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Volume 128, No. 41 2 Sections • 18 Pages Wednesday, Oct. 13, 1999 50 Cents Hone of U» if§ Georgia H National PSOrm f aod tw -I WWHHSHHt*' At 1 i The A^~ Crassroai loL/ This Week Perry Shriners offer barbecue Oct. 22 The Periy Shrine Club will hold its annual fall barbecue on Oct. 22 at their facility located at 402 Hodges Blvd. Plates will be able to be picked up through the drive-thru from 11:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. Plates will include half pound of pit cooked pork barbecue, cole slaw, Little Debbie Snack, chips, pickles, and bread Cost will be $5 per plate and bulk barbecue will be $6 per pound. Fair continues Despite weather which has, on some days been more appropriate for ducks, the Georgia National Fair continues to draw fans. While attendance has been affected by rain. Director Michael Froehlich remains upbeat about the 10th anniver sary fair which continues through Oct. 17. On the menu the rest of the week are major performer concerts in Reaves Arena Oct. 15- 16, and daily contests. Mossy Creek is this weekend The annual Mossy Creek Barnyard Festival arts and crafts show is Oct. 16-17 at the festival site off Lake Joy Road. See page IB for addi tional details about this annual event. Lunches for Houston County Schools Milk is served with every meal. Breakfast features fresh fruit or fruit juice; cereal and toast are a daily break fast choice. Lunches offer a variety of fruits and vegetables daily. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are always on the menu. Oct. 14- Breakfast- Pigs in Blanket. Lunch “ Jungle Book." Pizza Pride, wild string beans, swinging vine salad, baboon banana, mon goose muffins. Oct. 15- Breakfast- Manager’s Choice. Lunch- “How the West was Won." Trail Blazing Tortilla Chips, Chuck Wagon Cheese Sauce, Cactus Quarters, Rootin Tootin Carrot and Celery sticks and Texas Toast. Oct. 18- Breakfast- Breakfast pizza. Lunch- Hamburger or Manager’s choice or baked potato w/hot toppings. Juice Bar. Oct. 19- Breakfast- Bacon, Egg and Cheese croissant. Lunch- Chick en sandwich or ravioli w/cheese sticks and gar lic bread or pizza. Oct. 20- Breakfast- Waffles w/syrup. Lunch corn dog or grilled cheese sandwich w/soup or chili or baked potato w/hot toppings. Mississippi Cake. Additional choices and options are available at many of the Houston County public school cafeterias. | Perry Middle school Seventh Graders play tor county softball title Game postponed by rain until Oct. 14. Eighth graders capture third place in county tournament. Details, page 9A Housm Home Journal Official Legal Organ for Houston County, the City of Perry and the State of Georgia TB threat for Floyd workers not critical By Torey Jolley Home Journal Staff A potential threat of exposure to tuberculosis for Hurricane Floyd volunteers at the Georgia National Fairgrounds is not as criti cal as once determined. Earlier in the week, state health officials advised Study recommends four new schools in Houston by 2004 Study calls for three elementaries, one high school in five years By Torey Jolley Home Journal Staff Even as Houston Countians pay a penny sales tax on every dollar to pay for new school construction, one study is calling for more. More schools. Within five years. Three elementaries and one high school will be needed by 2004 according to the study made public at the Houston County Board of Education meeting Oct. 12. The Middle Georgia Regional Develop ment Center the demographic analysis to assist the Houston County Board of Education with its future plan ning efforts. The summary estimates the student population growth for 1999-2004, and also estimates the future staffing needs in relation to the school board's desired teacher-student ratio. Currently. Houston County has 19 ele mentary schools, seven middle schools, and four high schools plus two auxiliary high school campuses. The projected increase from 1999 to 2004 represents an 18.29 percent increase growth rate over the five-year period. The summary indicates three new ele mentary school facilities will needed by 2004 to meet the projected enrollment demands. Two of the facilities will need to be in place by 2002. The written summaiy includes, “One of these new elementary schools should be within the Perry area as the elementary schools in that area are already near capacity. The other two elementary schools should be located in the middle and north ern portions of the county.” While no new middle school is indicated in the summaiy through 2004, the sum mary suggests middle school enrollment will exceed current non-portable capacity in 2005. Houston County opened two new middle schools two years ago, and replaced Perry Middle School last year. To meet projected high school enroll ment demands, the school system will need to construct one new high school by the year 2004 with the ability to house at least ‘Gnat knockers’ and peach ice cream How the Georgia National Fair came to Perry By CHARLOTTE PERKINS Kag. The 1999 Georgia National Fair is the 10th to be held since Joe Frank Harris, then governor of Georgia, presided over the opening of the veiy first Georgia National Fair on Oct. 5,1990, Since that time, the fair and the year-round activities at the site have become so much a part of Perry that the very young or new comers to the area might find it hard to imagine Perry without that landmark clock tower. Still, it could have been some where else! There were some who even thought that Perry wasn’t the right location that it was too far from Atlanta, and that a fair grounds located here would wind up being “a white elephant out in a The Old Reliable, Serving Houston County Since Dec. 17 t 1870 relief workers for the Hurri cane Floyd evacuation effort at the Georgia Nation al Fairgrounds be tested for tuberculosis. However, Kathleen E. Toomey, Department of Human Resources, Division of Public Health director, announced Oct. 12, “Some 1,800 students. The report determined the position of the new high school for best overall impact should be located in the Bonaire area of Houston County. The school system gained additional high school student capacity this year when a vocational-specific high school opened at the former Middle Georgia Tech campus in Warner Robins. Students must apply to attend the Houston County Career and Technology Center. In addition, to meet the school board’s desired teacher-student ratios, which are 23.32:1 for elementary schools and 28.6:1 for middle schools, the school system will need to hire an additional 23 elementary school teachers and 10 middle school teachers. In order to house the new teachers, additional classrooms must be made available either through portables or new facilities. No action was taken on the report. Board members will use the information for future plans. The Board of Education approved three new curricula starting with the January 2000 semester for the Houston County Career and Technology Center. The new course offering will be professional foods (culinary arts), cosmetology, and manufac turing technology/certification. Luann Purcell, assistant superintendent of pupil services, asked the Board to approve SI,OOO for fuel for Houston Coun ty bus use in conjunction with the HODAC/Volunteer Houston County Grant for Perry Elementary School counselor and after-school programs. Purcell said through the efforts of the members of Kids' Journey, HODAC and Volunteer Houston County, the school sys tem received a $50,000 grant to implement the Student Assistance Program as a pilot prevention program at Perry Elementary School. The grant will utilize the services for a student assistance support counselor and volunteers from Volunteer Houston County. The program would supplement support currently provided at Perry Ele mentary. The Board approved the SI,OOO bus fuel expense. farm field." The Agricenter could have wound up being built in Macon, in Tifton, in Byron, in Unadilla, Cordele or Fort Valley or any of dozen more cities that were on the initial list for consideration by a site study com mittee. So. how did it wind up in Perry? Through a combination of vision, hard work and unity on the part of many local leaders, some good humored competitiveness, a few servings of homemade peach ice cream and some political muscle. That's not the beginning of the story, however. The true beginning was back in the summer of 1983 when some youths from Perry went to the Macon fairgrounds to show some hogs. Their names were Larry and Wendy. Their dad wept with proof, t o wt yoooC'FP DonTm Georgia I tl no M qtw i tppopy parade ir OTurwc no Capture t e 6A TB testing of the patient’s close contacts has occurred revealing no transmission.” According to officials, a Savannah man who stayed at the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter during the evacuation has tested positive for TB. Last month, more than Home Journal Photo by Jj Johnson KEYNOTE SPEAKER Ga. Lt. Gov. Marie Taylor addresses the crowd at the opening ceremony of the Georgia National Fair Oct. 8. Conditions near perfect for ‘Perfect 10’ Fair opening By Torey Jolley Home Journal State “lliis year’s fair will be a perfect 10." Michael Froehlich, executive direc tor of the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricen ter, declared Oct. 8. With that remark, he directed the crowd gath ered for Georgia National Fair opening ceremonies to them to the show and he was appalled by what he saw when they got there. “The facilities were abysmal," he said, remembe 'ing that day. “There were 300 to 400 head of hog there, and it was dusty and dirty without enough water. I thought it was a shame that our Georgia young peo ple didn't have a better place to show livestock.” That dad whose own dad had brought him up placing a high value on 4-H and FFA activities was Rep. Larry Walker. A few days later, he complained about the problem to Rep. Henry Reaves of Quitman, and shortly after that an ad hoc committee was formed to look into the possibility of providing Georgia's young people with a better place to show live 5,000 evacuees stayed at the Perry site. More than 300 Red Cross workers, police, and other volunteers worked at the evacuation site during the three-day period. Health Department offi cials have determined from shelter lists that only evac s’******* .j.; V { . . •. \ | B Z9HHI JR J uees from the Savannah area may have been exposed. Officials are track ing down anyone who may have been exposed. The tuberculosis threat is classified at as a low threat. The Agricenter See TEST, Page 5A look overhead to see a sur prise a 818 bomber doing a fly-by for the delight of the fairgoers. The nations longest seated state legislator, Ga. Sen. Hugh Gillis. D-Soper ton. introduced state Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor, keynote speaker of the opening cer- See OPENING, Page 5A stock. From that point on. ideas were popping like popcorn. Walker surprised “The first meeting of the commit tee, on Aug. 15, 1983. was at the Farm Bureau building in Macon,“ Walker recalled in a recent inter view. “I thought we'd try to get $200,000 to $300,000 in the bud get for improvements, and I almost fell out of my chair when Henry (Reaves) said, “We’H need sls mil lion." According to Johnny Webb, who has had a key role at the Georgia National Fairgrounds since the ear liest days, “The ad hoc committee then approached Gov. Joe Frank See AGRICENTER, Page 5A