Newspaper Page Text
Viewpoints
Bob
Tribble
Home
Journal
President
Double breasted
suit got him job
In June of 1971 a young 18- year-old lad
wearing a double-breasted suit came to the
office of Tri-County Newspapers, Inc. in
Manchester for a job interview. His name
was Gary Lee Cornwell, he had Just gradu
ated from high school in California and
thought he wanted to get into the newspaper
business.
The rule of our publishing group (me) in
those days was that men applying for an
editor and ad rep job better at least have on
a tie or they would not be considered. So I
guess you could say the main reason Gary
got his first newspaper job was that double
breasted suit he was wearing, although he
had some experience on his high school
paper, and I definitely recognized potential
talent and enthusiasm.
The first day on the Job Mike drove Gary
to Marion and Schley counties to learn the
routine. The riding time was to be spent
talking about ad sales and news writing.
When they returned to the office late that
afternoon. I asked Mike how the day went.
His answer was disturbing. The boy slept
all the way down and back!"
Nevertheless. Gary went on to become one
of the best newspaper people in the Trib
group during the 22 years he worked for us.
He excelled in advertising, serving at one
time as Advertising Director of our group of
papers, and as General Manager of our
largest single group, Fayette Newspapers,
for 15 years.
Jokingly on occasion when it would seem
that Gary needed a little toning down. I
would tell him that he was so good because
he had been taught everything he knew by
me. Let me assure you that was far from the
case.
Although he only had a high school edu
cation,, tjiose be <dealt with would never have
guessed that. He was a selfstarter, a go-get
ter, a great motivator, a good newspaper
man, and through experience and self-train
ing, he excelled to the top of his profession.
He could cover governmental meetings,
write features, columns, and especially
enjoyed sports writing.
Chuck Morley reminded us in the
announcement of Gary’s death in the June
29 edition of the Fayette Newspapers about
a plaque on his desk that read. “If you’re not
going to play to win, don’t play." As
Chuck said, Gary spent his life playing to
win, whether at the newspapers he helped to
build, or at United Speed Alliance Racing
where he had worked as Director of Media
Relations for the past two years.
Gary loved auto racing and at one time
raced his own car, a Pinto, at the Senoia
Raceway. He produced Georgia Dirt, a rac
ing edition for the Senoia Track, for several
years while at Fayette. Therefore, it was very
fitting that the USAR pace car, filled with his
three children, led the hearse carrying his
body from Peachtree City where he lived to
its final resting place at Manchester City
Cemetery.
I could tell you many stories about Gary
Cornwell, for you see, he was one of the
Trib” boys, but I only want to share one
with you. It was the summer of 1974. Gary,
at the age of 21, stood beside me during a
Lay Revival Meeting at First Baptist Church.
At the conclusion of the service he took the
most important walk of his life. He stepped
out into that isle, made the long walk up
front and gave his heart to Jesus.
Once that’s done folks, the Bible tells us
you are in God’s hands forever. Later he
Joined a local church where he was baptized.
If the truth be known, Gary is probably
up in heaven right now. with some race car
drivers and fans, Just sitting around talking
about auto racing and having a great time.
And who knows, surely there are some
newspaper folks who have made it there
that Gary is enjoying spending some time
with as well.
Yes, that double-breasted suit got him the
job, but from that point forward he charted
his own course, always playing to win at
whatever he did.
Note Gary Cornwell passed away June
28 at his home of an apparent heart attack at
the age of 46. •
Houston Home Jomiol
P.O. Drawer M • 807 Carroll St. • Perry. Ga. 31069
email homejmOhom.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
Alline Kent .......Sports
Pauline Lewis ....Lifestyles
Rob Mead ........News and Circulation
Charlotte Perkins News and Composition
Paula Zimmerman Bookkeeping
Talking with Dylan about the tooth fairy
My five year old grandson Is
losing his first tooth, the bot
tom front one. It is dangling by
a mere thread of a dental root.
The excitement we adults feel
only mirrors his concern.
The suddenness of the tooth
loosening caught eveiyone by
surprise. He was amazed at his
tooth’s wiggling. So amazed, he
played with it and played with
it until it turned sideways in
its socket. That was when the
panic set it. We calmed him
down and got the tooth back
into its position. We do not
expect it to remain there for
long though.
There is a strong adult
tooth under there, Dylan. It is
pushing the baby tooth out to
make room for its self. You are
getting to be a really big boy
now," we said. But I cannot
help thinking of when I was a
child of five or six.
I, too, remember my first
loose tooth as a child. I loved
~TH€ PiAWT GaiurV “
FOR SOMEONE
WHO IS SUPPO&EP
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BBSS “TA SHE SURE IS DOING rT_-—, I
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A journey through the generations
Molly,, my 11-year-old grand
daughter, spent last week with
me. It was her first long stay
away from home, and my first
time to have her all to myself, so
we had some good “getting to
know you" time.
One curious thing that
emerged was that she reminded
me of her mother and 1 remind
ed her of her mother.
She doesn’t really look like
her mother (her younger sister,
Nora, does), but there's some
thing about the rapid-fire way
she talks and her excitement
about ideas that had me calling
her “Susan" or “Susie" half the
time by mistake She never once
called me “Mom" by mistake,
but she when she spent the day
with me at work, she volun
teered that when ! was working,
I acted just like her mother acts
at work. (Meaning, 1 think, Just
a little bit hyper.)
One way we're both like
Susan is that we both are fas
cinated by ideas and history.
When we took a full day to ram
ble around middle Georgia, we
wound up going to Andferson
ville to see the Prisoner of War
Museum and then to Habitat
International in Americus. Not
all 11-year-olds would chose
that itinerary, but when Susan
was 11, she would have made
the same choices.
Then there are some things
Molly and I have in common
that Susan has never really
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Unsigned editorials appearing in larger type on
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essarily those of this newspaper.
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should be sent to P.O. Drawer M, Perry, Ga.. 3106#
or brought to the newspaper office at 807 Carroil St..
Perry.
Our liability for an error will not exceed the cost
Page 4A
Torey
Jolley
Home
Journal
Staff
the idea of a “tooth fairy" com
ing to get my baby tooth from
under my pillow and leaving
me some money. I remember
wondering how the tooth fairy
knew when my tooth would fall
out and where she got the
money to exchange for the
tooth. What did she do with
the teeth once she got them?
I liked playing with the loose
tooth. It was fun wiggling it
back and forth with my
tongue.
However, I did not like the
way everyone wanted the tooth
been into - like watching really
Charlotte
Perkins
Home
Journal
Staff
dumb television shows and
videos, and fooling around with
crafts.
So we wasted some substan
tial time watching t.v., and we
got into some spectacularly
messy projects with paint and
sticky glue.
Molly painted a wooden pic
ture frame white and glued on
purple and green hearts and
stars . I wasn’t so sure how that
was going to wind up looking,
but I kept my thoughts to
myself because I know how lit
tle I like advice on creative mat
ters, and I found out quickly
that she’s the same way. (It
actually turned out to be a nifty
piece of work.)
She also took a great many
small items back to Kentucky
with her - things she had made
and things I had made. When I
told Susan over the phone that
the Molly would be coming back
home with big box full of trin
kets - including some true Junk
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 (ttlieaa 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.
out.
“Put a string around it.”
“Just yank it out.”
“Want me to pull it out?"
“Hurry up! Just pull it once
hard.”
It was my tooth. It was my
responsibility to pull it or not.
What if I did pull it out and
there was not a “new tooth"
ready to take its place? Would
I look silly? I would be snag
gled-toothed forever. Would it
hurt? Bleed even? Maybe it
falling out was a sign of some
thing really, really wrong. How
do I know they were telling me
the truth (after all, they had
their teeth)?
I know my grandson is look
ing forward to the tooth fairy. 1
know he is enjoying the new
ness of wiggling that tooth
back and forth. However, I
believe he is worried. Maybe
his concerns are about being
snaggled-toothed. Is there real
ly another tooth ready to take
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Houston Horn Journal
- her comment was that Molly is
a “packrat" - just like her late
great-grandma Violet and her
late great-aunt Adrienne.
I had to agree with that. My
mother loved trinkets and had
closets and trunks full of things
she never used . To my knowl
edge, she never threw anything
away if she could help it - not
string, not rubber bands, not
brown paper bags, not even
empty mayonnaise jars. She
used to blame that on having
lived through the Depression,
but I think it s just inborn with
some people.
Adrienne, my much-missed
older sister (who was a mere tot
during the depression) also had
cupboards and closets full of
“stuff and bought so many odd
little vases, plates and figurines
at yard sales that she finally
had to have a yard sale herself
to sell it all back to the other
yard sale folks.
Molly is also like her great
aunt Kristina in some ways -
mostly brainy ways. Both of
them love e-mail and the inter
net, and know a whole lot more
than I do about how computers
work.
Of course, Molly is her own
unique self, not just a compos
ite of her various female family
members, but it’s fun to see
how certain traits, interests and
attitudes keep cropping up from
one generation to the next - just
like certain noses, eyes and
its place? Perhaps, he is con
cerned with whether or not he
will bleed or hurt when the
tooth finally makes an exit.
It does not matter what his
concerns are about the
impending loss of the tooth.
We have to respect his wishes.
It is his tooth. Children have
their own ideas, their own
thoughts. They listen to every
thing we say (even though
they often pretend not to hear
a word we say).
The unknown can conjure
up images that can send fear
through the bravest of men. I
think we can all relax and let
the tooth fall out naturally. No
need to push or prod.
I, for one, will not be in any
hurry to force him to pull that
tooth. I am just going to the
store to get him some taffy for
a treat.
Letters
to the
Editor ■
p.o.
□rawer M
Perry, Ga.
Mayor commends
Tucker students
To the Editor:
Recently the students at
Tucker Elementary School
collected 86,708 pennies
for what they called PRO
JECT 2000. These 86,708
pennies amounted to
$867.08 which the chil
dren donated through
shared gifts to the Ameri
can Cancer Society and
the Genesis House for the
Homeless. It was my plea
sure to accept a check on
behalf of the local Aineri
can Cancer Society for
$433.54.
I want to take this
opportunity to thank the
students at Tucker and
Mr. Ann Lanter, their
mentor, for this wonderful
sharing of concern. It
took a great deal of effort
and time to collect all
these pennies and those
who will benefit from the
gift are most appreciative.
Sincerely,
Jim Worrall
Why not share
your views?
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tor can be many
things - a way to
stand up for your
beliefs and values, a
way to reach the
community with
ideas about local gov
ernment, a way to
voice concerns or
praise good works.
The Houston Home
Journal welcomes
letters, and our read
ers enjoy reading
them!
Why don’t you
write today?
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