Not everyday a presidential candidate comes to Madison. Republican John Davis meets with voters during his trip to Madison on Tuesday, June 7.
Archive for June 2011
Video: Republican Presidential Candidate John Davis Stumps for Votes in Madison
Local Toddler Featured On “Good Morning America”
By Lynette Norris
Greene Publishing, Inc.
At age two, Layla June Peavey has been a tiny queen of the toddler pageant circuit for over half her life. At the tender age of ten months, she was on a Madison stage in her very first pageant, “Miss Winter Wonderland,” and won the title for her age division. That was about thirteen or fourteen months ago, Layla’s mother, Dana Peavey, recalls.
Earlier this week, Layla was featured in a video clip on “Good Morning America,” holding her father’s hand as she walked across the stage.
In between, Layla has been steadily collecting tiaras, titles and trophies, including “Teeny Miss Autumn Apple” and “Teeny Miss Florida Capital City” for 2010. For 2011, she has been “Teeny Miss Snowflake Queen,” “Teeny Miss Think Pink” and “Teeny Miss Pearl of the Panhandle.”
“My cousin Danielle (Rucker) was the (“Miss Winter Wonderland”) pageant director and she talked us into it,” said Dana of that very first pageant appearance. “If we hadn’t done it, we would have never known Layla would be so good at it.”
For her second pageant conquest, Layla competed in the “Miss Madison County” pageant and won for her age division. That was the very first time she got to ride in a parade; it was Madison’s “Down Home Days” celebration. The next year, she again won in her age division for “Miss Madison County.”
“The older she got, the more she started really enjoying it,” said Dana. “Now it’s almost second nature. Every weekend she asks, ‘do we have a pageant?’ She loves dressing up and getting on stage and being the center of attention.”
Dana believes her daughter gets her stage presence and love of performing from her father, professional musician Jonathan Peavey. Peavey was a guitarist in a couple of very successful bands and now he is well known as the “Ragin’ Cajun” guitarist of Lake Park, and “anywhere else he can get a gig,” said Dana.
As for daughter Layla, “she takes after her daddy onstage,” doing her thing and blowing kisses to the audience.
Wednesday morning, June 1, when “Good Morning America” featured a video segment from the TLC documentary series “Toddlers in Tiaras,” Layla was in several clips.
The segment was shot about six or seven months ago in Valdosta, where Layla was competing in the “Miss Sugar Plum Fairy” pageant. “Toddlers in Tiaras” chooses families in the pageant circuit to feature on their program, and at the Valdosta pageant, they were doing a story on fathers who are very involved in their daughters’ pageants. Dana recalls having to sign waivers to allow TLC to air the footage on the show, but in the intervening months, she had forgotten about it.
“It was a complete shock to us,” said Dana, after hearing about the “Good Morning America” segment just hours earlier from friends on Facebook. “We had no idea. We haven’t even had a chance to watch it yet!”
COLLECTION SITE ON HIGHWAY 90 TO CLOSE FOR REPAVING
By Jerome Wyche, Solid Waste Director
The Madison County Board of County Commissioners continues to expand its vision and take advantage of every opportunity to enhance the quality of life for the citizens of Madison County. The recent plans from a Department of Transportation (DOT) project has afforded highly traveled highway 90 to undergo some much needed repair and upgrades. The contract was awarded to APAC to complete the project and much progress has been made toward accomplishing that objective. There was also great consideration in aligning the intersection at Country Kitchen Road and highway to lead directly into the Ravenswood Collection Site and the construction of a turning lane to enhance safety and promote efficient traffic flow.
Because of the intersection alignment and the expansion of highway 90 at that location, a new entryway into the Ravenswood Collection Site had to be considered. At the recommendation of Allen Cherry, County Coordinator, and at the Board of County Commissioner’s meeting on April 20, 2011, permission was granted to the Solid Waste and Recycling Department to pave a roadway within the interior of the Ravenswood Collection Site. A plan was drafted by Jerome Wyche, Coordinator of Solid Waste and Recycling and coordinated with APAC’S Project Department, where a contract was agreed upon. The paving of the site will be in conjunction with the paving of highway 90.
Although a specific date to begin the paving process cannot be pinpointed, citizens should be aware that the Ravenswood Collection Center may be closed for three to four days to complete this process. This will be a temporary inconvenience to insure that the area is safe while the construction in on-going. Citizens are encouraged to use the collection sites at Lee on highway 255 north, Industrial Park on Harvey Greene Drive, Rocky Ford Road Collection Site and 53 Central on highway 53 north until Ravenswood Collection Site is re-opened. Yard trash may be taken to all of the sites except 53 Central. The Solid Waste and Recycling Department is requesting that citizens be patient and cooperative when this process begins. Once the site becomes operational, citizens will benefit greatly from safe entry and exit as well as efficient traffic flow through use of the turning lane. If further information may be needed, please feel free to call the Solid Waste Department at (850) 973-2611. Thank you for helping to keep Madison County clean,
Obituary: Margaret Ann Jones
Margaret Ann Jones, age 79, died Monday, June 6, 2011 at her home in Madison.
Graveside funeral services will be held Thursday, at 11 a.m., June 9, 2011 at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Madison.
She was born in Fitzgerald, Ga., and lived in Madison all her life. She was a member of the Bridge Club, the Audrey Newman Circle and was a member of First Methodist Church.
She is survived by a daughter: Cindy Stanland of Madison; grandson, Chris Stanland; and sister, Patsy Sanderson (Bud) of Madison.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Otis and Omer Hodnett.
Update: Hospital Borrows Money To Meet Payroll
By Jacob Bembry
Greene Publishing, Inc.
According to papers given out at a recent Madison County Memorial Hospital Board meeting, the hospital has over $700,000 in accounts payable that have not been paid.
Almost $300,000 of the money is overdue by 90 days, with $150,000 of it overdue by 60 days.
The hospital has been having trouble meeting payroll. David Abercrombie, Chief Executive Officer of Madison County Memorial Hospital, confirmed this.
Abercrombie said that the hospital had received a loan to meet payroll recently. When asked who had loaned the money, Abercrombie said the loan was made anonymously.
Abercrombie said that he had problem with releasing the lender/lenders’ name(s) but the lender had requested anonymity.
When asked if the reason behind the lender requesting anonymity was due to a conflict of interest, Abercrombie answered, “Not at all.”
Information the newspaper received about who had given the loan would represent a conflict of interest if it proves to be true.
There was no collateral given for the loan, only a promissory note.
The hospital also had a recent visit from an auditor with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The auditor expressed serious reservations about the present and future hospital to be constructed being viable.
Update: Abercrombie called Jacob Bembry at 1:54 p.m. on Tuesday, June 7, and informed him that Cary Hardee, the hospital board’s attorney, said that the loan had been made to the not-for-profit corporation of the hospital and that should guarantee the anonymity of the loan.
Double Negative
National Security
Joe Boyles – Guest Columnist
I love the English language. I enjoy crafting words into sentences in the traditional form – subject, verb, and object with prepositional phrases thrown in to make the sentence even more descriptive. It is wonderful to compile sentences into a coherent paragraph, and then a set of paragraphs which carry a theme to a logical conclusion. My love for English is one of the reasons I write this column each week.
I do my very best to follow the rules of our language, so you can imagine my chagrin when a congressman last week said, “I can’t say with certitude that picture isn’t me.” My 8th grade English teacher Mrs. Banks would have roasted me for uttering a double negative – in this case, “can’t and isn’t.” She would have sternly said that two negatives cancel themselves so that in essence, you are saying “I can say with certitude that picture is me.” Mrs. Banks would have given me an F for such a transgression.
The congressman in question is Anthony Weiner from some place in New York City. He’s supposed to be really smart even though he said (and did) something really dumb.
The picture in question is of a man’s mid-section clothed in underwear. Whoever sent this picture of whomever (after more than a week of tortured explanations, there are still a lot of things unclear), the subject was – how can I put this delicately – inspired and the recipient of the Facebook photo was a young coed at Washington State University about half the age of weirdo Weiner.
This subject is only tangentially related to national security because Weiner is an influential congressman who claims that he was one of the principal architects of the contentious health care bill, the so-called Affordable Healthcare Act of 2010 aka Obamacare.
I really couldn’t resist writing about this indiscretion. Opportunities like this are rare.
There are a lot of things I can say about this. First of all, let’s start with a disclaimer: I can say with absolute certitude that photo is not me. Whew – now I feel better. Second, although I’m a great believer in heritage and family, if my name was “Weiner,” I’d give very serious consideration to changing it.
Where I grew up, boys with a name like Weiner would get beat up. Instead, I’d change my name to something like Lance Armstrong. Guys with names like that don’t get beat up. If my name was Dwayne Johnson, which isn’t too bad, I might change it to The Rock. Guys named The Rock never get beat up, especially if they look like The Rock.
Here’s another disclaimer: I don’t have a Facebook account … and I don’t Tweet, whatever that is. When someone under the age of thirty asks me “how many friends I have,” I give them a blank look. I don’t even text which shows you what a techno-dinosaur I am. I’m not saying I’ll never do those things, but if facing and texting and tweeting get you into trouble like old Weiner, I don’t want any part of it. I get in plenty of trouble without going out of my way to look for new opportunities.
Is it easier to write about Anthony Weiner’s difficulty because he’s a liberal nerd? Sure it is, but I’d like to think that I’m non-partisan when it comes to political hijinks. To me there’s a certain amount of justice seeing these high-flying politicians brought low by their own silly actions and ridiculous explanations. I’m all for self-inflicted wounds.
For example, let me see if I can come up with a plausible way to explain why someone is caught playing footsy between stalls in the men’s bathroom at the Minneapolis Airport – just killing time between flights?????? If you buy that, I have some waterfront property about 20 miles east of Miami you might like.
You know, sometimes a word can be both a noun and verb in our borrowed language. Take the word “weasel.” Not only does Weiner look like a weasel (noun), but he’s trying to weasel (verb) his way out of a mess of his own creation. I chuckle just thinking about his tortured explanations. He’s changing his story faster than Lady Gaga changes outfits.
In the wake of the Watergate nearly forty years ago, when the suffix “gate” is added to your name, you’re in a heap of trouble. Welcome to Weinergate. Just as in the real Watergate Scandal, the original sin is damaging but recoverable. But, the cover-up quickly spins out of control. Politicians frequently lie, but we don’t want to catch them in a bald-face lie intended to save their sorry butt. Just ask John Edwards.
You know, I’m being too hard on Tony W (that sounds better than Anthony Weiner, doesn’t it). He’s disadvantaged. If he had Mrs. Banks in the 8th grade like I did, she would have set him straight – in more ways than one.
Obituary: Elizabeth Haupt Lusk Kramer
Elizabeth Haupt Lusk Kramer, age 95, of Jennings. passed away Sunday, June 5, 2011 at The Health Center of Lake City, in Lake City.
Ms. Kramer was born in Lawrence, South Carolina to the late Emil and Paula Schultz Haupt. She worked for a number of years at Jasper Textile and was a homemaker.
She was a member of Jasper First United Methodist Church and attended Jennings Missionary Baptist Church when her health permitted.
Ms. Kramer was preceded in death by her husbands, Frank Lusk and Failey Franklin Kramer. She was also preceded in death by her daughter, Patricia Hill.
Survivors include four sons, Jack Lusk, Monks Corner, S.C., Earl Lusk, Whitmere, S.C., Frankie Lusk, Columbia, S.C., and Jimmy Kramer, Madison.; two daughters, Betty Adams, Jennings. and Fay Robinson, Lake City.; one brother, Sonny Haupt, Summerville, S.C.; a number of grandchildren, great grandchildren and great-great grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m. Thursday, June 9, 2011 at West Lake Church of God. Interment will follow at West Lake Cemetery.
The family will receive friends between the hours of 5:00-7:00 p.m. Wednesday, June 8 at Harry T. Reid Funeral Home, Jasper..
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to The Health Center 560 SW McFarlane Ave, Lake City, FL. 32054.
Harry T. Reid Funeral Home, Jasper. is in charge of arrangements.
The Belles of Madison County: Part 2 – Highlights From the 100-Year History of the Madison Woman’s Club Through the Eyes of Past Presidents
By Lynette Norris
Greene Publishing, Inc.
May of 2011 marked the 100th anniversary of the Madison Woman’s Club. As outgoing president Jackie Johnson presided over her final meeting, the club members took a look back at some of the history of those 100 years.
Jackie Johnson (2010-2012 and 2006-2008; Johnson also served a third term several years earlier which will be highlighted in a future story) Johnson’s current term saw the Club add 27 new members to its roster, raise funds for repair and maintenance of the Woman’s Club building, as well as donate money to a wide range of annually recurring charities, from the hosting monthly birthday parties for residents at assisted living facilities to Operation Christmas Child to Canine Companions for Independence. They hosted a lingerie shower for the Hacienda Girls Ranch (a home for abused and neglected girls), in addition to collecting and donating school supplies for the Take Stock in Children Program. Madison County Sheriff Ben Stewart was the guest speaker during one meeting, with a presentation on confiscated drug smuggling funds and how this program benefits the county.
Madison’s Christmas celebration was a little more special, thanks to Club members’ hard work decorating the dining room in the Wardlaw-Smith-Goza Mansion and the enormous tree in Four Freedoms Park.
During Johnson’s prior term (2006-2008), the members raised funds for Operation Smile, an organization providing free corrective surgeries to children with cleft palates and other deformities, collected pennies to make a mile and collected book bags for the girls at Hacienda Girls’ Ranch. They also collected a huge amount of toiletries and personal items for the Battered Women’s Shelter in Tallahassee. A representative from Canine Companions for Independence was a guest speaker at one meeting, explaining how the organization raised and trained service dogs, and provided those dogs at no charge to disabled people who needed the assistance of a four-footed companion for simple, everyday tasks. Club members also participated in the Sew Much Comfort program, altering shirts for wounded soldiers, and honored one of its own members, Willie Claire Copeland, with a marker in Four Freedoms Park, for her dedication to planting trees each year in memory of deceased members. Local Student Ashley Smith received a ROCK (Reach Out to Kids with Cancer) Scholarship, and the Club helped the community celebrate Christmas by decorating the large tree in front of the Madison County Community Bank. Their effort won first place in keeping with Madison’s “Our Holiday Heritage,” thus beginning the Club’s tradition of decorating trees downtown.
Ethel Barefoot (2008-2010) – You may remember the Patriotic Christmas Tree on Range Street a few years ago; that was one of the club’s projects during Ethel Barefoot’s term as president. It was also during this time that the club began the tradition of decorating the Wardlaw-Smith-Goza Mansion for Christmas. They traveled to Tallahassee for Legislative Days in support of Senate Bill 136, providing funds for domestic violence victims, and lobbied for the very first president of the Madison Woman’s Club, May Mann Jennings, to be inducted into the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame.
Back in Madison, they collected and donated clothing for the displaced Homemaker Program at the North Florida Community College, donated soft drinks for the 4th of July Festival at Lake Francis and sold pies at the Red, White and Blue Festival in Downtown Madison. They also recognized a local doctor, Dr. Jonathon Bibb, voted as Hero of the Year for Madison, presenting him with a resolution in his honor.
The members’ creative side received recognition with an amazing 11 first place winners in the District 3 Arts and Crafts Festival; those winners went on to State level and picked up a first place, a second place, two third places and two honorable mentions.
At the State Convention, they won second place for their Club Yearbook and third place for Citizenship in Action, as well as hosting the District 3 Spring workshop with State Officers attending.
Barefoot was also selected as the District 3 LEADS representative to attends the Leadership, Education and Development Seminar, and was honored at the State Convention.
Smart Horizons Career Online Education Partners With North Florida Community College To Open Career Online High School
Smart Horizons Career Online Education (SHCOE), based in Pensacola, FL, announced that it has partnered with North Florida Community College (NFCC) to launch the North Florida Community College Career High School.
SHCOE is a private online high school district that gives students returning to the education process an opportunity to earn an 18-credit high school diploma, as well as complete course work for a career certificate in childcare, office management, protection services, transportation services, or homeland security. SHCOE was granted district accreditation by AdvancED/SACS as the world’s first online school district in February of 2011.
North Florida Community College, located in Madison, FL, was ranked among the nation’s “Top 50 Community Colleges” in Washington Monthly magazine’s 2010 College Rankings edition. Rankings are based on information from the Community College Survey of Student Engagement and graduation rates published by the U.S. Department of Education.
“North Florida Community College excels not only in providing a quality education, but also in offering students access to a broad range of learning opportunities and educational resources,” said Wendy Kauffman, Chief Operating Officer for SHCOE. “Because of NFCC’s innovative approach in integrating new tech- nologies into the education process, adding an adult career online high school was a natural fit. We look forward to this ongoing collaboration.”
“We are tremendously excited by this new partnership,” said NFCC President John Grosskopf. “This career online high school will become part of a larger spectrum of opportunities available to the citizens of our district. When combined with NFCC’s other programs, the excellent technical centers in our district, and the adult education programs run by the respective county school systems, students now have a complete menu of options to suit any educational need.”
Madison Academy 4th Grade Class Human Body Project
The fourth grade class are showing off their completed cutouts of the human body on Crazy Hair Day at Madison Academy. Front row, left to right: Blake Sevor, Claire Maultsby, Cody Smith, Marcial Lopez, Caroline Jennings, Aubrey Day, Kaylee Groover and Reese Rutherford; Back row left to right: Christian Nitschke, Dilan Lawson, Logan Lepper, Brandon Bunch, Jarod Johnson, Brad Bunch, John Luke Waring, Dawson Rutherford, Summer Blair, Olivia Graham and Roderick Shaw
By Crysti Hanfield,
4th Grade Teacher
Madison Academy
Do you know what comes together to form tissue? Do you know which system of your body is in charge of feeding your cells? Well, the fourth grade class at Madison Academy can answer these questions and more! They studied the human body for quite some time this spring. They learned that every part of your body is made up of cells joined together to make tissues. They also know that those very same tissues join together and make organs, and when those organs work together they create an organ system. The students also took time to learn about the function of each system. When all of those systems join together, humans have what everyone knows very personally as the human body. It was neat for the students to realize that most of the work that happens inside of the body is automatic, meaning that they do not even have to think about it for it to work properly.
As the students learned about each system, they colored and cut paper representations of organs. Once each organ was ready, the students placed all the pieces together on a paper cutout shaped like the human body. Many of the pieces move so the students can lift or turn the organ and see another organ underneath. Students even drew faces and made hair for their cutouts.
Making these examples of the human body is a tradition for the fourth graders at Madison Academy. Each year when the project begins, the students know that summer is near, and they are soon to become fifth graders. It is a tradition that is truly enjoyed by both teachers and students.
