THE HOGANSVILLE HOME NEWS
A Grimes Publk:ation
MIllrd B. Gdrrms, Preldde
usPs e20.040
Mn HA
PUBLISADvrLSG DmF_LR
JOHN KLK)aL
AssoclAaX PUBUSH/FrrOR
BRYAN GE'IXR
ASSOCIATE EDrrOR
JAYNE GOWN
BuslNKsS MANAGER
Phone (706) 846-3188. Fax (706) 846-2206
R O. Box 426
Hogansville, Georgia 30230 *
Ocial Legal Organ, City of Hogtmsvil!e
Groundhog Day
• Every year on February 2,
: Americans observe
. "Groundhog Day."
Most of our concerns about
this day is whether the ground-
-. hog saw his shadow or not.
: : For ff he did, he will go back
: ; inside his burrow and the weath-
!i ; er will be wintry for six more
: weeks. If he doesn't see his shad-
ow, he will remain outside and
spring is right around the cor-
ner.
In "1723, the Delaware
Indians settled Punxsutawney,
Pennsylvania as a campsite
' halfway between the Allegheny
and Susquehanna Rivers.
The town is 90 miles north-
east of Pittsburgh at the inter-
: section of Route 36 and Route
119.
The Delaware Indians con-
,sidered groundhogs honorable
!ancestors.
• According to the original
::creation beliefs of the Delaware
:Indians, their forebears began
ilife as animals in "Mother
iEarth" and emerged centuries
later to hunt and live as men.
When German settlers
arrived in the 1700's, they
brought a tradition known as
Candlemas Day, which has an
:early origin in the Imgan cele-
!bration of ]bolic. ......
It came at the mid-point
ibetween the Winter Solstice and
i!the Spring Equinox.
Superstition held that ff the
iweather was fair, the second
half of winter would be stormy
!and cold.
For the early Christians in
Europe, it was the custom on
Candlemas Day for clergy to
bless candles and distribute
them to the people in the dark
iof Winter.
A lighted candle was placed
in each window of the home. The
:day's weather continued to be
:important.
If the sun came out February
"2, halfway between Winter and
Spring, it meant six more weeks
of wintry weather.
: If the sun made an appear-
:ance on Candlemas Day, an ani-
mal would cast a shadow, thus
predicting six more weeks of
i :Winter. Germans watched the
badger.
i i InPennsylvania, theground-
hog was selected as the replace-
ment.
:: They determined the
igroundhog to be the most intel-
i igent and sensible animal and
therefore decided ff the sun did
appear on February 2, so wise
an animal as the groundhog
would see its shadow and hurry
back into its underground home
for another six Weeks of winter.
Pennsylvania' s official cel-
ebration of Groundhog Day
began on February 2, 1886 with
a proclamation in the
"The Delaware
Indians considered
groundhogs honorable
ancestors."
Punxsutawney Spirit, by the
newspaper's editor, Clyner
Freas: "Today is groundhog day
and up to the time of going tO
press the beast has not seen its
shadow."
The groundhog was given
the name "Punxsutawny Phil"
and his hometown is called
'%Veather Capital O f the World."
The legendary first trip to
Gobbler's Knob was made the
following year.
Since the movie "Groundhog
Day" was release in 1993, more
than 35,000 visitors come to
Punxsutawney.
The groundhog, also known
as a woodchuck, is a member of
the squirrel family. They eat
:sucmdent green plants such as
dandelion, clover and grasses.
According to handler Bill
Deeley, a local funeral direc-
tor, Phil weighs 15 pounds and
thrives on dog food and ice
cream in his climate-controlled
home at the Punxsutawney
Library.
Up on Gobblers's Knob, Phil
is placed in a heated burrow
underneath a simulated tree
stump on stage before being
pulled out at 7:25 a.m. to make
his prediction.
Phil's Winter prognostica-
tions for the past 113 years has
been somewhat low, being cor-
rect only 39 percent of the time.
He has seen his shadow 89 times
and seen no shadow 14 times.
Nine times in the 1890's no
records were kept.
Punxsutawney Phil is grow-
hag in fame. In 1981, he wore a
yellow ribbon in honor of the
American hostages in Iran.In
1987 he met Pennsylvania gov-
ernor Dick Thornburg, the same
year he met with President
Ronald Reagan in the Oval
Office.
In 1993, Columbia Pictures
released the movie Groundhog
Day starring Bill Murray.
Phil appeared on the Oprah
Winfrey Show in 1995.
Since 1995, record crowds
exceeding 30,000 have visited,
Gobbler's Knob in
Ptmxsutawney.
I think Phil came out last
week and saw his shadow
according to the cold wintry
weather we are having!
THE HOeANSVILLE Hom NEWS is published weekly by the Star-Mercury Publishing
Company, a division of Grimes Publications, at 3051 Roosevelt Highway, Manchester,
Georgia 31816. US PS 6204340. Subscription rates by mail: $15 in Meriwether, Talbot or
Harris Counties; $20 a year elsewhere. Prices include all sales taxes. Second class postage
paid at Hogansville, Georgia 30230.
FoR SUBSCRIPTIONS call (706) 846=3188 or write to Circulation Manager, Star
Mercury Publications, P. O. Box 426, Manchester, Georgia 31816.
POS-rMASrl: Send address changes to P. O. Box 426, Hogansville, GA 30230.
STAW
Publisher and Advertising Director .................................................................... Mike Hale
Associate Publisher and Editor ................................................................ John Kuykendall
Associate Editor .................................................................................................. Bryan Geter
Business Manager. ....................................................................................... Jayne Goldslon
Staff Writers ......................... Smith, Caroline Yeager, Lee Howell, Billy Bryant
Assistant Advertising Manager ........................................................................ Laurie Lewis
Advertising Sales .............................................................................................. Linda Lester
Photography .............................................................................................. Michael C. Strider
Composing ............................................................................. Valinda lvery, Smith
l,egals .............................................. ; .................................................................. Valinda Ivery
Receptionist and Classifieds .............................................................................. Cleta Young
Production Manager ........................................................................................ .Roland Foiles
Pressroom ................................................................ David Boggs and Wayne Groehowski
Coma Orncs
President ............................................................. : ..................................... aMillard B.
Vice President ........................................... . ............................................ Charlotte S. Grimes
Secretary ................................................................................................ Laura Grimes Corer
Treasurer .............................................. . ............................................... Kathy Grimes Garretl
Legal Counsel and Assistant Secreany .................................................... James S. Grimes
, , ,, ,
OPINION
PAGE 4 - HOGANSVILLE HOME NEWS - FEBRUARY 3, 2000
"Never Again By The Flood"
Well now, I was just think-
ing about first one thing and
then another.
I feel something should be
said about the great Snow-In.
You recall it started Thursday
morning.
Now Thursday is the day the
Hogansvile Herald comes out
so, of course, I had to go to the
post office to see if "Allan Sez"
was still up to his nonsense.
While there, I went into the
"Bear" for a few things and
found to my surprise so had
most of Hogansville.
The line I was in reached all
the way from where the tic-tac
man starts until where he ends.
To show you how long I waited,
the tic-tac man passed me three
times, ticing and tacing and
laughing as if his heart was
overflowing.
NOW I WILL MAKE an
admission; a man my age does-
n't stand in aline very long with-
out feeling a strange urge to
wiggle, stand first on one foot
and then another and his eyes
take on a glazed and pained
expression
Some remarked on why did
I wiggle and change legs and
look glazed. My answer was
that it was a return of the Saint
Vitas dance that has been in the
family for 800 years. They
shook their heads in sympathy.
I FINALLY reached a
checkout counter and headed
home with the bird seed. The
most beautiful part of the snow,
I thought, was the coming of
the birds. We had hundreds in
our yard and they all ate well.
You know, I think birds are like
flowers with wings. They can
fly to be seen by all, and I thank
God He gave us flying flowers.
But the old mill still runs on.
MOST OF US HEARD the
"State of the Union" message
the other night. I reallythought
it was a good speech, delivered
well, but what did he say?
Reagonomics is working
fine and aU we have to do is wait
fifteen or twenty years and
everything will be just lovely.
I wonder if there are some who
can't wait that long
ONE ISSUE he didn't men-
tion was "junk mail". You know
"The most beautiful
part of the snow, I
thought, was the com-
ing of the birds. We
had hundreds in our
yard and they all ate
well. You know, I think
birds are like flowers
with wings. They can
fly to be seen by all,
and I thank God He
gave us flying flow-
ers."
so called "junk mail" adds
greatly to "stuff". Some throw
it away at the post office, some
take it home and put it in the
trash, some take it homand
read it and some even answer
some.
Junk mail is a
lem. In some homes
adds to "stuff"
time, take over the
THE FIRST TI c
came old Noah built| a:
keep his feet dry.
that this time we will[J_ t
in junk mail and "stn'
can just see ,ul r
around one day andi '
will say, "Let's us g
Mr. and Mrs. Lain, I uI
they have a flag s!l:
where they live" I"
• ,,. • dl(
i reply, rme an air
how will we get out till"
the junk mail and stUi
replies, quick as a cat,
crawl through the hoUr
yesterday and the t
make it for I left fl
Mountville Road."
We go and find I
house but we can't ge'
their hole, so we ha
visit yelling through
they have made.
YES, JUNK MAIL
will inherit the earth./
did not say, believe
me, it will happen.
REA Born in Warm SpringS00momo00;o0000:a;e00:t00t:Cotta 1
You can be sure that He said that one of the most
Roosevelt discovered a lot successful New Deal innova-
about Georgia in trips around tions, the Rural Electrification power, providing Oti
the area in his hand-operated Administration, was a Georgia built his own transmis
autos. It is not farfetched to baby, born in a cottage in Warm Moore did it at Ro
speculatethathe"learned"over Springs. expense, of course.
steak at Jim Peters's that all "Fourteen years ago," he $351.32. Almost. all t
Georgia children went to school told a Georgia audience at the came for 18 poles at $
a full term -- then learned in dedication of the Lamar County and two miles of coppe
the hard clay front yard of a Electric Membership $140.30.
farm shack that they didn't. Corporation in 1938, "a Most farmers in
He learned from firsthand Democratic Yankee came to a "...one of the most the rest of the South
experiences in New York, of neighboring county in your SuccessfuZ,New, D,¢al where would have be
eourse. Therewerebar|_kail- stateinsearchqfapoolofwarm ..... dened by the expens t
ures in New York when he was waters wherein he might innovations, the Rural least some of them'
Governor, which he had to deal his way back to health... His new E l e c t r if i c a t i o n it. The cost for poles a
was much higher whe$
with firsthand. Some rural neighbors extended to him the Administration, was a from private utilities.
schools in his native state were hand of genuine hospitality...
also underfunded and provided "There was only one diseor- Georgia baby, born in Roosevelt explain
poor education. This came to dant note in that first stay of a cottage m Warm how rural property own
his attention when he was a state - mine at Warm Springs; when SpFtns." time in New York,
senator, the first of the month bills came described a new eotta$
On anotherissue, rnralelec- in for electric light at my little E 1 e c t r i f i c a t i o n built in Dutchess Coun
trification and public power, cottage, I found that the charge Administration." strip and creosote an "d
Roosevelt undoubtedly learned was 18 cents per kilowatt hour ROOSEVELT ESTAB- pole" for $10, but how a
plenty from his New Yorkexpo- -- about four times as much as LISHED the REA by executive pole bought from the
rience. He had a lengthy, bitter I paid in New York. That start- order in 1935. It was permanent company would cost $4
fight over hydroelectric power ed my long study of proper util- by statute the following year. It is the whole basis of t
while Governor. He lost it, but ity charges for electricity and provided transmission systems thing. The REA is bei
the utility companies' victory the whole subject of getting for electric power to communi- in large part, of coursa
convinced Roosevelt that the electricity into farm homes ties that private companies farmers themselves in
way to get cheap power to the throughout the United States. would not serve -- or would erative way."
people, particularly in sparse- So it can be said that a little cot- serve only at prohibitive cost.
ly populated rural areas, was tage at Warm Springs, Georgia, By 1934, Roosevelt's (Next week: Gettin
with federal, rather than just was the birthplace of the Rural Georgia farm had been electri- to Warm Springs)
Pulling the Wool 01 ,er My Eyes
I found my old high school
letter jacket the other day. I
was looking for something
else in the back of a closet at
my mother's house and came
upon it -- blue and off-white
leather sleeves and a block N
sewn on the front•
I had forgotten it even
existed. I suppose that twen-
ty-four years ago when I grad-
uated from high school, I sim-
ply cast it aside as I leaped
into the more material colle-
giate world.
"I put it up for you and kept
it," my mother said, "in case
you ever wanted it again."
I PLAYED BAbIKETBALI
and baseball at Newnan High
School. I lettered in both
sports, which is how I got the
jacket in the first place. My
number, 12, is stitched on one
of the sleeves. The face of a
tiger our mascot is on
the other.
Enough years have passed
now that I probably could lie
about my high school athlet-
ic career and get away with
most of it.
I know guys who barely
made the varsity who've man-
aged to move up to all-state
status with the passing of
enough years.
But I'll be honest. I was an
average tthlete, if that. I
averaged maybe ten points a
game in basketball, and shot
the thing on every opportuni-
ty that came to me.
"Grizzard is the only per-
son who never had a single
assist in his entire basketball
career," an ex-teammate was
telling someone in my pres-
ence. "That's because he
never passed the ball."
I HIT OVER .300 my
senior year in baseball, but
they were all bloop singles
except for one of those bloop-
ers that rolled in some high
weeds in right field. By the
time the ball was found, I was
around the bases for the win-
nmg run.
"Why don't you take it
home with you? My mother
suggested after I had pulled
the jacket out of the closet.
"Maybe you'll have some chil-
dren one day and they might
like to see it."
I reminded my mother I
was forty-one and down three
marriages, and the future did-
n't look that bright for off-
spring. But I suppose a moth-
er can dream.
I did bring the jacket home
with me. Alone, up in my bed-
room, in front of a mirror, I
pulled it over me for the first
time in a long time.
A LOT OF NAMES came
back with the jacket. Clay,
"I was an average
athlete, if that. I aver-
aged maybe ten
points a game in bas-
ketball, and shot the
thing on every oppor-
tunity that came to
rrt e . "
John, Buddy, Russell,
Richard, A1. And Dudley and
the Hound, who's still looking
for his first base hit si
was fifteen.
And then there was
of course, the best high
shortstop I ever saw
ground ball hit a pebl
day and bounced up am
his jaw.
EVER HEAR THAI
ing song "Where Are t]
I used to Sport With?"
They've all got ]
guess, and their moth
happy.
It's funny about m
et. It still fit well on m
and shoulders, but I c
get it to button anymo
I guess some shr
can be expected af
those years of neglec
closet.
i ........
