Opinions & Ideas
PAGE 4A - HOGANSVILLE HOME NEWS - DEC. 4, 2003
THE HOGANSVILLE HOME NEWS
USPS 620.040
JOHN KUYKENDALL
PUBLISHER/EDITOR
LAURm I.WIS
ADVERTISING DIRECrOR
CLrr CLAYnROOK
ASSOCLTE EDITOR
ROB RICHARDSON
ASSISTANT EDITOR
JAYNE GOLDSTON
BUSINESS MANAGER
A rtlnle llaoll phone (706) 846-3188- Fax (706) 846=2206
P. O. Box 426
Mmud B. Hogansvine, Georgia 30230
It Was A Wonderful
Thanksgiving Day
Well, it's over for another
year. Thanksgiving has come
and gone, and if you're like
me, you ate more turkey than
you care to think about.
Unfortunately, you probably
have plenty left to eat as well.
I hope each and everyone
had a great Thanksgiving, My
was wonderful. I manag£,d to
get awiy for a few days d
spend time with my grand-
son, Eli, iatI had not seen' in
a while. All of the family w-
n't togetlldr fhough. Sinc my
son, Brannon married, he
usually eds time withhis
in-lawson giving. I did
manage. :g.ye him a call
though h hirn and his
lovely .('wifd' a hapby
Thanksgig: . '
Family,"f0od and fti;are
what make' ' Thanksgiviilg
such a great holiday.
Especially spending time
with family.
As I spend this
Thanksgiving with Eli, I
remembered last year and the
year before and so on. It's
funny how much the family
has changed in the past five
years since he was born. It's
amazing how a child can bring
so much joy, happiness and
togetherness to a family.
AS I WAS reminiscing, I
,thought about gving
days of my childhood and one
in particular.
Not long after I was mar-
ried, my mother was diag-
nosed with cancer of the
esophagus. If you've never
had to deal with such a trag-
ic disease, you could never
begin to understand how
much it affects a person and
their way of life.
My mother's last
Thanksgiving wts one I'll
never forget. I had watched
her deteriorate drastically in
a period of two years after
being diagnosed. By that last
Thanksgiving, she couldn't
even eat. Everything would
choke her and it was hard on
both of us.
My wife, Bev, tried to
make a Thanksgiving dinner
that year she could enjoy and
we had plenty of things like
mashed potatoes and other
soft foods that she could eat
as well.
I watched my mother
struggle through that dinner
and can remember it to this
day. When it was over and my
sister's family had left, my
mother and I sat down and
had a chat. I think that was
the first time we had ever
talked about the inevitable
end we both knew was com-
ing.
We chatted about the din-
ner and family for a little
while and then I said some-
thing to the effect of how
sorry I was that she couldn't
enjoy Thanksgiving dinner as
in year's past.
I'll never forget the
expression on her face and
the words that followed.
"I did enjoy Thanksgiving
dinner," she replied. "More
than you will ever know.
While I couldn't enjoy the
food as much as I once did, it
was great to be with my fam-
ily. I don't know how many
more Thanksgiving days I'll
enjoy, but none of them could
be any better than this one.
"Having the family here
meant more to me than any-
thing," she said.
AFTER THAT conversa-
tion, I always wondered ff my
mother was just saying that
to make me feel better. It was
not until this Thanksgiving
day that I understood what
she was saying.
I didn't have all my fm-
fly together on ThanksgivL-ig,
as I said, Brannon spent time
with his in-laws. However, I
had most of my family togeth-
er and we all had a wonder-
ful time.
There is nothing more
important in the world than
family, and while I guess I've
always realized that, for some
reason lately, I've thought
about it even more.
My mother used to always
tell me,' when my children
were young .... "Enjoy them
now, because when they get
older they will always be on
you mind and in your heart."
Another thing I understand
more clearly today.
My children and grand-
children mean the world to
me. All you have to do is visit
my desk at the office to see
that. There are photographs
of them everywhere. They
are truly always thought of
by me.
So, now I have more mem-
ories to add to my long col-
lection and I hope that you
and your family made some
memories this Thanksgiving
as well.
Trust me, I've learned
from experience, and the
teachings of my mother, that
life is too short and that fam-
ily is the most important thing
we each possess.
Now, I'm ready to begin
making Christmas memo-
ries.
THE HOGANSViLLE HOME NEWS is published weekly by the Star-Mercury
Publishing Company, a division of Grimes Publications, at 3051 Roosevelt Highway,
Manchester. Georgia 31816. USPS 620-040. Subscription rates by mail: $20 in
Troup, Harris or Meriwether Counties; $24 a year elsewhere. Prices include all
sales taxes. Periodical postage paid at Hogansville, Georgia 30230.Single copy
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FoR suascml,rlo call (706) 846-3188 or write to Circulation Manager, Star
Mercury Publications, P. O. Box 426, Manchester, Georgia 31816.
POSrMAS'IER: Send address changes toP. O. Box 426, Hogansville, GA 30230.
S'rAI
Publisher and Editor ............................................................................ John Kukyendall
Advertising Director .................................................................................. Laurie Lewis
Associate Editof ................................................................................... Clint Claybrook
Business Manager ................................................................................. Jayne Goldston
Assistant Editor ..................................................................................... Rob Richardson
Staff Writers .......................................................................... Bryan Geter, Billy Bryant
Composing ............................................................ Dewayne Flowers, Robert Weems
Legals ........................................... . .......................................................... Jayne Goldston
Circulation Manager ............................................................... Barbara Arlene Stcerman
Pre Manager ................................................................................. Wayne Grochowski
Pressroom Assistants ..................... Lan T Colleges, Zaddie Dixon,Damcll McCauley
Mailronm Distribution ............................................................................... David Boggs
COaPORArE
President .................................. ., ......................................................... Millard B. Grimes
Vice President .................................................................................. Charlotte S. Grimes
Executive Vice President and Secretary ........................................ Laura Grimes Corer
Treasurer ....................................................................................... Kathy Grimes Garmtt
Legal Counsel and Assistant Secretary ............................................... James S. Grimes
A Life Cut Short Way Too
From Lewis Grizzard's
collection 'Won't You Come
Home Billy Bob Bailey?"
Written in 1978
If Warren Newman had
lived long enough to have had
a book published, he would
have mentioned me in it, I am
sure. It's been months since
he died. Sometimes, late at
night, I still miss him hard.
Warren Newman, for a
country boy from
Sandersville, Georgia, was
quite sophisticated. He did-'
n't like clich6s, or anything
that was "hokey." I have put
quotations around that word,
"hokey," because it was a word
Warren used a great deal.
The man was an idealist,
was what he was. That, and a
perfectionist.
He disliked such things
as plastic flowers and neon
cowboys. What he liked were
old people who sat in front of
country stores, dozing and
telling good stories, dogs and
Vienna sausages eaten direct-
ly from a can on a riverbank.
I SUPPOSE knowing all
that about Warren Newman
is what is making writing this
so difficult. The last thing he
would have wanted would
have been-as he would have
put it - "one of those God-
awful sad stories about what
a great guy I was."
Maybe the only thing I can
do to temper this is to leave
out a log of gush about how
much I will miss him and just
stick to the parts about how
he cracked me up and how a
number of us who knew him
best often wondered if he
were really from this planet.
Warren had a bizarre
sense of humor, and his ideas
and thoughts must have come
from some celestial left field
where the rest of us could
never reach for inspiration.
There was his Lyndon
Johnson impression. He did
Lyndon Johnson announcing
he would not seek re-election
better than Lyndon Johnson.
I can still hear him - Warren,
no Lyndon Johnson - pro-
nouncing, "Mah feller
Amuricahns...."
What else. He was an
artist. He did sketches, and
they were quite good. He
played guitar. He was an
expert on the Civil War.
HE OWNED a famous
dog, "Springfield," the last of
the long-nosed Egyptian coon
hounds, which is another
story.
He snored with the best
of them. I shared a tent with
him for seven nights on a
wilderness river somewhere
out in Arkansas last summer,
so I ought to know.
The funny thing that hap-
pened on that trip was one
morning as we started to
launch our canoes; we dis-
covered a rattlesnake in
Warren's. The three adults on
the trip were all afraid to
remove the snake, but, luck-
ily, there was a 1S-year-old
along who wasn't old enough
to be frightened of rat-
tlesnakes. We let him handle
the situation while the three
of us hid behind a tree.
it. Damn, we missed
thing there.
Warren Newman, 31,
into a tree in his
Saturday morning, and
dead. I went over to
Saturday afternoon and
ted his dog and talked to
pretty, heartbroken wife.
She told me about a
poem she had written to
husband a couple of
a
she was thinking about
ing it put on his
She asked me if I thou
was "hokey."
Here's the poem:
Son of the Southland
A dreamer, kind and wi
More
imagine
Shone clearly in his
That's not "hokey."
says it. That says it all.
ONE OTHER thing.
Warren Newman was a tal-
ented writer. Three years
ago, he was a bartender. Then,
he got a job at the newspaper
• helping count football contest
ballots. Soon after that, hvMOST WIDELY READ
became The Atlanta WRITER OF HIS TIME.
Constitution's brightest
sports star. The man was
moving up fast.
He would have left sports
eventually, I am certain, and
written of the world as he saw
BY SPECIAL
WITH HIS WIDOW," DEDRA,
ED COLUMNS BY THE LATE
GRIZZARD,
BY MORELAND, AND BECAME 1
PRODUCTIONS, P.O. BOX 191
ATLANTA, GA 31118-1266 AND
BOOK
WIDE.
Meeting Mankind's Greatest Need
A psychologist was once
quoted as saying, "Man has
two basic needs, one is to be
loved and the other is to have
someone to love." One must
admit that statement has a
world of truth in it, however,
there is an even greater need
experienced by man.
During this time of year
it seems that many needs
arise. Our churcl receives
-. numerOuscll,l0m pe0ple
who have various needs and
at this time of year those
needs intensify.
We do our best to try and
help those with needs, some
have need of food, others have
need with medical bills, while
still others have need Of even
gas and water. God has
blessed Antioch and we are
thankful for the God given
ability to help many who call.
Although many calls are
received and many folks are
helped, there is one great need
that no civic organization, no
government program or even
a church can meet. That is
man's need of a Savior. More
than the need of clothes and
shelter, more than the need of
food and water, and even more
than the need of air, human
beings need a Savior. While
no earthly agency can supply
that need, that need has
already been supplied. It is
the supplying of that need that
allows us to celebrate what
one secular song calls, "The
most wonderful time of the
yeai'."
While studying for this past
THIS INDEED is the r
most wonderful time of the
year and while the lights are
brilliant, the decorations
beautiful, and the excitement
at a fever pitch, there is anoth-
er reason for this time of year.
It is the time of year that
has been set aside to celebrate
the giving of the greatest gift
that could ever be given. The
Bible says, "For God so loved
the world, that he gave his
only begotten son, that whoso-
ever believeth in him, should
not perish, but have everlast-
ing life."
Christmas is the time we
celebrate God's gift that
meets man's greatest need.
, e Sumtays:nlage, I ran
across a;liRlb quote that bears
repeating. It said, "If man's
greatest need had been infor-
mation, God would have sent
him an educator. If man's
greatest need had been tech-
nology, God would have sent
him a scientist. If man's great-
est need had been money, God
would have sent him an econ-
omist. If man's greatest need
had been pleasure, God would
have sent him an entertainer.
But man's greatest need was
forgiveness, so God sent him
a Savior."
That is the reason for such
joy; that is the reason for such
celebration; that is the reason
for such a time as this, God
sent his son to meet m
greatest need. I said
that there are some that
here at Antioch can
unfortunately
there are those we
help.
MAY I SHARE with
the
one who is beyond
God. No one is so good
one is so bad that'the
be saved. God's gift is a
that is made available
Like the s
love, "It reaches to the
est valley as well as to
highest mountain."
We here at
Baptist Church hope that
know what it is like to
God's greatest gift
mankind.
As you begin to try to
that perfect
one special, please know
the most perfect gift
already been given - the
of God's Son, the Lord
Christ. Remember,
the reason for the season.
50 Ye0000ars Ago.,,
In.the
Hogansville Herald
*TOPVOTEGI
page of the Dec. 3, 1953 Hogansvill
Herald reported that"Henry
popular memhant on Askew
led the ticket of seven
for office of city councilman at
terday's city election here, with
votes."
*RETAIL BARGAINS OF TH
DAY: The Belk-Gallant store
"Tonic for a man's ego:"
$1. The store also had dolls wif
movable eyes for $1 and
Hopalong Cassidy coloring outfit
$1."
• CINEMA - Them was
1950s faro showing
Royal Theatre that week.
Gomey and the Bowery Boys weo
appearing in 'Crazy Over
GeneAutrey
Team" and Tony Curtis starred
"AllAmencan? But also,
ule for the week was "Bandit
in 3-D.
*BIG IN PERSPECTIVE
1953, the term was more
The Economy Auto store
a 1954 Philco Big Screen 21-inc
"larger than ever" television."
• FROM THE
"Wanted: Two
Opportunity to earn from $32.50
$68 per week."
