Newspaper Page Text
GEORGIA NEWSPAPER
U. GA. MAIN LIBRAF
ATHENS, GA 30602
Volume 125—N0. 81
120 Pages
WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER 14,1994
50 CENTS
Perry. Ga.
this week
In Sympathy
The community's sympathy
is extended to the families of
those who recently died. James
B. "Jim" Kerce, Perry; Charlie
Louise Rumph McGhee,
Henderson; Woodrow W.
Cannady, Macon; Odie Mae
Stanley, Perry; James Edwad
Gordon, Pitts; Harold Eugene
Lones, Warnrer Robins;
Herman William Crumley,
Gainesville; Exie P. Rozar, Or
egon, III.; Willie R. King,
Kathleen. See details page 2A.
News
New campus update
Middle Georgia Technical In
stitute President Billy Edenfield
presented an update on the
plans for the school's soon-to
be new campus on Highway 96
at a Legislative Appreciation
Brunch last week. For more in
formation, please see Page 18.
Take a Stand!
December is National Drunk
and Drugged Prevention Month
and the Georgi State Patrol is
taking part in the effort to em
phasize the of
impaired driving. For more in
formation and related statis
tics, please see Page BA.
No more Freeport
Perry City Council unani
mously voted at their last regu
lar meeting to abolish Freeport
taxes. For more information,
please see Page 3A.
Saying farewell...
With the sudden death of Jim
Kerce, his friends have sent in
letters and columns this week
as a final farewell. The authors
include Teresa Hawk, Bob
Tribble, Brigette Loudermilk,
Brenda Thompson and Bobby
Tuggle. The articles are located
on Pages 4A and 10A.
. Family
Whipple turns 90
The family of Carolyn Whipple
invites her friends to join them
in a birthday celebration at
Perry Country Club in honor of
Whipple's 90th birthday. For
more information, please see
Page 58.
Sports
Panthers blast Bears
The Perry Panthes blew the
Houston County Bears away in
the first region 3AA South game
for both teams Saturday. Stan
Gann hit four three-pointers,
making him one of six players
in double figures. For a com
plete update on this game and
others, please see Pages 6A.
ss plan
I seasonal events~sA
Houston Times -Journal
Official Legal Organ for Houston County, City of Perry and the State of Georgia
Times-Joumal editor, Jim Kerce, dead at age 52
By BRIGETTE LOUDERMILK
Editor
The Perry community mourned the
death of Houston Times-Joumal
Editor Jim Kerce last week.
Kerce was found dead at his
residence, 103 Kings Crest Blvd.,
on Thursday. The cause of
death was a self-inflicted gunshot
wound. Law enforcement officials
discovered the body after concerned
friends reported they had not been
able to get in touch with Kerce for
several days.
Kerce had been a reporter, editor
and publisher during a journalism
career that spanned more than 32
years. His newspaper career in Perry
began at The Houston Home
Journal where he served as Editor
for 13 years. He recently returned to
the Houston Titnes-Journal in July
1994 after serving six months as
Managing Editor at The Daily Sun
in Warner Robins.
Bob Tribble, the owner of the
Times-Joumal and president of Trib
,1 ■v'CVsjk
Brigette Loudermilk
Loudermilk steps
in as the interim
editor of HTJ
Brigette Loudermilk has been
named temporary editor of the
Houston Times-Journal since the
recent death of former Editor Jim
Kerce.
Loudermilk was editor of the
Times-Journal during the first six
months the newspaper was in oper
ation. She recently returned as a
temporary News Editor under the
leadership of Kerce, who served as
the newspaper's editor for four
months.
"I enjoyed coming back to work
in the Perry community as news ed
itor. I enjoyed working with Jim
Kerce, he was an experienced news
paper editor and an old-school jour
nalist. I will miss his presence at
the newspaper, but tun more than
willing to help out in this time of
transition. I’m glad Bob Tribble,
the newspaper's owner, has the
confidence in me,” Loudermilk said
this week.
Loudermilk also worked for Kerce
during his tenure as editor of The
Houston Home Journal. She joined
the staff in November 1991 as city
reporter. Six months later Kerce
promoted her to of managing editor,
a position she filled until Houston
Publications purchased The Home
Journal in February 1994.
"I'm no stranger to this area. I
have many friends ;uid supporters in
Perry. I'm glad to have this chance
to not only work at the newspaper
but, hopefully, live up to the stan
dards Jim Kerce set. Perry deserves
a quality newspaper and if the staff
follows the guidelines he set for us,
we'll do Perry justice," Loudermilk
said.
Loudermilk, a native of Eastman,
lives in Warner Robins with her
husband, Burl, and their 19 month
old daughter, Lauren. B;irt Louder
milk is employed with Paul Davis
Systems in Macon.
Loudermilk is the daughter of
Please see LOUDERMILK, page 11A
LiOOdl
Publications, commented on
Kerce's tragic death and praised his
achievements as a journalist.
"He knew the inside and outside of
what it took to make a good
newspaper," Tribble said. "His heart
was really in Perry. He did a very
good job and we're just devastated at
this point that something like that
would happen. All the people at the
newspaper are sorry it surfaced as it
did."
n. i nomas rsccu, puoiisiici oi me
Daily Sun, who worked with Kerce
for many years for Park
Communications, stated, "I have
lost a very close friend and
colleague. I'm especially sad
because I wasn't wise enough to see
that my friend needed me.
"I extend my condolences to Jim's
family and his community. He was
one of the most talented newspaper
editors I've ever worked with. Perry
has lost a leader who probably cared
too much for his adopted home
town."
* « fiL
r wf ii liiiiß
Getting ready ...
Phillip Thomas tells Santa Claus what he wants for
Christmas this year. If you haven't been able to talk to
the "big guy" in person this year, don't worry. The
Houston Times-Journal will print all Letters to Santa in
next week's edition.
Veteran journalist Larry Hitchcock
joins the HTJ staff as News Editor
A veteran newsman with 33 years
experience in daily and weekly
newspapers, radio and television
news, marketing and public
relations has joined the Houston
Times-Journal.
Larry Hitchcock joined the Times-
Journal staff this week as news
editior, succeeding Veto Roley,
who joined the staff of the Warner
Robins Daily Sun.
Hitchcock, who is 54 today,
returned to Middle Georgia after a
31-year absence. He worked as a
sportswriter for the Macon
Telegraph in 1963.
"It is a pleasure to return to
Middle Georgia," Hitchcock said. "I
enjoyed my previous work here and
have long wanted to come back to
the area. I am looking forward to
working with the people of Perry
and Houston County."
"Larry is a welcome addition to
the Times-Journal staff. His vast
experience will help us in our goal
to produce a quality newspaper for
this community," Editor Brigette
Loudermilk said.
Prior to joining the Times-
Journal, Hitchcock was with the
Perry blasts Houston Co.
Full local sports coverage appears on — 6-7A
Prior to coming to Perry, Kerce
worked at newspapers in Atlanta,
Tallahassee, Fla., Poughkeepsie,
N.Y. and Hamxlsburg, Ky.
His striving for journalistic
excellence was recognized and
awards were given to him at the
state and national levels for writing,
layout and photography.
The Houston Home Journal, under
Kerce's leadership from 1981-1994,
won 60 association awards,
r?—„n ,
IUV.IUUIIIS UIC V.IUIUUI L>ALUIUILL
award in 1988 and 1989.
The Georgia Press Association's
General Excellence award honors
papers judged to be the "best of the
best" in state journalism each year.
No other publisher and newspaper
in the association's history has won
the honor for two consecutive
years.
Kerce's friends and current and
former employees of were shocked
to hear die news of his untimely
death.
Bobby Tuggle said said although
«f ■■ • sJplp
t Tj|
k .
Larry Hitchcock
Country News Weekly, a features
oriented publication in Winchester,
Tenn.
Hitchcock has also worked as a
sportswriter with the Chattanooga,
Tenn., Times; as sports editor and
night city editor of die Billings,
Mont., Gazette; make-up editor of
the Atlanta Constitution; regional
news editor and farm editor of die
Please see HITCHCOCK, page 11A
Kerce was a loner, he was a close
friend of his.
"He inspired me to write outdoor
articles for The Home Journal. I
will always be appreciative of him
for making me write."
Houston County Sheriff Cullen
Talton remembered his friend as a
"fair person in printing the news.
"He told it like it was," he said,
"he was a good friend of mine and a
big part of the community."
Houston County Probate Judge
Frances Annis said he had always
been "honest and straightforward"
with her about the legal ads which
the Times-Joumal publishes.
"If anything ever went wrong, he
took full responsibility of it," she
said. "He was a very dear friend, and
I'll miss him very badly."
Perry Presbyterian Church Pastor
Jim Shipley said he thought Kerce
was a "good newspaper man who
was hard driving and demanded
excellence. He took a stand on an
issue and let the chips fall where
City Council narrows list of
city manager candidates to 3
By BRIGETTE LOUDERMILK
News Editor
Perry City Council expects to
name a new City Manger before the
end of 1994 according to Mayor
Jim Worrall.
After announcing the position, die
city received 38 resumes. According
to Worrall, applications came from
Connecticut, Florida, Virginia and
several applicants are from the Mid
dle Georgia area.
The council reviewed each resume
and narrowed the list to seven
choices. The council then inter
viewed those seven and have again
narrowed the list, this time to three
names.
Those in the running for the posi
tion are:
•Janice Williams, current interim
city manager, and finance director
Trendline acquires fashions
division of Kellwood Comp.
Trendline Home Fashions, Inc., of
Perry has acquired the Home
Fashions Divisions of Kellwood
Co.
Trendline Inc., which employs
approximately 280 people at its
Perry plant, designs, manufactures
and markets a wide range of
decorative bedding products and
window treatments.
"We hope to increase our line of
decorative pillows and other
products," said Mark Schlag, chief
financial officer for Trendline.
"Our production has declined since
Sears closed its catalog sales and we
are looking to this acquisition to
increase production at the Perry
facility."
Introsul announces plans to move
into Perry small business park
Introsul, Inc., manufacturer of
cultured marble vanity tops and
wall materials, will be moving into
a new plant by die first of March.
Don Svoboda, president of
Introsul, said die company will be
breaking ground of the new 15,000
square foot facility in the Perry
Allied Small Business Park in
about three weeks.
"We have taken on Holiday Inn as
a major corporate account and we
have several other major motel and
hotel chains as customers on a
regional basis," Svoboda said, "and
the new facility will enable us to
expand our product line and produce
more of our existing products. With
the new operation, we will be able
to grow and prosper at an increasing
Index to Features
Classified 8B
Deaths 2A
Phil Clark 6A
Legals 5B
Letters 4A
PflH
r tH
gF | 1 1
Jim Kerce
diey may."
"As an editor and newspaper man,
he was definitely the best. People
who worked for Jim worked as hard
Please see KERCE, pagel 1A
for die City of Perry.
•Phillip Clark of Hayes, Kansas.
A native of the Middle Georgia
area, Hayes is the business manager
for Pick Marketing, Inc.
•Charles Dubyak, who is currently
city manager in Mary Ester, Fla.
(near Fort Walton), which is one of
die 10 fastest growing areas in the
nation.
The new City Manager will
replace Marion Hay, who resigned
from the position in June after
serving 17 years with the City of
Perry, nine of those years were as
City Manager.
"All three finalists are very well
qualified. The council is in the
middle of a final interviewing
process right now," Worrall stated
last week.
"We are very pleased by the
announcement," said Peggie
Williams, president of the Perry
Area Chamber of Commerce. "It's a
positive step forward for Trendline
and the Perry area."
Trendline Home Fashions is a
company formed by Vitale
Holdings, Inc., a Charlotte, N.C.-
based investment company with
interests in home furnishings,
furniture and related industries.
"The Vitale group brings
marketing expertise to our
company," Schlag said. "Through
this acquisition, we hope to grow
sales, increase the number of
employees in Perry and at our
Please see TRENDLINE, page 11A
rate."
Introsul, a Perry-based corporadon
since it started in 1972, currently
employs 14 people. Svoboda said
the expansion will enable the firm
to add up to 20 new jobs.
"The Houston County De
velopment Authority is proud .of
Don Svoboda and all the people at
Introsul," Steve Byrd, chairman of
die authority, said. "It is great to
see the confidence they have placed
in our area."
"We are excited about having
Introsul grow and move into our
industrial park," Perry Mayor Jim
Worrall said. "We are looking
forward to continued cooperation
and friendship."
B. Loudermilk 3A
Sports 6A
Tribble 4A
Potopurri 2B
Remember when4A