The Best of the North Georgia Mountains Issue 39 1-19-19

ISSUE #39

JUST KIDDING!

Check out the inside back cover for our new page of jokes!

ARE COUNTRY BOYS GOING EXTINCT? RALAND PATTERSON/34

Food, Music, Art, Events, Things To Do, Places To Go, Adventures, Local Writers, Humor...And Much More!

E U BL D O O L B S R E H T O R B Whitfield County deputy willing to donate his kidney to save fellow officer’s life

TURN TO PAGE 6

IT TAKES A SPECIAL PERSON TO TAKE CARE OF OTHERS See our special Salute to Caregivers beginning on page 23

Publisher: Mitch Talley Publisher’s Boss: Cindy Talley Founder: Robb Newman Founder’s Boss: Thia Newman Distribution: Eddie Ash, O. Myback Issue Graphic Design: Mitch Jan. 23, 2019 Talley, Cray Ola Writers: Mitch Talley, (c) 2019 The Best of Robb Newman, Thia the North Georgia Mountains, Inc. Newman, Lora Bunch, Raland Patterson, Kathi Editorial submissions Hill, Kathi Chastain, encouraged; send to bestofnorthgamountains@ John Shivers, Patricia Kovsky-Dotson, Ted yahoo.com or mail to 312 Smith, Rebecca Strobl, Double Tree Drive SE, Calhoun, GA 30701.

Joe Cobb Crawford.

#39

To advertise or suggest a story idea, call Mitch Talley at 678-882-6741.

Thanks, caregivers!

Healthcare professionals deserve our gratitude

Inside our first issue of 2019, you’ll find a special section called “A Salute to Caregivers.”

It’s our intention to shine the spotlight on all the great healthcare professionals in our area who unselfishly give of their time and talents to take care of others who are going through a tough time health-wise.

I didn’t have

By MITCH TALLEY to look far to find the inspiration Publisher for this section.

My wife Cindy was in nursing school when we first met in 1988, and ever since she graduated from Dalton State College in 1990, she’s worked hard to take care of the elderly, first for 27 years at a nursing home in Calhoun and then since last March at a See MITCH, Page 52

TAKE YOUR MEDICINE, DEAR! S, YE GIE U SH Cindy

CH TALLEY

PHOTO BY MIT

Deputies Jeffrey Diak (left) and David Headrick.

‘A STAND-UP GUY’ When Whitfield County Deputy Jeffrey Diak found out that his fellow lawman, David Headrick, needed a kidney transplant, he jumped at the chance to help.

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Law enforcement officers put their lives on the line every day.

No surprise, then, when Whitfield County Deputy Jeffrey Diak heard that one of his co-workers, Deputy David Headrick, needed a kidney transplant, Diak leaped at the chance to help his fellow brother in blue.

In Diak’s eyes, he’ll just be returning the favor to Headrick when he donates a kidney to him.

“In 2015, when David first reached out for a kidney donor, I was a rookie in the patrol division (transferring from the corrections center),” Diak says.

By MITCH TALLEY

“Nothing great will ever be achieved without great men, and men are great only if they are determined to be so.” ― Charles de Gaulle

“David would always come out and help me. I’d follow him around and learn from him, and even on his off days, sometimes he’d see me pulling in and he’d give me advice and just tell me how to better myself. I always saw that he was helping me, and so I just felt like I needed to do the same thing for him in return.”

Maybe it was Diak’s days as a Marine before transitioning over to the sheriff’s office that led him to make his decision to give one of his kidneys to Headrick. “Coming into law enforcement kinda feels the same way as the Marines,” Diak says, “and especially when I found out I was a match.”

He couldn’t, Diak says, “just sit there knowing that I could possibly make a change in his life and just not do anything about it.”

So, on Jan. 24, at Vanderbilt Transplant Center in Nashville, Tenn., Diak will gladly give up one of his kidneys so that Headrick can resume a normal life.

It’s a gift that definitely hasn’t gone unappreciated by the recipient. “I don’t know how to thank him, I really don’t, for what he’s about to do,” Headrick said, “because he has no reason to do what he’s doing other than he’s just a stand-up guy. I didn’t know him until he came to Patrol Division in 2015, so I guess we’ve both impacted each other’s lives enough that he’s willing to lay down his life for me right now. Everything I’ve ever worked for and owned or will ever own, I couldn’t give it to him and make up for what he’s doing for me – that’s how I feel.”

A long battle with kidney disease Headrick first became aware he had kidney problems in the seventh grade when annual check-ups showed his kidney function declining each year. He’s been treated for an auto-immune disease called IgA nephropathy for about the past 10 years but says he didn’t take the diagnosis too seriously until last Valentine’s Day when his doctor told him his kidney function had finally dropped to the point where he needed dialysis to survive.

“I was on patrol that day, and I got a call from an unknown cell phone,” he remembers. “It was Joyce Miller, my doctor in Dalton, and she told me you’re fixing to die, you’re gonna die if you don’t do something, David. I heard it in her voice, and I just started crying. I knew then that it

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was time for me to do something.”

Doing something includes trips to US Renal just down the hill from the sheriff’s office every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for three hours of dialysis treatments.

He has a temporary port in his chest, directly to his heart, so that his blood can be pumped out into the dialysis machine, an artificial kidney if you will, where it’s cleansed and then pumped back into his body.

It’s a process that leaves him physically drained the night of the treatment but then re-energizes him the next day, only to repeat the cycle over and over again.

Still, Headrick isn’t complaining as he points to his fellow dialysis patients who aren’t as blessed as he is.

“I feel fortunate when I go down there honestly because I’m still able to work,” he says. “There’s hardly nobody down there … I mean, half the people don’t even have legs, and here I am walking in in a police uniform. It took a long time – they’re used to me now – but it was all eyes on me when I walked in. Then they saw I had a bag in my hand, like I’m one of them. When they roll past me leaving now, they always want to stop and talk to me, ask me questions, how’s it going? And that made me feel pretty good. But at the same time I did feel guilty because some of these people, they’re having to jack them up with a lift and put them in their wheelchair, you know what I mean?”

While many of his fellow patients have to undergo dialysis because of the effects of diabetes or high blood pressure, Headrick says he’s there because of an auto-immune disease caused when a protein that helps his body fight infections got stuck in his kidneys and caused inflammation over a long period, eventually leading to kidney failure.

While some researchers say the disease clusters in certain families, Headrick doesn’t believe he’s a victim of genetics since none of his six brothers and sisters have been similarly diagnosed.

From one “brother” to another While Headrick’s sister pursued giving her brother a kidney, doctors found that she had only 70 percent function of her kidneys, 10 percent below the acceptable cut-off percentage.

Fortunately for the deputy, he had another “relative” of the blue blood variety who turned out to be a perfect match for him.

After seeing Headrick’s plea for a kidney donor in a Facebook post on July 13, Diak filled out an online survey and underwent a blood test to check his compatability.

“They called me back and said that I was a match,” Diak says. “They said there are different tiers of matches that you can be, and I was a pretty good match for him. They said they’d just be waiting for him to say he was good enough to do the surgery so it got put on hold for a while.

But I made up my mind that I was going to help him out, and then when David contacted me and said he was ready to go, I told him I was still going to do it.”

More in-depth testing followed for Diak. “They actually called me the week after I went up for testing in early December,” he said, “and a nurse said she had reviewed the tests and didn’t see anything medi-

“There are times when the world is rearranging itself, and at times like that, the right words can change the world.” ― Orson Scott Card

cally wrong with me to be able to donate to David, but she said the final decision would be made like a week later at the board meeting where all the doctors would review my tests and make a decision. So that was like the longest week ever! I was just waiting and waiting, and then the nurse called me back and said they approved it. It was just like a relief – I just felt so happy being able to help him out.”

What are the odds?

When asked if he knew the odds of the two co-workers being a match, Headrick said he doesn’t know.

Even more, though, what if Diak had never come into Headrick’s life through his work at the sheriff’s office?

“I didn’t even know who Jeff was until he came over from the jail into our patrol division,” Headrick says, “because there’s a lot of times I don’t know the guys that are working in the jail. I mean, they see us occasionally, especially if they work in Booking, but you have to be on the same shift. I mean, we’ve got four shifts here – the way it is, we’re off a week and we work a week – so I probably don’t know anybody that works in the jail on my off week.”

Then there’s the fact that Diak hasn’t always even lived in this area.

The two men might never have met since Diak was born on the south side of Buffalo, N.Y. Fortunately, Diak’s grandparents moved down here

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in 2000. “My grandfather was from Red Bank, Tenn., and he came back down here with my grandmother just to be around some family … and to get away from the cold!”

Diak’s family followed shortly after, and he started seventh grade at North Whitfield Middle School. His mom eventually married David Heddon, who works in Whitfield County’s Buildings & Grounds department, and “he was the one who kinda pushed me into going to the sheriff’s office after I was getting out of the Marines,” Diak says. “At first, it was just for the scheduling because they do seven on and seven off,” he said.

“But then when I got in here, I realized how much I enjoyed it and I just kept progressing and just trying to do everything I could here.”

Diak, 29, believes he would likely not have known about Headrick, 44, if they didn’t work together, especially since he says his use of Facebook is mainly a closed network of close family and friends. “I don’t really branch out and accept a lot of people I don’t really know,” Diak says.

“Honestly, I don’t think I probably would have ever seen it on Facebook about David.”

Headrick agrees, saying “we wouldn’t have known each other except for us working here.”

Even knowing each other wasn’t enough, though. There was still the little matter of having all the stars line up physically for their kidney match.

“I don’t know what the odds are of two co-workers being a match,”

“Maybe if we stopped trying to achieve movie standards of greatness, we’d be happy with what we have.” ― Amber L. Johnson

Headrick says, “but I know they told me that only 30 percent of the people that pass the online test and the blood test actually get to go up there (for more intensive testing).

“It’s easy to be a blood match, but what’s hard is getting up there and him being healthy enough to go through with the surgery because the last thing they want to do is make him sick by donating to me,” Headrick says. “I’m already sick, you see, so I’ve got everything to gain. So the last thing they want to do is take an organ from him and then him be in trouble from it. So he’s really healthy to be able to donate. They’re saying he’s like super healthy to be able to do what he’s fixing to do. I guess he’s got youth on his side … and good genetics.”

Getting ready for the big day The two men had to go to Vanderbilt on Jan. 8 to undergo more testing in preparation for their surgeries, and now they’re cleared for the actual transplant scheduled to be done on Jan. 24.

“The surgery takes two or three hours,” Headrick explained. “It’s routine at Vanderbilt – I guess they’re the best in the country. They’ve got a whole wing for kidney and pancreas transplants. To them, it’s nothing.

“To me, it’s a big deal, and I know to Jeff, it’s a big deal because you’ve never even had surgery, have you?” he said, looking towards Diak.

“I’ve had my tonsils out when I was a kid, but that’s it,” he replied.

“And I don’t remember that, so yeah, this’ll be pretty big for me. It’s bigger for him, but as soon as I got the phone call (confirming the match), I was so happy and I told David and then it was back to work, next day, back to my schedule.

It hasn’t really unloaded on me yet, I guess.”

Diak says he’s been told he’ll probably be out of work for about four weeks and then will likely be cleared for light duty for a while.

“I just want to be make sure I do everything right,” he said, “and go by what they say because I’ve never really had a surgery before – and this is a major surgery.”

Meanwhile, Headrick should be back at work in six to eight weeks, and his friends at Westside Middle School will be glad to see him.

“I just hope the doctors know what they’re doing,” he said with a laugh, “but like I said, they do it every day. I think they said they do almost 300 transplants a year; that’s pretty amazing, and their success rate is way up in the 90s. So I know we’re in good hands. That’s one thing I do feel

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confident about.”

Both men praised Sheriff Scott Chitwood along with Capt. Pangle, Capt. Lynch, and Lt. Pickett at the sheriff’s office for their support during the past few months.

“I tell you the sheriff’s office has really been good to me this year as far as my scheduling and anything I needed to do,” Headrick says. “They’ve told me to do what you’ve got to do. I mean, they have treated me … I couldn’t ask for anything more than what they’ve done for me.”

“Especially with us doing this together,” Diak says. “Two employees from the same building….”

“They’re going to be two men down for two months,” Headrick says.

Headrick pointed out that the surgery will be done at the same time on both men. “As soon as they get his kidney out, it’ll be going in me,” he said. “The less amount of time his kidney is out of the body, the better.

I mean, that kidney starts deteriorating so the quicker they can get it in, the better. That’s why living kidney donors last longer than deceased donors because it hasn’t got time to deteriorate.”

Says Diak, “Me and him don’t know for sure how it’s gonna be up there during surgery, but we kinda picture it being right next to each other, and it’s just sort of out and in with the kidney.”

“Whether it goes boom, boom right next to each other or they bring it around the corner, I don’t know if we’re gonna be in separate rooms or the same room … but we’ll be close!”

Immediate relief expected While Headrick appreciates the fact that dialysis is keeping him alive, he points out that it’s physically demanding.

“I’m glad the sheriff let me go to the middle school as a school resource officer because I get to work there eight hours a day, five days a week,” he says. “It’d be hard if I had to leave dialysis and then go to work. Luckily, I get to go to work and then go to dialysis. There’s no way I could go do it in the morning and then come to work. It’s just too draining. I guess the best way I can describe it is when you go spend a day at the beach, you know that draining feeling at the end of the day, all you want to do is just go to sleep? That’s how I feel each day after dialysis. I just want to go home and go to bed, and I usually have a low-grade headache.”

Fortunately, the transplant will change that immediately. “They said I should feel better before I even wake up,” Headrick says. “That’s how quick his kidney, they expect it to work in me. They said that the toxins in my body will start eliminating immediately, as soon as they hook him up to me.

“That’s the amazing part because they said that you don’t know what

“If a man has any greatness in him, it comes to light, not in one flamboyant hour, but in the ledger of his daily work.” ― Beryl Markham

feel-good feels like anymore. The doctor says every year you’re getting worse and worse so you’ve forgot where David feels good, you know.

They said, once you get that kidney, you’ll be sore for a few days, but your levels are immediately gonna go up to the good, where that kidney’s getting the bad stuff out of you that you’re used to just living with.”

The doctors compare it to a fish swimming around in a dirty fish bowl.

“Once that filter starts cleaning the water, that fish is gonna be happier and feel better,” Headrick says. That’s how they’ve explained it to me down at the clinic. That’s what’s dialysis does – it cleans the mud out of the water, so to speak. It keeps the water clear enough just so you can swim. But there’s nothing like an actual kidney, you know?”

Another word of thanks As the two men headed outside to take the photos accompanying this story, Headrick made sure to emphasize how much he wanted Diak’s generosity to be highlighted “because I definitely wouldn’t be here without him.”

“I don’t know when I would have got a transplant,” Headrick says.

“I feel confident I would have got the transplant eventually, but I don’t know how long it would be – probably a long time. (National statistics show that it can take three to 10 years to get a donor kidney, especially if you are on the deceased donor list.) Fortunately, he was the second person that went up there and got tested. They first checked my sister, and then Jeff went in with flying colors. When he went up there, I felt good about it – I did. My wife’s like, ‘I think Diak’s gonna be the one.”

Turned out, sure enough.”

Headrick says the most special thing “about all this is the gesture that he’s doing.”

“That’s the amazing thing to me,” he says, “because just sit and think about that, who would you give your kidney to? You know what I mean? That’s a hard decision. I’m just amazed by it, I really am.”

Diak says he’s tried to explain the surgery to his 7-year-old daughter, telling her you’re born with two kidneys but you only need one to survive. “She walked up to me and pointed at one of the veins in her arm, and she’s like, is that it?” he says. “My son Easton is not even 2 years old yet, so he doesn’t understand.”

Some people have tried to question Diak’s decision, telling him “30 years from now, your daughter might need a kidney or your son might need a kidney. But I just kinda look at it, 30 years from now, I might not even be here. It’s just kind of a life decision that I made for myself.

Sometimes I make impulsive decisions like that, but once I make up my mind, that’s just what I want to do.

“Like I said, David and everybody else here that works at the sheriff’s office, I would do the same thing for them,” Diak says, “if they were in the same spot as David because I consider everybody here family. Especially with the work schedule, there’s a lot of times when we’re here a lot, more than we are sometimes at home, so you get to know your co-workers a lot more. That just makes it for me more family-related.

That’s why I felt like I had to do it.”

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For more information, visit www.donatelife.net

By the numbers... nThere are currently 121,678 people waiting for lifesaving organ transplants in the U.S. Of these, 100,791 await kidney transplants. (as of 1/11/16) nThe median wait time for an individual’s first kidney transplant is 3.6 years and can vary depending on health, compatibility and availability of organs. nIn 2014, 17,107 kidney transplants took place in the US. Of these, 11,570 came from deceased donors and 5,537 came from living donors.

On average: nOver 3,000 new patients are added to the kidney waiting list each month. n13 people die each day while waiting for a life-saving kidney transplant. nEvery 14 minutes someone is added to the kidney transplant list. nIn 2014, 4,761 patients died while waiting for a kidney transplant. Another 3,668 people became too sick to receive a kidney transplant.

SOURCE: National Kidney Foundation

“Suddenly summoned to witness something great and horrendous, we keep fighting not to reduce it to our own smallness.” ― John Updike

Kernsey was a legend A tale of an eccentric old gentleman in the mountains

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Kernsey was not his real name, but my sister and I named him that because he was our neighbor and music teacher. He most always was chewing on the stem of his little black pipe, and occasionally would stroke his little white goatee of a beard on the end of his chin. You never saw him without his black suit with vest and white shirt. This was all different to kids, and we loved this little ole man. He probably could have been Santa

Claus if he had had a longer beard.

Now, let me introduce you to this gentleman whose real name was Professor Frank Kerns.

Some said he was from Germany, but we kids never cared nor found out. He came to our area via New York City and Atlanta. How he settled in our Copper Basin area no one ever knew.

Needless to say, Kernsey had white hair to go

By Patricia Kovsky-Dotson

“The task of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there.” ― John Buchan

along with the priceless goatee. He was soft spoken and very intelligent. He came to us in the late 1930s or '40s. Mr. Kerns, as he should have been called, drove an old model black coupe, which was popular in that day and suited him just fine.

One day, sort of like Santa Claus, he appeared in our town and began to gather young kids into his music business. Actually, he didn't actually gather them, for he didn't have a studio, but went from house to house to those who owned a piano. Quickly it seemed he had large numbers of pupils, but we never heard him play one song on the piano in all those years.

All of the above information my sister and I learned after we met the old gentleman. We lived a little ways out of town, and in that day it seemed to be another world.

All of a sudden, looking like the jolly ole man himself, he moved right across the highway from us, yet back in the woods.

Mama sprang the news to us, asking if we would like to take piano lessons, which was something we had never dreamed of because we did not own a piano.

To add to her good news she said that she owned a piano which her father had bought her as a young girl.

When she got married, she loaned it to her younger sister, who was not using it now. What a plan!

If we were interested - and we didn't know if we were or not - she would get the piano moved to our house.

Well, as another surprise, here came the piano and here came this little ole man as our teacher.

To show how different he was, he wrote his own music for his students. He took a paper with music lines drawn and with a heavy lead pencil drew his perfect little black notes for us to learn! First music notes I had probably ever seen, and certainly never hand drawn, but they

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were large, black and began to teach us. He did this for advanced students as well. By the way, if I am not mistaken, the lessons were only 50 cents each and he visited us twice a week.

Enough about the music, but I must say we had recitals at the First Baptist Church, with large audiences which scared us all to death, even though it was my church. The pupils sat in the choir loft and came to the baby grand piano as the printed program suggested. At first it was a one and two finger piece, but we all actually moved on up until some became great pianists. Notice, I said “some,” not all!!!

Kernsey made friends in the community in his own way. He always loved Mama's cornbread.

She would always save him a big chunk each time he came. He would never eat with us, and anyhow since we were his last students before going home, he always looked forward to getting that cornbread.

Who wouldn't, for Mama's cornbread was the world's eighth wonder!

This gift was repaid when he made her a hand held doubled-blade kraut cutter in his little shop – in exchange for some of her kraut, I'm sure! I still have that cutter displayed in my kitchen.

barely turned into a teenager, and for 50 cents each, we thought we had certainly arrived! We accepted the job for once a week, but with the thoughts of being alone in that strange house down in the woods. Our imaginations were as crazy as we were, but here goes!

SCARY AND ECCENTRIC WOULD DESCRIBE THIS PLACE The first time we walked in, the house looked like there had been a robbery! We could not imagine what had happened and were very shocked to find out the answer. All we could see of the living room floor was scattered notebook sized papers with scribbles of writing on them. Had he made that many mistakes in writing his music? Had he lost his mind? Was he calling for help?

When we picked up some of the papers, there was nothing but straight lines and a few squiggles of marks, with paper thrown down and another starting over. What was going on here?

When we finally looked

AN UNUSUAL, STRANGE OLD FELLOW To be a Professor of Music - and we never knew if he really was (really he was probably retired) - Kernsey did some very unusual things. Actually, leading up to my music story, he had a very sad, hard and difficult situation to face. His wife, Lavenia, had committed suicide, while they still lived in town.

As kids, we never knew the details but only knew that she killed herself by jumping into the river, and I think off the Toccoa River Bridge in the middle of town in McCaysville. Sometime later, he moved away from the experience and became our neighbor and teacher, along with those he left behind in town.

Oh, you have to know about his tiny little house.

It was so suitable for one person and actually reminded you of a doll house. As you entered on the little porch, you were in the living room, a kitchen, bedroom and little bathroom. Just the right size for an old gentleman to live in and mess up!

Well, mess up was a good description, for he asked me and one of my neighbor girl friends to clean his house for him. By that time, we had

around, we saw a tiny table and a huge Ouija board on top. Then we really began to get scared!

As kids, we had seen Ouija boards as toys but never experienced one. This was our first experience of someone talking to the dead! Yes, we learned later from him, that he was making contact with his now deceased Lavenia. The reason for so many different papers was that he could not make contact and started over! He said he actually talked to her at times. Well, he was there by himself, so we could only imagine!

There we were seeing all of this and thinking that her spirit might still be in the house! Oh, surely not, for he said she would talk to him through the board.

“Every beginner possesses a great potential to be an expert in his or her chosen field.” ― Lailah Gifty Akita

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From the looks of the scribbles, there could not have been much of a conversation! Well, after getting used to this every week, the cleaning contract must go on.

He would leave all of his dirty dishes for a week piled on the table and counter. You can imagine how hard they were to wash.

We spent a lot of time soaking, washing and fussing. As teenagers do, we thought up a trick. You can't imagine how hard it was to clean a hand-turned egg beater, completely dried with egg yolks. He did this every week, so we decided simply to hide it from him and maybe he would come up with a better way to beat eggs!

Naturally, he missed it and asked us about it. We said we certainly washed it but did not know where he could find it. Now, wasn't that terrible, but we were getting a huge kick out of it.

Finally, he found it, and unknowingly, he pulled one on us!

Well, as “professional cleaners,” we asked him to start putting his dishes in water when he finished so they would not be so hard to wash. We were especially referring to the newly found handturned egg beater.

He must have approved of our genius suggestion, so he began to do this for us. Well, the next time we came to clean, there was another problem. We saw that he had left his bath water in the claw-foot bathtub. How unthoughtful! Upon investigation, in the

tub, under that cold water he had placed all of his dirty dishes for the week! Talk about soaked! Talk about laughter! Talk about getting them wet into the kitchen! Actually, this was much easier, but surely he took a bath before he loaded the dishwasher!

Well, we finally grew up and went our separate ways. By this time Kernsey had grown older and had quit teaching. Then one day this eccentric, great and loving musician moved away! We never knew where he went. We never saw him again!

Most all of his former students are gone, but those of us left have musical memories that he taught us. And I have that cute little kraut cutter on my shelf!

I learned more than music from Kernsey, even though by now I can't play a note! I learned to listen, practice makes perfect, stage presence, and how to be friends with your teacher. And, oh, yes, how to clean house!

This little old man with a pipe and goatee drove into our little town in his black coupe, never knowing what an impression he was going to make.

He loved us and was loved by the town. He moved off to nowhere and has probably been deceased for decades, but memories of Kernsey will never move nor fade away!

What a legacy he left and what a legend was this fabulous old gentleman.

“If a man has a capacity for great thoughts, he is likely to overtake them before he is decrepit.” ― George Eliot

LIFE WISDOM

Can’t help but learn a few things over 70 years In the film “Groundhog Day,” there is a scene in which Bill Murray proclaims himself to be a god. Not the God, but a god, because he knows so much.

But he says that maybe the reason God knows everything is because He has done everything. See, for those who haven't seen the film, Murray repeats the same day over and over for what some say is more than 10 years or more than 3,650 times, and so he learns a lot about the people around him. It makes it possible, for instance, to predict the future, which of course for him is the past.

Well, I have lived 70 years or 25,400 days and counting, but not in the same place so I am not even a demigod. Still when you live that long you can't help but learn a few things.

For instance, while I did not learn a whole lot from my father that I could use in my adult life (sort of like algebra), I did learn several things.

All of them are variations on the 80 20 rule. The 80 20 rule states that you accomplish 80 percent of a task with 20 percent of the effort. The other 20 percent requires 80 percent of the effort. It is not an absolute rule of course, but it contains some wisdom.

My father was a real do-it-yourselfer and built several houses, some of which I helped on. One day I discovered that a measurement was wrong, not by much, less than an eighth of an inch. I told my father about it and he said, "It's close enough, nail it." It was like something else I heard him say in similar situations: "It's close enough for government work." The latter idea is that sometimes you only have to achieve the minimum. It may seem cynical, but it is really a counter to perfectionism, i.e. achieving the other 20 percent.

One of the more amusing things he often said was, "Let the low part drag." What does that mean? I literally don't know, but there is some sense to it. While he was no Socrates, the idea is a philosophical one, the primacy of function over form, or whether that it works is more important than how it looks.

A more practical bit of wisdom I learned from an encounter with one of my granddaughters. Several years ago I lived next door to my daughter. One evening I was outside and saw my granddaughter struggling to push a large, for her, plastic riding car from her house to mine. She was giving it her all, but when she encountered some tree roots that had broken the soil, she came to a halt. She simply could not get the small wheels over the roots.

Now my approach to her struggles was always to not help her get her-

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By Ted Smith Marion T. "Ted" Smith is the author of a new book, “Life in the Park: A Novel.” It is available on Amazon and at Barnes & Noble. self out of any situation that she could handle on her own, but only get her out of situations she could not. In this case I offered her minimum assistance. I told her to turn the toy around and pull it. She did and got it over the roots. That led me to realize that "you can always drag more than you can push." I have applied it as a general rule in several situations.

But one of the greatest life lessons I have learned came from work.

For about seven years early in my working life I sold advertising for a newspaper. At first, it bothered me when a client told me no.

But I soon learned that "no" did not matter. The only thing that mattered was when a client said "yes." Out of this insight I developed a philosophy that has served me well in other areas.

Take fishing, for instance. I quit judging the experience solely on the basis of whether I caught any fish. I just relaxed and enjoyed the experience of sitting on a bank, listening to the sounds of nature and watching the play of sunlight on the water.

And if I caught any fish, it was a bonus.

I applied the same philosophy to nature photography in my later years.

For nearly a decade I have periodically gone on excursions looking for wild things to photograph. There have been days when I found nothing, but I always tried to enjoy the experience of being outside in the natural world. That mindset made the times when I found something remarkable or unusual even more wonderful.

There is a road, a circle actually, where I live now and when I travel it looking for things to shoot it is usually a hit or miss proposition so I just try to enjoy being outside. But recently I got a great shot of a redtail hawk. It was a remarkable day but so are they all, a further affirmation that while every journey has a goal, don't forget to enjoy the ride.

“True greatness consists in being great in little things.” - Charles Simmons

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The federally funded National Family Caregiver Support Program provides grants to states that pay for a variety of different support systems for people who are caring for family members, with the intention of avoiding caregiver burnout and helping elderly stay home as long as they can.

Are country boys going extinct?

When I retired in 2005 and returned to the old homeplace in Blue Ridge, I noticed a big change. What had changed the most were the kids. To me, a kid is anyone under the age of 21.

The first thing I wanted to do was to build a home for Ann and me, and I tried to do as much work as I could, but it became obvious I’d need help to clean the place up. I have 50 acres of woods, and over the years the area near the road had become the neighborhood trash dump.

Now, to get on with my point. I hired two brothers to weed and then cut sprouts. After we’d picked up all the trash, I told them to cut everything but the oaks, dogwoods and beechnuts near the road.

You would have thought I was speaking a foreign language.

The older brother finally asked which ones were the ones I’d mentioned. I solved that problem by putting ribbons on the ones I wanted to leave standing.

I was stunned.

I thought all kids were taught how to identify leaves in the fourth grade. When on earth had that changed? And when did parents stop teaching their kids about nature?

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Once during a break I asked if they’d ever played squirrel. They had no clue what I was talking about. I explained it was when you climbed a tree and went as far as you could from one tree to another without touching the ground.

The younger brother looked puzzled and explained their parents wouldn’t let them climb trees. Then I asked if they caught a lot of spring lizards and how much they got for a dozen these days.

I couldn’t believe it. They had no clue what a spring lizard was.

Frustrated I asked what they did for fun. You guessed it – they played games on their devices. I had to know more, so I asked where the best place was to hunt squirrels now.

They didn’t hunt small game but would sometimes deer hunt with their uncle.

Neither had ever killed anything.

Reflecting on my own childhood, I’m so thankful I grew up in a time when parents let kids be kids and experience life instead of watching it on television.

Life in these North Georgia Mountains is full of adventure, and it’s out there waiting for them. The best teaching moments come from going outside and playing.

“Great men are like eagles, and build their nest on some lofty solitude.” - Arthur Schopenhauer

An interview with an artist...

ANGEL PARKER

Angel Parker is a multimedia artist who lives in the North Georgia Mountains and can be seen at local festivals with her unique and handcrafted forms of art.

It is easy to see the talent she has in all that she creates.

Angel gets to know many of her customers personally and strives to create something for them that will touch their lives and have true meaning to them.

Her artwork is stunning, and no matter the type of art she never disappoints. I know you will love hearing more about her in the interview below.

Lora: When did you first begin learning and creating art?

Angel: You could say I’ve been an artist my entire life.

Even in primary years, I was whipping around a crayon, drawing on anything and everything.

Lora: Do you come from an artistic family, how did you get started, and have you had any formal art lessons or training?

Angel: I come from a family of artists and musicians. My father did handcrafted leather work for over 40 years, and I have several uncles that craft or make art, all of which has had a hand in my artistic growth. As a young girl, at every family gathering, one of my uncles would

By LORA BUNCH

‘I put a lot of passion into my artwork. I am a perfectionist when it comes to how I want a piece represented. There isn’t a direct message incorporated with my art; I do it because I love to make people happy and it’s my escape from my worries and daily stress.’

“The greatness of art is not to find what is common but what is unique.” - Isaac Bashevis Singer

-ANGEL PARKER

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critique my artwork and teach me what I needed to do differently to improve. He has been an artist for many years and does beautiful oil paintings. I never had formal training or art classes outside of the normal elementary school curriculum.

Lora: What message do you hope to send with your art, and what does art mean to you?

Angel: I put a lot of passion into my artwork. I am my worst critic. I am a perfectionist when it comes to how I want a piece represented. There isn’t a direct message incorporated with my art; I do it because I love to make people happy and it’s my escape from my worries and daily stress.

Lora: Was there a point you saw art as a need or something that you must do?

Angel: It is both! I have always felt drawn to natural creations from Earth. There is beauty in everything, if you look for it. I always feel the need to create it.

Lora: What or who has inspired you or does continue to inspire you?

Angel: I have several inspirations. God, first and foremost. Also, my dad is my biggest supporter

“Greatness is a road leading towards the unknown.” - Charles de Gaulle

and fan. My husband, my family, and all my friends.

Lora: Where is a place that you would like to go to with your art that you have not yet been to?

Angel: I would love to set up a huge art show.

So far, I have only stuck with on-line presentation and festivals.

Lora: What do you see for the future of your art?

Angel: I want to expand my artwork. I always try to find new challenges to recreate. I’m even in the process of doing in home wood burning art, for cabins. I just really want to get my art out there to touch people’s lives.

Lora: What is your favorite part of creating your art?

Angel: The next idea! Always, the next idea!

Lora: What is the most interesting piece you have done?

Angel: There are a few interesting pieces I’ve done, but some of the ones that really touched

“A great man will not trample upon a worm, nor sneak to an emperor.” - Thomas Fuller

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my heart are the memorial portraits I have done in memory of children. It’s not only the art, the portrait; it’s the stories behind these kids. I get a closeness with their families while I’m inquiring for the perfect piece to suit what their families want.

I’ve even been to a few memorial ceremonies for these strangers. It’s sad, but beautiful at the same time. I just hope my artwork gives them that sense of comfort or love they need to help them cope with their losses. As the mother of an angel myself, I want someone’s child to be remembered and celebrated.

Lora: What different types of artwork do you create?

Angel: I am a multimedia artist. My art varies from wood burning, canvas paintings, rock painting, crafting décor, sculpting, carving, you name it and I work on it.

Lora: Where can people find your art?

Angel: I have a Facebook group called Angel Parker Art or connect with me personally on Facebook.

Lora: What does art mean to you?

Angel: Life, love, beauty, and passion!

Lora: What are three things, not people, that you would not want to live without?

Angel: God, food and air lol Lora: What music is on your playlist?

Angel: I have a variety. Mainly classic rock but there is a mixture of all forms of music.

Lora: Is there someone you would like to work with that you have not got to yet?

Angel: I like to work alone. I can concentrate better.

Angel puts a lot of herself into her artwork, and it shines through in each piece. If you would like to have a specific piece created I urge you to contact

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her and tell her your thoughts or story and be amazed by what she will be able to create for you with that information. Her artwork is worth the search if you are in the market for some pieces to add to your collections or for gifts. Head on over to her page and scroll through so you can find the right one for you or your loved one.

“Well, I wouldn’t say that I was in the great class, but I had a great time while I was trying to be great.” - Harry S. Truman

Waters of Life I was carried here by still waters that run deep within my soul not realizing where I was going and what was happening Sometimes floating light as a feather with a heart full of happiness and love Other times sinking and trying hard just to breathe through the grief and confusion As I struggle to keep my head above water the heavy lessons of the past play through my mind like a movie stuck on repeat. Destined to keep living them until the lesson is learned.

The beautiful moments of life flowing like a waterfall washing away the tears while a breath-taking rainbow appears reminding me to enjoy the now because everything changes -LORA BUNCH Predawn hours of stillness are kindred to my soul Contemplatively listening before rising twilight skies Nocturnals settling in bidding their goodbyes As nature's winged creatures slowly sing hello.

The universe shines the brightest Upon a soul like me As fading dark transforms Peaking light at what shall be.

Always barefooted With my cup of Joe Rocking quietly amongst these friends That set my heart aglow.Farthest from my mind Are diseased harsh realities Of worldly daily nonsense Ruining society.

How beautiful it would be Throughout all human souls If all could simply breathe Soaking in the Light and truly letting go.

-LORI A. HEADRICK

Rhyme and Reason Is that hawk screaming about whether or not it believes in the existence of God? Or simply seeking across the distance with a signal for its lover?

A warm drop Of a single tear Accidentally fell…

Aimlessly from her Weathered yet smiling cheek…

Softly splashing Upon her stain glassed window Of her journey of life…

And her rose colored glasses Whisper softly A gentle yet brief reminder With clear but closed eyes…

To exhale the sweet scent Of yesterday’s past…

And breathe again…

-CHELLE LANCE

Is that blade of grass straining against gravity to grow taller toward the sky?

Or allowing its roots below the ground to do their business behind the scenes?

Is that cloud concerned about bunkers being built in fear of bombs?

Or being carried carefree by a gentle breeze blowing through the air?

Is that star all bent out of shape over the latest debate raging on cable news?

Or shining as a beacon of light to more galaxies than can be fathomed?

Is that leaf throwing a fit about cold weather as the season begins to shift?

Or brightening the woods with a brilliant autumn hue before falling back to the soil?

Is that wave cursing at the moon about the way in which it’s made to move?

Or crashing upon the shore with a splash to fulfill its natural fate of ebb and flow?

-SCOTT THOMAS OUTLAR

Hiding isn’t worth it, it cannot change the past, owning all your story, you’ll begin to live at last.

And living’s why we’re actually here, not to bury our heads in shame, stop pointing every finger, don’t waste your time with blame.

Find out how to move ahead, investigate your heart, sit down quietly, bend an ear, and listen, it’s a start.

There you’ll reach the answers, all forgiveness is within, open your mind, and hug yourself, it’s Love, that Always Wins.

-SARA WINICK HERRINGTON

CORNER

POETRY

Life of an Appalachian woman 23

As some of you already know, I have a new book out! I’ve never done a book like this one, so it was an adventure putting it together.

The name of the book, “Poetry, Prose and Music: Life of an Appalachian Woman” is exactly what it says it is.

Filled with some poetry, essays and almost 20 short stories, there really is something for everyone. There is also a good bit of photography included in the book. And in the very back is a music CD with nine songs on it. Three of those songs I wrote myself. My daughter joins me in two duets and does one solo. She has a beautiful voice, if I do say so myself!

The following is a small taste of one of the short stories in the book.

I hope you enjoy it. Actually, I hope you enjoy it so much, you contact me to purchase a copy! You can find me on Facebook under Kathi Harper Hill or you can e-mail me at cherokeeirishtemper@yahoo.com. Or call me – I’m in the local phone book. (Remember how to use one?)

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy it!

The Red Headed Step Children

I might as well tell it to you straight from the beginning.

I am one of several children, so hold onto your hat.

My oldest sibling is Avery. He is 13 and over 6 feet tall already.

The high school basketball coach eyes him with envy every time he sees him. It’s obvious he can’t wait for Avery to get old enough to play ball. Avery has almost auburn hair, but I guess it’s a little too red to be called auburn. He wears it long and keeps it tied back mostly.

I’m next. My name is Bethany. I am 11. My hair is “Irish Setter” red

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and straight as a board. I’m skinny and hope I’m going to be tall, but who knows?

Next are the twins, Chastity and Charity. They are almost 10. Their hair is a golden red and so curly you can’t tell which end is growing out of their heads.

“We can’t all be Washingtons, but we can all be patriots.” - Charles F. Browne

Destiny is next. She’s 8. Her hair is a strawberry blonde and straight like mine. She’s small and wiry and has a temper you would not believe!

Lastly, except for the one on the way, is Everly. He is 5. He has Ronald McDonald orange hair. He’s never still, and his hair is curly too, just not as bad as the twins’ hair.

Some of us have freckles. I don’t, but then Everly is a freckle.

What may come as a surprise to you is this: none of us have the same father. It’s not something we tell folks because it’s embarrassing, to say the least.

Mama, whose name is Millicent, has always had a weakness for red headed men. Unfortunately, they’ve either skipped before the baby was born or shortly thereafter.

Avery’s daddy is the only one we even know. He and mama got pregnant their senior year of high school, and he even married her for about six months. He didn’t want to ruin his chance at professional football (and he didn’t). He makes a lot of money and sends some to Mama every month. Avery sees him two or three times a year.

Sometimes that money has been about all we’ve had to live on for a whole month, if Mama couldn’t find some kind of work. Things have got pretty slim around here.

Fortunately, we live in a big old farmhouse just outside of town that belonged to Mama’s grandparents. It has six bedrooms and one bathroom and a big kitchen. Some kind of trust fund keeps the taxes paid, Mama

says, and she also gets 75 dollars a month to run the household.

I guess when that trust fund was set up, stuff was a lot cheaper!

Our house can get very cold in the winter, since we have one small heater in the living room and the old wood stove in the kitchen. Mama says there isn’t any insulation and that’s another reason it gets so cold.

It gets really hot in the summer, too, but we can sleep on the porches then.

Anyway, about a year and a half ago money started appearing on our porch. It might be 50 dollars or a hundred. Sometimes groceries would appear too, a sack full or a box of something.

Mama was convinced it was one of our daddies, but I told her I was pretty sure the church down the road had got wind of our hard times and was sneaking stuff to us.

Sure enough, about three months after the food and money started showing up, someone knocked on our door.

It was an older woman and a man about Mama’s age. He was holding a Bible and the lady asked if they could come in just a minute.

I let them in, because I figured it wouldn’t hurt. I’d been interested in church a while, but could never get the guts to show up dressed like I’d have to be dressed.

They came in and took off their jackets. He took off his baseball cap.

It was then I realized my mistake.

The guy had red hair.

“To achieve greatness one should live as if they will never die.” - Francois de La Rochefoucauld

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‘I DON’T KNOW WHERE TIME WENT’ Melva Andrews retires from Whitfield County government after a 46½-year career of outstanding public service

When Melva Andrews reported to work at the Whitfield County Courthouse on June 19, 1972, she didn’t realize it was just the first day of what would go on to become one of the longest-lasting careers in county annals.

Fast forward some 46½ years later, though, to Dec. 14, 2018, and you would have seen coworkers (past and present), friends, and family members come together to honor Melva with a retirement reception at the same courthouse where it all began (kind of – since the building has been renovated and expanded over the years).

“I never really thought about being here forever,” Melva says with a laugh. “It just never entered my mind. It was a job I came to, and I don’t know where time went. But all of a sudden, you’ve got all these years behind you, and you think where did those years go? I don’t know.”

The early 1970s were eventful for young Melva Arnold. She graduated from North Whitfield High School and married Jerry Smith in 1971, then worked for a year at a now-defunct carpet store before making the career choice that would shape her life so much.

“I had a friend that I went to church with,” she recalls of how she came to work for Whitfield County. “She was in my wedding and her mother was working for the county at the time, so they told me they were thinking about adding another position…”

It turned out to be a perfect fit for Melva.

“In high school, you know how you think about what you want your career to be,” she says. “Well, I always said I was just gonna be a secretary, so I took every business course there was in high school, so of course when I came here, shorthand and all that stuff played a factor in it. I’d taken bookkeeping in high school, shorthand, business English,

By MITCH TALLEY

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Former Whitfield County Administrator Lenard Whaley hired Melva Andrews, then Melva Arnold, to work for the county in 1972. “She’s just a fine young lady,” he said during a reception in December for Andrews, who retired Dec. 31. “I don’t know how anyone could ask for any more than Melva.

Hard worker, never missed any days of work. She was always there. Matter of fact, I tried to be in the office by 7:30 every day, and most of the time, Melva would beat me there! She was dedicated to her job.” (Photo by Mitch Talley). that whole nine yards. But I never thought I’d be strictly in finance. It just happened. I just kinda worked my way into it just from being here and helping out and seeing the process and was fortunate enough to get the finance job when it came open and I’ve been doing it ever since.”

While some of the names of her many co-workers over the

“[P]atriotism... is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.” - Adlai Stevenson

years have now faded from her memory, she does remember all the commissioners who were in office when she was hired – Harold Brooker (who’s still serving as a commissioner), Stan Maples, A.H. “Bud” Griffin, Newt Bryant, and Tom Tate.

“Faithful employee” is the way Commissioner Brooker described her during the reception held in her honor.

“In 1972, this young girl came in, and she was very impressive,” recalled Brooker, who had just won his first term as county commissioner that year and is now working on his sixth term since then. “Lenard Whaley was the administrator at that time, and we all wholeheartedly approved him hiring her. Forty-six years later, I’m still on the board with her, and tears roll down your eyes when she leaves. She’s been a good one. Trustworthy, honest, couldn’t beat her. I just hate to see her going.

Whitfield County is losing a good employee.”

Whaley remembers Melva well and praised his long-ago hire at her retirement reception.

“She was one of my students when I was teaching eighth grade social science at Pleasant Grove,” Whaley recalled. “You have a way of never forgetting some of these kids that you teach.”

By 1972, though, her former teacher had moved on and had already been serving as county administrator for four years, a position he would eventually hold for 32 years from 1968-2000.

“We were needing another employee in the office, and somebody told me about Melva. I said, is that that little girl that got me out of the teaching profession?” Whaley said with a chuckle. “They said, well, it may be, but she’s got a job now but she’s looking for a better job. So we sat down and talked.

“She’s just a fine young lady,” he said. “I don’t know how anyone could ask for any more than Melva. Hard worker, never missed any days of work. She was always there. Matter of fact, I tried to be in the office by 7:30 every day, and most of the time, Melva would beat me there! She was dedicated to her job.”

Melva’s duties in those first days including “a lot of typing on an old typewriter,” she recalls with a laugh. “Back then, we had to produce a purchase list for the board, so it was hand typed. After the bills were paid, I would line up the checks in alphabetical order, and I would actually hand type the vendor, what we had bought and the amount, and total it up and tell the board: This is the purchases for the month.”

Andrews has witnessed a lot of growth in county government over the years, remembering that in the beginning, she was one of just three workers in the office, not counting Whaley, and they all worked out of the basement of the courthouse, “right under the stairwell,” near where the tax assessor’s office is today.

“When you looked out the windows, I could see the sky,” she remembers. “You could see people walking on the sidewalk and you could see the bushes there and the sky, but we were kind of under the ground.”

She doesn’t remember much about the county’s budget back in those days, but jokes that she made about $5,000 a year, “…whatever the minimum wage was back then, I don’t know. I’d have to look at what I made in ’72, but it wasn’t a lot!”

Her career took a turn more in the direction of the finance department in 1977 when Betty McBrayer, who was the payroll clerk and handled a lot of the financial duties, decided to transfer to the sheriff’s department after her friend Jack Davis was elected sheriff.

Actually, calling it the finance “department” in those days was a misnomer since Melva was the only member. “I did the payroll, I did the payables, I did the W2s, I did everything to do with finance,” she laughs.

In the late 1980s, she actually served a short stint – maybe six months – as human resources director, a job she quips “wasn’t my thing.”

Then it was back to finance, where she has thrived for the rest of her career, eventually becoming the assistant finance director.

“I guess I’ve done a little bit of everything here,” she says. “I’ve worked on budgets and finance and secretarial and a little bit of HR – I wouldn’t do HR now – you couldn’t pay me enough to do that. I like to be behind the scenes. I don’t like to be in the limelight. I don’t like attention.

“So just know I don’t like attention,” she reminds this writer with a smile.

Instead, Melva prefers to let her work speak for itself, and she’s earned a reputation among her fellow workers as a dedicated employee who’s not afraid to put in the time to do her job to the best of her ability.

In fact, Carol Roberts, who will be taking over for Melva starting Jan. 1, says “Melva may have little feet, but she is leaving behind very big shoes to fill! I know better than to try to be another Melva - there could never be another Melva, but I will try to follow her example the best I can.”

With the county growing so much over the past half-century, Melva has seen the finance staff increase along with it, from two to eight. “Oh, there’s more purchases now, there’s more regulations, there’s more people, there’s more everything,” she says. “It’s just grown by leaps and bounds. We have 600-and-something employees now.”

She says she would be “afraid to guess” how many county employees there were in 1972, “but it’s not near like what we’ve got now.”

Melva has also seen quite a change in the way the finance department does its job.

“I can’t remember how many years we had what was called an NCR bookkeeping machine,” she says. “It was probably as big as this table, and you had ledger cards that had magnetic strips on them, and that’s what we did payroll on. You’d put NCR copy paper in it, and you’d put your ledger sheet in front of it and you would put your information in, and you’d hit all these buttons, and it would go kerclunk, kerclunk, kerclunk,

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kerclunk, and it would print all your stuff and your check and then you’d take your check out and then all the information was on that magnetic card. We’ve still got some of those old payroll cards that we have to go back to sometimes for payroll information. We called that machine the old clunker – it made a lot of noise!”

As she reflects on her career, Melva doesn’t have to think long when asked the favorite part of her job. “Audit!” she says quickly. “I like the day to day, but I like the audit. I like bringing it all together and producing the year-end financial reports – the CAFR. That was my project that I just always enjoyed and making sure that all the I’s are dotted and all the T’s are crossed. You close out in December, and then you’ve got your process of getting everything done for the audit. It’s due June 30, and it does take a while to get things gathered for them to come and do the audit.”

Always the dedicated employee even in her last few days, Melva was worried during this interview about helping make sure the final payroll of 2018 went off without a hitch since Christmas Eve and Christmas were on Monday and Tuesday. By the way, she and the other staff members had the payroll completed in plenty of time on the day after Christmas so everyone could get paid on Dec. 28!

As her final days with the county neared, Melva said she has “mixed emotions” about leaving. She and her second husband, Randy Andrews, had planned on retiring together at the end of 2018, but unfortunately he passed away from cancer late last year.

“I’m really thinking, am I going to stay busy? Am I gonna be lazy? Am I gonna be bored? Am I gonna regret it? I thought, well, you know, I’m not gonna worry about it. There’s always something to do. If I want to go back to work part-time somewhere, I can do that, but right now I’m not planning on it.”

She’s already been asked to help out more at her church, and of course she will be able to go visit her granddaughters – Sadie, 5, and Lucy, 3 – whenever she likes, without having to worry about work.

“I feel good about my 46 years,” Melva said. “I think I’ve done the best that I could do – I’ll put it that way. I’ve always said don’t give me a policy if you don’t want to enforce it because if it’s on my watch, we’re gonna enforce it the best we can.”

“America - a great social and economic experiment, noble in motive and far-reaching in purpose.” -Herbert Hoover

These tips could help save your life in the event of a blaze

FIRE EXTINGUISHERS 101

We often hear about the value of having fire The last question in our discussion of extinguishers in our homes, cars or boats. fire extinguishers is how do we use them?

How much thought is given to the questions of Remember, the acronym PASS when thinktype, placement, size, actual use of fire extining about how to use the fire extinguishguishers and replacement? ers that have been placed strategically The purpose of this article is to answer in your home. Check out the story ABC these questions so that you the reader can be News did on how to use an extinguisher better informed regarding fire extinguishers. in a small fire (https://www.youtube.com/

By Chief Rebecca Strobl But FIRST, in dealing with any fire situation, watch?v=wKC3PnbdMwQ) always ask yourself this question before attempting to put out the fire: P – Pull the pin (break the thin wire or plastic seal) Has 911 been called? (make sure you have) and can I escape quickly A – Aim the nozzle at the base of what is burning and the fire and safely if I attempt to extinguish this fire?

S – Squeeze the handles together (this releases the chemical agent We will first discuss the different classes of fire extinguishers, which inside the extinguisher) consist of types A, B, C, D and K. S – Sweep the nozzle back and cover (covering the burning material Type A class fires involve ordinary combustible items; such as wood, and fire) paper, plastic, rubber and cloth.

Fire extinguishers should be visibly checked monthly for any dents, chips or signs of corrosion and to ensure the pressure levels are in the Type B class fires involve flammable / combustible liquids. Type C class fires involve energized electrical equipment. green section on the gauge.

If your fire extinguisher is showing a reduced charge or if it is beyond Type D class fires involve combustible metals. Finally, Type K involves unsaturated cooking oils that are used in the recommend life span of 10 years you can safely discard it with your trash by following the steps below: cooking appliances typically found in commercial kitchens.

1- Move to an outside area away from cars, other property and vegetaThe most common type of fire extinguisher that residents will encountion. The agents used are harmless, but can be irritating if inhaled and ter is the Type ABC dry chemical combination. This type of fire extincan result in a dust-like coating on items. guisher combines three classes and covers the most common type of 2- Pull pin on extinguisher fires residents will encounter. They also work well for small car or boat 3- Turn extinguisher upside down. (this will minimize the amount of fires. fire-fighting agent discharged) The next part of our discussion centers on selecting the appropriate 4- Face extinguisher away from yourself into an placement of fire extinguishers and size. The key in home fire safety open area is having ones larger than 5 lbs.

5- Squeeze handle and hold until discharge and placing them in multiple areas stops. throughout your home. It is best to It is now safe to dispose of the fire extinguisher have them readily accessible to powith your regular refuse. tential fire areas such as your kitchen Here are some good websites to further your and fireplace. Also, they can save a fire extinguisher knowledge: (www.fire-extinlife if placed close to the main exit guisher101.com), (https://www.youtube.com/ points of the house. watch?v=QK5dMp43NJE), (http://www.boatus.

In these areas the fire extinguisher com/boattech/articles/fire-extinguishers.asp). They can be used to reduce the size of a provide related articles and links to other websites fire blocking the exit long enough for in this subject. people to escape the burning strucThank you to everyone for taking the time to read ture. this article and checking out the related videos to

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Staying Safe

“The American Revolution was a beginning, not a consummation.” - Woodrow Wilson

better equip yourself, your home, your car or boat to deal with a possible fire. *** 911 ETIQUETTE Calling 911 is an activity we know how to do, but often do not think about exactly what we would say in a true emergency. The purpose of this article is to provide the reader with what vital information to share with the 911 dispatcher when activating the fire department or sheriff’s office to respond to your emergency.

The most IMPORTANT piece of information you can provide to the dispatcher is the EXACT location of your emergency. What road is it on and what is the nearest cross street? If you are outdoors, what road are you by and what is the cross street? Or what is the nearest landmark or structure?

Next, the dispatcher has a series of questions they need to ask you in order to send the correct resources your direction to resolve your 911 emergency. It is very important to let the dispatcher answer these questions in a clear and calm manner. Once they finish their series of questions you can provide them special instructions how to access the scene of the emergency (Example: Have fire department enter basement door to house).

Finally, stay on the phone with the dispatcher until they provide you other instructions regarding ending the call. This will assist the dispatcher in communicating the most current information about your emergency to the responding fire and/or sheriff offices’ crews that are in route to assist you or your loved ones. Thank you for following these suggestions and helping the 911 dispatchers assist you or your loved ones more effectively in your time of need.

New Life Solutions International (NLSI) is an educational company specializing in First Aid, CPR/AED, Wilderness First Aid Certification, Emergency Medical Services / Team Building Consulting and Motivational Speaking. Rebecca Strobl, founder and president of NLSI, has been in Fire and Emergency Medical Services as a volunteer serving her community for more than a decade. She is an EMT-Intermediate, Wilderness EMT, Registered Volunteer Firefighter, Advisor for Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services Explorer Post 469 advisor and American Heart Association and ASHI Instructor.

“This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.” - Elmer Davis

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THE ORIGINAL V-MAIL Long before the days of the Internet and voice mails, there were V-Mails sent back home by lonely soldiers during World War II EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was written in the early 2000s by the late Vernon Brookshire of Calhoun, Ga., who wrote a three-inchthick binder of human interest short stories about soldiers and situations in combat in Europe in World War II. “There has never been an era like World War II,” Brookshire wrote, “and never will be again. The events in World War II flowed so fast that they educed many lifetimes of experiences and emotions. Statewide and worldwide travel provided me with the opportunity to meet people from most of the States and nine foreign countries. Normal life experiences cannot compare to mortal combat and its consequences.”

“Mail Call” was the most welcome two words in the vocabulary of all the American military forces.

In the States at Army Company Headquarters, the Clerk or First Sergeant made this announcement which brought a response quicker than a bugle call for “chow” or “payday.”

Overseas the United States Post Office and the Military Postal System worked together to get the mail through, sometimes at personal risk. They devoted long hours and went to extra lengths to reach the troops, sometimes near the front lines.

In this regard, the Postal employees provided a critical link to home and loved ones that literally reached around the world, giving morale an important boost in our ultimate victory. The Postal Service devised a quick method to deliver mail from the soldier to home – the V-Mail.

Letters from home were encouraging and reassuring and helped soothe the heartache of homesickness. A letter from a sweetheart or wife was the best morale booster; it was the next thing to a personal visit.

However, receiving mail for some was bad news of sorrow and grief. Sometimes it was news of the death of a Father or Mother or some other family member. By the time the soldier had received the letter, the deceased had already been buried. The soldier in combat could not leave anyway.

The most deleterious and distressful news was the “Dear John” letters, and a few soldiers in almost every unit received them.

Thomas Bayly is credited with originating the saying, “Absence

48

makes the heart grow fonder.” Perhaps not. Cervantes wrote, “Absence – that common cure for love.”

I recall with clarity two extreme examples in my Company of the “Dear John” letters. One wife wrote, “I can’t wait for you. You may be killed anyway. I’m getting a divorce to marry someone.”

This soldier with such strength of character dismissed his distress (at least openly) by philosophically expressing his feelings, “Well, if she can’t wait for me, then she is not the right one for me.”

This is a copy of a V-Mail For his letter. “Sometimes I wrote intrepidity a few sentences, but since in combat I could not tell my wife in the Battle of the Bulge, he was anything about the war, I awarded a silver star and a battleoften drew a sketch,” field promotion. After the war, he remained in the military in Germany Vernon Brookshire wrote. and married a German girl. After his retirement, he and his wife resided in Fayetteville, N.C. A wife wrote to another soldier, “I don’t love you anymore, I’m in love with someone else. I’m getting a divorce to marry him.”

This soldier was so distraught with anguish that he was not able to function mentally or physically, and he was carried to a rear hospital.

I have failed to find the outcome of his fate.

Although the “Dear John” letters were heartbreaking, there was some good in these painful plights: it revealed the reality of the relationship; that is, the lack of true love.

World War II educed an era of exciting Big Band music, emotional sentimental songs, a passionate popularity of patriotism, and heady romantic relationships. Millions of young men were going to war to do or die. Perhaps all of this provided the penchant for some brief, impetuous marriages.

By VERNON BROOKSHIRE

“He loves his country best who strives to make it best.” - Robert G. Ingersoll

PAW’S CORNER

PUZZLES4KIDS - by Helene Hovanec

Cat’s bad breath defies treatment DEAR PAW’S CORNER: My cat “Sheena” has had horrible bad breath for the past six months, and nothing seems to help. She is almost 14 years old, spayed and in good health. I supplement her diet occasionally with a pill - brewer’s yeast and garlic - crushed up in her food. I also use special dental-care dry foods and dental-care treats. I brush her teeth (when she lets me) and massage her gums. I also put parsley in her wet food occasionally. What else can I try? - Deborah W., via email DEAR DEBORAH: From your email it appears that Sheena sees the vet regularly, which is important for senior pets in particular.

While bad breath (halitosis) often is due to dental problems like gingivitis - where bacteria builds up in the mouth around the gums and contributes to a foul odor other conditions like diabetes, digestive disorders, cancer, and even sinus inflammation have bad breath as a symptom. So make sure cats with chronic halitosis get a complete exam to rule out other

I’m sorry if my bad breath offends you, but ain’t I cute?!?

underlying issues.

As for home solutions to simple halitosis: You’re doing all the right things. However, as Sheena ages, her immune system might make her more vulnerable to gum disease. Keep it up, especially massaging her gums and trying to brush her teetn.

Instead of a brush, you could try swiping her tooth with a cotton ball or very soft cloth soaked in warm water, a gentle swipe from the gum line downward.

Also be careful with the amount of brewer’s yeast and garlic you give her daily, because garlic is toxic to cats. (c) King Features Synd, Inc.

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It was all just a big misunderstanding, officer

TENNESSEE DUCK THEFT

Going to jail was not what Eddie had in mind when he got her that duck. All he ever wanted was to be a good parent. Sarah had begged him for the cute cuddly duckling with dyed bright-yellow feathers. Just before Easter it stood in the pet store’s window, warming in the sun, daydreaming and nodding off.

Squinting up at Eddie, Sarah made her request, “Oh please Daddy, get me that baby duck. He’s so cute. I would name him Psyduck, like in Pokemon. We’d be friends.”

Daddy’s girl had him hooked. Still, Eddie tried to be strict and stern.

He said, “You don’t want that duck. Ducks are messy. And, you’d have to feed and water him and clean his pen every day.”

“Daddy, I would do that. I promise. Every day before I go to school I’d feed and water Psyduck. Oh, Daddy, please! Please get him for me.”

Sarah got her wish. Psyduck got a new home that day. Later on he got a shorter name. Sarah called him “Sy.” At first, Sy was a great pet. Sarah spent hours playing with him.

Sometimes she’d talk to him as though he was her younger brother.

Other times she’d walk around carrying Sy like he was her baby doll.

Once she put a doll’s bonnet on his head.

The young lady kept her promise. Daily she fed and watered Sy. She kept his pen spotless. Sy grew up fast. But he became a different duck.

His feathers and his personality changed. Increasing numbers of bright yellow feathers were removed daily from Sy’s pen. He became lethargic and ill-natured. Some days Sy didn’t like being held. One day, he scratched Sarah’s arm, leaving a welt. Two days later, he bit her finger as she fed him.

Nature and nurture were happening—Sy was maturing. He wanted independence. No longer did he like anyone touching his feathers—the feathers mostly white with only a few streaks of yellow.

Being once a farm boy, Eddie recognized the signs. He knew it was time to tell Sarah the sad news: Sy had to go.

At first, she wasn’t upset that Sy had to go. He’d embarrassed her.

At school, classmates made fun of her. Flapping their imaginary wings when she came around, they’d call her “Quack Girl.” She tired of being rejected. But deep down Sarah loved Sy. Eddie firmly explained, “Keeping a duck in a cage isn’t fair. Sy needs room to roam and swim. He needs to be with other ducks. If he’s not, he won’t know how he’s supposed to act.” Eddie had a plan.

He told Sarah of a great home he had found for Sy. He’d be happy there, Eddie promised.

That home was nearby, the headquarters and campus of a large

church, just north of Chattanooga. Ducks there leisurely paddled in their peaceful pond. Eddie said, “We’ll take Sy over there next Saturday.

He’ll like swimming with the other ducks.”

She fired back, “But Daddy, Sy doesn’t know how to swim. He hasn’t had swimming lessons. He’ll drown.”

Eddie knowingly smiled and said, “Don’t you worry. Sy doesn’t need lessons. Swimming comes natural to ducks. If there’s water around, he’ll find it and swim like a fish. I promise you.”

The next Saturday was a beautiful fall day. A gentle breeze floated and touched down golden birch and poplar leaves onto the pond where a flock of ducks swam. Eddie parked his car at the back of the church’s large, mostly filled parking lot. He and Sarah walked toward the pond.

She held Sy close and whispered soft assurances.

Nearing the pond, tears welled in Sarah’s eyes. She sputtered questions: “Are you sure he will be happy? Daddy, what if he doesn’t like them? What will he do? Can we visit him?”

Eddie told her, “Sure. Sure, we’ll come back to see Sy.” Sarah ceased whimpering. The beautiful voices of a choir resonated from across the pond as they approached the water’s edge.

There Sarah said goodbye, set Sy’s webbed feet on the ground, and gently released him. He immediately waddled toward the shore. That’s when the chaos broke loose.

Seeing Sy, the other ducks paddled to shore, waddled up fast and assaulted him. Feathers flew. Sy got his head, neck and tail plumage pecked a plenty. Quacks and squawks caught the ear of exiting worshipers as Sy struggled to escape the attacking flock.

Sarah screamed, “Look Daddy, they’re hurting Sy! Please Daddy, save him. Bring him back to me.” Eddie wasted no time.

Back in the church parking lot, curious congregants had gathered.

They watched from afar the duck conflagration and murmured about the goings-on: A man sprinting after a duck; that same duck being chased and pecked and plucked by other ducks.

After a long tiring race consisting of many near catches, Sy was apprehended by Eddie. With the traumatized pet firmly grasped, coughing and gasping, Eddie shuffled back to Sarah. He extended both hands, returning Sy safely to Sarah. In the afar gathered crowd some continued to murmur and speculate. Exhausted, Eddie bent over, placed hands on his knees, and tried to catch his breath. His respite was short-lived.

Out of the corner of his eye, shadows of two church attendees appeared. Looking at the captured pet, they quickly rebuked him: “Hey,

By JOE COBB CRAWFORD

Painting is easy when you don’t know how, but very difficult when you do. - Edgar Degas

51

you can’t just walk in here in broad daylight and steal our ducks.”

As Eddie tried to explain the situation to made-up minds, flashing blue lights sped toward him. An officer of the law raced to Eddie and Sy. Again Eddie explained, but the officer gawked at Eddie like he thought he might be delusional or on drugs. He ordered Sarah, “Young lady, I need for you to release the duck and stand aside.”

Sarah refused. Clutching Sy tightly, she burst into uncontrollable tears and screamed at the officer, “No! They’ll kill him if I let him go. They’ll kill Sy!” Impatience and confusion jointly twisted the officer’s face. Eddie grabbed the pet duck and set him on the ground. Sy squatted and hugged his pant leg.

Eddie and his daughter were taken away. Sy remained alone. They were placed in the police cruiser and hauled to the Chattanooga police station. There, with clearer heads and emotions in check they explained the circumstances of the “duck theft.” A report was filed. They were subsequently released but told to stay away from the church’s ducks.

Joe Cobb Crawford is a contributing writer for The Best of the North Georgia Mountains and self-publishes his books through The Poetry Company. He’s a native of Fannin County.

Mitch Continued From Page 4

local hospice agency.

By watching Cindy show her love and devotion to her patients over the past 30 years, but especially over the past nine months when she’s taken on a new challenge of caring directly for people who may be entering the last few months, weeks, days, and in some cases, hours of their lives, I’ve seen firsthand what a calling it is for nurses, doctors, and CNAs. While some insensitive folks might say these people don’t really need extra attention from their nurses since they’re “just going to die anyway,” fortunately nurses like my wife and many others scattered through our communities don’t feel that way.

I’ve come to appreciate the efforts that nurses put forth every day – including holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas – and not just from 9 to 5 Monday through Friday. When someone is sick, he or she needs attention no matter whether it’s 11 a.m. on a Wednesday or 3 o’clock on a Saturday night.

We hope you’ll take the time to read through our special salute, which was made possible through the sponsorship of several local companies that make it their business to either directly take care of ill patients or provide equipment or training to take care of them.

Thank you to all those in our towns who devote their lives to caring for others when they can’t care for themselves! You truly are The Best of the North Georgia Mountains.

PS – We’re starting a new feature on the inside back page featuring silly jokes, designed to leave you with a smile on your face as you finish each issue! We’ll give you a sneak peek here: Why did the nurse need a red pen at work? In case she needed to draw blood.

SPOTLIGHT ON

BUSINESS

Celebrating 28 Years!

APPLE A l DAY

Health Food Store Vitamins l Herbs l Specialty Foods

Louise Geary Crawford MENTION THIS AD FOR 10% OFF SUPPLEMENTS!

9-6 Mon-Fri l 9-5 Sat 5 Depot St., Ellijay, GA 30540

If you’d like your business to be in the Spotlight, call Mitch at 678-882-6741 for more details!

JUST KIDDING A collection of jokes designed to leave you with a smile on your face How do you know you live in Georgia? When all directions start with “Go down Peachtree …” and include the phrase “When you see the Waffle House …”

A bear walks into a bar and says, “Give me a whiskey and … cola.”

“Why the big pause?” asks the bartender. The bear shrugged. “I’m not sure; I was born with them.”

Once my dog ate all the Scrabble tiles.

For days he kept leaving little messages around the house.

Hear about the new restaurant called Karma?

There’s no menu: You get what you deserve.

What do you call a locomotive loaded with gumballs? A chew-chew train What do you call a parade of rabbits hopping backwards? A receding hare-line.

Yesterday I saw a guy spill all his Scrabble letters on the road. I asked him, “What’s the word on the street?”

A woman in labor suddenly shouted, “Shouldn’t!

Wouldn’t! Couldn’t! Didn’t!

Can’t!” “Don’t worry,” said the doc. “Those are just contractions.”

What do you call a magic dog? A labracadabrador.

A man tells his doctor, “Doc, help me. I’m addicted to Twitter!” The doctor replies, “Sorry, I don’t follow you …”

Why don’t scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything.

Helvetica and Times New Roman walk into a bar. “Get out of here!” shouts the bartender. “We don’t serve your type.”

What did the 0 say to the 8? Nice belt!

What kind of exercise do lazy people do?

Diddly-squats.

Why should the number 288 never be mentioned?

It’s two gross.

What did the left eye say to the right eye?

Between you and me, something smells.

Did you hear about the mathematician who’s afraid of negative numbers? He’ll stop at nothing to avoid them.

How does Moses make tea? He brews.

What sits at the bottom of the sea and twitches? A nervous wreck.

Why did the chicken go to the séance? To get to the other side.

144 144

Why do we tell actors to “break a leg?” Because every play has a cast.

Why did the belt get arrested? He held up a pair of pants.

What does Charles Dickens keep in his spice rack?

The best of thymes, the worst of thymes.

What did one hat say to the other? You wait here. I’ll go on a head.

Email us your favorite joke at bestofnorthgamountains@yahoo.com and we might use it in an upcoming issue.