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THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
DRIVE
From page 1A
The deal was first con
ceived in 2001 as a means to
develop a tract to the north
and northeast of the base
for facilities to support the
base. Mayor Walker thanked
former Rep. Larry Walker,
who crafted House Bill 175
to do the land swap. That
legislation was approved by
the General Assembly dur
ing the 2002 session and
signed into law on May 16,
2003.
Perdue also thanked
Larry Walker, saying,
“Larry and Sonny Watson
were my mentors as I went
to the Senate. They gave a
legacy to (current legisla
tors) Larry O’Neal, Willie
Talton, Ross Tolleson and
Cecil Staton.”
Mayor Walker thanked
present and former Houston
County Development
Authority chairmen Glynn
Greemway and Larry
Snellgrove for there work so
far. “We’ll need your help as
we move on,” Walker said.
Both the mayor and the
governor said the proposed
complex would be developed,
built and managed through
a city, Houston County
Development Authority, pri
vate financier/development
partnership. According
to the 21st Century
Partnership, current discus
sions are centered on final
izing a concept of operation
with Robins AFB and if the
complex becomes a reality,
it could bring an estimat
ed 800-1000 jobs to Middle
Georgia.
Walker thanked city
department and City
Attorney Jim Elliott for all
CAT
From oaae l A
Douglas Nation, is plan
ning on moving back to
Perry from his home in Fort
Walton Beach, Fla.
“I’m probably back in
Perry four to six times a
year,” she said.
An avid golfer, she works
on her 14 handicap at the
Houston Lake and Perry
country clubs, but also
plays golf with Jim Davis in
Indiana.
“Jim’s a pretty avid
golfer,” she said. “If he can,
he tries to play at least five
times a week.”
After graduating from
Perry High School in 1971,
Nation studied music and
art at Middle Georgia
College, then took busi
ness and art classes at
the University of Georgia.
From Athens, she started
a ceramics business in
Nashville, then moved to
New Jersey in the late
19705. When her boyfriend’s
brother-in-law, who owned
a wholesale apparel busi
ness, asked her to fill in
for another salesman with
a company that wouldn’t
budge. Nation came back
with a $30,000 sale, and
was offered a chance to
work for the company in
their showroom.
Nation first started work
ing for Jim Davis in 1993.
At the time the two met,
Davis was in the middle of a
split with United Media, the
company who had partnered
with Davis for 15 years.
While Davis was responsible
for the comic strip, United
Media had handled all of
the marketing and licensing
for the characters.
According to Nation, Jim
Davis wanted to control the
destiny of the character and
its licensing rights, and was
searching for executives
to handle the work United
Media was once responsible
for.
Nation met the cartoonist
through an interesting set
of circumstances. Nation’s
girlfriend, a painter and
artist from Sarasota, Fla.,
asked Nation’s personal and
professional opinion on a
potential agent. At a meet
ing, Nation learned that
the agent also represented
Davis.
“Jim and I met over
breakfast, and he basi
cally told me he wanted to
offer me the last job of my
career,” she said.
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Warner Robins mayor Donald Walker and Georgia governor Sonny Perdue share a laugh
before a ceremony at Warner Robins City Hall on Friday.
their hard work. Walker
noted with some it was also
physical labor, cleaning up
the city property after last
year’s storms, so the federal
government would approved
the deal.
Walker also had high
praise for Perdue and his
wife, Mary. “Boy sure you
married way over your
head,” Walker said.
He praised Perdue for
his work in education, in
efforts to make Macon State
College a four-year school
and to bring the Mercer
Engineering Resource
Center to Warner Robins.
“He saw a need in this com
munity and met it,” Walker
said.
She worked as director
of apparel for roughly six
years before her new post
ing as director of sales.
A world-wide giant
According to Nation,
Garfield’s vast marketing
empire generates close to
$1 billion in retail sales.
According to company
information, the Garfield
image is licensed to over
500 manufacturers in 111
countries, and is printed in
29 languages.
The character spawned
several popular television
specials and a Saturday
morning cartoon series,
“Garfield & Friends,” that
ran on CBS for seven years.
Garfield specials have also
earned four Emmy Awards.
A live-action sequel to
“Garfield: The Movie,”
which generated $l9B mil
lion at the box office world
wide, is set to open nation
wide June 16. “Garfield: A
Tail of Two Kitties” stars
Breckin Meyer, Jennifer
Love Hewitt, and Billy
Connolly; along with the
voice talents of Bill Murray,
Bob Hoskins and Tim
Curry.
As director of sales,
Nation is responsible for
negotiating and securing
new licensees, working
recently to secure a private
label of Garfield-themed
products with the Meijer
retail chain in the Midwest.
Vacation
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“He not just talked the
talk, he walked the walk,”
Walker said of Perdue. “He
made tough hard decisions,
turned the state around and
now people are flocking to
Georgia like bees to honey.”
Perdue thanked Walker
for the introduction and
the key to the city, which
Walker said “opens many
doors but most importantly
is a key to our hearts.”
“Donald Walker remem
bers his friends,” Perdue
said. “He remembers others
too,” to which many in the
crowd laughed.
“Donald Walker had
to step out to make this
swap with property the city
owned,” Perdue said. “The
From popsicles to baby
diapers, Garfield’s likeness
can be found on almost any
product imaginable.
“We even market Garfield
toilet seats,” she said.
“There’s really so many, I
can’t list them all.”
Nation said that Davis is
constantly working with her
department to generate new
product ideas, and Nation
visits several trade shows
every year.
What he's really
like
Garfield first appeared on
June 19, 1978. The comic’s
creator, Jim Davis, was born
on July 28, 1945, in Marion,
Ind. Raised on a family
farm, childhood asthma
forced him inside, where
he spent much of his time
drawing.
According to his company
bio, after some success
with his first comic strip,
Gnorm Gnat, Davis noticed
there were many successful
strips centered on dogs, but
none at the time on cats.
From that idea, Garfield
was born. Davis said the
character is a composite of
all the cats he remembered
from his childhood, and was
named after his grandfa
ther, James Garfield Davis.
“He’s just as funny as
the character,” Nation
said. “He always says he’s
Garfield without the cat
LOCAL
swap helps the people of the
city ... it allows the base to
expand ... and it also helps
protect the Ocmulgee River
corridor.”
In the deal the city traded
330 acres east of the base
along the Ocmulgee River,
which was acquired from
the U.S. government as sur
plus on July 10, 1973. Use
of the land, which is prone
to flooding, was and will
remain restricted to outdoor
recreation purposes.
The stated traded a 544-
acre tract, a portion of
which has been designated
as the location for the base
support facilities. It is adja
cent to the base along the
Echenonnee River.
suit.”
Nation said Davis’ close
knit studio runs like a fam
ily, with an on-site chef who
cooks up daily meals, even
lasagna. Nation said many
of the artists Davis works
with have been with the
cartoonist from the begin
ning, and he still lives with
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Airmen asked to protect personal info
Special to the HHJ
WASHINGTON Air
Force officials are asking
Airmen to stay extra vigilant
in protecting their credit and
themselves from identity
theft in light of the recent
theft of 26.5 million veter
an’s records from the home
of a Department of Veterans
Affairs employee* in May.
The VA announced over
the weekend that the stolen
records might include personal
information of people current
ly in the military, according to
a VA news release. Initial find
CHIEF
From page 1A
Fennell moved to Perry
more than two years, and
has known Potter for
roughly 10 years. Recently,
Fennell served on an
assessment board that
helped Potter hire three
new firefighters.
“I’m hoping I can bring
a positive attitude to this
department,” Fennell said,
remarking he plans to
work to boost morale.
Potter, who was tapped to
head both the city’s police
and fire departments after
Howell’s resignation, said
Fennell will bring experi
ence and professionalism
to the department.
“He is focused on train
ing,” Potter said. “He
plans to train every day.”
Potter said that it will
take between 60-90 days
to hire a deputy chief to
replace Fennell. Potter
said that the new chief,
when hired, will oversee
the department under his
in 1/4 mile of his parents.
Davis’ wife works as senior
vice president of licensing
for the company.
“He’s a real family man,
and he treats his employees
that way,” she said. “It’s a
very creative, casual place
to work.”
Nation said that the char-
SATURDAY, JUNE 10, 2006 ♦
mgs from the VA indicated the
personal information on about
50,000 active duty. National
Guard and Reserve Airmen
may have been involved.
As the two agencies com
pared electronic files, VA and
the Department of Defense
learned that personal infor
mation on as many as 1.1
million active-duty service
members, 430,000 National
Guardsmen, and 645,000
members of the Reserve may
have been included in the
data theft, according to the
VA release June 7.
direction.
Fennell’s posting was
revealed during a promo
tion ceremony for one of
the department’s longest
standing firemen, new Lt.
Joe Boone. A veteran of
the Perry and Macon fire
departments. After grow
ing up in Perry, he joined
the local fire department in
March 1980. Roughly two
years later, he moved to the
Macon Fire Department,
but later returned to Perry
in August 1999.
Perry Mayor Jim Worrall
congratulated Boone on
behalf of the city. Although
fellow firefighters joked
about his loud snoring
at the station house and
eagerness to jump into
fighting a fire, even with
out an air pack, they were
quick to congratulate him,
commenting on his work
ethic.
Potter said Boone will
join Robby Rowell and
Billy Gordon as one of
three lieutenants in the
department, responsible
for supervising shifts of
firefighters.
acter of Garfield continues
to appeal to millions.
“It’s the type of comic
strip that parents can read
with their children,” she
said. “It’s nostalgia.
“So many people love the
character because they can
relate to him. He’s a human
in a cat suit.”
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