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j Perry, Ga. I this week Volume 125—N0. 71—32 Pages WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5,1994 50 CENTS Don't forget! Hayneville Ist Baptist celebration continues Members and friends of the First Baptist Church of Hayneville will wind up their week-long homecoming cel ebration with special events Wednesday and Thursday nights. On Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. the will be a Family Night sup per and services at 7 p.m. The speaker will be Jimmy McDuffie and there will be special music by Darrell and Trisha Etheridge. The church will hold Youth Night Thursday, beginning with a pizza supper at 6 p.m. Ser vices will follow at 7 p.m. The speaker will be Wayne Halcomb, Jr. The Rev. David Fisher and members of the church invite everyone to join them in the final days of their homecoming celebration. Shriners to serve BBQ The Perry Shrine Club will hold its annual fall barbecue on Fri day, Oct. 14, at their facility located at 402 Courtney Hodges Blvd. (next to the Sand man Motel).Two thousand pounds of ham will be pit cooked, starting at 6 a.m. on Oct. 13. Plates will be ready for pick-up at the barbecue site drive-thru from 11:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 14. Each plate will contain pit cooked barbecue, slaw, cook ies, chips, pickles and bread. The price per plate is $4, and bulk is $5 per lb. Tickets are now being sold by Shriners, or plates can be purchased at the drive-thru. Sports A grid milestone... Westfield Coach Ronnie Jones wins his 150th grid game by bombing Tiftarea by a final score of 46-8. Page 6A. Panthers roll 0n... The Perry Panthers sneak past Jackson by a 21-14 score as Kiwaukee Thomas scores two times to lead the Panther at tack. Page 6A. Family Public Awareness One out of every eight women will be affected during her life time by breast cancer, one of the leading causes of death among females. Page 18. In Sympathy The community's sympathy is extended to the families of those who recently died. They include: Wilson Arnold, Russell Clark Sr., Edgar Walker Jr., Hazel Norman, Frances Shugart Simons, Doris Frances Wood Smith and George Tho mas. See details page 2A. XEO CITY 30fex —"" ■ project i National Fair iRY , _ _ Jt the fair! See section inside Houston Times -Journal 10-Day Ga. fair slated Oct. 7-16 By JIMMY SIMPSON Staff Writer One of the most long-awaited dates in the City of Perry will arrive in two days when the gates to the sth Annual Georgia National Fair swing open. "The excitement is building," said Executive Director Michael Froehlich. "The entire staff is working hard to get ready, and we’re looking forward to a great fair.” Froehlich reported vendors and ride technicians were still arriving at mid-day on Tuesday to make final preparations to their respective attractions. In addition, the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) is in town for five days to film footage for their viewing audience. An official ribbon-cutting marking the event will be held Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. State Rep. Larry Walker will be the keynote speaker. The fair will come to a close on Sunday. Oct. 16. Fair officials have reported they expect even more people to attend the 1994 event than the 309,000 patronizing the state event just one year ago. The annual parade, sponsored by the Georgia National Fair/Kiwanis Fann-City Days, will begin at City Hall on Washington St. at 11 a.m. State Sen. Sonny Perdue will be the grand marshall. The procession will then follow course to Carroll St. before journeying along Courtney Hodges Blvd. From thefe, the unit will turn onto Larry Walker Pkwy. before entering the gates of the Georgia National Fairgrounds. Featured this year will be a traditional package of livestock events, horse shows, youth exhibits, and home and fine arts competition. Livestock buildings open daily at 8 a.m., and exhibit buildings at 12 'noon. Gate times for midway rides are staggered. Gates open for midway rides at 10 a.m. on Oct. 8, and 12 'noon on Oct. 9. Gates for the midway will open Monday, Oct. 10, at 1 p.m as local schools celebrate Columbus Day. The schedule for Oct. 11-14 calls for midway gate openings at 4 p.m. Rides are open to the public on Oct. 15 at 10 a.m., and on Oct. 16 at 12 'noon. Admission to the fair is $4 for adults, $3 for senior citizens, and children 10-and-under, free. Parking will be free of charge. County will foot $52,000 tab to meet standards By VETO F. ROLEY Staff Writer The county will be spending $52,000 to bring the Houston County Correctional Institute and the Warner Robins detention facil ity up to fire code standards, county commissioners decided at their regu lar meeting, Tuesday, Oct. 5. The Office of the Commissioner of Insurance found several viola tions of the fire code at both loca tions in an inspection June 22. In HCCI, located on Kings Chapel Road, six areas were found not to be in compliance. At the Warner Robins facility, two areas were cited as not being in compliance. Among the serious violations found at HCCI were that several hazardous areas were not enclosed by one hour fire resistive construc tion including the boiler room and inmate laundry room, the opening for combustion air was sealed off in construction of the addition to the jail, evacuation diagrams routed inmates through an hazardous area, the laundry room, in case of fire, Official Legal Organ for Houston County, City of Perry and the State of Georgia Football season In full swing Teams have winning week Perry High , Westfield outscore opponents —6A w j if, > I :9W ... Workers with the Reithoffer ride Tuesday at the Georgia mechanics were expected to opening to ensure safety for **.>***++ . it -■ A total of 24 ticket booths are being set up at various points along the fairgrounds. That number represents a 71 percent increase over the number of booths just one year ago. (Times-Journal Photos by Eric Zellers) residential areas did not have auto matic smoke detectors, and holding cells, solitary cells, isolation block and cell blocks had no windows, vent openings, moke shafts or smoke control systems. Commissioner Larry Snellgrove said that the county would not do any work until it had written con firmation that the work will correct the problems with the jail. He added that he did not want to spend money that would satisfy one in spector only to have the next in spector find a problem. "We will do nothing until it is right," said Snellgrove. "I don't trust the system." In other business before the commission, Tommy Stalnaker, di rector of public works for the county, said that the weather had de layed the paving of turning lanes at Houston Lake Road and Highway 96. The paving of the turning lanes should start Wednesday, Oct. 5, will take about two days, he said. Stalnaker also requested that fair begin to assemble a National Fairgrounds. The work up until the event's fairgoers. I'■ Mr m v J■ ’Fire Safety With The Pup../ Two local businesses recently contributed monies to the Perry Fire Department to go towards the costs of purchasing the rights to "Fire Pup," a costumed character that promotes fire safety education throughout the community. The suit was purchased from National Fire Safety, Inc., a non-profit organization in Michigan. Fire Pup will make his first official appearance in the Ga. National Fair Parade in downtown Perry this Saturday morning at 11 p.m. Pictured shaking hands with the character is PPG's Ty Sturgeon (2nd from left) and Northrop's Lany English (far right). Looking on is Perry Fire Chief Gary Hamlin. (Times-Journal photo by Jimmy Simpson) Local firefighters protest chief; 13 stage walk-out By JIMMY SIMPSON Staff Writer Angered by the decision to hire a chief from an outside department, 13 members of the Meadowdale Fire Dept, have staged a walkout. "We’ve been lied to, humiliated, and embarrassed," said volunteer firefighter David Harris. "We realize that we're untrained, but we're willing to leam." Harris was referring to the decision by Houston County Fire Chief Jimmy Williams to staff the Meadowdale station with 10-year veteran Jim Adams after Harris had earlier applied for the job. The majority of Meadowdale volunteers say Adams is "hard to work with," and that one of their own-- Harris- was passed up for the chiefs job as a result of Williams' decision to appoint Adams. But Williams defended his position by saying that Harris wasn’t qualified to take the position- something that Harris, himself, agrees with. "I wasn't ready," said Harris, "but I had the backing of this (Meadowdale) department and a commitment from (former chief) Ernie Wright to stay on and train me for the next six months." Harris said there was no motivation of money behind his desire to become chief (volunteers are only paid $8 during training meetings), only satisfaction. "Statistically, this department has done an excellent job," Harris said. "We all work great together, and we all know our duties." Williams said that while he didn't doubt the volunteers abilities, he did feel that leadership needed to come from someone with more experience. "I just wasn’t comfortable putting (Harris) in that position," Williams said. "I realize that he could have had someone to train him, but we could not wait six months (to assume the role)." Williams said his decision to staff Adams was due to the fact that "he was the best selection." "I had other choices, but he was fairly knowledgeable, close to the area, and he gets the job done," Williams said. Meadowdale volunteers are responsible for battling fires in the entire southern portion of Perry. Only four of the original 17 volunteers were reported to still be active as of yesterday, according to one volunteer. index to Features Classified 7B Deaths 2A Family 1B Police 3A Legals 4B Veto Roley 4A Letters 4A Sports 6A Pauline Lewis 1B Bob Tribble 4A But any decrease in volunteer enrollment should not affect firefighting techniques, according to the county supervisor. "The (Meadowdale) station is not closed," Williams said. "I do have the membership to respond, and have made alternative plans to respond for assistance." Both Henderson and Lake Joy Volunteer Fire Departments have 18-20 volunteers who have been placed on a stand-by mode. The City of Perry Fire Department can also intervene if a "life-threatening or large incident" fire occurs, Williams said. In the meantime, Williams said Meadowdale may have to look at rebuilding with additional members. "We’re going to start training, and we need some good people to leam," he said. Authority inks $215,000 pact By JIMMY SIMPSON Staff Writer A new CEO has been hired by the Houston County Hospital Authority to oversee operations in Perry and Warner Robins. Dr. Eugene R. McDannald Jr., a Maryland based health care adminisuator, will step into the position Nov. 1. He replaces former administrator Karl Weinmeister, who resigned on May 11 of this year. The board voted to bring in a new Chief Executive Officer after the position was decided upon in April. The official appointment came at the authority's meeting on Sept. 28. "The entiie hospital authority is excited about getting someone with Dr. McDannald's credentials," said Hal Cotton, authority chairman. "He has a tremendous background." That background includes a 15- year career as a general surgeon at his own private practice. McDannald attended the Virginia Military Institute and the Medical College of Virginia. Most recently, the recently appointed CEO served as senior vice-president at the Sacred Heart Hospital at Cumberland, Md. But one of the most obvious questions expected to be raised is the annual salary for the position- Please see Hospital page 8A