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Viewpoints
Our
Views
Time to agree
Several weeks ago, members of the four
S Governments of Houston County met and
eft with a gentleman’s agreement to
approve a plan for shared services in
Houston County. Representatives of Cen
terville. Houston County, Perry and Warn
er Robins apparently agreed to the plan
which is designed to avoid duplication of
services.
As part of the arrangement, the Hous
ton County Commission agreed to take
over funding for both the Houston County
Library System and the Houston County
I ievelopment Authority. The city of Warn
er Robins agreed to fund a study to deter
mine levels of double taxation which
incorporated city residents pay to the
county government.
Houston County agreed to the plan,
required by Georgia Law based on House
Bill 489. Centerville plans to agree to the
statement. But Warner Robins reneged.
Alter all was said and done, the Warner
Robins city fathers want to modify the
agreement more and include the Houston
Countv Sheriffs Department in the double
taxation audn.
The deadline to submit the plan is here.
State funding is at risk. We think it’s time
foi Warner Robins to fall in line with the
other governments and approve the ser
vice agreement. To do less than that is
irresponsible to the rest of the county.
Visit leads to discovery
of in-law connections
Talk about strange things happening!
WOW! It was like an episode of "The Twi
light Zone" at my house last Saturday
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my house. But ...
My mother-in-law (MNL), Joyce Jolley,
came for a visit (and, no, that is not the
sb inge part, though now that I think about
it, it did nearly take an act of Congress to
get her here....hmmmm...).
She arrived
Saturday. My
son and his
fiancee, my
daughter and
her husband,
iny husband
and ■ I were
sitting
around talk
ing. laughing,
and talking
about general
Torey
Jolley
Home
Journal
Staff
things with her.
this was the first opportunity for my
MNL to meet my future daughter-in-law.
Everyone was talking. My MNL said she
was Cajun-born and raised in New Orleans,
In My soon-to-be daughter-in-law (and I
will refer to her as DNL from this point)
7 Mentioned her .grandmother (her mother's
mother) was from New Orleans. »
Now ... you know millions of people are
from New Orleans. The chances of my MNL
and my DNL’s grandmother actually know
ing each other was a slim at best shot. But
guess what! They not only knew each other,
11 icy lived next door to each other for years.
The grandmother’s sister is actually my
husband's god mother!
Well, my DNL's parents came over with
photos of the aunt and the grandmother
and the grandmother's husband. Hours
were spent (and enjoyed) listening to my
MNL reminisce about her childhood days
spent with her friends. (We even learned my
] ’ii .band birthday and my DNL’s mother's
biit Inlay is the same day: Oct. 16.)
When my MNL called the other family
members to let them know about this
strange turn of events, my brother-in-law
in Houston, Texas told my MNL with a
chuckle in his voice, “Maybe we shouldn’t
] ik too deep in our gene pool."
Perhaps, this was fate or destiny. Maybe
our families were supposed to connect. 1
only know it is so odd. I would never have
thought in a million years that this was
possible. However, my co-worker Charlotte
Perkins reminded me of the old proverb
wh‘ch says, “Stand in one place long
enough and you are sure to meet someone
Imm youi past." The proverb is apparently
correct
Houston Home Journal
M.O. Drawer M • 807 Carroll St. • Perry. Ga. 31069
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Bob Tribble President
Jj Johnson Editor and General Manager
Ellen T. Green Advertising Director
Phil Clark Sports
Joan Dm sett Lifestyles
Torcv Jolley News and Classified
Ailine Kent Sports
Pauline Lewis Lifestyles
Rob Mead News and Circulation
Charlotte Perkins Nnv.< and Composition
Paula Zimmerman Bookkeeping
M
Is this Gods take on winterizing home lawns?
I ’wish I could take credit for
what you are about to read. It is
funny, and yet so true. Give
credit to Ramona F Crain, who
submitted it to the Good Clean
Fun website. This is an internet
web page which specializes in
clean jokes.
•••
'Winterize your lawn." the big
sign outside the garden store
commanded. I've fed it, watered
it, mowed it, raked it and
watched a lot of it die anyway.
Now I’m supposed to winterize
it? I hope it’s too late.
Grass lawns have to be the
stupidest thing we've come up
with outside of thong swim
suits. We constantly battle dan
delions, Queen Anne's lace,
thistle, violets, chicory and
7 'He Pewur GalurV
HE'6 STILL HOPING
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THE MAJOR
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raytoons©hom.net ©mm ‘99 I
Accountability: There is a role for all
Governor Barnes has made it
very clear that he expects his
Education Reform Study Com
mission to come up with sub
stantive recommendations to
provide greater accountability
for our schools and teachers.
As the governor said at the
commission’s first meeting, his
training as a trial lawyer leads
him to the belief that someone
needs to be held responsible if a
school fails to deliver the quali
ty of education it claims to
deliver. For example, if a stu
dent receives a college prep
diploma and yet needs to take
remedial courses when she gets
into college, somebody has
breached a contract and needs
to be held accountable. The
“contract" for education has
three parties: the student, the
parent, and the school.
As the head of the state’s
largest education organization,
I can assure you that our mem
bers do not shrink from
accountability. If it is to work,
however, everyone else involved
in the education process must
also be held accountable. I am
not a lawyer, but I do know that
simple fairness dictates that
the accountability contract cov
ers everyone involved in the
process of education, which
includes teachers, students,
parents, administrators and
colleges of education.
Let’s take the example that
the governor used, a student
graduating from high school
with a college prep endorse-
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Our liability for an error will not exceed the cost
Wed.. Sept. 15. 1999
Page 4A
JJ
Johnson
Home
Journal
Editor
clover that thrive naturally, so
we can grow grass that must be
nursed through an annual
four-step chemical dependen
cy.
Imagine the conversation The
Creator might have with St.
Francis about this:
"Frank you know all about
gardens and nature. What in
Barbara
Christmas
Director,
Professional
Association of
6a. Educators
ment, and yet upon entering
college, the student needs to
take a remedial math course.
Who is responsible for this
apparent failing of the public
school?
On the surface, it would
appear that one or more of the
student’s math teachers failed
to properly teach her. But
which one(s) should be held
accountable? Should it be the
most recent math teacher? Or
perhaps, it should be the
kindergarten or first-grade
teacher who failed to make sure
the student learned the basic
elements of mathematics. But
what if the student has difficul
ty understanding word prob
lems? Maybe the reading
teacher should also be held
accountable.
There are othfer possibilities
as well. Maybe the student
doesn’t like math and exerted
just enough effort to squeak by,
but the college let her in any
way because she is an excellent
writer and scored 800 on the
SAT verbal section. The college
was willing to accept the stu
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
Thf 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 wprk. teamwork,
loyalty and a strong dedication toward printing the
truth.
Member of Georgia Press Association and Nation
al Newspaper Association.
the world is going on down
there in the Midwest? What
happened to the dandelions,
violets, thistle and stuff I start
ed eons ago? I had a perfect,
no-maintenance garden plan.
Those p. ants grow in any type
of soil, withstand drought and
multiply with abandon. The
nectar from the long-lasting
blossoms attracted butterflies,
honey bees and flocks of song
birds. I expected to see a vast
garden of colors by now. But all
I see are these green rectan
gles."
"It's the tribes that settled
there, Lord. The Suburbanites.
They started calling your flow
ers 'weeds' and went to great
extent to kill them and replace
them with grass."
r'—
I iitlll>[
I . , HB
dent knowing that she provably
would need remedial work in
math. Who is at fault in this
scenario, the math teachers
who couldn't motivate the stu
dent? The student herself for
ignoring math in favor of litera
ture? Or the college for accept
ing a student without the
appropriate grades and SAT
score in math? Or could the
parents share some of the
responsibility for not encourag
ing their daughter to spend
more time studying math?
As I said, teachers are very
willing to accept their share of
responsibility for making sure
students learn the curriculum
that schools offer, but, to be
effective, accountability pro
posals must take into account
several key factors:
1) Parents must be held
responsible to make sure that
students are at school ready to
learn (well rested and fed:
homework completed; coopera
tive).
2) Students must be held
responsible for following school
rules and respecting the other
members, administrators:
teachers; students of the school
community.
3) The curriculum Ihat
teachers are required to teach
must cover the material neces
sary to deliver students to the
next level of education fully
prepared.
See CHRISTMAS. Page 5A
/
Houston Home Journal
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P.O. Drawer M, Perry. Ga. 31069. ISSN; 1075-1874
"Grass? But it's so boring.
It's not colorful. It doesn't
attract butterflies, birds and
bees, only grubs and sod
worms. It's temperamental with
temperatures. Do these Subur
banites really want all that
grass growing there?"
"Apparently so, Lord. They go
to great pains to grow it and
keep it green. They begin each
spring by fertilizing grass and
poisoning any other plant that
crops up in the lawn."
"The spring rains and cool
weather probably make grass
grow really fast. That must
make the Suburbanites happy."
"Apparently not. Lord. As
soon as it grows a little, they
See JOHNSON, Page 5A
Bob
Tribble
Home
Journal
President
Taking a stroll
into the past
Do you remember when it
took from sun up to sun set to
take a 200 mile trip? Back in
the middle 40s it would take us
almost all day to travel the 170
miles from Lavonia to Man
chester. We had to come right
through downtown Atlanta up
Peachtree Street and out Stew
l. « WliUWi i V>U V.UMUV Ull
two hours from the north city
limits to the south city limits.
The shorter trips of like 30
miles or so could take well over
an hour. Most of the roads
between Lavonia and Ander
son. S.C. bac*k lift those days
were dirt and the cruising
speed on those roads in the
vehicles of that era might have
been 35 mph. I can remember
my mother driving 50 mph on
paved roads end we thought
she was flying.
Most homes 50-plus years
ago had no central heat sys
tems. Fireplaces were in some
rooms, but not all. Ladies who
would sit around those fire
places would tan, sometimes
scorch, the front of their legs. If
you sat facing the fireplace too
long your backside would get
cold and boy did it feel good to
backup to that thing and
warm.
Fireplaces did not heat even
a large room, or other parts of
the house, very well. On a cold
winter night when you hurried
from the fireplace and jumped
into the cold bed, it felt as if
you were diving into a bed of
ice.
Then, we all had an out
house. Usually they were a
considerable distance from the
main house, therefore the trips
there after dark and during the
winter months were something
we will never forget. Of course
there were the “slop jars" that
could provide some instant
relief. The old Sears Roebuck
catalog provided two purposes
for the outhouse, reading and
you know what.
A good once a week bath
always was a Saturday night
treat at our house. The kitchen
was usually the chosen spot
because of the warmth from
the wood burning stove. The
older one got, the harder it was
to fit into that 10-gallon wash
tub.
Of course everyone knows
where the water came from. It
See TRIBBLE, Page 5A
4
A
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