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A candle for Lorene
As I reached down to light the candle inside the
small, colorfully printed white bag. I looked at the
label a* Hg|Kjr]
unteer had J I 1
attached ■ ‘ s §?
i" "u-m Johnson HI
ory of t 4/Bm feT
!: '* r c " ?. Editor
W hitworth.
the label
read This was a poignant moment for me I was
standing along the east curve of the Perry High
School track, and I was lighting a candle as part of
a luminary service at the Relay for Life May 15
Barely five years earlier. I had been one of the
three sons-m-law who were pallbearers for Lorene
Whitworth The memories of walking beside that
casket into the Martin
Baptist Church in
A 1 survivor She lived
good treatment and
enjoyed those extra 25
years she got to see her
three daughters complete school, get married, set
up homes and begin laising her grandchildren
In the end. a massive heart attack brought death
(See CANDLE, Page 5.41
Lazy, hazy days are here
Those hazy la/> days of summer seem to have
arrived early, haven't they'.’
According to Georgia Forestry employee Willie
Vance, some of ihat ha/e Perryans have seen the
past few davs .. qbkh
Min' Emily
Johnstone !
m the nnd Times Journal
West. Staff
Vance said
smoke from
the blaze has
been caught up in the jet stream which flows from
west to east across the country, hence the smoke
over Georgia
At times. Georgia Forestry personnel are called
to help battle fires in other parts of the country, he
added
• ••
There have been a number of meetings recently
regarding the much-ballyhooed Slate House Bill
489
When n f irst came onto the scene, many thought
this would be the vehicle that would help consoli
date and streamline services counties and munici
palities provide to consumers.
“Eliminate duplication of services! was the
battle-cry
And. it you don't, we will cut out your state
'funding and do other rotten things to you. said the
State of Georgia.
I have heard some people in my business snick
er about that Yeah. sure, state law makers are going
to let their constituents suffer because county and
municipal officials have not done their thing
Anyway the State >ent information about how
they expect counties and municipalities to work
together to eliminate duplication of services in
area' such as recreation, planning and zoning and
fire protection.
Law enforcement was said to be included ini
tially Then, some said it would not be included
because of the turf battles that, would erupt
between sheriffs and police chiefs. (And you
thought only gangs had turf battles.)
Discussions I heard at a recent meeting about
local emergency services left the impression this
may still be an issue
I have noticed a recurring word at these meet
ings regarding H 8489 That word is “vague."
“The wording is somewhat vague.” “What
needs to be done in that area is vague."
No one seems to really know what they are sup
posed to be doing.
Except the State of Georgia, which says if coun
ties and municipalities do not toe the line like good
See JOHNSTONE. Page sA*>
Houston Times-Journal
PO Drawer M • 807 Carroll Sr • Perry. Ga 31069
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LS
Group to host Memorial Day service May 25
Editor:
On Memorial Day. we the living arc
the memorial for those who have given
their lives in service to our country.
They live only through us Wc cither
honor or dishonor their memories.
Wc will pay tribute May 25. at 11
a m at the Perry Memorial Gardens
Cemetery along U S 41 North at
Thompson Road Wc will honor those
who have died from warfare or sur
vived to continue the fight for free
dom
Wars were not won or America built
by the wealthy, bv the influential or by
the dedication of 1 (K) percent of the
people, but by a large minority who
were dedicated to the cause of freedom
and democracy. These people were the
ones willing to sacrifice, fight, and die
if necessary
On May 25. Memorial Day, I ask
~The Peanut Gallery
Foreman-Holmes
f May th( bcst\
OLD wr MN. J
(ocHTS@h om.^et
Death Valley—you might be surprised!
I have warned to visit Death Valley
since I was a little kid and watched
"Death Valley Days on our family's
tiny-screened television set
I remember the program was spon
sored h> Twenty-Mule Team Borax
We never used the product, but I vivid
ly remember those big wagons being
pulled by all those mules
As I got older, occasionally I'd see
pictures or read about The Devil's
Golf Course and "Scotty’s Castle."
and I wanted to see those places
myself I also wanted to stand at the
lowest place in the United States. 2X2
feet below sea level
But Death Valley was a place of
surprises I.ittle was as I expected it to
be
1 thought that we would reach
Death Valley by traveling over desert,
territory similar to what we'd seen
elsewhere in the Southwest, only the
elevation would continually drop. Oh.
there might be a few mountains out in
the distance, but mostly we d just be
traveling on long, hot highways to get
there.
Not so the only way to reach
Death Valley is by crossing over
mountains. On the east is the
Armagosa Range, made up of the
Grapevine Mountains, the Funeral
Mountains, and the Black Mountains.
On the west is the Panamint Range,
made up of the Cottonwood
Mountains. Tucki Mountain, and a
whole bunch of specifically named
peaks, including the highest mountain
around. Telescope Peak, at 11,049
feet. So. anywhere you look in Death
Valley, you are surrounded by big
mountains.
We expected desolation everywhere
we looked Instead, we found huge
Our Policies
Unsigned editorials appearing in larger type on this page
under the label Our Views reflect the position of the Houstbn
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ters to 3(X) words and include addresses and a telephone
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Page 4A
- Wad., May 30,1990
Letters to
the Editor
P.O. Drawer M,
Perry, Go. 31069
you to attend our ceremonies at The
Memorial Gardens, and to pause and
hear the words of those wc honor this
day Then with head held high, shoul
ders back and a prayer in our hearts,
wc fight on to another victory.
Don Norris. Commander
6th District
American Legion Department of
Cicorgia
Poppies on sale
Editor:
For more than 70 years, the little
...and He saw 01 ■
it was good
Dennis Hooper,
Columnist
quantities of brilliant yellow wildflow
ers. called "Desert Gold." There were
also several varieties of purple and
white wildflowers By March when we
visited. El Nino had already provided
the area with twice its average annual
rainfall The unusual beauty we
observed happens rarely about once
every 10 years
Another surprise was the "alluvial
lans." I had never heard these words
before, but all the literature describing
Death Valley made reference to "allu
vial fans.” I thought at first that they
must be some kind of unusual rock
formation, maybe something that
stood up like Spanish dancing fans
We learned that "alluvial" refers to
the sediment deposited by flowing
water, as in a river bed So. alluvial
fans are the gradually sloping down
hill areas that “fan" out from the
mountain canyons. When it rains, the
water flows in channels down the
mountains, carrying with it sand and
gravel and boulders. When the water is
no longer contained by the canyon
walls, it spreads out and slows down,
depositing the solid particles on the
ground.
In arid places like Death Valley, the
water quickly dries up. leaving these
"alluvial fans.” They are everywhere,
having occurred with each rainfall for
millions of years. So. the mountains
don't just rise straight up from the val
ley floor there is a gradual rise on
occupied by the error
We cannot be responsible for the return of pictures or sub
mitted materials unless a stamped, return address envelope is
included.
Our Goal
The Houston Times-Joumal is published proudly for the
citizens of Houston and adjoining counties by Houston
Publications Inc.. Perry. Ga Our goal is to produce quality,
profitable, community-onentedjiewspapers that you. our
readers, are proud ot We will reach this goal through hard
work, teamwork, loyalty and a strong dedication toward
printing the truth
Member of Georgia Press Association and National
red buddy poppy has been sold to ben
efit America's veterans and their fami
lies. Local members of the veterans of
foreign wars will be selling buddy
poppies May 23-25 at various places
in Perry
Show your gratitude to America's
veterans. Buy and wear a buddy
poppy Your donation directly helps
needy and disabled veterans and their
families
Judy Poss
Ladies VFW Auxiliary President
Perry
Vandals at the gates of justice
Editor:
On May 14. 1973. six members of
the Alday family were brutally mur
dered in Seminole County. Ga Twenty
five years have passed and there has
been no closure, f was a senior in high
w
f
both the east and west sides of Death
Valley up to the mountains.
We were surprised to learn that
Death Valley National Park is the
largest national park outside Alaska
We didn t even travel on all the roads
in IX-ath Valley the place is too big.
Standing at the base of one set of
mountains and looking across the val
le\. you can sec the other mountains
clearly; yet the base of those other
mountains are 12 miles away.
In between is lots of water, we were
surprised at how much There are
many springs, and as noted earlier, it
does rain occasionally. Ultimately,
however, all the water runs to the low
est point the area known as
“Badwaler" The sign beside the road
slates that at this point, you are 282
feet below sea level.
This collection of water is extreme
ly salty, and there is no runoff what
ever comes in ultimately evaporates. A
crusty mud composed of white salt
and dirt surrounds this "lake " The
largest example of this while crunchy
stuff is “The Devil's Golf Course." a
huge area where continual evaporation
has created large pointed, grotesque
shapes Both here and in the Badwater
area, the soil crumples when you walk
on it. sinking beneath your weight.
We usually focus on God’s cre
ations when we travel and there is a
lot of God’s beauty around Death
Valley But on this tnp. we were also
intrigued by “Scotty’s Castle."
a large estate built by two unlikely
partners in the search for gold. I’ll
share the interesting story of Scotty’s
Castle next week.
(Folio w Perry resident Dennis
Hooper's travelogue weekly in the
Times-Journal.)
Houston Times-Journal
school, only two weeks from gradua
tion. when my family was murdered
In a few weeks my daughter will grad
uate from the University of Georgia,
and Carl Isaacs still sits on death row
with (hat sly smirk on his face.
History is written by the victors It
is quite obvious who the losers arc in
the Alday case Since my family will
not be permitted the last words, any
thing that I write is moot So. I will
keep this letter short and to the point
The Alday family had a dog named
“Tub". He saw the bodies removed
from the enme scene, and he just
couldn't get over it He went out into
the field and laid down, refused to eat
or sleep, wouldn’t let anyone touch
him. and over a period of time his hair
fell out. exposing rib bones that pro
(See LETTERS, Page SA)
Bob EH
Tribble Kn
Times | 1
Journal President L m
Northeast Ga. beautiful
this time of year
Northeast Georgia is beautiful this
time of the year When traveling up
US 441 toward Clayton, the view of
the mountains on both sides is fantas
tic.
Although the elevation of Clayton
is only about 2.300 feet above sea
level, it seems somewhat higher I
would guess that the tall mountains
around the pretty little town rise
another 1,500-1.800 feet.
I have always loved Northeast
Georgia. I guess some of the reason is
that 1 was raised there, if you can call
Lavonia Northeast Georgia. Lavonia.
if you remember, is the hometown of
former Gov. Ernest Vandiver. He now
has a section of interstate 1-85 named
in his honor.
My birthplace was within rock
throwing distance of where Gov.
Vandiver grew up Just across the
field, so to speak
When I was a youngster. Ernest
was already serving the country dur
ing WWII. After the war he came back
to Lavonia as a young attorney and
was later elected mayor, the youngest
mayor in the state at the time
Gov Vandiver's father had a dream
and he let it be known throughout the
area what that dream was He wanted
his son to be governor of the state of
Georgia one day I don't remember it
Mr Vandiver lived long enough to see
Ernest take office, but if not, he was
surely looking through the "holes in
the floors of heaven " on that day
Mr Vandiver was a merchant,
farmer or anything else that would
make him a dollar I can recall going
to his cotton gin. located not far from
his home, on several occasions with a
load of cotton to be ginned and baled
Picking cotton wasn't my expertise I
could pick all day long and not have a
hundred pounds come sunset.
Back to beautiful Northeast
Georgia. Our company held a general
managers retreat above Toccoa on
May 8-9 We met and stayed at
Trembly Bald Resort. Part of the
lodge was constructed in the 1800 s. as
well as the Stagecoach Inn. and sever
al other cabins on the site To say the
least, it was an enjoyable two days
and a good place to have a business
meeting.
On Saturday part of our group had
the opportunity to meet with three
ladies representing Toccoa. The
Chamber President and Main Street
manager explained to us some of the
things which are going on in down
town. New sidewalks with broken
brick are being put down, several
buildings have been renovated and an
antique mall is opening soon in a
38.000 square foot building given the
city by Belk-Gallant. Toccoa is a nice
town and things are happening there
One thing which has always been an
attraction in Northeast Georgia is the
(See TOCCOA, page SA)
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