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INSI /Jk Volume 125, No. 14 Wednesday April 5,1995 50 Cents At the Crossroads this week Agricenter hosts severs! events Officials at the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter have announced a busy calendar for the month in terms of public activities at the Fairgrounds. Some 11,000 entries are expected to compete in five dog shows as part of the Peach Blossom Cluster Dog Show April 12-16. Some 400 people are expected to be involved with the Steer Power V sale of steers for showing exhibit April 15. That same day, about 150 people are expected to partic ipate in the Georgia Lamb Club Producers Association lamb sale at the Agricenter. Later in the month, about 850 persons are expected to attend the April 20-23 Georgia Good Sams Spring Samboree at the Agricenter. The Southern Events Arabian Horse Auction will be held April 28-29. The Magnolia Arabian Horse Show will be held the same weekend, April 28-30. Both events should attract more than 200 participants. United We Stand to meet Thursday Members of United We Stand, the organization founded by Ross Perot, will meet at the Warner Robins- Houston County Library, 721 Watson Blvd., Warner Robins, April 6 at 7 p.m. According to publicist Gerald M. Reed, State Senator Sonny Perdue, D- Bonaire, will speak to the organization. White Cane day is planned Members of Lions Club International, including the Perry Lions Club, will observe White Cane Day April 8. Locally, Perry Lions will be collecting donations at the intersection of Washington and Commerce streets from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. All donations go to the Georgia Lighthouse and will be used to supply eye glasses and eye surgery for people who quali fy- Persons who wish to donate old eye glasses can contact Tony Sheppard at 987-7285 or Jimmy McLeod at 987-2050. Bloodmobile to visit area Dan Callahan, chairman of the Blood Procurement Committee for the Houston- Middle Georgia chapter of the American Red Cross, has announced visits to the com munity by the Bloodmobile. April 5 Wellston Center, 155 Maple St., Warner Robins, 1-6:30 p.m. April 6 Macon County Blood Drive, National Guard Armory, Vienna Highway, Montezuma, 12:30-6 p.m. April 19 First Methodist Church, Merritt (See BLOOD, page SA) ;e Section C Holy Week And Perry Churches Houston Tlmes-Jmal Official Legal Organ for Houston County, the City of Perry and the State of Georgia Nikitopoulos: Dogwood is phenomenal success By LARRY HITCHCOCK and PAULINE LEWIS , T-J Staff Writers The 1995 Perry Dogwood Festival was a “phenomenal” success, according to Festival coordinator Karen Nikitopoulos. “I was amazed at how well everything went off. I had so much fun putting this together and I’m looking forward to next year,” she said. “I had incredible support from so many people,” Nikitopoulos said. “I couldn’t have done it without all the long hours and hard work they put in.” The car show at Rozar Park drew 63 entries, far more than expected. Bill Warren, show organizer, is already looking to next year. One probable change will be a separate category for Corvettes. The top award at the car show, the People’s Choice award, voted on by those attend ing Sunday in the Park, went to Anna White’s Volkswagen. In the stock car category, Jerry Bennett’s Volkswagen took first place and Marcus Walker’s Chevrolet was second. Tom Lingenfelter’s 1940 Ford Sedan took first in the street rods and Ronnie Green was second with his Ford Coupe. In the muscle car division, C.L. Miller placed first with his Corvette and Bob Alford’s Oldsmobile Cutlass was second. Lionel Pellietier captured first in the truck division with his Ford and James Brown’s Chevrolet took second. Mike Hayes’ 1923 Model T walked away with the antique car trophy and Mike Brennan’s Porsche was second. Winning ribbons after the Festival Parade were the Agricenter, first; Newcomers Club, second; and Classic Creations Cloggers, third. A ferret, a Vietnamese pig and several dogs were winners in the Pet Parade. Hanna Barrett’s ferret Tango took the most unusual pet com petition. Jade Prickett and her dog Lizzy captured the owner-pet look-alike category. Dave Wisniewski and his dog Tops were declared the winners in the best obedience category. Linda Cooper and her dog Benny had the best trick. Charlene Melendes and her dog Sabrina walked away with the best dressed prize. Ace Hardware’s team swept the softball tournament with a perfect 4-0 record. Team members included Leisa Billings, Daral Harrison, Trisha Bramlett, Van Herrington, Brenda Bramlett, Greg Carroll, Karen Holder, Malcolm Sistrunk, Charlotte Wall, Andy Kudzu: from the field to show stopper By PAULINE LEWIS Society Editor Diane Hoots, “the Kudzu Woman”, from Warner Robins, has turned pesky kudzu vines into friendly, useful articles such as baskets, jelly and syrup, as well as earrings which she makes from paper made from kudzu leaves. She has written a book, “101 Uses for Kudzu*' which she plans to expand with chapters about vari ous kudzu artists. She loves to teach the art of mak ing useful things out of kudzu. She has brought together a number of kudzu artists who are participating in the current Kudzu Art Exhibit at Middle Georgia College in Cochran. On March 30, Hoots assembled the Kudzu Art Exhibit, an international show, at Russell Hall at Middle Georgia College. The show was open to the public, but appointments had to be made in order for personnel to open the building housing the exhibits. Celebrating 125 years of service to the citizens of Houston County f & W ™* fir % i L, < wr* \ j 7 jf I*' JflWp, . 7 Vj mmlM ■FT • -r'" - *—• —? "X . -SI si Sif I llliE it| L \ Tlmes-Journal Photo by Eric Zellars WATCHING THE PARADE This young man takes in the Dogwood Festival parade from a tall vantage point in front of the Houston County Courthouse. Thousands turned out for activities both days. Velesquez, Robbie Dunbar, Tony Holder, Jill St. John and Donna Durden. Movie Gallery was second with a 3-2 record, followed by Perry Hospital and Calhoun Construction, each 2-2; Spitballs and Northrup I, each 1-2; Northrup II and New Perry Nursing Home, each 0-2. In the tennis tournament, John Anselmo defeated Gary Wright, 6- 4, 4-6, 6-4 to win the mens A title. Dan Heath won a 9-7 tiebreak er to defeat Kelly Waters, 6-4, 7-6 in the mens B finals. Keri Eckhardt won 6-2 to cap ture the girls 13-15 singles and Sara Bacon defeated Abby Davidson, 6-3, 6-4 to win the girls 12 and under crown. Dewayne Heard and Brandon Pfleeger defeated Brandon Spainhour and Josh Powell, 6-4,6- 3 to win the boys 13-15 doubles title. Hoots was one of the Georgia crafters selected at the exhibition at the Agricenter to be featured on QVC. She was to deliver 500 baskets to QYC to be sold on national television which she markets under the name “Krazy Kudzu Products”. Because she suf fered a broken thumb while gathering kudzu to fill this order, her family and friends came to her rescue and helped her to deliver 425 items to QVC. Hoots was one of the many crafters who had a booth at the Dogwood Festival. Her jelly and syrup were sold one bottle or jar at the time, or in large quantities. The flavor is a mild, pleasant taste, like a very good apple flavor. The blooms, from which the jelly and syrup are made, smell somewhat like grapes. The earrings and wall plaques are made of kudzu paper, dyed, cut and placed into patterns. She plans to show her products at the upcoming (See KUDZU, page SA) 11995 Festival Memories Dogwood Picture pages B2-3 David Martin captured the 13- 15 three-point basketball shooting "contest, with Ceddrick Clark tak ing second. Clark captured the free throw contest with Tripp Morath second. Alicia Clarington took the 11- 12 free throw contest. Titus Billings placed first in the 9-10 three-point contest and Fredrick Wright was second. David Grantham placed first in the free throw contest with Fredrick Williams second. Demario Clark and Gavin Trout split the 7-8 basketball titles. Clark took the three-point title with Trout second and Trout won the free throw crown with Clark sec ond. In the 5K Road Race that kicked off the Festival Saturday morning, Gary Floyd had the best overall time 16:07. Larry Adkins (See WINNERS, page SA) Airport authority members study operating airport By EMILY JOHNSTONE Special to the T-J While advertising near and far for someone to run the Perry- Houston County Airport, one Authority member thinks the answer may lie closer to home. At the April 3 meeting of the Airport Authority, chairman Leroy Claxton suggested the possibility of the Authority “running the airport on our own.” The Authority has been seeking a Fixed Base Operator to take over for Register Aviation whose con tract was not renewed. Claxton said by issuing bonds more revenue could be generated. “That would allow us to build more hangars and we would get more aircraft here to sell more fuel,” he told the board. Some members voiced concerns over liability and the amount of money it would take to be success ful with this type of venture. “In doing so, for the airport to be successful, significant investments would be required,” said board member Art Grady. “It also goes against the current trend of airport operations which is moving more toward leasing airports.”' Claxton said the authority could sub-lease various aspects of the operation. As examples of that,, he County to tax airport property in Peach County By LARRY HITCHCOCK News Editor The Georgia Legislature has passed a bill that will allow Houston County to collect ad valorem taxes on property in Peach County. The Perry-Houston County Airport Authority will be allowed to collect taxes on real and tangible personal property at the airport, which is located along the Houston- Peach county line. State Rep. • Larry Walker, D- Perry, was the driving force behind the measure, which is awaiting Gov. Zell Miller’s signature. When Miller signs to bill, it will become law on Jan. 1, 1996. The measure was prompted by a County public works unit faces backlog of work By EMILY JOHNSTONE Special to the T-J The Houston County Public Works Department has two years worth of projects already in place. That’s what the public works director, Tommy Stalnaker, told Houston County commissioners at the April 4 meeting in Perry. There are 44 projects on the list. Several of those are in the Perry area. Some work at Rozar Park, including paving and drainage “is about 80 percent done," according to Stalnaker. A parking lot is also scheduled for Rozar Park in the near future. Also on the list for the Petjfy area is working on 20 acres at the Georgia Agricenter for camper parking and digging pits at the Perry Landfill. The resurfacing of Valley Drive from Airport Road to U.S. 341 is 50 percent complete. “We hope to start back in the next 30 days to wind that one up,” said Stafford. One item the public works department will not undertake brought disagreement from a mobile home owner in Bonaire. Stalnaker recommended against spending more than $7,900 for Classified 7B Church 4B Editorials A 4 Legals 4B Home of the Georgia National Fair and Agricenter cited flight schools, maintenance shops and paint shops paying fees to provide the service. After lengthy discussion, the matter was tabled until the next meeting. In an attempt to put another long-standing issue to rest, the Authority agreed to prepare a site for a hangar for Register Aviation in exchange for Register turning over the other T-hangars to the Authority. Houston County Commission Chairman Sherrill Stafford informed the commission at it’s April 4 meeting that the Authority is likely to ask for county assistance in preparing the site. Also during the meeting, Grady showed the group a proposed layout for expansion which would divide the airport into three zones for future development. The plan would include the fol lowing: Area A -airport operations and management, PXE terminal, FBO/airport operator, private a/c storage hangars, authority owned maintenance hangar, public recep tion area/parking, fuel farm; Area B- approved privately owned hangars, corporate owned hangars, SFBO’s, specialty shops/business es; Area C- industrial development, airports expansion, large corporate a/c operations request from Houston County and Perry. Peach County and Fort Valley withdrew their financial sup port from the airport, leaving Houston County and Perry respon sible for all expenses. However, Peach County contin ues to receive ad valorem tax rev enues from property at the airport which is located in Peach County. That includes virtually all the air port buildings. “If we pay all the bills, we should be allowed to collect ad val orem taxes on property at the air port, even if it is located in Peach County,” _ Airport Authority Chairman Leroy Claxton said. drainage improvements. Despite claims from the home owner that health problems have been created by the situation, the public works director called the problems not uncommon in areas where cross drains are under the roadway. He said any improvements would likely increase the chance of adversely effecting property down stream. After viewing a video on the Rainbow House, commissioners adopted a resolution proclaiming April Child Abuse Prevention Month in Houston County. Commissioner Jay Walker called child abuse “an alarming situation in Houston County ... the sad thing is it’s not getting any better.” “We have come a long way, though,” noted commissioner Calvin Maye. In other business: • Commissioners approved an FY96 Food Stamp Distribution Budget submitted by the Department of Family and Children’s Services. The estimated cost of $102,000 is up from $87,500 budgeted for FY9S. Commissioner (See COUNTY, page SA) Obituaries A 2 Potpourri B 1 Sports A 6 Woods and Water... A 7 -*ii.