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Viewpoints
Our
Views
A warning for Perry
There's good front page news this week
for everyone in Perry who's gotten a little
nervous about making it through this season
of storms and tornados with no weather
sirens.
A grant for over 542.000 is heading our
way. These funds, awarded by the Federal
Emergency Management Agency, will pay
the lion's share of the cost of an up-to-date
warning system.
We commend Perry City Manager Skip
Nalley, Fire Chief Gary Hamlin, and the
mayor and council for the steps they have
taken to correct a very serious and very dan
gerous situation, in which lives could be lost
unnecessarily.
No city is immune to the catastrophic
effects of natural disasters and no city
should be without a warning system to give
its citizens a fair chance of taking shelter in
case of imminent danger.
We are relieved to see this grave problem
is going to be solved soon, and we trust that
the elected leaders of this city will not again
allow the citizens to be put at risk by having
no warning system in place.
Tree can be planted
during the summer
Planting trees in the summer is not usually a
good idea. Bare root and balled and burlapped
trees arc best transplanted when they are dormant.
The months of December. January. February, and
March arc the ideal for them to be planted.
Container-grown trees can be transplanted any
time of year if they are watered frequently.
I have heard of people planting trees or roses in
their yard to mark special occasions. The most
exciting day of my life was May 21. 1994. the day
my wile and I were married. The second most
exciting day of my life was May 31. 1998 when
our daughter Mary Kaitlyn was bom. I missed out
Ricky
Wheeler
County Extension
Service
on planting
anything in
honor of the
first occasion,
so I thought I
would plant a
tree in honor
of the second
occasion. I
did a little research and thought I would share it
with you.
Be sure to select a nursery grown tree. Do not
transplant from the woods. It may seem cheaper
hut nursery grown trees have a better survival rate
and less chance of disease.
When buying container-grown trees, check to
make sure the root system is not pot bound. If it is
pot bound, slightly hreak up the root ball just prior
to planting. Select trees which have been pruned
properly. Trees should not have stem faults like
vertical cracks, wet patches, bark scrapes, or
branches all coming from the same point on the
stem. Do not use trees with Hat tops and avoid
forked main stems at all costs.
A planting hole for the new tree should be at
least two Iccl w ider than the root ball and six to 12
inches deeper. In our clay soils in Houston County
it wouldn't hurt to dig the hole deeper and wider
than that.
A thorough watering helps settle the soil around
the recently planted tree. Alter planting, water the
tree every day for two weeks, followed by two
weeks of every other day watering. Then you can
slowly decrease the watering to once a week.
Water slowly to prevent run-off. Tree watering is
essential to tree health.
A mulch can aid in preventing loss of water
from the soil during dry periods, reducing weed
problems, and minimizing soil compaction. The
mulch needs to be two to three inches deep alter
settling. The mulch should extend well beyond the
foliage spread ol the trees to be effective.
Fertilization should be done in early spring
regardless of when the tree was planted. A lawn
fertilizer like 10-10-10 can be used. Broadcast the
fertilizer making sure not to concentrate it close to
the trunk. As when planting anything, taking a soil
sample is always a good idea to determine soil ler
(ilily levels.
Remember to keep the tree from mechanical
injury from law n mowers, and weed caters. If you
have any questions, please call the Houston
County Kxtension office at 9X7-2028.
(Hi<k\ Wheeler is an af<cnr with the Houston
Counts Extension Sen tee.)
Houston Times- Journal
PO. Drawer M • 807 Carroll Si • Perry. Ga. 31 < Hi l )
email timesjm 4>'hum.net
I'H’t VS7-IS2.' (voice) • iOIUi 9KH-lIKI tlax)
Hob nibble President
Jl lohiiM.ii I alitor and General Manager
Slh-rn Wenulei Advertising Direelor
News I.only Joliioione. I’.hi line |.cvvi. Joan Dorset!.
New. and C 'otu|>oMiinn: Charlotte Perkins.' S|>orls and
< Ia" lik'd \d' ('had Lewis; C'lieiilalion and Photopraphv:
In. /ell n Ifookkccpme I’aula /inimeiniaii
JK" f' V®
Thank heaven for little boys (and chocolate souffle, too!)
An eagerly awaited new arrival into
the Times-Jnuni(i\ family has made an
appearance!
Our ace bookkeeper. Paula
Zimmerman, delivered a baby boy.
Randall Michael, last Wednesday
morning at 9:25 a.m.
We had all kept Paula advised of
what day and lime we would like
Randall (we then called him Baby Z)
to be born, telling her when we would
be busy, at meetings and such.
Mondays and Tuesdays were no-no
days but Wednesdays were OK.
As usual, she came through for us.
not delivering on a deadline day.
Randall is a beautiful baby and is
being welcomed home by not only
mom and dad. but also big sister Holly.
Holly is looking forward to being a
good older sister. We all know you will
be the greatest. Holly!
~The Peanut Gallery
4|44fA 4 4 4 t\
IVf were right.
Congressman. IVe tfffot—- \ I
JUST DIDN'T HAVE iftTll T
ENOUGH MONEY TO
KEEP EfGHTtNG *->■**■ Iff P(
MfCROSOfT fN JZi and '"~'A / /
Court. I /**~ ~~ ,
etJMm \
The awesome power of Mount St. Helens
Mount St Helens, just north of the
Oregon border in the state of
Washington, made big news when it
erupted in May of 1980. A visitor cen
ter west of the mountain, near
Interstate 5. provides an excellent
overview for the passing traveler who
doesn't have enough time to actually
visit the site of the eruption.
The Weyerhaeuser Cos. owns much
of the land around Mount St. Helens.
Cleaning up all the trees that had
been knocked down by the blast or
killed by the heat was a major effort.
All ol those areas have since been
replanted. Most ol the hills arc green
again, covered with douglas firs
approaching 20 years old.
The U. S. Forest Service manages
the Mount St. Helens National
Volcanic Monument. For research pur
poses. the I K).(KK) acres have been left
in their natural state following the
eruption. The contrast between the
monument land and Weyerhaeuser
land is immediate and obvious the
one is predominantly gray and brown,
with rocks and dead trees, and the
other is vibrantly green with new
growth.
We entered the Coldwater Ridge
Visitor Center just in time to hear an
enthusiastic ranger describing condi
tions ai Mount St. Helens just before
the blast. Using excellent photographs
and maps, he dramatically described
the sequence of events on that unusu
ally clear morning ol May 18. 1980.
We proceeded up the road to the
Johnson Ridge Observatory. In clear
weather, it's a great viewpoint just
north of and across from the crater.
To our disappointment, dense fog
shrouded the mountain on the day we
Our Policies
Cnsigned editorials appearing in larger type on this page
under the label Our Views reflect the position of the Houston
Tiines-Joutnul Signed columns and letters on this page (and
elsewhere in this newspaper) reflect the opinions of the writ
ers and nut necessarily those of this newspaper
Signed letters to ihe editor are v denoted. Please limit let
ters to 300 words and include addiesses and a telephone
number lor verilication purposes I .iters are not published
without verilication. Letters should be sent to P.O Drawer
\l. Perry. Gu.. 31069 or brought to the newspaper office at
807 Carroll St IVrrv
<ho ' ihty for .hi error w ill not exceed the cost ol space
Page 4A
Wed.. Jul> I. IWH
Emily
Johnstone
Times-Journal Staff
By the way, (hanks to all of the
advice given to us by the people across
the street at the sheriff’s office of how
to "encourage" Paula to go into labor.
•••
Several of us were among a group
of people who were invited to enjoy
some of the fare The Langston House
1838. located in Henderson, will be
serving. *
The Langston House 1838 is a part
of the newly completed Henderson
Village, a resort type facility with a
theme of Old South that will cause you
...and He saw
it was good
Dennis Hooper,
Columnist
visited.
Still, there are excellent exhibits and
a terrific movie describing "A Message
from the Mountain". Upon entering the
theater, one hears the sound system
rumble ominously. The sense of some
thing big about to happen is generated
before the movie ever starts.
After showing the eruption at nor
mal speed with movies and photos
taken from a variety of vantage points,
the film describes each of the individ
ual stages of the eruption.
During the months ol March and
April 1980, hot magma and gases built
up inside the mountain. Though some
of the local people weren't taking the
scientific reports seriously, the many
specialists who llew in from around
the world knew something was immi
nent.
The accumulation of liquid and gas
caused the top and north side of the
mountain to swell. Just imagine —a
mountain composed of supposedly
solid rock swells, growing in size by a
couple of inches each day!
Something had to give. An earth
quake of a 5.1 magnitude on the
Richter scale provided the impetus.
The bulging mountain was overcome
by gravity. The largest recorded land
slide in the earth's history brought the
north face of the mountain down into
the valley, crushing everything in its
60 mile an hour path.
occupied by the error
We cannot be responsible lor the return ol pictures or sub
mitted materials unless a stamped, return address envelope is
included.
Our Goal
The Houston Timcs-Jnumal is published proudly for the
citizens ol Houston and adjoining counties by Houston
Publications Inc.. Perry. Ga. Our goal is to produce c|iialitv.
profitable, community-oriented newspapers that you. our
rcadeis. aie pioud ol We will reach this goal through hard
work teamwork, loyalty and a strong dedication toward
priming die truth.
Menihci ol Georgia Piess Association and National
•V i
to think moonlight and magnolias the
minute you step foot on the grounds. It
is truly beautiful.
The service at the restaurant was
excellent and the food prepared by
renowned chef Francois dcMeloguc
was mouth-watering.
Judy Johnson and I especially loved
the chocolate souffle, while her hus
band. Jj, enjoyed a salmon dish and
my husband. Rick, was thrilled with a
specially prepared pork dish.
No matter the flavor of the dish, the
ambiance at the Langston House 1838
was great.
General Manager David Dew and
Assistant General Manager Brent
Wiesehhorsler were both gracious
hosts and made sure the evening was
memorable for all of us.
To all the staff, our best wishes for
the future of your unique, lovely facil-
I
□
With the crust of rock out of the
w ay. the pressurized magma and gases
were released. A lateral blast of super
heated ash and debris roared across the
landscape at 3(H) mph' Watching close
ly. you can see in the movie the cloud
racing from the mountain, overtaking
the leading edge of the landslide, and
ripping trees from the ground.
The remaining pressure was now
free to vent vertically, sending plumes
of ash 15 miles into the sky. Gases and
liquids cooled in the atmosphere and
solidified into rocks which pelted the
surrounding area for hours
Dusi covered eastern Washington
anil Oregon, turning the rest of that
day into night and choking air intake
systems ol cars, buildings, and
humans.
By the afternoon, molten rock
poured out ol the hole in the side of the
mountain, creating a smooth How of
pumice across the valley lloor nearest
the volcano. Water trapped by this
How quickly boiled, creating trapped
pockets of steam that exploded like
geysers.
The heat of the blast melted the
snow and glacial ice that had covered
the mountain. The water mixed with
ash to form huge mud Hows which
choked the Toullc River and continued
as far north as the Columbia River.
At the end of the movie, the screen
and the red curtain behind it rise to
reveal a large window giving a view of
Mount St. Helens today. Of course, on
this particular day. all we saw was
while cloud —but it is a creative and
dramatic finish to an excellent, capti
vating documentary.
Houston Times -Journal
(See HOOPER. Page SA)
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ity.
•••
As you will read elsewhere in this
edition, the Federal Emergency
Management Agency has awarded
grant monies for new weather sirens
for Perry.
Thanks to the diligent work of Perry
City Manager Skip Nalley and Perry
Fire Chief Gary Hamlin we may soon
have another audio outdoor system to
warn us in event of coming severe
weather.
When you know a severe storm is
headed your way and you know part of
the system to warn you in event of a
tornado is inoperable, you worry not
only about your own safety, but the
safety of those around you.
We will be sure to keep you updat
ed on the purchase and installation of
these devices.
Bob
Tribble
Times-
Journal President
Just a quarter’s
worth will do
The story is told about a young
child who was picked up at the school
bus stop one day by an elderly neigh
bor. The elderly man felt like the child
would like to go to the store, so they
stopped by on their way home.
As the young lad and elderly man
walked into the country store, the man
asked the child what he wanted.
“I don’t have any money,” the child
replied.
The elderly man responded , “I did
n't ask you if you had any money. I
asked you what you wanted.”
The lad responded. “Well. I don't
have any money, but if you’re going
to buy me something, just get me one
of those quarter pies."
The man asked. "Don't you want
something to drink with that pic?” The
child replied. “No sir. just a quarter's
worth will do."
If we will examine this true story,
we will find that there are some
lessons we can learn from it.
The first lesson to be learned is that
this young lad was telling the elderly
man that he didn't love him for what
he could buy for him. He loved him
simply because he loved him. and he
didn’t want to lake advantage of that
love. He probably would have
enjoyed a big. cold drink to go with
that quarter pie. but his answer was
“just a quarter's worth will do."
Would not it be great if everyone
could develop the altitude of that
young child. Not loving someone
because of w hat they can do for us. or
for how much money they have but
loving them just because we love
them. Nothing more, nothing less.
The second lesson to be learned
from this story is w hat the elderly man
teaches. You sec. he did not feel that
he was being taken advantage of He
offered because he loved the child
Again, would not it be great it
everyone could learn the lesson the
elderly man is teaching, that being to
give simply because you want to give.
Not giving for sell glory, or for what
we hope to receive in return, but just
giving because we love and want to
give. Nothing more, nothing less.
Finally, there is at least one more
lesson we can learn from this story.
Often we shortchange ourselves by
not asking more from our heavenly
Father.
The Bible tells us to pray about all
this, no matter how large or how
small. It also tells us to ask and it will
be given. Sometimes I wonder if we
really believe that Our Father loves to
give to His children, but sometimes
He doesn't. simply because we refuse
to ask.
Many years ago when I was 14 or
15 years old. I decided to lake the
family car and ride uptown with my
friends. Neither my lather nor mother
was at home, so against my better
(Sec TRIBBLE, PagesA)
pRI
* k