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Sports Baseball stinks, but rec dept, does well in other areas Recently, several parents have raised some serious concerns about the state of youth baseball and soft ball at the Perry Recreation De partment. I've listened to their concerns on two different occasions. And, there are, without doubt, some deep trou bles in the Parks and Recreation Department, as far as baseball and softball are concerned. Troubles such as . .. . . . umpires and officials not knowing the rulebook. It is one thing for an ump not to call a con sistent strike zone. After all, if the Major League in professional base ball has that problem, than you can easily expect youth leagues and other such leagues to have that problem. That is not at stake here. What is at issue here is umpires not knowing the rule book as far as number of players a team can start with, the ground rules of a particu lar park, the size and weights of bats, the rule on when a inning could start when the time limit is drawing near, etc. It really does not give coaches confidence when the umpire comes out before a game and asks a coach about what rules are going to be followed. The umpire is supposed to know those rules. Then there is the scorekeeper. Under Perry Parks and Recreation rules, the scorekeeper is a third offi cial, and has a voice in the decision when a call is protested (and, judgement calls, balls, strikes, outs, are not normally subject to protest). However, many of the scorekcepers can barely keep a book. And, many of the parents complained that the scorekcepers were easily distracted from the game. Also, there was not a rule book at the location of the games. Any protests, then, could not be squared with a hard copy of the rules. . . . lack of accountability for equipment. Coaches told of being given equipment for their teams, and not be required to sign for the equipment. This is a problem wait ing to happen. The Parks and Recreation Department is depending on the honesty, and memory, of their coaches. A coach could easily say that he had not received a certain amount of equipment, or could substitute infe rior equipment, keeping the city's equipment for himself. A coach could misplace a piece of little used equipment, forgetting that be had the equipment. A sign-out slip would show that he had received the equipment. . . . bad equipment. Complaints abounded from parents and coaches that many of the players had to play with uniform pants that were too small, too large, or too patched. The most serious complaint came from girls softball, with parents and coaches saying those players did not have enough batting helmets. No Please see Roley, page 7A W — 1 ■■■ Hi ■* t J mZjMm tm DR. J. CRAIG PATTERSON FIND OUT NOW WHETHER CAREFUL PROFESSIONAL CHIROPRACTIC CARE CAN RELIEVE YOUR ACHES AND PAINS This examination normally costs $35.00 or more. It will include an orthopedic test, a neurological test, a blood pressure test, a spinal alignment check, an examination for restricted or excessive motion of the spine, a muscle strength test, and a private consultation to discuss the results. Any further treatment shall be agreed upon in writing by both parties. ‘ PATTERSON *X CHIROPRACTIC CENTER 1304 Macon Road • Perry, Georgia • 987-7555 Evans purchases Cordele Motor Speedway Makes plans to move Motorsports Weekly operations from Perry to Cordele 3y HARVEY SIMPSON Special to the HTJ Perry businessman Danny Evans has completed the pur chase of the Cordele speedway, purchasing the track from Ben Sumner Sr. Both Evans, who immediately changed the track's name to Cordele Motor Speedway, and Sumner declined to reveal the amount of the saJe. The facility is in its 11th year of opera tion. Evans becomes the third owner of the track. Sumner pur chased the track from owner-builder Johnny Cape in 1986. Evans is no stranger to racing, owning, building, driving and racing several cars at local tracks. He also owns and Dub Williams takes over as executive secretary at Perry Parks and Rec By VETO F. ROLEY Sports Editor Perry Parks and Recreation has a new voice, with Melba Williams taking over the executive secretary position at the recreation department held by Karen Nikitopoulos Nikitopoulos left the recreation department in June for a similar position with the Cotton Commission. Williams, whose husband, Jack, was transferred by the military from South Carolina to Robins Air Force Base, was the office manager for five years at Union Camp’s facility at Sumter, S.C. Despite coming from an multi-person office environment in South Carolina, Williams said there were a lot of similarities between the position she held with Union Camp and the position she holds with the recreation department. At Union Camp, Williams was in managed the office, was responsible for payroll, personnel and computer hardware and software operations. "It's exciting and fun," said Williams of her first few weeks on the job. "It doesn't seem like work. It's different from making a product because we are offering a service, we are offering things for kids." Williams has several hobbies, including playing the Kovac wins top honors in publicity tourney Pat Kovac took first place honors in the Perry Horseshoe Pitchers Club Publicity tournament held at the horseshoe pitching pits at the Georgia Agricenter Saturday. John Rackley and Jerome Kennedy took second and third re spectively. Perkins Jenkins, Davis Cosey and Wofford Synard also made it to the championship round. "It was enjoyable," said PHPC president Kennedy. "We were a lit tle disappointed that we didn't have as much participation from non club members that we anticipated." Over all, 15 pitchers showed up to throw horseshoes. People interested in the PHPC should call Kennedy (987-3759), Jenkins (987-3123) or Ann Synard (987-3359). The PHPC will host the Georgia State Singles Championship Sept. 3 at the Agricenter. Local football practice starts Aug. 1 Both Westfield and Perry foot ball teams will start fall practice on Monday, Aug. 1. Panther head coach John Stephens said that his players should report to the ficldhouse FREE FULL SPINAL EXAMINATION No Obligation, Nothing to Pay You may have one of these 12 DANGER SIGNALS OF PINCHED NERVES: «■ Low Back Pain «*’ Headaches Neck Pain Arthritis y Michael Froehllch pitches a shoe at the PHPC Pub licity Tournament Satur day. around 5 p.m. The Panthers plan to be on the field at 5:30 p.m. Hornet head coach Ronnie Jones will start the defense of the G.I.S.A. runner-up trophy at 5 Please see Football, page 7A «*' Painful Joints Bursitis «■ Dizziness «■ Hip Pain piano, cross-stitch and painting. She said she was looking forward to the completion of the community center, which will include an arts and crafts room. "My husband and I like working with kids," she said. "I hope that I can bring something to this job," said Williams, "and do my part to make a difference.” Setting in a desk that looks across to where the community center is being built, Williams said that she was excited about the prospects of moving into the new community center. "It's a great opportunity to be involved in the start of something," said Williams. "It gives you a sense of ownership. I've been watching the bricks go up. They seem to be making good progress." Williams has one child, a two-and-a-half year old daughter named Brittany. "I can't wait to get her in volved in some of the programs here when she is old enough," she said. "It's a good change," said Williams of her new job. "I'm really looking forward to it. "The people have really been friendly. I really like Perry. The city of Perry impressed us. When we first came here, we saw that it was a clean, neat looking town. Downtown is a place you can go after 5 p.m. and not worry." o’ Arm/Leg Pain i® 1 Muscle Spasms <3* Numbness Arm/Leg “a" Pain between Shoulder lishes Motorsports Weekly. "My wife (Julie) and I spent so much time at the various tacks around that it evolved into our decision to buy this one," Evans said. "Cordele is one of the finest facilities anywhere, and with us wanting to make racing our main business, we decided on this track. It has always had a good car count and a loyal fan base. And, we want to continue that by putting on a good show each week." Evans said the track was renamed in order to reflect the change in ownership as well as to call attention to where the Sign up for fall sports at Park and Rec The Perry Recreation Depart ment announced today the registra tion dates for the Fall youth pro grams. Registration begins Monday, July 18, for football, Cheerleading and soccer. Football and Cheerlead ing will be for children age 5-12, while soccer will be for children age 5-16. Registration will continue until August 19, or until the teams are filled. Soccer will be affiliated this year with the Georgia Youth Soccer As sociation, and there is a mandatory $11.50 per player state registration s S . nSimSk nLpaflß j^i&ssfa. I ■' jB ,^* P fHr *94 For A Round Of Golf At Houston Creek Country Club Houston Creek Country Club ranked #4 in Georgia Golt News survey of semi-private facilities. JOIN US AT HOUSTON CREEK TODAY! MONDAY $23.00 TUESDAY - FRIDAY $29.00 WEEKENDS (after 2:00 pm) $27.00 (Fee includes cart fee) Call (912) 987-3243 for Tee Times Dress Code Enforced—No Personal Coolers FAST GREENS / FRIENDLY PEOPLE HoUStOn All Eighteen Creek jNNNI, Ho * es °i )en Houston Times-Journal Page 6A Wednesday, July 27,1994 "Houston Times-Journal H: W VHfcx I \ Melba Williams Is the new secretary at the Perry HarKs and Recreation Department. She replaces Karen Niki topoulos. 2323 HIGHWAY 127 PERRY GA track was located. Evans plans to move his weekly racing newspaper opera tions to Cordele, and may eventually make his home there as well. He said he envisioned no immediate changes in the oper ation of the track. "We're going to try and provide drivers as good a racing sur face as possible while staying with the same format the Sum ners had been using," said Evans. "We're just real happy to be locating in Cordele," said Evans. "We're in it for the long haul as we plan to be here as a contributing member of the community.” Park & Recreation Fall Registration Fees < * s Football - City: S2B (1 Child) $56 (2+ Children) County: $42 (1 Child) SB4 (2+Children) Cheerleading - City: $8 <1 Child) sl6 (2+ Children) County: sl2 (1 Child) $24 (2+ Children) Soccer: City: sl3 + 11.50 (1 Child) $26 + 11.50 (2+ Children) County: $19.50 + 11.50 (1 Child) $39 + 11.50 (2+ Children) fee in addition to the regular regis tration fee. Information will be provided about soccer at the time of registration. The age control date for football and cheerleading is the age prior to Sept. 1 of the current year. For soc- cer, the age control date is the age prior to Aug. 1 of the current year. Individuals registering for the first time with the Perry Recreation Department need to bring a copy of their birth certificate to keep on file.