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Viewpoints Our Views ""Houston County Public Schools 1999-2000 Date Event Aug. 9 Preplanning for teachers Auc 12 Classes begin Sept. 6 Labor Day Holiday Oct. 11 Columbus Day holiday Nov. 22 23.. Student holiday, teacher inservice Nov. 24 26.. Thanksgiving Holidays Dec. 17 Last day before Christmas Jan. 3 4 Student holiday, teacher inservice Jan. 5 Second semester begins Jan. 17 Martin Luther King Jr. holiday FeL 18 Student holiday, teacher inservice Pel . 21 President's Day holiday April 17-21 .Spring Break May 26 Second semester ends May 30 31 ..Post Planning. Fall semester work will be completed before th Christmas holidays. Graduation will be Ma 26 27. Wonderful memories ’ My family and 1 went to see my grand son finish his Challenge British Soccer camp, which was sponsored by the City oi Perry Recreation Department, this last Friday. Generally, Dylan went to camp in the mornings; however, the coach asked all the campers to return to the soccer field Friday night for a special get-together. The children exhibited their newly honed soccer skills to friends and family. Short exhibition games beiween teams. and between kids and adults were held. Laugh ter, food, drinks, and fun, along with recogni tion of the children's d< dication to learning new skills, were in huge supply that night. 1 believe nothing pleases a child more than a parent beaming with pride and complimenting his or her achievements. For that matter, I know everyone loves a well-deserved pat on the back. Yet. while the evening may have been great as it was already, something hap pened that made it even more special. A surprise in the form of a water truck trom the Perry Fire Department arrived with horn blaring and lights blinking. Sweaty children and sweaty adults were liberally doused with water. The shrieks of delight and amazement were heartwarming. But the smiles. Aliaa. Ihe smiles were something I was glad to have etched into my memories. It was a simple pleasure getting soaked. But the uniqueness of the lire (i uck doing the soaking. Why that will be what these youngsters remember for ages. They will be grandparents one day, and 1 know that moment will be a bright spot in their memories, something they will share with their grandchildren. 1 know because 1 remember things from my childhood that were made extra spe cial for one reason or another. I still tell the stories to my family. If you ask my kids, some of the stories have been repeated too many times. However, my grandson loves to hear every one of the stories. It is this kind of thing that links family members to family members. The bonds grow stronger when family history is shared. Sure, most everyone knows who their parents are. where they are from, and so one. But it is the stories which bring a smile to lips, a bubble of joy in a laugh, a sparkle to the eyes. So I thank the Perry Fire Department and the Perry Recreation Department for their part in making a summer evening more special to so many. Houston Home Journal p.O. Drawer M • 807 Carroll St. • Perry. Ga 31069 email homejrn@hom.net (912) 987-1823 (voice) • (912) 988 I 181 (lax) 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 .Bn •aSKjf**' T\ •: .. • % ' ' Torey Jolley Home Journal Staff Addressing questions asked by our readers One of my jobs involves responding to reader questions. Sometimes these questions result in a story, other times just in information exchanged. One recent question has to do with changes in the proba tion system in Houston County. In an effort to understand the changes, I went to an excellent source, John Trussed. Not only does John write a great column about outdoors for us every other week, he also heads the Probation Department effort in Houston County. Some readers asked me why they noticed an increase in pro- VTme Peanut Gallery x rJJ « So be rrt Bur they reel? if" NOT COM£ WHfRWG TO W ME EOR MORE k \\l | \ raytoonsfS’hom.nct ©Jtmi 99 I Courthouse lawn good for chickens Back to rambling through the old bound volumes of the Houston Horne Journal: It's really fascinating to get a sense of long-ago Perry through the 1899 volume. The pages are yellowed and cracking and the binding is falling apart, so the old volume has to be handled with care and can cause a few sneezes, too. Still, it's more fun to read, from pages that came straight off the press a century ago than it is to read the same things on microfilm. Here are some highlights that remind us how much change a century can bring. 100 years ago: Max Zarks of Perry placed a notice in the Home Journal that he would “pay in cash Macon prices for all kinds of mer chantable hides and skins, green or dry ” Ihe Houston County Poultry Association announced plans for an “informal exhibition of purebred fowls in the court house yard in Perry." The turn of the century was a big time for organizations. The paper editorialized in support of the formation of business asso ciations and also reported enthusiastically that a large number of citizens had gotten together and formed a Prohibi tion League promising not to vote for any candidate who was not pro-prohibition. Right in with the social items, the Home Journal included this note of sympathy. "We regret to report that Mr. 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 mil letters on this page (and elsewhere In this news paper) reflect the opinions oi 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 sent to PO. 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 Wed., Ang. 11. 1009 Page 4A Jj Johnson Home Journal Edttor bation fees recently. John explained to me that not only the state-funded agency for whom he works collects proba tion fees, but also private com panies. Charlotte Perkins Home Journal Staff W.P. Short lost a good mule last week. Colic was the cause of death." Cotton picking had begun, with a payment of 35 cents per hundred pounds, and there were some editorial grumbles about a shortage of cotton pickers due to the heat. According to one writer, the reluctant cotton-pickers were also possibly influenced by the bad example of men who were shooting marbles in downtown Perry. And now up to times much more like our own but, of course, more innocent and less expensive. Forty years ago The Vanity shop was offering back-to-school Kate Greenaway dresses at $4.98 for 3 to 6X. and $7.98 for sizes 12 to 14. A bunch of Penyans were just back from the All-Star bas ketball and football games in Atlanta, including Mr. and Mrs. Eric Staples, Pierce, Porter and Sheriy Staples. Mr.and Mrs. Jim Worrall, Herb St. John, E. H. Cheek, Ben Lee, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson Martin, Wilson Jr. and Lee, Charlie 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. ’SHrs Houston Horn Journal These private companies are for profit operations, and charge higher fees. While the state fee recently increased from S2O to $23 per month for supervisory fees, these private companies are charging their clients S3O or more. Why did some of our local governments turn to this out sourcing of probationers? John said it is because of two things. One, his office could not handle the caseload. Two, most gov ernment organizations are try ing the private sector these days to see if they can get the work done more efficiently Etheridge. Derry Watson, Jerry Langston, Tommy Sandefur, Larry Walker, Riley Hunt and Earl Cheek. Public School was to start 15 minutes earlier: at 8:45 instead of 9 a.m. Members of the Perry High Band were off (by school bus) to Camp Mishemowa in North Carolina “to learn how to be a sharp band to represent the Perry School during the coming year." On the road were band mem bers Barbara Barrett, Lonice Barrett. Tommy Beall, Sidney Bloodworth, Helen Davis. Gra ham Gallamore. Judie Gray. Mabel Hunt. Rex Ivey and Bob bie Lou Johnson. Other campers were Felix Jones. Mike Kinnas, Ronnie Kinnas, Mike Lacefield, Freddy Lewis, Gail Logue. Danny Meadows, Artie Middleton. Joey Moody, Larry Moody. Carol Morrow and Jackie Morrow. Joining them were Pat Moss. Ed Pierce, Sandra' Reynolds. Cheryl Richards. Donna Smith. Garold Spena, Jackie Stanley, Adelaine Stocks. Andy Talton. Alice Terry, Leroy Williamson and Wanda Williamson. Majorettes going along were Billie Reed Coby, Carol Etheridge. Melba Gibson. Lynn Smith, Eunice Terry and •Martha Lynn Watson. Chaperones were Mrs. C.L. Terry and Mr. and Mrs.. C.G. Kinnas. that can be cheaper, quicker or better. The state funded probation office which Trussed heads up now only handles felony cases. Thanks to privatization, proba tion for misdemeanors in Warn er Robins and Houston County is handled by a private compa ny- For families of probationers, that can mean some confusion because it is possible to have more than one probation officer or more than one probation department if there are two or more outstanding cases. Confused enough? Me too. Bob -nibble Home Journal President God can cure homosexual lifestyles Each year the Army Founda tion publishes a collection of winning articles from their Armv Writing Awards Competi tion .This annual program rec ognizes authors who apply bib lical truths reinforced with scripture to issues that should concern every thoughtful and caring person in the world today. Helen Sybil Mooradslavian, a freelance writer and editor, who writes for the Christian Infor mation Network's quarterly, won an award of Outstanding Merit for an article written on homosexuality titled “God Can Cure Homosexual Lifestyles." In her article. Mooradslavian told the story of Phillip Lee, which is very worthy reading. This is the story of Phillip Lee. From the time he was a child, Phillip knew he was dif ferent. that something was not right.’ During his teens, that "difference" became all too apparent. Phillip realized he was homosexual. From an early age. Phillip embraced the homosexual lifestyle completely. As an adult, he was the model of "success." He had closets full of designer clothes. He jetted around the world to exotic places, as an employee of United Airlines. He decorat ed his home with thousands of dollars worth of artwork. He hobnobbed with the Hollywood and disco sets. But on the inside, he felt empty. “I had every material possession and yet I had nothing," Phillip said. “All those things, as we well know, will never fill that vacuum in our heart. They never have. And they never will." One day, when he was 35 years old, Phillip hit bottom. That particular moment is etched vividly in his mind. “It was Saturday, 6 o.clock in the evening, Oct. 5, 1985. I was sit ting on the edge of my bed. all alone. I realized I had no friends. 1 had totally alienated myself from my family. My body was riddled with drugs. I lost all hope.” Although Phillip had not been raised in the church and knew nothing about the Bible, he said, “at that point I criec out to God. And He heard me. literally heard chains snap break and fall! All homosexua activity stopped! Drug! stopped!" See TRIBBLE. Page 5, ■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 Horhe Journal (USPS 000471) is published weekly for $21.40 per year (including Mies tax) by Houston Publications Inc., 807 Car roll St.. Perry. Ga.. 31009. Periodicals Class Postage paid at Perry, Ga. POSTMASTER : Send address changes to the Houston Home Journal P.O. Drawer M. Perry, Ga. 31009. ISSN: 1075-1874 jl, ...J