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♦ THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1 2005
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Ralph Guest, with the shovel, supervises his drivers, including son David, working a wreck on the interstate. He
always made sure all debris was cleared off the roadway.
GUEST
From page 1A
still in business “and
Warner Robins Wrecker
Service is the biggest in
Middle Georgia.”
Guest instilled his quali
ties in his drivers too,
Ronnie Guest said. Drivers
are to make sure all debris is
cleared from the roads, and
put Oil-Dri down to clean up
spills, so no one else wrecks.
Warner Robins Wrecker is
one of the on-call wrecker
services for the county and
the city of Warner Robins.
“The company has grown
with the times,” Ronnie
Guest said, “to make sure
the drivers have the equip
ment they need to get the
job done.”
The company his 14
trucks, including flatbeds,
lowboys and heavy trucks,
all radio dispatched.
“His compassion for other
people is how he did it,” said
Jack Humphrey, the former
justice of the peace and
Warner Robins city council
man. “He’s done a lot of peo
ple a lot of favors.”
C'VILLE
From page 1A
of life with American people,
and political signs should
not come under this ordi
nance,” said Mayor Ronnie
Brand. “I don’t think
Centerville needs to be so
strict that we can’t put out
garage sale signs on week
ends or display political
signs.”
Despite political speech
being the most protected
form of speech under the
First Amendment, Mayor
Brand’s hopes were dashed
by Tydings.
“That federal law required
that all sign regulations
have to be content neutral,”
she said. Members of the
council then expressed con
cern that yard sale signs
have been a problem in the
past and that many
statewide election signs stay
out months after the elec
tions.
“Those are the people that
need a ticket,” Brand said.
“I don’t think we need to act
so fast that we create a mon
ster.”
The matter was then
taken under advisement by
ISAKSON
From page 1A
The senator said that
Georgia came out a winner
in the new federal highway
bill. Previously, “donor
state” Georgia had been
receiving 84 cents out of a
dollar in gasoline taxes sent
to Washington, but this year
that percentage went up to
90.5 cents and it will go up
to 92 cents next year and
93.5 cents after that.
“The highway bill will be
good for Georgia and
Warner Robins,” Isakson
said.
Isakson said he was not
ready to make a final deci
sion on the proposed Fair
Tax that would replace the
income tax with a national
sales, or consumption, tax.
“I am a big consumption
tax supporter because it is a
Ronnie Guest agreed.
“He helped a lot of older
people,” he said. “If people
couldn’t pay, he told them
‘don’t to worry about it.’”
As a one-man wrecker
service, “he’d get out of bed
at all hours of the night,”
Ronnie Guest said. “He’d
make sure they got a motel;
he went out of his way to
make them feel at home.
“He loved people and
loved helping people.”
Billy Davis, a friend, said
Ralph Guest “would give
you the shirt off his back. He
was a very caring person.”
Guest supported all the
local politicians with fish
fries and barbecues.
“He enjoyed life itself,”
Davis said.
“Ralph was just in his hey
day at the fish fries,”
Humphrey said. “It was
obvious he loved people.”
“He’s done a lot of favors
for a lot of people,”
Humphrey said, adding
Guest was “extremely fami
ly-oriented” and close to his
children.
“Irene was his main sup
the City Council in hope
that a resolution could be
reached that would satisfy
the majority of citizens.
Also on the evening’s
agenda was a proposal by
Councilman Sherod Wilson
to standardize the
Centerville’s per diem
guidelines to conform to flat
federal guidelines.
Wilson’s proposal would
simplify expense reporting
by traveling city employees
and, purportedly, result in a
savings to taxpayers.
Currently Centerville
employees are reimbursed
for their travel expenses on
a case-by-case basis. This is
often a burden for employ
ees who must travel for
training and then await
reimbursement for their
out-of-pocket expenses.
The City Council voted to
support Wilson’s proposal
which would be based on up
front per diems at rates
which are recommended and
updated by the federal gov
ernment on a weekly basis.
For example, the federal
per diem for an employee
traveling to Atlanta would
perfect way for people to
pay, but my question is
whether or not we will be
able to make the transition
to a Fair Tax,” he said. “A
lot of people and govern
ments have made big invest
ments based on the current
tax code. Tax policy drives
economic development and
you need to look at all of the
unexpected consequences
before you jump into some
thing like this,” Isakson
said.
Isakson returned to the
War on Terror in response
to a question about war pro
testers.
“The troops are an exten
sion of you, and they allow
us to live in freedom,” he
said. “We cannot allow this
war to become politicized
the way the Vietnam War
porter,” Humphrey said.
Davis said Irene Guest
and Dee Coleman have been
the only dispatchers for the
towing company. Guest’s
son David will take over the
business, Ronnie Guest said.
“Ain’t nothing gonna
change.”
Humphrey said David was
doing mechanic work with
his father before he could
drive.
Troy Toilette, “Little
Man,” has worked for Guest
for 17 years.
“It doesn’t matter, big or
snlall, Ralph Guest taught
Little Man to move it all,”
Toilette said.
He started at the age of
12, coming by after school.
Guest made sure Toilette
did his schoolwork, and
made him bring a note from
school so he could work
there.
He said Guest taught him
everything he knows about
wreckers.
“He taught me to drive,
hook and tow, and how to
be $42 a day. If a police offi
cer were to attend a three
day training session there,
he would receive $l2B up
front. If the officer spent
more money then that dur
ing the trip it would come
out of his pocket; if he spent
less he would be rewarded
for his frugality.
The evening’s final busi
ness was a review of
Wilson’s search for a new
health plan for Centerville
employees.
Wilson said he has suc
ceeded in finding a plan that
would save the city $68,000
a year. He proposed that the
resulting savings be set
aside in a fund, on a yearly
basis, so that the city could
attempt to become self
insured at some point in the
future.
Councilman Cameron
Andrews refused to support
the plan when he learned
that deductibles paid by city
employees would rise from
$25 to S4O. The issue was
tabled for future discussion.
Also addressed by the
Centerville City Council:
• An expenditure of S4OO
did. This one is for all the
marbles. Terrorists want to
destroy us and we are fight
ing the right war, at the
right time for the right rea
sons - and I am very proud
of my country.
If we can see to it that ter
rorism does not stand, we
can see to it that democracy
and freedom will flourish.”
I Wear A Hearing Aid!
If you have hearing loss, wouldn’t it make sense to talk with someone who understands first hand the
problems associated with hearing loss?
I also work with the Beltone Hearing Care Center, in Warner Robins. If you need hearing aids, wouldn’t it
make sense to go to the most trusted and recognized name in the hearing care industry, among consumers age
50 and older?
I invite you to visit our office in the Doctors’ Building on Hospital Drive. We offer a complete hearing
evaluation and consultation at no charge. If you have a hearing loss, we will let you listen to digital hearing
aids to set realistic expectations. You can
also have a 30 day trial period to be sure
the instruments are right for you.
LOCAL
deal with people in this
town,” Toilette said.
Former driver Davis
Westra, who continued to
work with Guest after he
moved on to Snap-On Tools,
remembers that Guest was
always busy and always in a
hurry. He remembered
Guest telling him he only
had to work half a day -
from noon to midnight.
Westra remembered some
of Guest’s favorite sayings
like “rain or ice is a wreck
man’s friend.” “He loved it
when it rained because it
was a good day for a wreck
er,” Westra said.
Ronnie Guest noted it
rained the day his brother
died - Monday, Aug. 29.
Funeral services for
Radford “Ralph” Guest will
be held at 1 p.m. today at
Westside Baptist Church.
Burial will follow in
Parkway Memorial Gardens.
Dr. Mike Holloway will offi
ciate.
He is survived by his wife
Irene Guest of Warner
to copy lost banking docu
ments to be paid to Bank of
America.
• S.W.A.T. team member
Police Officer Witherspoon
was given permission to
take home her patrol car so
she could respond more rap
idly to emergencies.
• The council agreed to
fund a $2,000 expenditure
for the Certified Literacy
Community Program, which
trains non-English speaking
residents in the fundamen
tals of American life.
vJf
' Superior
dgaWsaftkift t Rates!
9-month CD 4.00 % I
9 Rales are subject to change without notice. Annual Percentage Yield (APY)
is accurate as of the date of this advertisement. Some restrictions may apply.
Minimum deposit amount $5,000.
i
Member
For your convenience, our bank’s lobby is open from 9:00 a.m.- Noon each Saturday. FDIC
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submitted
Ralph Guest was always busy, friends remembered. He
often took his lunch at his desk at the Elberta Road
office.
THE BANK OF PERRY
1006 Main Street, Perry • 478-987-2554
www.bop 1889.c0m
Cull for your appointment 929-4567
Robins; children, David
(Leigh) Guest, Lisa (Jack)
Dunlap all of Warner
Robins; siblings, Ronnie
Guest of Anderson, S.C.,
Gun, drug charges dropped
On Aug. 2, charges were
dropped against Neal Allen
Spence, 28, 114 Woodfield
Drive, Warner Robins.
Spence was indicted in
January on charges of pos
session of methampheta
mine and possession of a
firearm during the commis
sion of a crime on Oct. 21,
2004, He was accused of
being in possession of the
drugs and a Smith & Wesson
9mm handgun.
Charges were dropped due '
to insufficient evidence,
according to the Houston
Circuit
District Attorney’s Office.
“Thank you, Jesus,”
Spence said Tuesday. “God
New Client
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LENN DUKES
SALON
922-0727
Char-Broiled
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-1-75 Exit 136 ■ 987-6877 21542
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
T.A. Guest of Marietta, 0.8.
Guest of Valdosta, Elise
Kirkland of Albany; and
grandchildren, Tyler
Dunlap and Blake Mullis.
is working in the judicial
system.”
Spence said his arrest and
indictment “got me sober,
and where I’m at today with
God.”
“It’s just a blessing,”
Spence said, that the
charges were dropped.
“Church is the only thing
that works for me,” he said.
- Ray Lightner
11-Stor-lt
Self Storage
788-0434
5410 Hawkinsville Rd.
(Macon - Hwy. 247 at Cargill)
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213521
To The Greatest
Husband In The World.
I Love You Soooo Much!
Love Always, ,
Patti
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