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Lifestyle Ragtime piano concert to raise funds for school Dr. Linda Hall of Fort Valley State University and Mercer University will per form her repertoire of unusual and unique, pop ular ragtime compositions Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. in the Perry Middle School cafeto rium. Tickets are $3 for adults and $2 for students. The concert will benefit the Perry Middle School Athletic Department for bleachers, concession stands and a press box which are needed at the football field before Perry will be able to host football games. • •• The Perry High School Homecoming Game is Oct. 22. The Panthers will host Southeast High School of Macon for this game. Alumni, plan to meet your classmates and attend the final homecom ing game of the 1900’s. Classmates of 1957 and 1958, you are invited to tailgate at 6 p.m. on our deck. Call us at 987-5272 so Ralph can know how many hamburgers to cook. Later we can all walk to the game together. • •• Janice Walker of the Travel Center hosted a group of 11 middle Geor gians who joined others from Illinois and California on Mayflower Tours of New England. Among the 11 were Per ryans Richard and Rose Mae Smith, Debbie Wood, Jane Perfect and Charlee Duke. Tour guide Ann Mullen of Cape Cod made the trip a delight from Boston through Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and back through Massa chusetts. • •• Perry Kiwanis Club members were treated recently to an interesting program about cotton by Julianne Lewis, a Moultrie native who has been work ing in Perry for one year promoting cotton for the Georgia Cotton Commis sion. The young lady who loves to talk about cotton graduated from Valdosta State University in 1997 with a major in political science. She plans to be married in December. Julianne’s message to the consumer is to “ask for and buy U.S. cotton" to create a larger demand. If the product has the cotton seal, it must be 60 percent or more cotton. Perry Mayor Jim Worrall introduced his guest Lee Gilmour. new Perry City Manager. President Joe Andrews introduced his guest Dave Crockett, co-principal of Perry Primary School and sales associate with Land mark Realty. • •• Members of Beltista Club held their Oct. 5 meeting at the Hickory’ House Tea Room of the Peach Outlet Mall at Byron. Following the brief busi ness meeting, peach tea and sandwiches and sweets were thoroughly enjoyed by the members. • •• 00p5... Pauline Lewis and her relatives spent hours poring over photos and papers...not pouring. • •• The Oct. 10 performance of the Bolshoi Ballet was the third for Sally Stanley. Many years ago she had taken her mother and Ron nie’s mother to New York for the first appearance of the Bolshoi in the United States in because of the between the United States and the former Soviet Union. Some years later Sally broke away from her Lon don tour group of friends to catch a Bolshoi perfor mance of “Romeo and Juli et" that was being boy- Visltln* Dorsefrt 987-1823 cotted outside the theater. The only thing putting a damper on the Sunday evening performance of the Bolshoi at the Grand was the dampness of the rain. This time the Bolshoi had come to middle Georgia for the only appearance in Georgia and Sally was there with her loved ones, Ronnie, Dana and Kathryn Stanley, Molly and Emily Long and her friend Julie Beasley of Kids America of Macon. • •• Members of Andrews United Methodist Church are planning for the eighth annual Pecan Festival, Nov. 20. 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Crafters are needed for $25 spaces and “yard sale" spaces are $lO. For more information contact Shelby Arnold at 987-1397. • •• John Berry and Trisha Yearwood wowed the very large fair crowd Saturday in Reaves Arena. Berry delighted everyone with his entry from the rear of the arena greeting fans as he sang his way to the stage. Trisha seemed really glad to be back in Perry again, first since her performance for the flood victims five years ago. She. like we, realizes the benefits of grdWfhg up-in a small town (Monticello) and sang “Small Town" telling all the young people to cherish every second of life in a small town. Well known Atlanta disc jockey Rhubarb Jones pleased the locals when he related that his roommate at Southern Union College ofWadley, Ala., was Ronnie Jones, football coach at Westfield Schools; and that Jones had gotten his 200th win of his coaching career the week before. • •• David and Alice Phelps’ daughter, Amy. married Jonathan Fouse in a lovely candlelight ceremony Sat urday evening at Cross roads United Methodist Church. Their good friend Ann Lanter of Fort Valley, who helped with their wedding Dec.r 22, 1967, directed Amy’s wedding. The bride's seven atten dants in long burgundy gowns and the groom’s groomsmen in black tuxe dos flanked the lovely blond bride in her almost white silk a-line gown and her handsome groom. The reception followed in the church fellowship hall. Jonathan and Amy Fouse have a Thanksgiving cruise planned for their honeymoon. They have a purchased a home in the lngleside area of Macon. • •• Never cooked black beans? Here’s how Jackie Klein prepared them for Supper Club. From South ern Living of March 1999. Cuban Black Beans 1 (16-ounce) package dried black beans 1 medium onion, chopped 1 small green bell pepper, chopped 3 garlic cloves, pressed 3 tablespoons olive oil 2 quarts water 1 tablespoon white vinegar 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1 /4 teaspoon pepper 1 bay leaf Hot cooked rice Chopped green onions Place dried beans in a Dutch oven and cover with See VISITIN’. Page 3B Page 1B to r PelaLLu island Perryan Joe Gayle makes return visit to the site of ‘his war’ By CHARLOTTE PERKINS Home Jouknal State °*ljpoe Gayle first saw Pelaliu Island on Sept. 15, 1944. The island was a heavily armed fortress for the Japanese. Gayle was a 24 # I year-old Marine captain, a company com mander, putting his life on the line for his country. • “My war lasted three days." Gayle says now, but those were three days he spent a long time trying to forget. The air was scorching hot, and the battle was unrelenting. He saw his friends injured and killed as U.S. forces assaulted the island and 11,000 Japanese troops fought back from entrenched positions. On the third day, Gayle was shot through the back of his neck. The bullet went in one side and out the other, nicking his spinal column and leaving him par alyzed. From there, he was taken to a series of hospitals, from the Russell Islands and back to the states eventually to Farragut, Idaho where he was reunit ed with his young wife, Connette. and his son, Joe Jr. The paralysis in his lower body cleared up quickly, he recalled. "They had me up and walking," he remembered, “but my arms were big trouble." Recovery was a long process, and even today, Gayle can’t throw a ball overhanded. He has very sensitive nerves in the area of his wound, still. After he able to leave the hospital, he was reas signed to the Princeton, N.J. area, with limited duty. (It was there that he met an older man who got him interested in antiques and refinishing something he undertook, as he put it, “to educate my hands and arms”). On discharge, like hundreds of thousands of other young men, Joe Gayle took advantage of the G.I. Bill to further his education. He returned to his native Ken tucky and to the University of Kentucky, where he had been a student before entering the ser vice. After earning a degree in profes sional farm management, he wound up in middle Georgia, working as manager for Malatchee Farms. He and his wife, with three more children (Dick, Currie, and daughter Deborah) in tow, made their home in Perry. Connette Gayle worked for the Department of Family and Children Services for many years, and as they neared retirement, the Gayles fol lowed a lifelong interest, opening “Antiques at the Shed." Pelaliu Island was a distant memory by that time, but as the 50th anniversary of the battle drew near, Joe Gayle considered See GAYLE, Page 3B Meet me at the creek! Annual fall edition of Mossy Creek Barnyard Festival is this weekend From staff reports Mossy Creek Festival “Whatever happened to the way things used to be? This theme song sets the mood and slows the pace of visitors returning to the Mossy Creek Barnyard Festival in the deep piney woods near Perry on Oct. 16-17. Flower beds in bloom around old homestead buildings, and hostesses in gingham provide a welcome to devotees and newcomers who came to the last festival from 35 states and six countries. Early arrivals sing and laugh with the guitarist in the ticket line. Along straw paths inside the split rail fence, descendants of pioneers share skills and friendship, bob, sitting in an old rocking chair, carves out good-luck wooden “knobbits." ■ fill' ' I KA k J 1 1 \ uu.i I'imt i: .is—j Special Photos VARIETY OF MUSICIANS ENTERTAIN AT FESTIVAL Event is Oct. 16-17 off Lake Joy Road - Wed., Oct. 13, 1999 ISLAND ACCOMMODATIONS Through the help of an interested trav - .iA: ' yi . | HO - £ Special Photos FATHER AND SONS - Joe Gayle’s three sons went with him to Pelaliu Island where he fought in World War 11. From left, on the beach where Gayle's Marine regiment led the assault on the Japanese-held island, are Joe Gayle Jr., Joe Gayle Sr., Dick Gayle and Currie Gayle. Chester pounds original art designs into aluminum plates and other deco rative pieces with his hammer and anvil. Beth weaves chair seats with corn shucks. Harry displays his hand built wooden canoe and his work in progress. Dunlap, a nationally recog nized specialist, makes fishing rods and teaches methods of casting. The greatest attraction of the festi val is possibly the fine artists and arti sans who bring original creations from 27 states. New talent this year will include Monica DeCamp from Canada with majolica pottery. Dale Cantrell from Indiana with chimes of gemstones and Teddi Vala from lowa with layered scented candles. Sharon Hutto paints old times images. Live entertainment the Foxfire Boys band, honky-tonk piano, hammered Houston Home Journal ■ rJSMWBI ' 'Sal ,' * * CLOGGERS PROVIDE ENTERTAINMENT Mossy Creek Is ThiS Weekend el agent, the Gayles were able to stay on the island in these simple homes. dulcimer, the Mountain Dulcimer Philharmonic. Uncle Gus singing orig inal songs and telling tall tales, Tedd Conner, guitarist, and the “Celestial Music" duo on Celtic harp and bam boo flute. Fantasy Forest offers three daily shows of storytelling, magic and ven triloquism. There is also a petting and feeding zoo with farm animals, and Ginger, the corn bread-eating mule. Community leaders from 14 local clubs and organizations will cook fes tival treats. Mossy Creek Festival has been named one of the top 100 events in North America by the American Bus Association. The site is off Dike Joy Road, with signs dearly posted. Tickets are $4 for adults and $1 for children. Parking is free, and adjacent to the festival.