag
fee, 10 percent of their ad valorem
taxes and a $1 sheriffs fee will be
assessed by the county tag office.
Additionally, after-the-deadline
tag buyers also risk the possibility
Nominating Committee for 1995
Officers, Chairman of the Kiwanis
Interclub Committee and a member
of the recent Kiwanis Pancake
Breakfast Committee for the
Dogwood Festival.
Other positions he held were:
President and Chairman of Federal-
Security, Federal Savings and Loan
Association, Director of Georgia
Federal Savings and Loan Associa
tion, President and one of the
founders of Perry Country Club.
He served on the Perry Planning
and Zoning Commission, Perry
Beautification Commission, Hous
ton County Board of Tax Appeals
shoppe, tours of the hospital and
several activities for children includ
ing clowns, face painting, story
telling, puppets, Moon Walk,
dunking booth and hula hoops.
Refreshments and gifts for the
community will also be provided.
The celebration is the hospital's
way of thanking the community for
its support throughout the past 25
years. Everyone is invited to take
part in the fun.
In case of rain, the event will be
held in the Momingside Elementary
School cafeteria.
porter from The Houston Home
Journal rushed over to capture on
film the first baby bom at Perry
Hospital. He joined an already full
room of doctors and nurses that
were there for the hospital's first
day.
"It was like giving birth in front
of an audience," proclaimed Mrs.
OficnUsg. "I didn't mind m<: the at
Classified
Page 8A
of being cited for operating a vehi
cle with an expired tag by law en
forcement agencies tlfroughout the
state.
Fines for expired tags vary from
law agency to law agency, with the
City of Perry Police Department’s
fine being set at $55 per citation.
Mail-ins postmarked by May 2
will not be penalized by the county
and Houston County Hospital Au
thority.
He was a member of Perry United
Methodist Church where he was a
member of the Howell Cobb Sun
day School Class, had served as a
Sunday School teacher, Superinten
dent of Sunday School, Choir
member, Finance Chairman,
Chairman of Administrative Board,
Chairman, Board of Trustees and as
a member of South Georgia Pen
sion Board of Trustees.
His friends and neighbors spoke
highly of him as a caring person,
always willing to do his parL
Please see BROWN, page 2A
F :
The first patients et Perry Hospital on April 2, 1969 were
Mrs. Meek Offenberg and her newborn son, Warren. The
hospital had to open Its doors ahead of schedule to welcome
Warren’s arrival.
tention though, it was like being
part of hist< y "
Mrs. Offenberg feels that Pony
HoFpiia! is sp. imperial part of her
•iiM'*;. V'a«yn has iwc children.
Perry, Georgia - 25 Cents
- • -
tag office, but could leave the pur
chaser at the mercy of law enforce
ment during the time that it takes
to receive tags by return mail.
Whether transacting by mail or
in person, proof of ownership (a
previous tag receipt, for example)
and proof of insurance is required
for tag purchase.
HI M||
h
Marlon Brown
Ashley Marie, three years old, and
Katlyn Brook, 10 months old, both
boro at Perry Hospital. Mrs.
Offcnberg’s tiaughtct. Laurie, has a_
Please see Day ona, page 6A
