Newspaper Page Text
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♦ WEEKEND, OCTOBER 4-6, 2003
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OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
President,
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans
Vice President
Centerville To Elect New Mayor
The City of Centerville has been without a
mayor for several months, since Mary Ann
Weigand resigned because of ill health.
The absence of a mayor at the helm of this
small but thriving city has been noticeable.
Fortunately, a run-off election between
Ronnie Brand and Troy Windham next
Tuesday will determine who will be the new
mayor.
Both candidates have presented their views
well in recent weeks. There is excitement in the
air as the run-off election approaches.
We urge registered voters in Centerville to
turn out in record numbers for this election. It
is important to the future of the city.
Many problems are on the table, awaiting a
firm hand at the helm of the city. We are confi
dent that the winner will provide the leader
ship that is needed.
Another Big Fair Is Untler Way
The 14th Georgia National Fair is under way
in Perry. Activities began Friday afternoon
with the unveiling of a statue of a farmer and a
mule with dignitaries, including former
President Jimmy Carter, in attendance.
The fair is bigger and better than ever. The
weather that is predicted for the next 10 days
sounds great. It may be possible this year to set
another attendance record.
Fair officials have been working tirelessly
since the fair last year to add new activities and
events that will appeal to the widest audience.
They seem to have succeeded.
The fair has significant economic effect on
the City of Perry and all of Houston County,
bringing thousands of people here either to
participate or be spectators. Every effort has
been made to make them feel at home.
It should be a great week. We look forward to
seeing you at the Fair.
The tantrum of all tantrums ... at the fair
I must admit that I like
fairs. Cotton candy. Rides.
Cows. Arts and crafts. And
corn dogs. I like it all.
I believe that it’s because I
was deprived of fairs as a
child. My mom just never
cared for them and we didn’t
have the money to spend on
Ferris wheels and snow
cones. But she’s coming
around now.
Lucky for me I married a
man who also enjoys the fair.
And we like to share this
simple joy with our son
Evan. Two years ago was his
first trip to the Georgia
National Fair. He was only 3
and too small to. go on most
of the rides even though he
really wanted to try out the
bumper cars and the Agri-
Lift.
Just a farmer at the fair: a few recollections
“We not only love our land,
but we stay close to it. ”
- James Earl Carter,
39th U.S. president
The opening of the 14th
Annual Georgia National
Fair was marked by quite a
few grand ceremonies, a few
of which were attended by
one of Georgia’s most well
known native peanut farm
ers, Jimmy Carter.
It happens that I’m from
Americus, which is all of
about ten minutes away
from his hometown, Plains.
I remember meeting him.
I was in high school, and
my marching band was part
of the annual Plains Peanut
Days Festival. We were in
the process of lining up, get-
Rex Gambill
Managing Editor
Foy S. Evans
Editor Emeritus
C ■" * v -%,* |
Cindy Gambill
Columnist
Last year we thought it
would be different. So one
Saturday afternoon we took
Evan, then 4, to the fair. I
insisted he take a nap that
afternoon so he wouldn’t be
JH"
Jon Suggs
Staff Writer
jsuggs@evansnewspapers.com
ting ready to warm up and
move out, when along comes
this skinny white-haired old
guy, shaking hands through
the brass section.
Accusation is unfair to Gov. Perdue
GOV SONNY Perdue and
President Bush have some
thing in common other than
being Republicans.
They have bent over back
ward since taking office to
appeal to blacks with the
belief that by doing so they
can broaden the base of
their political party.
Both have been rewarded
by being called “racists” by
political leaders in the black
community.
It must be disheartening
to both of them to spend so
much time, money and polit
ical capital on what is turn
ing out to be a fruitless
effort.
• • •
SONNY is dedicated to
improving public school edu
cation in Georgia. He knows
that the only way to do so is
to make education more
challenging so that students
will score higher on SAT
scores, which is a standard
ized way to determine how
they are performing in rela
tion to students all over the
country.
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cranky.
When we arrived at the
fair, Evan was ecstatic. We
could hardly keep him with
us because he was almost
running from the parking
lot to the entrance. He had
to see the cows, and the
chickens, and the goats, and
the horses, and any other
animal around.
Evan smothered himself
with cotton candy after
downing a hot dog. We
walked through the fun
house and the haunted
house balancing on moving
floors and running into mir
rors. He steered the bumper
car while I handled the
accelerator and we slammed
into Daddy’s car.
We sat and watched the
fireworks. Things were
And that big smile seen in
all those pictures and news
reels?
Damn, it’s wide up-close.
And just as nonchalant as
the most typical small-town
politician, that man.
Years later, I ended up
working for my hometown
newspaper - a job that led to
a few encounters with the
world’s best-known Sumter
Countian.
The first time I inter
viewed the man, really
talked to him, he was sitting
in a small diner, wearing his
usual jeans and short
sleeved buttoned shirt.
Cowboy boots, too.
I wasn’t there to discuss
any particularly earth-shat
Foy Evans
Columnist
foyevans 19@cox .net
At the same time, the pop
ular HOPE scholarship pro
gram appears to be headed
for financial trouble.
Predictions are being made
that revenue from the
Georgia lottery will not be
enough to cover the HOPE
scholarship program as it
presently is constituted
within a few years.
There have been several
suggestions how to keep
HOPE alive. It has been
suggested that a means test
great.
Then Evan decided he
wanted an inflatable toy. I
can’t even remember exactly
what toy it was, but that’s
because of what happened
next. Evan got cranky and
decided to share his feelings
with the world. As my moth
er calls it, he “pitched a fit.”
But not just any fit. It was
the kind that makes you
want to hide behind the
building until he’s done. Of
course, we couldn’t do that.
As parents, we know our
responsibility.
Not being ones to tolerate
temper tantrums, we decid
ed it was time to go home.
Evan wasn’t ready to
leave. Before, he held mine
or Daddy’s hand and
walked. Now it was one of us
tering news, nothing about
his latest diplomatic mission
or the rumors that this year
might finally be the one
when the Nobel committee
decided to drape a Peace
medal around his neck. (It
wasn’t.)
No, I was there because
the man had called our
office for a story.
Plains - which is the epit
ome of the “blink and you’ll
miss it” description of small
towns - was about to get a
new diner.
For a town like Plains,
this was big news anyway,
but it turned out the
owner/head cook was an old
friend of his.
So I was there to do a
be applied so that students
from more affluent families
would not be eligible.
Opposition is vocal.
More recently Gov. Perdue
has suggested that the pres
ent requirement - a B aver
age - not be the only
requirement. He wants to
require an SAT score - 1,000
has been batted around - as
well as the classroom B
average to qualify.
• • •
SO WHAT happens?
Several black state sena
tors have accused Perdue of
being a racist for making
such a suggestion.
They want to keep the B
average as the only require
ment. It has been fairly well
documented that this really
is not an accurate way to
determine what students
have learned. Grade infla
tion by teachers trying to
help students get HOPE
scholarships is rampant.
The fact that only one
fourth of students with SAT
scores of less than 1,000
maintain their HOPE schol
dragging the child back to
the parking lot. And he was
screaming, “I want that
toy!”
When you’re walking
through a crowded parking
lot pulling a screaming 4-
year-old, people tend to look
at you funny. You wonder if
a cop will stop you at any
minute to investigate possi
ble child abuse.
Evan’s tantrum continued
as we trudged until his voice
grew hoarse. When I
thought I could stand it no
more and couldn’t walk
another step, I looked up to
see our car pull up beside us.
Very calmly my husband got
out of the driver’s seat,
picked up Evan and deposit
ed him in the child seat.
Once in the car, Evan finally
business story.
My first quotes from
Carter were about just how
much he liked that woman’s
fried chicken.
That afternoon really set
tled my image of him.
I saw in that conversation
that he was really and truly
the down-to-earth, next
door sorta fella he’d always
been portrayed as.
Later that same year, as
Habitat for Humanity held
its annual Jimmy Carter
Work Project in Plains, I
watched this man pick up
his tool belt and work right
alongside the other volun
teers who were putting up
five houses in a week.
It was intensely hot that
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
arships after one year in col
lege is an indication that
many students have
received scholarships who
really should not have.
• • •
I SEE nothing wrong with
raising the bar for receiving
a HOPE scholarship. It
makes sense. Students would
be challenged to learn more
in high school to receive a
scholarship.
Anyone who sees this as
racist is saying outright that
blacks are unable to learn at
the same level as whites,
Latinos, Asians and other
minorities. I am in no posi
tion to know if they are
right or wrong.
Could it be that the real
racists are those who are
attacking Gov. Perdue for
wanting to improve educa
tion in our public schools?
The HOPE scholarship
program is too good to aban
don. Something must be
done to make it affordable.
So sooner or later some seri
ous criteria must be adopt
ed.
calmed down and the three
of us went home.
A few days later I had to
go back to the fair to help
take down an exhibit as part
of my work duties. Evan
went with me. We steered
clear of those inflatable toys
and he was content to look
at the animals.
Now Evan doesn’t remem
ber the huge tantrum he
threw or the torture his par
ents endured. He can’t wait
to go to this year’s fair. He is
a year older and hopefully
more mature.
And like any patient par
ents, we’ll give him one
more try.
Cindy Gambill lives in
Warner Robins and is a pub
lications editor at Fort Valley
State University.
summer, and I spent as
much time as I could hiding
in the shade, feeling miser
able for the assignment.
Carter?
I’ve got pictures of him -
working, working, working
- pleased as anything to be
out in the brutal South
Georgia sun.
Put aside that he’s in hife
late 70s.
Forget that most every
other former President can
be counted on for little more
than picking up big checks
for small speeches.
Remember that smiling
man in jeans, just as happy
to talk about fried chicken
as poverty housing or mak
ing peace.