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Volume 125-No. 3
16 Pages
WEON ESDAY, JANUARY 18,1995
50 CENTS
Perry, Ga.
This Week
In Sympathy
Thomas Edwin Sandefur Sr.
Josephine Bryant B. Smith
J. Lamar Johnson
Worthie Mae Petty
Annie M. Watkins
Frances Skupas Svoboda
Seepage A 2
Don't forget!
Players preparing
Special to the T-J
The mountains of Austria are
about to come alive again with
the Perry Players’ production of
The Sound of Music.
More than 100 individuals
were at auditions and a cast of 40
was selected according to Perry
Players spokesman Donna James.
Kim Hilliard Sharpe of Ma
con will play Maria, Dave Gallo
way of Perry will play Captain
Von Trapp, and Natalie Barfield,
also of Macon, will play the
Mother Abbess.
The Vcm Trapp children are
played by Brett Copeland, Maggie
Carre 11, Nodi Goodman, Ashley
Hewitt, Meghan Kyle, Stephen
Matin and Megan Strandburg.
Sheila Clopton of Warner
Robins will play Elsa Schraeder
and Allen Burrell will be Max
Detweiler, said James.
The Sound of Music opens
Feb. 22 and runs Feb. 23-25, and
March 1-4 at 8 pm. Shows Feb.
26 and March 5 will be at 2:30
p.m. Reservations are required
and will be accepted beginning
Feb. 20 at 987-5354.
Umpires needed
Officials with the Perry Jun
ior League are in need of umpires
for the baseball season. Persons
interested can call 987-5896 or
987-1711.
Post office
begins task
of relocating
By LARRY HITCHCOCK
News Editor
The Perry Post Office will have a
new address in the not-too-distant fu
ture.
The Atlanta headquarters for the
U.S. Postal Service has called for pro
posals from persons owning property
in Perry who would have approximately
3.2 acres for sale.
The site should be within the city
limits of Perry and should have dimen
sions of approximately 310 feet-by
-430 feet
Deadline for submitting proposals
in Jan. 31, Gloria Byers of the Atlanta
Postal Service said.
“We haven’t even begun to con
sider building plans yet,” Byers said.
“Right now we are concentrating on
getting a location. Once we have con
trol on a site, then we will call for
proposals from contractors. Once tire
building is complete, we will lease the
facility from the builder.”
The Perry Post Office has been at its
present location at the coiner of Carroll
and Meeting streets since 1960, ac
cording to Bruce Woodard, supervisor
of customer services.
“We’ve outgrown the facility,”
Woodard said. “We only have seven
parking spaces for our customers in a
aty with apopulation of 15,000. There
ire 1,261 post office boxes and our
obby is much too small.”
Postmaster Butch Kirkley heads a
staff of 22 employees in the Perry facil
ity-
{HP
Houston Times- Jouml
Perry 76, Peach 74
Panthers win in overtime A 6
Official Legal Organ for Houston County, City of Perry and the State of Georgia
New Perry City Manager begins duties
By LARRY HITCHCOCK
News Editor
Phil Clark, Perry’s new city manager, is a firm
believer in the old saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix
iL”
“My main focus is to continue what’s being
done,” Clark said in an interview Friday in his office
at City Hall.
“I don’t plan on any big changes. We have an
excellent staff and political structure here. Things are
running smoothly, which is a big advantage over
some cities.”
Clark’s first day on the job was Jan. 10. “I pretty
much hit the ground running,” Clark said. “I worked
on the agenda for the city council meeting and on
getting a run down from Janice Williams (the interim
city manager).”
Clark, whqwasasalesrepresentativefor an office
Remembering a fallen leader
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IN MEMORY Services Sunday and Monday paid tribute to the late Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr. A program at Piney Grove Baptist Church Sunday included (above) music by the St. James
Connection Choir of Perry. The Rev. Wilburn of St. James C.M.E. Church (lower left) pauses in
prayer during services. Marchers pass through the city of Perry Monday (lower right) from
Oldfield Baptist Church to St. James where a program was held.
■
Perry Chamber members
to celebrate 40th birthday
By Jj JOHNSON
Times-Joumal editor
Members of the Perry Area Cham
ber of Commerce will celebrate 40
years of service to the community by
the chamber this week.
The celebration will come during
the 39th annual meeting of the cham
ber Jan. 19 at 7 p.m. at the Roquemore
Convention Center at the Georgia Na
tional Fairgrounds and Agricenter.
Chief Justice Willis Hunt of the
Georgia Supreme Court will be the
speaker for the occasion. Among the
activities of the evening will be presen
tation of several awards for outstand
ing community service and the instal
lation of Rusty Wood as the new chair
man of the organization.
Chamber President Peggie H. Wil
liams said about 250 persons are ex
pected to attend the event, the first the
chamber has held in the newly-opened
Roquemore center.
Hunt, a native of Houston County,
has been chief justice of the state su
preme court for about 10 months. He
was a justice in the court for several
years after having served as a superior
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court judge in the Houston Superior
Court for many years.
Hunt recendy gave a state of the
court speech to members of the Geor
gia General Assembly. The speechmay
be Hunt's only speech of that nature to
the legislature because he is a nominee
for a federal j udgeship in northern Geor
gia.
Two years ago, Hunt kept chamber
members well entertained while he in
troduced his good friend, U.S. Sam
Nunn, D-Ga„ to the chamber meeting.
Williams said the meeting would
include a celebration of 40 years of
service to the community by the cham
ber. Several past presidents are ex
pected to be on hand and some of the
original members of the chamber, still
represented among the membership,
will be recognized.
Perry Mayor Jim Worrall has de
clared Thursday as Perry Area Cham
ber of Commerce Day in the city "in
recognition of all the many accom
plishments of the Perry Area Chamber
of Commerce and for making the City
of Perry a better community in which
to live and work."
Happy birthday Perry Chamber
Salute on 40th birthday of group B4, B 5
supply firm in Hays, Kan., before accepting the Perry
post, sees his job as a low-profile one.
“As any city manager should do, I’ll stay in the
background and help the mayor and council get work
done,” he said.
“I’ll assist the mayor and council with several
projects that are on the drawing board now the
new city hall and remodeling die present city hall into
new headquarters for the police department,” Clark
said.
“I’ll be working with the department heads to
build a team which will provide the citizens of Perry
a good city government. We’ll be working to estab
lish a sound budget that will give the people the
services they want,” he said.
Clark is a former executive director of the Oconee
Regional Development Center. He was also director
of the Macon-Bibb County Planning and Zoning
Times-Journal Photos by Eric Zsllars
The Perry Area
Chamber of Commerce
Williams said Wood would take
over the chairmanship of the organiza
tion from John Sundquist, who will
become immediate past chairman and
continue to serve on the chamber board
of directors.
Among the items which Sundquist
is expected to mention inhischairman's
report are the 18 ribbon cuttings and
two ground breakings which the cham
ber helped sponsor during 1994.
Williams said Sundquist also will
probably point to the 47 new chamber
members gained during the past year
and the graduation of 16 people from
the Leadership Perry program as sig
(See BIRTHDAY, Page AS)J
Department and planning and zoning administrator
for the city of Roswell.
“My previous experience in planning and zoning
has given me an excellent background in all areas of
government. Planning and zoning works closely with
city governments. It helped me understand the politi
cal process ” Clark said.
Clark doesn’t see annexation as a way to improve
the city, “unless the people want it and the city can
afford to expand services to include the area that
wants to be annexed.”
He sees the Georgia Agricenter as a boost to the
city. “It is having a tremendous positive impact on
Perry and should continue to add a great deal to the
city’s stature as the years go by,” Clark said.
Clark believes the city should continue to do
(See MANAGER, Page A 5)
No date set for
opening of new
community center
Council sets rules for use, plans
$200,000 loan to complete work
By LARRY HITCHCOCK
News Editor
No official date has yet been set for
the opening of the new Perry Commu
nity Center at Rozar Park, but the city
council has approved rules and regula
tions which will govern the operation
of the center.
“We’re waiting for the parking lot
to be paved before we have the grand
opening,” new City Manager Phil Clark
said. “We don’t want to have people
walking through mud to get to the new
facility.”
While it won ’ t de lay the center open
ing, the city is looking for any dona
tions from citizens or businesses to
help reduce the amount of money the
city will have to borrow to complete the
project.
“We are looking for any help in the
way of landscaping, furnishing, equip
ment or woik on the ball fields,” Coun
cilman Buddy Roper said.
The council authorized the mayor
and city manager to borrow up to
$200,000 in tax anticipation or short
term notes to complete work on the
center.
The Older American Council re
quested a lease on part of the facility
and the council tentatively approved
the lease at its last meeting. Subject to
objections by OAC Regional Director
Linda Hampton, the lease would grant
the OAC exclusive use of the back
rooms of the center Monday through
Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
The city would be able to use the rooms
for other senior citizens activities at
other times.
Woods sets major goals
for 1995 chamber year
By Jj JOHNSON
Times-Journal Editor
When Rusty Wood assumes the
chairmanship of the Perry Area Cham
ber of Commerce during the annual
meeting of the organization Jan. 19, he
will immediately begin to work on two
major goals for the 1995 chamber year.
"Our most important task this year
has to do with support of the 21st
Century Partnership and keeping Rob
ins Air Force Base off the Base Re
alignment and Closure Commission
final list," Wood said earlier this week.
"While most of the work has been
done in preparation of the B RAC study,
and while Maj. Gen. William P. Hallin,
commander of the Air Logistics Cen
ter, feels good about the situation, we
must be prepared to do whatever is
needed," Wood said.
He said he was pleased that Perryan
Tom Daniel has agreed to head both the
local effort and the Middle Georgia
Military Affairs Committee.
"This is a big job and I'm glad he has
.agreed to do this for us," Wood said of
Daniel, a formerpresident of the cham
ber.
Features
Classified ~..88 L. Hitchcock ..A4
Legals B 6 Editorials A 4
Potpourri B 1 Obituaries A 2
Sports A 6 Phil Clark A 6
PHIL CLARK
New City Manager
The Tease agreement also calls for
joint use of the kitchen and crafts room
during the day, with the schedule to be
coordinated by the city recreation de
partment and the OAC.
The operating hours of the center
are to be from 9 ajn.-lOpm. Monday
through Friday and from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
on Saturdays. Sunday afternoons will
be available by prior arrangement with
the recreation department
If the facilities is rented for special
events, such as family reunions or ban -
quets, it must be vacated by 11 p.m. on
the day of the event
The community room or gymna
sium will not be available for decorat
ing before 5 p.m. on the day the facili
ties are rented unless extra time is ap
proved by the recreation director, ac
cording to the rules.
All decorations or special equip
ment must be approved by the recre
ation department Where the decora
tions are to be placed and how they will
be attached must also be approved.
At the conclusion of the event rent
ers must clean up the facility, including
the removal of all decorations and
materials used in attaching the decora
tions.
When kitchen facilities are used, all
dishes and cooking utensils which be
long to the community center must be
washed and stored immediately after
they are used.
If traffic control is needed for any
event it will be the responsibility of the
renter to arrange for and provide the
(See RECREATION, Page A 5)
The second of Woods' two major
goals has to do with economic devel
opment. Woods praised the chamber
fra - working with governments in the
county to drop the tax on inventory,
making the county more competitive
for industries.
Woods said that during recent years,
state officials have reminded local lead
ers Houston County and its three mu
nicipal governments were among the
only governments along 1-75 which
collected inventory taxes.
Woods said that with the institution
of Freeport, and the new focus on the
Perry Allied Small Business Park, he
expected the park to be filled within
five years,
But those aren't the only goals
Woods will be focusing on this year.
He is excited about the 18 persons
enrolled in the Leadership Perry class.
The group held a two-day retreat at
Mcßae this past weekend, and both
Woods and Perry Area Chamber Presi
dent Peggie H. Williams believe the
group got off to a good start.
(See WOODS, Page AS)