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Viewpoints Our Views Thomas wins! TJiere is little to argue about the athletic and academic skills which recent Perry High School graduate Dontarrious Thomas pos sesses. During graduation ceremonies June 4 at the Georgia National Fairgrounds, Thomas finished sixth in his class of more than 200 stu dents. He has earned academic honors of all sorts during his four years at Perry High. He has also left his mark on the athletic field. Thomas played a major role in leading the football Panthers to a winning record this past season. He did so well he attracted major college scouts and a scholarship from Auburn University. During the winter, Thomas joined with several other seniors to lead the Panthers to their second con secutive region basketball crown and a third straight trip to the state basketball tournament. Weeks later, Thomas was a key in the Panthers finishing fourth in the state in track for the second straight year. All this, and good grades too. What a combination and what an example of what a student-athlete is. We congratulate Thomas on his play in the all star game last week and wish him well at Auburn. Pets find permanent home .u*‘S - \ ! £ I IdVe animals. 1 am net obsessed with them. Actually after raising two kids, I am finally comfortable with my two remaining pets Athena, my chow chow, and Kodi, my Lab. To tell the truth, nei ther dog is really mine. My daugh ter wanted a chow chow for her 15th birthday. I was not thrilled. I knew chows Torey Journal ■■■ were tem peramental, aggressive, and hard to con trol. I fell headover heels in love with the ball of fur. Maybe it was her intelligence or the fact at seven weeks old, she was housebroken. Athena never left a mess (unlike my kids) and is always ready to snuggle. Kodi. Well, Kodi is my son's birthday present. Kodi is unusual for a Labrador. She has no inclination to fetch anything. She is vegetarian. She is afraid of water (no swimming for her). Oh, yeah, and she is agoraphobic. Kodi can barely get out of the backyard. We have finally convinced her it is OK to be with us in the front yard; however, she never leaves our feet while in the front. Athena has her little quirks too. Lately, when she knows we are gone, she will get on the couch and, using the remote con trol, turn on the television. Neither is she allowed to do. When I pop by the house to check on her, she greets me at the door. 50... how do I know she is on the couch and watching television? She hasn’t fig ured out how to turn the set off and she leaves a little fur from her mane on the couch. As a mother, I encouraged my children to have pets. Little did I realize I would be the one stuck with them. 1 have lived through several dogs, a cat, one aquatic turtle, one land turtle, two ferrets, ham sters, gerbils, guinea pigs, rabbits, fish, See JOLLEY, Page SA Houston Homs Jomal P.O. Drawer M • 807 Carroll St. • Perry. Ga. 31069 email homejm® hom .net (912) 987-1823 (voice) • (912) 988-1181 (fax) Bob Tribble President JJ Johnson Editor and General Manager Ellen T. Green .Advertising Director Phil Clark... Sports Joan Dorsett Lifestyles Torey Jolley News and Classified Alllne Kent Sports Pauline Lewis.. Lifestyles Rob Mead , News and Circulation Charlotte Perkins News and Composition Paula Zimmerman Bookkeeping it Recalling good times with the Marcus Tripp family For many years, I have enjoyed a pleasant relationship with the Rev. Dr. Marcus Tripp and his family. I have also been watching his climb to the administrative lev els of the United Methodist Church. When I first heard of the Tripp family, they were living in Wilkinson County and the Johnsons were living in nearby Baldwin County. Soon the two families migrat ed to Hawkinsvtlle. There, the Tripps and the Johnsons had many contacts. Their oldest daughter, Emily, and my son, William, were in the same class. Naturally that brought us many contacts, along with my work at the newspaper which The Peanut GauerV f™ 6 SHOULD HELpA 3is ni(bßffN)rjy>r NEUTRALIZE BU6H'6 '.3 nDfPI . APPEAL TO THE \ g WE SI DENT 1000 H,6PANIC VOTER - ] ; —: ftltjliriCrZT- - - WS fMVRONAKNTAI |m||||S| i £" ——sjjj| SMASE. TOO. '99 j Reviewing the U.S. Open by the hole The U.S. Open championship slipped away from Payne Stew art in 1997 after he began the final round with a four-stroke lead. Visions of that downfall had to have been playing on Stewart's mind as he made his way around the treacherous Pinehurst Number 2 course Sunday afternoon. Stewart, one of 23 golfers to break par on opening day after heavy rains had left the unforgiving greens in playing condition, stayed near the top of the leaderboard all week, shooting sub-par rounds on Thursday and Fri day, then holding off challenges on Sunday from Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh. The Open was a disappoint ing venture for the top rated player in the world, David Duval, the former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket. Duval, who fin ished in a three-way tie for sev enth. fired rounds of 75 on both Saturday and Sunday after putting himself into great posi tion to win the tournament with opening rounds of 67 and 70. He began the final round at two over par after Saturday’s 75. Sunday belonged to Stewart, playing in the final twosome with Mickelson, and just behind Woods and Tim Herron, both of whom began the final round at one over par, two shots behind Stewart. Herron never made a charge. Woods did. In fact, Tiger wasn’t out of the tournament until the last holes. Our Policies Unsigned editorials appearing In larger type on this page under the label Our Views reflect the posi tion of the Houston Home Journal. Signed columns and letters on this page (and elsewhere In this news paper) reflect the opinions of the writers and not nec essarily those of this newspaper. Signed letters to the editor are welcomed. Please limit letters to 300 words and Include addresses and a telephone number for verification purposes. Letters are not published without verification. Letters should be seat to P.O. Drawer M, Perry, Ga.. 31069 or brought to the newspaper office at 807 Carroll St.. Perry. Our liability for an error will not exceed the cost Wad., June 33, 1999 Page 4A JJ Johnson Home Journal Editor involved contact with the only Methodist minister in the county. Later, the Methodist leaders, in their wisdom, moved the Tripp family to Warner Robins. There, the Rev. Tripp was pas tor of Christ United Methodist Church. He was one of the first people to welcome me to Warn er Robins when I took my job Phil Clark Home Journal Sports Mickelson and Stewart both paired the first two holes, while ahead of them, Woods birdied number one and parred at two to move to even for the tourna ment, tied with Mickelson. Just ahead of Woods, Duval was also making some noise. He birdied the first two holes, and he, too, went to even par for the tour nament. Stewart birdied num ber three to increase his lead to two shots over the threesome of challengers, while Singh was shooting a very quiet round, staying two over par but defi nitely in the running. Woods’ roller coaster front nine had him first at even, then a stroke over, then even again as he fired his second bogey of the day at number seven to go back to a stroke over par. Mick elson birdied at number seven to close to within a stroke of Stewart, just about the time that Singh was pulling even with birdies at holes eight and ten. When Stewart and Mickelson made the turn, things began to really heat up. With Singh right of space occupied by the error. . We cannot be responsible for the return of pictures or submitted materials unless a stamped, return address envelope is included. Our Goal The Houston Home Journal 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-oriented newspapers that you, our readers, are proud of. We will reach this goal through hard work, teamwork, loyalty and a strong dedication toward printing the truth. Member of Georgia Press Association and Nation al Newspaper Association. Hoostoo Home Jomnti with the Daily Sun several years ago. Some time later, 1 got anoth er telephone call from Marcus, congratulating me on my new Job at the Houston Home Jour nal. Seems, by then, the Methodists had moved the Tripp family to Perry United Methodist Church, one of the most prestigious assignments in the conference. Again. I enjoyed meeting with and talking with the Tripp fam ily. The entire family, Marcus, Jan. Emily and Molly, are won derful people who always seem to be able to reach out and make others feel good about the situation. Now, however, the first step In what I predict is a rapid rise on their heels and Woods firing pars on holes six through 10, Stewart showed the first sign of nerves with a bogey at 10, dropping into a tie with Mickel son a stroke ahead of Singh. A bogey at 11 dropped Woods to two over while Singh continued to roll in the pars. Meanwhile. Stewart bogeyed again at 12, the fourth straight green he missed in regulation, and Mick elson continued his methodical round with pars on 10, 11 and 12. Stewart’s bogey at 12 gave the lead to Mickelson for the first time. However, it would be short-lived as Stewart came back with a birdie at 13 to tie the match again. Up ahead by two groups, Singh had a birdie putt at 14 lip the cup, a putt that would have put him into a tie for the lead. He missed his chance, though, with a bogey at 16, just before Stewart bogeyed again, at number 15. Micicel son’s par on the hole put him into the lead for the second time in the final round. Woods was making a charge, too. A birdie at 14 and another at 16 got the talented Woods back to even before a damaging bogie at 17 all but wiped out his chances to win. Singh parred 17 and 18, and was the leader in the clubhouse with a closing round of 69. He could only wait and watch as Mickelson bogeyed 16 for the third time in the tournament to fall to even See CLARK, Page 7A to Bishop for Marcus has taken place. He will be Superinten dent of the Waycross district. That’s wonderful for him, and I am delighted to see the promo tion. He’s earned it. like many Houston Coun tians, I am sorry to see the Tripp family leave Perry. They have contributed much to the community, and their smiling faces will be missed. However. I believe Marcus is destined to be a major player in the Methodist denomination in Georgia, and this is another step along the way for him. I wish the Tripps well in Way cross. They wifi be missed by more than members of the Perry United Methodist Church. Bob Tribble Home Journal President Awesome responsibility Inside the staff box located on the editorial page of most of our community newspapers you will find our mission state ment (goal) which reads as fol lows: “The Houston Home Journal is published •proudly for the citizens of Houston and adjoining counties by Houston Publi cations Inc., Perry, Ga. Our goal is to produce quality, profitable, commu nity-oriented newspapers that you, our readers, are proud of. We wiH reach this goal through hard work, teamwork, loyalty and a strong dedication toward printing the truth." Let me expand on that a lit tle today. Most of our newspapers are published in small communi ties with 1,000 to maybe 7 or 8,000 population all are weeklies except for three. There is one twice-weekly and two small dailies. The staff members of our newspapers know personally many of the folk in the commu nity. They know the business leaders, the political leaders, the bankers, preachers, school teachers and many of those who are readers of their news paper. I tell you this for a purpose so you will understand the attachment our people have for the communities they serve. To emphasize this, read the fol lowing story: “Several weeks ago the governor of South Dakota and some of the state’s business leaders were killed in an airplane crash. After the crash, the managing editor of one of South Dakota's larger daily newspapers and pie editor of the community newspaper near the crash site were talking. “The weekly editor could sense that covering the crash stoiy had been difficult for the daily reporters and he asked why. “The daily editor said. We know the governor personally.’ To which, the weekly editor replied, ’With all due respect. See TRIBBLE, Page SA "Congress shall make no law respecting an.estab lishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or of the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.’ Your right to read this news paper is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Houston Home Journal (DSPS 000471) Is ptMtehed weekly hr $21.40 'per year (Ineluding sales tax) by Houston Publications Inc.. 807 fcar rofi St.. Perry, Qa.. 31060. Periodicals Class Pontage paid at Perry, Qa. POSTMASTER : Sand address changes to the Houston Home Journal, P.O. Drawer M. Perry, Ge. 31066. ISSN; 1073-1874. I V I*P jm