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MEUSSA HOVANES
FP: Did you work for NCR for basically your entire career?
HY: Pretty much, yeah. For 36 years. ^ i
FP: Did you start working with them right out of high school?
HY: No, I enrolled in the Afmy. I was in the U.S. Army for
two years...
If you drive out past Bumey-Harris-Lyons Middle School to
the end of Tallassee Road and hang a left, you come to a big
artificial lake. Clarke County partnered with Barrow, Jackson
and Oconee counties to build Bear Creek Reservoir, which was
completed in 2002. The watershed authority pumps water from
the Middle Oconee River into the reservoir; . T' ffi-
Here in Athens, we get some of our drinking water from this
storage facility, especially when drought decreases flows in the
North and Middle Oconee rivers. You can take a boat out on the
water, as long as it doesn't have a gas motor. Heyward Young
works in the building where you can buy the permit.
FP: And you were active duly, I guess?
HY: Yes. Ft. Jackson, SC, and then Ft Bragg, NC, and
then back to Ft Jackson, SC. That's where I spent my entire
two-year Army career. We kept the communists from invading
Columbia, SC. We did a good job [laughs]. $ V '
Flagpole: How did you get started working here?
Heyward Young: What got me started? Well, I guess I
was at the wrong place at the wrong time [laughs]. Well, £m
retired, number one. And I knew some people—this is run by
FP: Did you meet your wife after you were out of the Army;
HY: Yes, 1964,1 guess... here in Athens.
FP: How did you meet?
HY: Uh, we went to kind of a party and I
met her there. We dated for, oh, gosh, over a
year—15,16 months, something like that—
and we got married in November of 1965.
FP: What do you do with your time other
than working here?
HY: Well, I hunt, I fish, I play golf. I .
plant a big garden and grow up tomatoes and
vegetables and all that So, I stay busy, stay
very busy. .
FP: What got you into gardening? Have you
always gardened, or did you pick that up after
you retired?
HY: Well, that's something I've always
done. I grew up in the country, and we grew
just about everything we ate. And it's some
thing I've always kind of done and kind of
enjoyed. We grow a lot of vegetables; most of
them we give away to neighbors and friends.
FP: Yeah, you should!
the Jackson County Parks and Recreation Department, and I
knew some people that worked there. I live about five minutes
from here, and we charge for admission for access to the lake
and, well, I guess they needed somebody that, you know, had
a pretty flexible schedule, I guess is a good way to put it I'm
about as flexible as you can get, I guess.
FP: What did you do before you retired?
HY: I worked for a company called NCR. It used to be a
company called National Cash Register Company. And we were
bought by AT&T in 1990. AT&T started offering early retirement
packages, and finally in 2000 they came up with one that just
fit me to the *T," so then I retired. I took early retirement.
FP: And what did you do for them?
HY: Well, equipment: ATMs, tab equipment, computers. We
installed and maintained ATMs and computers and a lot of
other equipment.
FP: Did you go to school for that?
HY: Yeah. I went to school with the company; we had our
own schools. The first time I went was in Hartford, CT for
about eight months. Then I came back and worked for a while
here in Athens, and then they sent me to school all the way
up to Denver, CO and Dayton, OH. Dayton, OH [for] about two-
and-a-half years total, and Denver, CO, all I was sent was for
about four months.
FP: So, are you from the Athens area?
HY: I'm originally from Gainesville, but I married a girl from
Athens, so, you know, I ended up in Athens.
FP: Your company sent you to go to school in all these dif
ferent places. What was it like going somewhere like Dayton, OH
being from down here?
HY: WteU, it was OK. It was cold [laughs], especially in
Hartford, CT. But, my wife went with me, and we Had a good
time. We got to meet a lot of people and see some places that
we probably wouldn't have ordinarily visited. But, yeah, it was
ok. ' ‘ : r v ;v : ’
FP: Do you come out here a lot to fish?
HY: Yeah, I go up here, go to Sandy Creek and used to go
trout fishing a lot. My wife enjoys gping trout fishing, and we
used to do that, but we haven't been trout fishing in a while.
FP: Oh, that's nice—your wife enjoys fishing, too?
HY: Yeah, and we used to go camping a lot. We don't go
camping that much anymore... We used to have a camper, but
I sold it. And so, we've still got tents and camping equipment,
but we just haven't been in a long, long time.
FP: So, you do keep pretty busy...
HY: Well, I'm also a real estate agent
FP: How has that been with this market?
HY: Well, when I retired—you know, you do things, you
do stuff that you wanted to do. And that's something that I
always kind of wanted to do, so I took a class over at UGA
Continuing £d. I had to pass the local exam at UGA, and then
you take the state exam to get your license. I was a little bit
surprised that I passed both of them, but I did. And then I got
my broker's license about three years ago, which now I guess I
can maybe start my own agency. And still that's still a possibil
ity, but, uh, not a good time to get in the real estate business.
FP; What made you interested in the real estate business?
HY: Well, it's just something that I always wanted to do,
arid when you retire and you got a lot of time on your hands,
you kind of look around and see what you want to do and see
what's out there. I was going to take guitar lessons.
FP: Guitar lessons?
HY: Yeah, seriously. And try to play in some sort of a band,
some sort of a rock and roll band, at the 40 Watt Club or some
thing. I mean, I'm serious! I wanted to do that, but I never
did it But who knows, I still might do that.
Melissa Hovanes
www.georgiaiheatr8.com
i5 North Lumpkin St. - Athens. GA
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