the covington news sunday, may 24, 2015 vol.150, no.20

THE COVINGTON

NEWSCN

150 YEARS OF SERVING NEWTON COUNTY

SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2015 The story of your life Vol. 150, No. 20 $1

Covington • Mansfield • Newborn • Oxford • Porterdale • Social Circle

For the most up to date news in Newton County, visit CovNews.com.FOR THE MOST UP-TO-DATE NEWS IN NEWTON COUNTY, VISIT COVNEWS.COM

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"Warehouse prices"Designer Fabrics • Oriental Rugs

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Remembering Their

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LOGANVILLE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY

Owens poised to be interim county manager

Newton Medical, Piedmont finalize deal

Newton Medical Center will soon become Piedmont Newton Hospital after NMC final-ized a partnership agreement with Piedmont Healthcare earlier this week.

The agreement, sent to the Attorney Gen-eral’s office on Tuesday, is for Piedmont Health Care to be the lessee of the Newton County Hospital Authority and all the assets of the Newton County Medical Center for a 40-year period of time. Piedmont will be the sole operator of the hospital, Newton Medi-cal Center CEO Jim Weadick told The News.

According to a release NMC will formally become a subsidiary of Piedmont Healthcare on Oct. 1

“Because of Piedmont’s reputation, we have been antici-pating this affilia-tion for months,” Weadick, said in a statement. “Their manner of placing safe patient care, concern for their personnel, and car-ing for the com-munity where they serve is compatible with ours."

"The high qual-ity of specialists and services they provide is a great opportunity for our community," he continued. "We’re excited about what this means for our employees and patients.”

Much of the hospital’s current operations will remain the same with the administration expected to remain intact.

“There are to be no changes for the first year,” Weadick said.

The biggest change for patients will be new signs, including a billboard and name badges on personnel. For staff, changes will include a new computer system and possibly a change from Newton Medical’s 403(b) to Piedmont’s 401(k).

“The first thing (patients) will notice is the change on the sign on the highway and when they come through the doors of the hospital,” Weadick said. “But the Penicillin will still be the same, the X-ray machines will be the same and the beds will be the same ones they have in Piedmont.”

Another change to the hospital is one that has been anticipated for years. NMC has yet to begin construction on the emergency department expansion voted in by Newton County voters with a $4 million Special Pur-pose Local Option Sales tax in 2011.

Weadick said now that Piedmont is on board the project will move forward starting within 12 months. The $4 million in SPLOST funds will be augmented by $3 million from Piedmont.

u See OWENS, 4A

BRYAN [email protected]

Human resources consultant Harry Owens will like-ly be confirmed as interim county manager at the next Board of Commissioners meeting on June 2, taking over the day to day administration of the county until the county’s form of government is resolved.

A citizen panel is currently working on recommen-dations to update the enabling legislation in order to improve transparency and accountability and create checks and balances between the board, chairman, and county manager. The changes should be ready for implementation by January 2017.

Former County Manager Tom Garrett left two weeks ago to become the head of Barrow County’s transportation department.

In a statement, the county described Owens as a "se-nior human resources management practitioner with over thirty years’ experience managing and directing all aspects of human resources administration."

"Harry has worked in a corporate HR environment in the private sector but for the past twenty-seven years

MERIS [email protected]

Two dead in apparent murder suicide

The Covington Police Department responded to a shooting Thursday, discovering a man and woman shot when arriving on scene.

The two Covington residents, Ali-cia Ruby Richards and Norman Al-phonso Richards were found dead at 10112 Wellington Ridge.

According to a release from CPD, investigators determined the inci-dent to be a murder-suicide.

“Investigators interviewed eye wit-

nesses, and at this point in the inves-tigation it has been determined that the male suspect shot the female vic-tim then turned the firearm on him-self,” CPD Capt. Craig Treadwell said in the release.

Alicia Richards and Norman Rich-ards were divorced, according to Treadwell, living at 10112 Wellington Ridge and 10330 Magnolia Heights Drive, respectively.

Treadwell said CPD had re-sponded to the address on many occasions for domestic violence related calls.

Public Hearing on Newton Medical Center’s partner-ship with Piedmont Healthcare

WHEN: July 28, 4 p.m. *WHERE: Newton Medical Center Audi-toriumWHO: The Attorney General, Newton Medical Center and Piedmont Healthcare officials

*time subject to change

u See HOSPITAL, 4A

STAFF [email protected]

GRADUATED ...and it feels so good!

CELEBRATE OUR FALLEN HEROES

See PAGE 3A for Alcovy, Eastside and Newton graduation photos.

See our special section on all of our graduating seniors in Newton CountySECTION C

Newton sophomore leaps to claim triple jump state title

u See full story, 1B

A SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2015 The Covington News CN

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BOC meeting wrap-up

The Board of Commission-ers made discussed several ma-jor issues at Tuesday’s meeting, including hiring a new county manager and reaching out to the city for additional funds to help save the library.

The board also heard a presen-tation about Newton County To-morrow from Oxford mayor Jerry Roseberry, who explained that the 501c3 aims to promote responsi-ble development and community engagement.

Some of Newton County To-morrow’s projects have included the Newton County College and Career Academy, and a pedestrian bridge over I-20 that will eventually connect Oxford and Covington, al-lowing Emory students easy access to downtown Covington.

The presentation was made fol-lowing a request from Commis-sioner John Douglas at the last bud-get workshop for clarification on the difference between the Center and Newton County Tomorrow.

Separately, Chairman Keith El-lis asked that the board look into

giving Water Resources Director Jason Nord permission to put out a request for qualified proposals to carry out necessary upgrades to the county’s water infrastructure.

The Public Works Department, represented by Aaron Wadley, re-quested permission to replace two pickup trucks for $60,000.

Both the Historical Society and Alcovy CASA (court appointed special advocates for children) were given permission to move into the Historic Courthouse.

The board tabled a request by SRG Global to build monitoring wells around its Covington plant in response to chemical contamina-tion of the groundwater after the company withdrew that request.

According to an SRG spokes-person, the company has been pursuing multiple plans to obtain the data it needs, including work-ing individually with private prop-erty owners in the area to install the necessary wells.

“This plan has become more feasible and we’re moving forward, which is why the request was with-drawn,” the spokesperson said. “Working individually with private property owners does not limit or

reduce the number of wells. It will be comprehensive.”

The board voted 4 to 1, with Douglas objecting, to table a request for conditional use by Verizon for a new monopole telecommunications tower on Crowell Road. Commissioner Nancy Schulz expressed concern about the location of the tower, and said she hoped an agreeable alternative could be reached.

The board voting against allot-ting between $5,000 and $10,000 for the citizen landfill committee to bring in outside experts, including a consultant from Smith Gardner in North Carolina who has worked on the landfill for years.

Landfill committee member Denny Dobbs clarified to The News after the meeting that based on his research, it would have cost about $7,000 for one visit from the John Gardner of Smith Gardner, and three visits from Steve Harbin of Macon, who has also worked on the landfill.

The board took a beating in the citizen comments, mostly for the county’s handling of its legal bud-get, but also for the behavior of two elected officials.

Tonya Bechtler of the Yellow Riv-er Water Trail took to the podium to say that Ellis had had her removed from a meeting at the landfill with the Environmental Protection Di-vision and local representatives, even though she had been invited by District 113 State Representative Pam Dickerson.

“My frustration is that this is an-other example of the just how far Chairman Ellis will go to stifle dis-sent or even discussion which is not absolutely in sync with the position he wants to prevail,” Bechtler said in her written statement.

Local resident Thomas Buch-ner confronted Commissioner J.C. Henderson for allegedly telling citizens that Schulz had “taken” $390,000 out of the General Fund.

Schulz explained that the mon-ey was approved unanimously in 2009 to supplement a Neighbor-hood Stabilization program (NSP) grant, which allowed the purchase of foreclosed homes and their transferal to Habitat for Humanity for sale at no profit. The county’s handling of the program has come under scrutiny. Schulz asked for an update to be presented to the board as soon as possible.


County Attorney Tommy Craig attempted to soothe public concerns over the county’s high legal costs Tuesday night, but his expla-nation appeared to provoke the opposite reaction.

Craig was responding to critical citizen comments about a proposed $800,000 cap on his services, a nearly 100% increase to the current legal budget.

“In an effort to balance the budget year after year, and maintain the millage at ac-ceptable levels, there would be a final adjustment in the attorney’s budget where the amount allocated declined every year, irrespective of the amount that had been spent the year before,” Craig said.

“The same thing was done at the landfill, there were other departments that were done that way, then there would be cost overruns, and those cost overruns would be paid out of the county’s reserves,” he continued. “I didn’t invent the system,

that’s the way the budget was balanced through earlier ad-ministrations.”

Citizen Wesley Dowdy confronted Craig about his comments, asking the county attorney to clarify his statement.

“The budget for the county attorney’s department was not based on actual experience, it was based on how much money could be put into that line item and the budget still balance for the purpose of set-ting the tax digest,” Craig said. “[The legal budget] jumps all around based on what the county needs to do, what the county manager needs to do, to balance the county budget, so what was left in my line item had nothing to do with the anticipated expenditures for legal fees.”

“Surely to God that’s not what y’all are doing,” Dowdy said, addressing the board as the audience erupted in laughter. “In all seriousness, please tell me…I’m a busi-ness owner I wouldn’t do that in my business.”

“The board did not par-ticipate in that,” Craig inter-

rupted. “I don’t think the board even understood that that was happening, but it did happen.”

“It happened in every bud-get for the past five years,” Craig added.

“Can you not see that that makes absolutely no sense?” Dowdy said, addressing the board once more. “Surely to God you would not think that that’s rational. If you do, you do not deserve to be in your seats.”

Earlier in the meeting, Commissioner Nancy Schulz praised the downward trend in legal expenses for April, noting that the county had gone from spending be-tween $80,000 and $90,000 a month to $55,500 for April.

"I'm actually encouraged by the trend I see in legal services," she said. "That be-ing said, we still have a ways to go."

She noted that 55 hours had been billed for work re-lated to commissioners and staff, but that the invoices lacked the detail necessary for the county to begin ad-dressing the issue.


Board scolded in public comments

Kippy Clarke and his fellow developers were granted a special use permit by the Covington city council Monday to develop Royal Hall, a $22 mil-lion nursing home.

Clarke of B&B Southside Holdings Co. first came before the council at the April 20 meeting to get a 7.31 acre parcel on Hwy. 142 changed from Neighborhood Residential-2, allowing single fam-ily homes, to Corridor Mixed use in order to have the three-building complex, reaching as tall as four stories, and was granted that right.

Monday night, Clarke got a step closer to helping bring in the 100 jobs he told the council the nursing home would require once it got built. Exactly how much closer Clarke got to opening Royal Hall was a question Mayor Ronnie Johnston posed.

An agent of Bullard Land Planning, Robert Bullard, answered that he hoped all the drawings and permits would allow for construction to begin in early 2016.

“We look forward to the ground breaking,” John-ston said.

Covington purchases two trucksThe city of Covington will receive two new trucks

for its gas utilities service, after the council voted to purchase a Ford F-250 and F-450 Monday.

The motion initially on the table was to purchase the F-250 from Covington Ford, which had the low bid of $24,944 and the F-450 from Wade Ford, which had the low bid of $52,114. However, Coun-cilman Chris Smith made a motion to purchase both vehicles from Covington Ford, since it was a local company. The motion passed 4-0.

Covington Ford’s bid for the F-450 was $52,735, just $621 higher, however its bid for both trucks combined was lower than Wade Ford at $60,679.

Special permit granted to develop Royal Hall

BRYAN [email protected]

The new section of the Social Circle Bypass from State road 11 to East Hightower Trail will open Tuesday, June 2, according to Superintendent of traffic, safety and utilities J. Robert Manning of ER Snell Contractor.

Cannon Road and Thurman Bacchus Road will both stop for the new bypass in the new configura-tion. The intersection of East Hightower Trail and the new bypass will become a multiway stop.

New section of Social Circle Bypass to open

CN SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2015 AThe Covington News

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Dr. Jabari Simama, Presidentand

The Board of Directors of Georgia Piedmont Technical College

with

The Board of Trustees of the

Georgia Piedmont Technical College Foundation

Invite you to attend our

2015 Spring CommencementSaturday, the Thirtieth Day of May,

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Teddy Riley, Speaker

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at the

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Georgia Piedmont Technical College2015 Spring Commencement

Announcement

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CONGRATULATIONS CLASS OF 2015Proud families and friends looked on Saturday as the class of 2015 stepped off the stage and into the real world. The Covington News was there to capture the magic. Congrats to all the graduates!

has been a director of human resources in state and local government," it continued. "His experience includes man-aging recruitment and selec-tion, compensation and clas-sification, benefits, employee relations and conflict resolu-tion, training and develop-ment, testing and assessment center administration, payroll and records administration, pension, worker’s compensa-tion and risk management ad-ministration."

Owens, who holds a busi-ness degree from Auburn University, is also an instructor at UGA's Carl Vinson Institute of Government, has served as chairperson for the Gwin-nett Chamber of Commerce’s Human Resources Manage-ment Association, as well as president of the Metro Atlanta Chapter of the International Public Management Associa-tion for Human Resources.

County Commissioner Levie Maddox said Owens has been working on a con-sultant basis with the Human Resources department for the past several months, and ap-pears to be respected among county employees.

"I think the core team is quite impressed," said Mad-dox, adding that he fully ex-pects Owens to be confirmed at the June 2 meeting.

Maddox also praised Chairman Keith Ellis for his "county-first" attitude during the transition period, adding that Ellis, along with Garrett, brought Owens to the coun-ty's attention after the former county manager and the chair attended a leadership work-shop led by Owens.

At the BOC’s Tuesday meet-ing, the board stopped short of placing the county chair in

charge of the day to day ad-ministration of the county.

Maddox said then that it would be inappropriate to change the form of govern-ment by having the new man-ager answer to the chair in-stead of the entire board.

Maddox's motion to hire a new manager who would de-velop an organizational chart together with the chair did not address the current vacuum.

When Ellis sought clarifica-tion on the chair's role, after pointing out that he has been the "final decision maker" since Garrett left, Maddox de-murred, saying "I don't have that answer."

A SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2015 The Covington News CN

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NEWTON COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATIONJuly 1, 2015 through June 30, 2016

ALL GOVERNMENTAL FUND TYPES

GeneralFund

OtherState Grants

SpecialRevenue Funds

CapitalProjects Funds

DebtService Funds

School FoodService Fund

School PrincipalAccounts

After SchoolProgram

ANTICIPATED RECEIPTS:

Beginning Balance $22,930,857 $0 $0 $3,200,000 $275,000 $4,049,523 $900,000 $0Local Revenue - Ad Valorem Taxes 38,136,626Local Revenue - All Others 1,715,000 10,210,000 40,200 2,046,024 3,400,000 1,000,000Other Sources - Transfer from Other Funds 3,615,680State and Federal Revenues 116,005,263 2,929,290 11,900,679 1,155,421 8,832,423

Total Receipts $178,787,746 $2,929,290 $11,900,679 $13,410,000 $5,086,301 $14,927,970 $4,300,00 $1,000,000

ANTICIPATED EXPENDITURES:

Instruction 112,423,405 2,929,290 4,382,169 1,570,000 1,693,000Pupil Services 3,181,660 2,261,062Improvement of Instructional Services 2,947,216 4,111,036Educational Media Services 2,492,660 4,058General Administration 822,087 733,409School Administration 10,764,470 55Business Services 839,038M&O of Plant Services 13,671,189 203 1,305,000Student Transportation 10,536,254 169,039 2,445,000Central Support Services 1,703,276 23,794 1,940,000Other Support Services 38,479 215,854 1,000,000Facilities Acquisition & ImprovementsOther Uses (transfers to other funds) 3,615,680 200,000School & Community Nutrition 11,653,358 Enterprise Operations 1,492,382Debt Service 4,863,416Ending Balance 19,368,012 0 0 2,534,320 222,885 3,274,612 914,618 0

Total Expenditures & Reserve $178,787,746 $2,929,290 $11,900,679 $13,410,000 $5,086,301 $14,927,970 $4,300,000 $1,000,000

A copy of the Tentative Budget for all governmental fund types is available to review in the offi ce of the Board of Education, 2109 Newton Drive, N.E., Covington, Georgia. A fi nal budget will be adopted at the regular meeting of the Board of Education at the above address on June 23, 2015 at the Board meeting which begins at 7:00 p.m.

“I believe we will have a solid partner that can assist us to continue to acquire the necessary investments in both clinical and non-clinical capital areas, and one of those areas is the SPLOST moneys that have been ear-marked by the residents of Newton County for the emergency room expansion,” Weadick said.

Newton County residents currently see some of their tax money go to help the hospital with the indigent care and ambulance ser-vices, and when Piedmont comes on board none of that will change, according to Weadick.

The county puts out .45 mils to go to a portion of op-erating ambulance service, and another 1.2 mils to help with indigent patients.

According to the state-ment, the relationship will involve a long-term lease of assets from Newton County Hospital Authority.

Throughout the next 90-120 days, regulatory approvals will be pursued and public hearings will be held prior to the signing of definitive agreements to complete the partnership.

“Newton has demonstrat-ed a dedication to high-qual-ity, patient-centered care,” said Kevin Brown, Presi-dent and CEO of Piedmont Healthcare. “They will be a great partner, and we look forward to this collaborative journey to expand serving our local communities.”

Newton Medical Center announced it was seeking an equity partner in September, and made the proposal with Piedmont Healthcare public in January.

The Newton General Hos-pital Authority was created in February 1952 and the hospital was opened in 1954 with 36 beds. Newton Medi-cal Center is now a 97-bed medical facility serving Cov-ington and the surrounding areas.

NMC will be the fifth hospital under Piedmont Healthcare along with its flagship location.

HOSPITAL>> FROM FRONT PAGE

OWENS>> FROM FRONT PAGE

NOTICEThe City of Covington will hold a public hearing on the fi scal year 2015-2016 budget at City Hall, 2194 Emory Street on Monday, June 8, 2015 at 10:00 am. A copy of the budget is now available at the City Hall on the bulletin board for inspection between the hours of 8:00 am and 5:00 pm, Monday thru Friday.

AUDRA M. GUITERREZCITY CLERK

Calendar submissions may be sent to [email protected]. Include a place, time, description of the event and a telephone number. Without a name, phone number and email address, information cannot be put in the online calendar.

May 27WEDNESDAY

The Oxford Historical Shrine Society will dedicate a marker of General Sherman’s March to the Sea. The marker will be at the Old Church, 1011 Wesley Street in Oxford. The dedication is at 11 a.m. and is open to the public.

May 28THURSDAY

Solid Waste Citizen’s Panel 1:30 p.m. in the first floor training room of the Newton County Administration Building.

June 1MONDAY

Creative Kids CampNewton Arts Association summer camp open to rising 1st-6th graders. At Oxford College June 1-5 from 8:45 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Cost: $175.

COMMUNITY CALENDAR

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Mr. William Henry Calhoon, Sr.

William Henry Cal-hoon, Sr. (Bill) of Por-terdale passed away May 13, 2015 in Covington at the age of 77. A memorial service will be held at The Baptist Tabernacle, 10119 Access Road, Covington, Georgia 30014, on Sun-day, May 31, 2015, at 4 pm. Memorial donations, instead of flowers, may be made to The Baptist Tab-ernacle for the Children’s Ministry and Reformers Unanimous Ministry.

Bill was born in Colum-bus, Ohio, October 15, 1937, one of five children to Clair and Virginia Pow-ell Calhoon. At the age of 12, he relocated with his family to Atlanta, where he graduated from Avondale High School. He studied music at Stetson Univer-sity and earned a master’s degree at North Texas State University. A gifted musician, he was active in the professional music community in Atlanta for many years, performing with various orchestras, including the Atlanta Sym-

phony and Atlanta Pops. He also arranged and com-posed music and taught band at numerous area schools, passing on his love of music and joy of performance to his stu-dents. With his skills as an educator, he later branched out into teaching English, history, science, and com-puter science at Tabernacle Christian School for sev-eral years.

He was a very active member in his church and had a heart for evangelism and winning souls for Christ. He started a prison ministry in 1997 to share God’s Word at prisons and young offender boot camps. Bill wrote sermons and published devotionals specifically for inmates which he also sent out nationally. He founded and for many years ran a program to provide hous-ing and discipleship to parolees. In 1999, he was ordained as a minister in order to be more effective in his prison ministry.

Other passions included children’s ministry and a bus ministry which he started to transport chil-

dren to church. His desire to help those caught in ad-dictions led him to devote time to a local Reform-ers Unanimous chapter. He wrote numerous es-says and sermons, many of which he delivered on a local radio broadcast each week for six years. He also participated in the church music ministry as a member of the choir and an instrumentalist.

Bill was preceded in death by his parents and his brothers, Thomas, Robert, and James. He is

survived by his three chil-dren, George Calhoon of Oxford, Georgia, Bill Cal-hoon, Jr. (Terra) of Hunts-ville, Alabama, and Jane Lyttle (Chris) of Sugar Land, Texas; six grandchil-dren, Bradford Calhoon, James Lyttle, Michael Cal-hoon, Islay Lyttle, Isobel Lyttle, and Anna Grace Calhoon; his sister, Mar-garet Montgomery; sister-in-law, Beverly Calhoon; former wife (1959-1987), Margaret Calhoon; nieces, Erin Costlow (Mike) and Kelly Calhoon.

religion/obit5A

Celebrating Life, One Family at a Time

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Faith Community Church invites you to join us each Sunday at 10:30 am as we gather together to explore God’s Word

about family, values, and life.

Come experience God’s presence, a church family, and a chance to use your

talents in the community.

We are looking forward to meeting you!

7165 Turner Lake Circle SWCovington, GA 30014

Faithcovington.org

RELIGION The Covington News

Sunday, May 24, 2015

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CN

OBITUARY

just a thought

Take the narrow way to God 2 + 2 = 4. Not 4.5 or 3 ¼, 4. Just 4. And any other answer is wrong, not narrow, but wrong. “I would like to visit another country please.” Okay, fine just let me make sure all your necessary documents are in order. If not you cannot enter; narrow? No, just wrong. “I am sorry officer, I know the speed limit says 35 MPH, but I looked and there was so few people on the road and I have such a busy day I thought this one time 55MPH would be okay.” “Oh, it’s against the law?” narrow,

no, just wrong. “You mean to tell me, I have to stand in line and purchase a ticket just like everyone else to get into this movie? Of course you do. Narrow, nope just

the way it is. “Someone asked him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?" He said to them, "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Sir, open the door for us.' "But he will answer, 'I don't know you or where you come from.' (Luke 13:23-25) Why is it when it comes to salvation accepting the way is narrow is so hard for us, yet narrow is a way of life for us in so many other things. We dont think of them as nar-row; we call them laws and rules and such, but they are all indicators there is one way to do a thing that is right and any other way is wrong. Jesus came with one mission in mind, to provide the ONE way to enter eternal life in the kingdom of God – through faith in Him. Not knowledge of Him (for many were the people who knew Jesus in His day and beyond (Cf. vv.25-28) but few were those who believed upon Him for the forgiveness of their sins and the entrance to eternal life in the kingdom of God. Narrow, yes. Wrong? No. God has provided us with some very straight answers: death is sure, the way to God is only through Jesus, the time to make the decision to believe “upon Him” is today. If you haven’t already, take the narrow way to God today.

Dr. William Burnham is pastor of Point of Grace Church in Covington. He can be reached at [email protected].

For the first time in 20 years, the chari-table nonprofit organization Action Min-istries has opened a satellite office. The Newton County Action Ministries office opened its doors on May 4 in the Wes-ley Building of Covington First United Methodist Church, 2160 Church Street, Covington.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony, attended by Covington Mayor Ronnie Johnston, the Rev. John Moeller, president and CEO of Action Ministries, and a number of United Methodist pastors, was held in the Wesley Building on May 19.

It’s the sixth regional office opened by the ministry since it was founded in 1963.

“The community, particularly the Al-covy and Mt. Pleasant United Method-ist Churches, saw a need that we felt we could fill,” said Moeller. “After talking with [the two congregations] and evalu-ating the infrastructure already in place, we felt like we could be a good addition. We do feel like we can help lead people out of poverty, and we do feel like we can be a value add to the community.”

The decision to open an office in New-ton County came about after the late Jean Davenport, a long-time Newton County resident, left money to the two small United Methodist Churches. The church-es had been deeply involved in serving their local communities by providing food and clothing to those in need.

The Rev. Teresa Lilja, pastor of Alcovy United Methodist Church in Coving-ton, saw a growing and urgent need for compassionate services for the portion

of their community that struggles with poverty, unemployment, drug addiction, homelessness and hunger.

"We see a lot of hurt,” Lilja said. “We're a very small church, but the missions our folks do just blow me away. They are feed-ing people, distributing coats, working with a food pantry. They work very hard at it, but unless you team up with other people, your impact can only be so big. We dreamed of doing something bigger."

Even though the bequest linked Al-covy United Methodist Church to Social Circle’s Mt. Pleasant United Method-ist Church, the two churches knew they could do more if they found a partner.

They turned to Action Ministries.The two small congregations “saw the

needs of the community were so great in Newton County and they were so small, they knew working together would help them reach more people,” said Tarama Richardson, who was named Area Direc-tor for Action Ministries in Covington.

Richardson began her work as the Area Director of Action Ministries on May 4. Elizabeth Holcombe, who had been the Covington First’s volunteer food pantry coordinator, started as the Coordinator for the Smart Lunch, Smart Kids pro-gram in April.

“Action Ministries helps lead people out of poverty and works in three pro-gram areas: hunger relief, transitional housing and education,” said Richardson. “Hunger relief is the first of the three prong outreach.”

The first program the ministry will launch is the Smart Lunch, Smart Kid pro-gram, which will bring lunches to children who would normally get breakfast and/or

lunch at school free or at a reduced cost.“Food is foundational for people,” said

Holcombe. “You have to have food to do anything else. My teacher friends say you can tell the difference if a child is hungry or has eaten.”

“You have to eat before you can be smart,” said Richardson.

The Smart Lunch, Smart Kid program provides lunches to children who would normally be on free or reduced lunches during the school year. Holcombe’s job is to recruit nonprofits, churches, business—even individuals—to help provide the children a meal. She has identified areas where there are a large number of children in need.

“Porterdale has a huge need area,” she said, adding that the areas around Green Acres, Nelson Heights, Covington Mills and along County Road 212 have been identified as food deserts, where people have little access to fresh, healthy foods.

“The Smart Lunch, Smart Kid program takes meals to where the children in need live,” she said.“I think of it as a meals on wheels for kids.”

“It breaks my heart to think there are kids sitting at home hungry this sum-mer,” said Richardson. “Action Ministries also encourages groups to engage with the children beyond serving lunch.

“Action Ministries is very specific about what they will do in a county,” she said. “It’s based on what the needs are in the community and what the community has asked for. Part of my job will be to research the demographics in the county. We need to know who is being served, where they are and what they need.

“What can Action Ministries do to

build on what’s here?” she said. “I know we need stronger work force develop-ment in this county, so I will be work-ing with the Covington/Newton County Economic Development Office to see if there are ways nonprofits can help.

“But we are moving into those areas carefully and thoughtfully,” she said. “It takes a lot of planning.”

"Bringing Action Ministries to Coving-ton is a win-win-win situation, and that's where you find God fantastically meet-ing the needs of people through this little church that so wants to help," Lilja said. "The faith community as a whole in New-ton County will have brand-new oppor-tunities to work with folks in the secular world to love and care for our neighbors.”

Action Ministries has offices in Atlan-ta, Athens, Rome, Augusta, Decatur and Gainesville. Each office offers at least one of three services and resources: hunger relief, transitional housing and education.

The Gerogia Automobile Deals program is offering to help feed a family this sum-mer with a Drive Out Hunger campaign. During the month of May, participating dealerships around the state are donating a portion of their sales and repair orders to fill food boxes that contain enough food to feed a family for up to five days. Text DRIVE to 41444 to participate.

Those interested in learning more about Action Ministries, can visit the organization’s web site [ www.actionmin-istries.net] or follow them on Facebook {https://www.facebook.com/ActionMin-istriesNewton] . Donations to the pro-gram can be made online, and Newton County residents can select Covington as their area of focus.


Action Ministries opens satellite office

Known as the "Day of Atonement," Yom Kippur is a day when people who subscribe to the Jewish faith atone for sins between themselves and G-d of the past year. Yom Kippur is a complete Sabbath, which means no work can be performed during the holiday. Fasting is a part of Yom Kippur, and Jews are expected to observe a 25-hour fast that begins before sunset on the evening before the holiday and ends after nightfall on Yom Kippur. The Talmud, which is the collection of Jewish laws and traditions, also lists several lesser-known restrictions regarding Yom Kippur. Washing and bathing, the use of cos-metics or deodorants, wearing leather shoes, and sexual relations also are restricted on Yom Kippur. Restrictions may be lifted on Yom Kippur when cer-tain special circumstances arise, and children under the age of nine as well as women who are with child are not permitted to fast on Yom Kippur. Jews spend much of Yom Kippur in the synagogue, where they pray and take part in servicesthat may begin in early morning. Morning services may continue until mid-afternoon, when practitioners can briefly go home before returning in the early evening to partake in ceremonies commemorating the end of Yom Kippur.

DID YOU KNOW?

Sunday, May 17, 2015 Page XXThe Covington NewsCN

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A VETERAN'S STORY

But war doesn’t cater to pipedreams or politicians. Our invincibility was the first casualty as the reality of rock-ets and mortars, punji stakes and poisonous snakes, anti-aircraft fire and an invisible nemesis chewed up optimism and spit out skepticism. Death was real; our potential futures, in doubt.

‘The other guy’ did have awful things happen to him and we saw what those awful things were. Then we realized there were no ‘other guys’, only guys. Fate, luck, coincidence, friendly fire, a jammed M-16, a Coke can booby-trap, a flame-out, a misfire, careless-ness, conspired against our survivability and labored vigor-ously to make us ‘the other guy.’ Yet most of us did survive then came home to the real world of round-eyed women, baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and Chevrolets. But our coun-try had changed. We arrived to discover an ungrateful nation governed by ungrateful leaders. But we came home. Wounds would heal or fester, minds would mend or break, yet we had been given the opportunity to live out the American dream while suffering the nightmare of Vietnam.

‘The other guys’ came home, too, with the six ladies who shared their fate. Parents, spouses and offspring, sisters and brothers, knew ‘the other guys’ had come home, but not un-til 1982 was the country as a whole able to gaze upon a long black wall and reflect on the true cost of freedom. The Wall was built surrounded by controversy and protests, but with the passage of time the huge chunk of black granite became a healing location, a place for closure, a spot to reflect, to re-member….it became, Our Wall.

‘The other guys’ included Richard B. Fitzgibbon and his son Lance Cpl. Richard B. Fitzgibbon III. Three sets of fathers and sons are etched on Our Wall. The first day in Vietnam for 997 of ‘the other guys’ was their last day in Vietnam, while 1,448 ‘other guys’ completed their one year tour but never boarded the Freedom Bird having perished within their last 24 hours ‘in-country’. Plus ‘the other guys’ devastated small town America: the 475 residents of Beallsville, OH lost 6 of its boys; six of the nine male 1966 graduates of a small copper mining town in Arizona are on Our Wall.

Approximately 2.7 million men and women served ‘in-country’ – or, as we like to call it, “Boots on the Ground.” Two-thirds of us volunteered, and ‘the other guys’ turned out to be 73% volunteers. One ‘other guy’, an African-American Marine Pfc. Dan Bullock, occupies a unique place on Our Wall; Dan was the youngest to fall, only 15 years of age.

‘The other guys’ visited The Walk of Heroes War Memo-rial in Rockdale County on May 6th through the 12th. The Moving Wall, Our Wall, was a homecoming for 11 Rockdale and 12 Newton County heroes, ‘the other guys.’ The event created breakeven financial support from community phi-lanthropists, businesses, patriots, veterans, and civil leaders. Long, hot, tough days were endured by Walk of Heroes board members and dozens of volunteers, many working 10 to 14 hours daily to make sure ‘the other guys’ received the proper respect and recognition earned so many years ago in rice pad-

dies, dense jungles, rubber plantations, and mountain resorts turned into death-traps.

Unbelievable abilities and grit came into play to bring ‘the other guys’ home, but to give credit where credit is due would require a full page individual listing. Suffice to say, the event was a success with a good turnout, yet in this journalist’s and Vietnam veteran’s opinion, it was not a great turnout. The heavy advertising blitz, personal invitations and multi-county presentations, generated noble interest yet lacked impressive public participation.

The main culprit was our national malady known as indif-ference. Too busy with this, too busy with that, not enough time to take the time to honor heroes that gave their all so the rest of us could have the gift of opportunity to make a choice, and yes, even freedom to make excuses. Not all events draw large crowds, that is a given, but once-in-a-lifetime opportu-nities to offer marks of respect, education, wholesome family experiences and patriotism, are counterbalances to the flag stompers, activists ‘offended’ by Old Glory, and flip-flop leg-islators engaged more for votes than paying wordless tribute to mere kids that sacrificed their tomorrows for our todays.

Nevertheless, ‘the other guys’ visited Rockdale County, and so did the survivors. Combat photographer John Hosier, Jr. served with the 173rd Airborne Brigade in the Central High-lands. His vivid photographs have been combined with over 2000 related Vietnam items in his four-tent display ‘Through the Eyes’ traveling Vietnam Museum. John’s exhibit may be the best I’ve ever viewed. A holder of 3 college degrees, John has returned to Vietnam fifteen times to assist in the con-struction of the Vietnamese American Peace Park and several clinics and schools.

On one trip he met a Betel Nut red-gummed missing teeth Mama-san who served as a sapper with the Viet Minh before WWII, fought against the Japanese, trained sappers during the French-Indochina War, and completed her career training sappers during ‘the American War’. She told John, “French no good, horrible. Japanese brutal, like beasts. War bad, bad things happen, but American soldier honorable. America my favorite enemy.” John was wounded 4 separate times in ‘the American War.’

A Kiowa, two Iroquois, and one Cayuse were positioned on the parade ground in front of the amphitheater. Nearly all Army choppers, except for the sleek Cobra attack helicopter, are named after Native American Indian Nations. Politically correct liberal newspapers claim the tradition is racist; the Na-tive American Indian population certainly does not, and even protested when the Cobra was not given an Indian name.

Albeit, the one Bell Kiowa, two Bell UH-1 Hueys (Iroquois) and the one Hughes OH-6 Cayuse (nick-named Loach) were on display courtesy of the North American Vietnam Helicop-ter Pilots Association. Under the supervision of Vietnam vet-eran chopper pilots, the general public was allowed to climb aboard the choppers to explore, sit behind a machine gun, or take the pilot’s seat. (No ammunition and no whirling blades). Experience guided the tours.

Ed “Hornet 24” Hughes flew the iconic Hueys from the Chu Lai base in 1970 and 1971. Ed was shot down twice.

Larry “Rebel II” Pigg flew the C-Model Huey gunships dur-ing his 1st tour of duty with the 1st Infantry Division then

commanded a Cobra Attack Helicopter on his 2nd tour with the 334th Attack Helicopter Company. Commenting on each chopper, Larry stated, “The Huey was low and slow with 4 sets of eyes. The Snake (Cobra) was high and fast, plus car-ried the same amount of ordinance as 4 C-Model Hueys. If you needed to shoot a lot of rockets, the Cobra was your ride.”

Brock “Blue Star 26” Nicholson flew out of Ninh Hoa with the famous “Blue Star” 48th Assault Helicopter Company. Apparently Brock took the liberty to paint a Blue Star on one of the Association’s Hueys.

Jerry “Ghost Rider 23” Seago served as a maintenance of-ficer in Pleiku with the 189th Assault Helicopter Company. Jerry flew both C and H Model Hueys.

Terry “Thunder 42” Lanier flew OH-6 Loaches and UH-1H Hueys with HQ, 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne.

Lynn “Jayhawk 17” Stephens served two tours, 1967/68 and 1972/73. He flew the Huey and Cobra. Asked which chopper he favored, Lynn said, “Well, I liked the Huey but the Cobra was air-conditioned. Which one would you pick?”

The North Carolina Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association has educated over 80,000 school children on the cost of free-dom. Funds to keep the organization sustainable come from 98% of its members. Their motto: “Promoting and Perpetu-ating the Bonds of Brotherhood”. Visit their website: www.ncvhpa.org

The evening events featured a variety of great guest speak-ers, including State Senator Hunter Hill, yet the most reflec-tive speaker was Colonel Wayne Waddell. Colonel Waddell served in Vietnam as an F-105 pilot. The F-105 Thunderchief was the workhorse in the air war over North Vietnam. Af-fectionately called ‘the Thud’, ‘Lead Sled’, and ‘Hyper Hog’, the F-105 was said to be a ‘Triple-Threat’: She could bomb you, strafe you, or fall on you. Rugged and deadly, she proved her worth.

Colonel Waddell had been ‘in-country’ less than 3 months when on July 5, 1967 while bombing railroad marshalling yards close to the Chinese border his F-105 suffered a direct hit from anti-aircraft fire. He was on his 46th mission, or as Colonel Waddell maintains, “My 46th and a half mission.” Forced to eject from low altitude, in seconds he landed less than 100 yards from the anti-aircraft guns that had blown his plane out of the sky. Colonel Wayne Waddell would spend the next 5 years and 5 months as a P.O.W. in Communist North Vietnam. His narrative is the subject of an upcoming “A Veteran’s Story.”

Yes, the boys came home, and we honored them. Now they are gone once again, to be remembered by family and friends, and to continue traveling with the Moving Wall so John Q. Citizen has the opportunity of learn the true cost of freedom. These boys are the heroes….we, the lucky ones, are only the survivors. God bless each and every name on Our Wall.

Pete Mecca is a Vietnam veteran, columnist and freelance writer. You can reach him at [email protected] or aveteransstory.us.

PETE MECCACOLUMNIST

We were young, invincible, and we knew the awful things would happen to the other guy. The war in Vietnam was nothing more than a stumbling block, something our country

needed us to do before we continued on with our lives, our educations, marriages, raising rug rats, growing old with a sweetheart. Our tools of war were lethal and high tech, the best bombs and bullets taxpayer money could buy. Turn us loose, let us do what we were trained to do, and we will win this war then bring us home to a grateful nation.

THE OTHER GUYS

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our thoughts

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Memorial Day appreciation

Cover them over with beautiful flowers,

Deck them with garlands, those brothers of

ours,

Lying so silent by night and by day

Sleeping the years of their manhood away.

Give them the meed they have won in the past;

Give them the honors their future forcast;

Give them the chaplets they won in the strife;

Give them the laurels they lost with their life.

~ Will Carleton This Memorial Day weekend we pause to honor and cel-

ebrate the men and woman who gave their lives in honor to forge this glorious country of ours.

It is not one of our grand holidays like the Fourth of July, but it does merit a national holiday and a live performance on the Capitol Green that is guaranteed to bring tears of pride to your eyes.

This day of remembrance started out as Decoration Day 133 years ago as families gathered to honor the dead from both sides of the Civil War. Now, it is a time to honor our dead heroes who rest in peace in all parts of the world, bur-ied where they stood and died in blind courage to defend our way of life.

This year we especially want to honor and remember those who gave their all in World War II, the Korean con-flict and our Vietnam warriors. We will always remember your sacrifices.

We also salute and honor the families who have lost loved ones through the years in defense of our nation. We know the hurt never lessens and the loss always tugs at the heart.

May the Good Lord bless you and comfort you.And may God bless our homeland and its flag. May it for-

ever wave in peace.

In Genesis 2:18, God says, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him." Thus, he creates the woman, making mankind male and female. Whether one takes the story of Gen-esis literally, as I do, or as a metaphor, the essential point is clear and objec-tively true.

Mankind is a relational being and requires community and companion-ship. The actions of the individual af-fect the community. The point was made clear in 1624 when John Donne wrote his Meditation XVII and the line "no man is an island" flowed from his pen. We were not meant to be alone and should not be alone.

If God made Eve so that Adam would not be alone, Satan made the Internet to ensure mankind would again be alone. We have substituted conversations among friends locally with online conversations globally. They are not, however, the same. Anyone who has placed a sarcastic, ironic or humorous comment online only to be vilified because the world could not see the smirk, wink, smile or twinkle in the eye online immedi-ately knows this.

I make my living online, or I did for a number of years. Many of my very best friends were friends made online. But we get together offline, too. In fact, I have found that the most mal-contented souls in the 21st century

are the ones whose lives revolve around their on-line persona. One cannot be humbled by a 3-year-old or a spouse when he or she does not exist in real life. That humbling and relationship building is less and less important to many but still remains vi-tally important as we lose our sense of community.

More and more people lament a loss of community, and they have gone online to try to find it. Though there are the veneers of community online, often those communities in-volve a common interest and not the totality of a person's life. Real com-munity is found in the rapids and turbulence of the total life of another person. The effort to find common ground among the uncommon is easy to ignore in online communities of in-terest or grievance. Around a dinner table, it takes on a necessary nature.

Therein lies a small suggestion for the future of community building among those who sense its loss. Build-ing community starts with yourself. Having friends around a dinner table breaking bread together is nourishing for both body and soul. In fact, it is hard to go out and build community in a neighborhood or county or state or nation when one does not exist at all within a home or church.

In the first several chapters of the book of Acts, people in the early Christian church are breaking bread

together often, praying together often and encouraging one another often. Though the example is sectarian, the example translates to the secular. The Apostles recount the testimony of their eyewitness to shore up the faith of con-verts and embolden them. Later, the church tells stories of the martyrs and how they experienced God in their own lives.

We as a people fail often to do this within our families and around the table with friends. We fail to share the good that has happened and the en-couragement we have found. We fail to surround our children with a com-munity of like-minded friends so that when they stop listening to us, those they reach out to for advice share com-mon values. We can hardly be expected to improve the world when our own souls are weak and we are struggling with work or faith or family.

Breaking bread together around a table should be a necessary part of community building. Conversation, finding paths or compromises through differences, and building on common ground all build character and help us relate to strangers. Our society has be-come so noisy and so busy it is harder to do this, but if we want to improve our world, I suggest we start at the din-ner table, building a small community of friends to encourage and nourish one another's souls.

To find out more about Erick Erick-son, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

Community Builders

ERICK ERICKSONCOLUMNIST

It's Memorial Day week. You can tell as you flip through the local paper; Memorial Day notices ap-pear as sales headlines and attention grabbers. "Memorial Day Sale" and "Pre-Memorial Day Sale." Pretty soon, we'll see post-Memorial Day sale adver-tisements.

Sales and barbecue are the two things that many people think about when Memorial Day is men-tioned. What else? Well, for many Americans, it's the weekend that the pool opens and summer begins.

But it means more than that.Memorial Day began soon after the

Civil War as Decoration Day. It was the day the graves of the fallen mem-bers of the military were decorated to honor their sacrifice to keep our country united. They gave the ulti-mate sacrifice.

John Logan, who had served as a congressman from Illinois prior to the Civil War and then volunteered as a Union soldier and been promoted dur-ing the war to general, sparked Deco-ration Day. He issued an order in 1868 to honor those who had died in the Civil War. At that time, he was serving as commander in chief of the Grand Army of the Republic, a fraternal orga-nization of Union veterans.

"The 30th day of May, 1868, is des-ignated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in de-fense of their country," stated the order. "We should guard their graves with sa-

cred vigilance," it said, add-ing that their deaths were "the cost of a free and undi-vided republic."

It was a high cost indeed. The Civil War was the deadliest war for Ameri-cans -- with the loss of more than 600,000 Ameri-can military members. That first year, approxi-mately 5,000 people gath-

ered at Arlington National Cemetery to decorate the graves with Ameri-can flags. Since then, the custom has grown and spread.

Virginia's Arlington National Cem-etery is today the graveyard for hun-dreds of thousands of United States service members. I've often walked through the cemetery, which is sur-rounded by thousands of small white gravestones, perfectly aligned, row af-ter row. Their overwhelming numbers underscore the sacrifice others have made for us. Each gravestone marks not only the loss of a person who has died but also the loss to his or her fam-ily and friends. Miles of trails traverse the cemetery.

One of the most fitting tributes to the American military is one that was given before Memorial Day was recog-nized -- President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.

Lincoln delivered his address at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsyl-vania, in November 1863, while the Civil War was still raging. He was not the main speaker for the day but had been invited as an afterthought. His

speech was so short (less than two minutes) that the photographer did not have time to get a picture of him delivering it.

The speech, one of my favorites, is engraved in the Lincoln Memorial, across the Potomac River from Arling-ton National Cemetery.

Its 278 words don't include "I" or "me," but they do take the audience from our start as a nation and the American Revolution to Lincoln's wishes for the future of our nation:

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposi-tion that all men are created equal. ... It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full mea-sure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of free-dom, and that government of the peo-ple, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth."

Taking time to reflect on the impor-tance of Memorial Day may prove dif-ficult to do at home, the beach or the pool amid the sales and barbecues. But we should all pause and remember -- to honor those who have given their lives for our country and to dedicate ourselves to living in a way that ensures their sacrifices were not in vain.

To find out more about Jackie Gin-grich Cushman, visit www.creators.com.

The Cost of a Free

JACKIE GINGRICH-CUSHMAN

COLUMNIST

Dear Editor, Value perspective: The

potential revenue of a com-mercially operated regional waste management model on our current landfill is, over the course of the next several decades, in the realm of 100's - let me repeat - 100's of millions of dollars, which is why the fledgling Green Hill P3 is so doggedly deter-mined to be that operator. They are working behind the scenes on community opinion and perhaps plan to hire sitting officials that help them achieve this, it is so large a prize - it benefits them greatly at the county's expense. Even operated, as it ought, at much lesser vol-umes and for the county's benefit, the value over the same period is in the 10's of

millions of dollars for the citizens of this county.

Now, in order to get to the best model for all of Newton County and all of its citizens, you rightfully appointed a well chosen citizens panel to study options and make recom-mendations for our best future regarding waste management operations. Well done!!

This panel, in order to have a grounded under-standing with which to con-sider various options in this complex matter, naturally first needs to get up to speed on understanding where things stand now and how that come about, as anyone with common sense knows. The plainly obvious choice to achieve this in the most effective, direct and reliable manner is to hear from and

have the opportunity for Q&A with the firm (Smith-Gardner) that has handled engineering for our landfill for the past many years - they have and can explain all the answers to understanding the current situation and its implications for future deci-sions - an independent as-sessment of our point A.

To help the process of getting to our best point B, this dedicated panel has re-quested from the BOC that appointed them, a micro-scopic fraction (a hundredth or so of one percent) of the potential value involved, to bring Smith-Gardner in for consultation.

At the 5/19/15 BOC meet-ing, this request was brought up and shot down for appar-ently two reasons:

1) The cost allocation was completely mischaracter-ized. It was discussed as if $10,000 was being charged just for travel from North Carolina to Covington. That is an absurd travesty of the actual facts. The reality is that Smith-Gardner has agreed to send two engineers, includ-ing John Gardner himself, here plus another three trips by another of their engineers , including all hours spent with the panel and work that may arise to answer their questions for $7500. This works out to a very reason-able cost of $1875 ($7500 / 4) per trip, all inclusive of travel and hours of consulting in-stead of the ridiculously mis-represented $10,000 for one trip for travel only.

2) Great doubt was ex-

pressed by Mr. Maddox, and seconded by Mr. Douglas, whether any understanding of the engineering issues of operating a landfill, which de facto are a critical part of legally mandated design, op-eration and environmental compliance, is required to make a sound recommen-dation. Perhaps this fear of truth (alethephobia) explains much about how this board operates. Again, anyone with common sense knows that any recommendation would HAVE to be based in great part on a familiarity with the engineering aspects.

So, unless it is your pur-pose to completely under-mine and sell out the citizens of this county, and specifi-cally the worthy citizens you appointed to this critical

panel, the BOC needs to immediately reverse itself and approve the funding to bring in Smith-Gardner and all other reasonable ex-penditures (remember the perspective of the scale at stake here) requested by the citizens panel in pursuance of their charge. Web based conferences may be used subsequent to these initial, critically needed face to face interactions and access, as follow-up requires.

Don't be penny wise and pound foolish here - approve these minuscule amounts that are deposits on our very best and very large future.

Thank you,Steve Brown

30 Steele Rd. Covington, GA 30014

Don't be penny wise and pound foolish - support the Citizens Landfill Panel you appointed

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

AG8A

Agriculture in Georgia

Washington County Farm Bureau506 West Church StreetSandersville, GA 31082478-552-3491

Harvest datesHarvest dates for some of Georgia’s

fruits and vegetables (dates may vary due to location and weather conditions)

Apples July-Nov.

BlackberriesJune-July

BlueberriesJune-Aug.

CantaloupesJune-Aug.

MuscadinesJuly-Oct.

PeachesMay-Aug.

StrawberriesMarch-June

Sweet CornMay-July

WatermelonsJune-Sept.

Vidalia® OnionsApril-June

To learn more about Georgia agriculture and how to become a Farm Bureau member,

go to www.gfb.org

Newton County Farm Bureau10386 Hwy 278 East Covington GA 30014

770.786.7201

AGRICULTUREThe Covington News


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Though farming was once big business in the United States, by 2012 less than 1 per-cent of Americans were professional farmers. Many challenges face today's farmers, many of which are largely unknown to the general public.

Many people have an outdated view of a farm as a small, family-owned and oper-ated parcel of land where livestock is raised in open pens and crops are hand-harvested when ripe. The reality is that modern-day farms have had to overhaul operations to meet demand and remain competitively priced while adapting to the ever-changing ways technology infiltrates all parts of life. Each of these factors present obstacles for to-day's farmers.

Technology Rural farming communities are expect-

ed to make an effort to integrate modern technology into an industry that has been around for centuries. But such a transition in rural areas, where communications systems may not be as up-to-date as those in urban areas, is not always so easy. According to the Manitoba Rural Adaptation Council, a shift from a resource-based to an information-based economy, compounded by the rapid introduction and expansion of new tech-nology in the workplace, has altered farm operation and the skills in demand. Older workers who have been schooled in one way of agriculture may have a significant impact on labor supply and the vitality of farming as a career. Younger adults who are knowledge-able in technology may no longer seek out agricultural careers.

Decrease in farming as an occupation

The United States Environmental Protec-tion Agency says that only about 960,000 Americans claim farming as their principal occupation. As that figure has dwindled, the average age of farmers continues to rise, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that roughly 40 percent of the farmers in this country are

55 years old or older. This has led to concerns about the long-term health of family farms throughout the United States.

Environmental concerns Many farmers have come under scrutiny

for how farming impacts the environment. A growing emphasis on sustainability and conservation has led many people to protest certain farming practices. Protesters claim that certain practices, such as raising live-stock, can pollute water, while the use of fer-tilizers and chemical pesticides is bad for the environment. Many farmers, however, have altered their methods to be more environ-mentally friendly and self-sustainable in the process. Climate change is another environ-mental issue farmers must deal with. Strong storms and severe droughts have made farm-ing even more challenging.

Financial fall-out The ongoing recession of the last half-de-

cade has also affected farmers. In November of 2012, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated that the unemployment rate within the agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting industries was at 13.6 percent, far higher than the national unemployment rate. As a result, many farm families have found themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place, as rising costs for equipment and technology are being coupled with decreas-ing profits and rising unemployment.

Further complicating matters is competi-tion from corporations and international food producers who have made it difficult for family farmers to turn a significant profit. Many family farmers rely on loans and lines of credit to survive, but thanks to changes in the financial sector that saw banks become less willing to extend lines of credit, some farmers are facing bankruptcy.

Though it can be easy for those who do not work in the agricultural industry to overlook the struggles facing today's agricultural pro-fessionals, a greater understanding of those struggles and the challenges that lay ahead can benefit the industry and its employees down the road.


Challenges facing farmers today and tomorrow

Summertime is travel time, so if you are looking for a fun day trip for the family or if your travel plans have you driving on I-75, make plans to visit the Go Fish Education Center in Perry, Georgia! The center will offer extended hours for the summer and you can even reserve a special group visit.

What is there to see and do at Go Fish? Visit aquariums that hold more than 180,000 gallons of water and are loaded with Georgia freshwater fish and wildlife, including alligators. Try out the fishing and shooting simulators. See a working fish hatchery from our huge gallery window and be sure to see our new summer movie, “The Mystery Fish” playing in the theater daily. All that gazing at fish will be sure to get you ready to try out the casting pond, bait and tackle provided. Once you

have finished your visit, be sure to take some time to browse in our gift shop!

Beginning May 27, 2015 (ending on Aug. 9), the Go Fish Education Center will offer extended hours:

• Wednesday-Saturday: (9 a.m. - 5 p.m.), Sunday (1 p.m. – 5 p.m.)• Regular admission prices are $5 for adults, $4 for seniors 65 and older, $3 for children and FREE for ages 2 and younger. Groups also are welcome to visit on these days and tour the facility themselves.• Group Programs available by reservation only: Monday-Tuesday (9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. or 1:30 pm – 4 p.m.)• Groups (over 30 people) will have a fee of $5 per person.

Smaller groups (30 or less people) will have a flat fee of $150.• Group programs include a guided aquarium tour, an educational live animal program , fishing at the pond, and your choice of watching our summer movie, “A Mystery Fish,” or trying out or fishing and shooting simulators.

All fishing at the casting pond is catch and release, and anglers 16 and older must have a fishing license. Licens-es can be purchased online at www.georgiawildlife.com/licenses-permits-passes, by phone at (800) 266-3661 or at the Go Fish Education Center. Rods, tackle and bait will be provided.

Summertime at Go Fish Education Center

(Family Features) Whether it's a just a vi-brant pop of pretty petals you want added to the front of the home or a raised bed full of delicious fruits and vegetables, the return of warmer weather has many homeowners reaching for their gardening gloves.

If you're ready to try out your green thumb or dust off the gardening skills you long ago acquired, there are plenty of ways to achieve the lush vegetation you desire. Check out these tips and tricks for cultivating a thriving and productive garden of any variety.

* Start with a plan. Different flowers and plants require different sun, soil and wa-ter needs. Keep these factors in mind and consult the seed packets to plan out where each should be placed. Many apps are available to take the guesswork out of gardening, helping you create a perfectly organized plant or flower bed. Some even offer reminders for watering, fertilizing and more.

* Keep water in mind. Make sure your plan includes a close proximity from plant bed to the water supply.

* Be smart with soil. Whether it's a flower or vegetable garden bed or con-tainers, the secret's in the soil, where roots develop and sustain life. Invest in the proper tools to keep this founda-tion strong, such as Professional Soil Modifier from Profile Products, which improves water and nutrient retention, keeping vital elements in the root zone longer. For more information, visit www.profilegrow.com.

* Plant close to home. If you have room, try to grow your plants as close to the home as possible. This makes watering less of a task, and also makes it easier to get to your precious vegetables when it's time to harvest.

* Opt for a permanent solution. There's no doubt that gardens require seasonal upkeep, but you can find some ways to ease the tasks. One such solution is Professional Soil Modifier from Profile Products, which permanently improves the root zone by adding air- and water-holding capacity in all types of soil (unlike peat that needs to be tilled into gardens each year.) The result is better drainage when it's wet, better water-holding capac-ity when it's dry, deeper root growth and healthier plants.

* Label away. Know exactly where you planted each seed with cute, natural la-bels. Simply use a permanent marker to mark each plant name on stones in front of each plant row.

* Be a green gardener. Always opt for eco-friendly, pesticide-free products to use in your garden, when possible. Prod-ucts filled with chemicals can be harmful to animals when carried through the air with wind.

So, dust off that shovel, tighten up the hose and get to growing. Once you have the right plan in mind, you'll be on your way to achiev-ing the flower or fruit and vegetable garden of your dreams.

Let it growTips and tricks for a lush garden

though I know it comes ev-ery week. I just hate that 600. It takes everything out of me. I know the reward is if your 600 time is gonna drop your 400 time’s gonna drop. So I push it every week and I just try to get better at it.”

Stokes saw the growth in his time after he ran the 400 for the first time, still injured. He ran a 49 his first time, but he says if he was healthy he knew he could get to a 48 or 47. He said his ham-string was killing him, but he knew if he had the chance to work at it, he could get that hat and Stokes said he would do anything in his power to do it. And he did.

“I knew I could eas-ily win state if I just train at it like I’m supposed to,” Stokes said.

Iverson says once the athletes buy in and run the 600m, their rimes start to drop. He says that’s what happened with Stokes. Before they went to state, Stokes ran his fastest time in the 600m all season. Iverson told one of his coaches that Stokes was ready.

“It kind of set up perfectly for him,” Iverson said.

With the injury in the

past, and Stokes at full health it was up to him to reach his goal of getting that hat. The race was so close, but Stokes beat out White-water’s Jonathon Womack by seven-thousandths of a second to get the hat he longed for all season.

“I thought I lost the race because I thought he finally passed me because on the last stretch I almost fell and

he was coming right there so when we crossed the fin-ish line I got off the track mad, but luckily I heard my coaches and everyone screaming,” Stokes said. “So when I looked back I looked at my time and I saw that it had Eastside, Eric Stokes No. 1. When I finally stood on top of the podium, that was the happiest day of my life.”

Page 2B SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2015 The Covington News CN

Sports2B

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Holloman, who the team has nicknamed “30 for 30” because at any given meet

they’ll walk into it with 30 points because of Hollo-man, says he was able to get his first title through hard work and preparation.

“He put this team on his back this year,” Barnes said. “When I say we scored 32

points at the state meet, 16 of them was Jeremiah’s.”

Holloman didn’t get the school record he set out for, but the team’d “nobody’s going to work harder than us” motto resonates the most with him. If there was

a symbol for it, it’d be him. “It’s a real blessing to have

a guy like that on your team,” Barnes said.

“This is just the begin-ning of a great career here in track and in football. I’m also his receivers coach

so I get to coach him on that aspect also, and he’s the same guy. He’s a hard worker, wants to be the best. His drive to be the best is why he’s here right now,” Barnes added. “I re-member when he first got

here as a freshman and we talked and I told him, ‘You might be one of the highest recruits to leave Newton High School,’ and he’s well off on that journey because he’s working hard and he’ll be there.”

STOKES>> FROM PAGE 1B

HOLLOMAN>> FROM PAGE 1B

The Georgia State Games is proud to kick off its 25th anniversary. As a nonprofit organization, the Georgia State Games, also known as Georgia’s Grassroots Olympics, works hard to provide Geor-gians with opportunities to be physically active through statewide event participation.

With over 45 sporting events, local and state venues can show off their spaces to all participat-ing athletes, schools and numerous volunteers. Any Georgian can partake in these events, no matter age or ability, level or location. To regis-ter for all Georgia Games championships, please visit www.georgiagames.org and pick the sport of your choice. In addition to all our sporting events, our Championship Run features a 10K, 5K (Walk & Run), 1 mile and Tot Trot. To volunteer, visit our website as well by selecting the support option and following the provided instructions.

“We are proud to present the Georgia State Games for 25 years and we hope to continue to evolve. In addition, this year we are offering pickel-ball,” Eric Pfeifer, Executive Director of the Georgia State Games, said.

In past years, the Georgia Games has represent-ed over 140 counties and 550 cities in the state of Georgia. With our widespread events, support is easy to come by whether through participating, volunteering or being someone’s No. 1 fan.

The Georgia State Games first began in 1989. In 2002, all state funding was removed; however, through sponsorships the organization has been able to maintain the tradition. The largest program administered by the Georgia State Games is the Georgia Games Championships. The Champion-ships are an Olympic style multi-sports festival that holds events and tournaments. The Georgia Games belongs to a national membership associa-tion, National Congress of State Games (NCSG).All our state medalists are then entered to compete on a national level. For updates, visit www.geor-giagames.org for a complete schedule of events, volunteer opportunities and contact information. Find us on Twitter @georgiagames or Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/georgia.games.

25th anniversary celebration of Georgia Games


CN SUNDAY, MAY 24, 2015 Page 3BThe Covington News

Sports3B

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The City of Covington has a vacancy for a Natural Gas Project Manager located in the Gas Department. This posi� on is responsible for planning, implemen� ng and evalua� ng mul� ple ac� vi� es associated with opera� on and administra� on of the Covington Natural Gas Distribu� on System. This posi� on assists the U� li� es Director with various administra� ve tasks associated with gas project maintenance and construc� on. Required training and experience includes gradua� on from an accredited college or university with a Bachelor of Science Degree, At least fi � een (15) years prior natural gas construc� on and opera� ng experience, a minimum of ten (10) years of which shall be with a municipal, other public gas system or investor owned u� lity. Must meet Offi ce of Pipeline Safety requirements within 1 year of employment. Salary to commensurate with qualifi ca� ons and experience. Qualifi ed applicants may apply via our website at www.cityofcovington.org or may apply at the City of Covington Human Resources Offi ce, 2194 Emory Street, Covington, Georgia 30014, 770.385.2025. This posi� on will remain open un� l 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 2, 2015.The City of Covington is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

JOB ANNOUNCEMENT JOB ANNOUNCEMENT

The City of Covington is currently accepting applications for a GIS Manager in the Engineering Department. This position performs professional level management related to the development and implementation of systems, networks, database, and macros to create, maintain, display and update a local government Geographic Information System. Required training and experience includes graduation from an accredited college or university with a degree in geography, computer science, earth science, civil engineering or related technical fi eld. At least 40 CEU’s of specialized GIS Software Training. Two or more years of progressively related experience in management of a GIS project, relational databases, GPS collection and GIS web related technology. Salary range is an annual minimum of $48,360 to an annual maximum of $71,531 will be determined based upon qualifi cations. Qualifi ed applicants may apply via our website at www.cityofcovington.org or may send resume to or apply at the City of Covington Human Resources Offi ce, 2194 Emory Street, Covington, Georgia 30014, (770) 385.2025. Position will remain open until 4:00 p.m. on Friday, June 5th, 2015. The City of Covington is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

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Standing on the North West corner of the Square in the heart of Covington is an obelisk in honor of those from our county that we remember on Memorial Day. Carved on the side facing Clark Street is the statement "In loving and grateful memory of those citizens of Newton County who gave their lives in defense of our country.” On the other sides are listed the names of those from Newton County who died in the service from World War I to Iraq. These same name are on crosses put out by the American Legion at the corner of Emory Street and Highway 278 in front of the Newton Federal Bank.

For many, Memorial Day marks the begin-ning of summer, though officially summer begins on June 21 with the Summer Solstice. But Memorial Day is seen as the “bookend” at the first of the season and Labor Day as the “bookend” of the end of the season. Even though summer really ends on September 23 with the Autumnal Equinox. With school cal-endars being changed over the years and the weather getting warmer earlier, even this tra-dition might be in trouble.

But in the hurry to start summer activities such as vacations and cooks outs we must not lose the reason this day is sacred to us as a people. There are annual sporting events set to this date, such as today with the Indy 500 and NASCAR’s Coca Cola 600. Some places will see parades, community picnic, and fire-works. But Memorial Day is about something far greater.

We have this day in honor of those who gave their lives to defend our freedom and way of life. I dare say no one entered into the service of their county wanting to be among those we remember. But it was their willing-

ness to risk life itself that made possible the great nation we are a part of today. It was not for self that they made their sacrifices, but rather for those they served with and those who would follow in the years ahead. They did it for you and me.

We must never think of those names listed on the obelisk at the

square or on the crosses on the lawn of the bank, merely as individuals. Their families were forever changed by their deaths. There was one missing at the table at Thanksgiving or not present for the birth of a grandchild or countless other family celebrations. Our thoughts are with their families this week end.

They were a part of a community. Their ab-sence probably changed what has happened in their communities. We will never know the impact they might have made if they had lived. But we can determine the impact we can make if we fully use the gifts they pre-served for us.

We are the benefactors of their sacrifice. The challenge to each of us is to live in a way worthy of such a great gift. This is particularly true of our involvement in our community, our state, and our nation. In our last General Election in Georgia, barely a third of those eligible to vote bothered to do so. We stop the mail and close the banks to honor those who died but many times don’t use the gifts they saved for us.

Another one of the great freedoms they died for was the right each of us has to wor-ship God in the way we choose. But the ma-jority of us will not exercise that right this week or most weeks. Their sacrifice was great! We honor that sacrifice when we use the free-doms they preserved for us.

Memorial Day is a day set aside to remem-

ber the sacrifices made. But far more impor-tant is how we use that gift. Memorial Day reminds us freedom is never free. It has been given us to use to make the future better for those who will follow us.

Over the years there has been a debate as to when to observe Memorial Day. When I was growing up during the fifties, there was no one official holiday in Georgia. There was a state assigned date for a Confederate Memo-rial Day and of course there was May 30 for most of the nation to observe Memorial Day. My father, who was with the Cooperative Ex-tension Service of the University of Georgia, would say when the Confederate Memorial Day came in April they didn’t get the day as most state employees at the time did, because they were treated as federal employees. And when May 30 saw most federal offices closes, they were treated as state employees.

One reason the dates varied from state to state is the early name was not “Memo-rial Day” but “Decoration Day”. It was first observed following the War Between the States. Each area set a date when there flowers blooming to use to decorate the graves of the fallen. Thus the further north you would go, the later the date would be.

Many claim to be the place where the tra-dition of Memorial Day began. Among those are Savannah, Marietta, and Columbus Geor-gia. President Lyndon Johnson recognized Waterloo New York for that honor on May 26, 1966. The date is now set on the fourth Monday of May as a part of the federal law that shifts some holidays to allow for a long weekend. This was a move away from the tra-ditional May 30 date.

B. Wiley Stephens is a retired United Meth-odist Minister and author who now resides in Covington

B. WILEY STEPHENSCOLUMNIST

What does Memorial Day mean?Hudson Joel Fielder, May 7, Jes-sica Bailey Fielder, Clayton Fielder, Walton, 8 pounds, 12 ounces, 21 inches

Alaysia McKen-zie Brown, May 11, Kimberly L. Benton, Alquan R. Brown, Covington, 6 pounds, 15 ounces, 18 ½ inches

Adien Javon Durden, May 11, Danielle Petty, Javonte Durden, Covington, 7 pounds, 6.2 ounc-es, 19 ½ inches

Remi Queen, May 11, Tara Mc-Donald, Tommy Queen, Jr., Coving-ton, 8 pounds, 14 ounces, 20 inches

Adalyn Leigh Freeman, May 13, Megan Freeman, Jonathan Free-man, Loganville, 7 pounds, 2.5 ounc-es, 20 inches

Alaysia McKen-zie Brown, May 11, Kimberly Benton, Alquan Brown, Covington, 6 pounds, 15 ounces, 18 ½ inches

HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT?BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS

the covington news sunday, may 24, 2015 vol.150, no.20

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