Church League
Co-Ed Softball
Join Us at the
Madison County Recreational Center Baseball Field
243 SW Arnold Street – Madison, Fl.
Sign-Up Deadline: August 26, 2011
Churches Get Your Teams Ready!!
Let’s fellowship outside the church!!
4 Divisions:
Children Ages 8 and Up
Women’s
Men’s
Co-Ed’s
No Fees!
Company Completes Renovations On Meat Packing Plant
By Jacob Bembry
Greene Publishing, Inc.
According to a press release issued by a construction company, “Orlando-based R.C. Stevens Construction Company has completed the renovation of a 100,000 square feet meat packing facility in Madison. Work consisted of upgrading existing refrigeration system, cooler storage areas, fire protection and electrical systems to accommodate a new meat processing facility.”
Ferris, Stahl-Meyer, will operate the meat packing plant.
When contacted, County Coordinator Allen Cherry said that he didn’t know when the plant would become operational. He pointed out that the plant would have to go through some inspections with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) before they can begin operating the facility.
Applications for plant work will be accepted at Workforce Development in Madison. Dianne Head, of Workforce Development, said that she had not heard from Ferris, Stahl-Meyer about when they would begin accepting applications. She noted that she believed they would let her know in approximately two to three weeks.
By Ginger JarvisThe Madison City Commissioners have completed the loop of entities to approve $250,000 of surtax funds to Madison County Memorial Hospital for indigent care. The plan approved by the Madison County Commissioners and Greenville Town Council was approved in Madison at the regular meeting of the board on August 9. The Lee Town Council has not voted on the matter yet.
Madison County Clerk of Court Tim Sanders explained the idea to the commissioners. The money will come from the one-cent surtax voted into existence in 1989, primarily to raise funds to remodel the old jail on Pinckney Street, or to build a new one. Since then, it has funded the extension of water and sewer lines from Lee, Madison, and Greenville, to the I-10 interchanges and about $288,000 annually to EMS. According to Sanders, a final loan payment in 2012 will free up money for another purpose.
Local residents spoke about the need for indigent funding, and smiled approvingly when the board voted unanimously on a motion by Commissioners Myra Valentine and Jim Stanley to allow the funds to be used for that purpose.
In other business, the commissioners approved on its second reading an ordinance to apply for a Housing Rehabilitation grant. They dismissed the possibility of applying for a Commercial Revitalization grant after Stanley reported, “The merchants do not want it.”
The board also unanimously approved the sale of property just north of the old metal processing plant on Hwy. 14 for $10,000 per acre. The site was previously the city dump, and will become a salvage yard.
The buyers will agree to install screening so that the yard is not visible from the highway. The city will pay for a survey of a small strip across the north end of the property where utilities run. The buyer has already paid for a survey of the entire site. City Attorney Clay Schnitker should have the required documents prepared within two weeks.
Broderick Blue
Many fans remember Broderick Blue smacking his opponents as he played linebacker, proudly wearing the maroon and silver of the Madison County High School Cowboys. Later, he would sign a scholarship to play football for the University of North Alabama. From there, he would transfer to the University of South Florida and then he would find a home much closer to his hometown when he signed to play with the Valdosta State University Blazers.
Blue was about to begin his second year of playing for VSU when he was killed in a motorcycle accident in Perry.
In order to keep Blue’s memory alive and use his memory to help others, his mother Lesia Blue is establishing the Broderick Blue Scholarship. She is asking that family, friends, churches and organizations contribute to the fund that is designed to help Madison County students attending VSU.
To make a donation, go to the Wells Fargo Bank and ask that the money be placed in the Broderick Blue Scholarship Fund. The account number is 8991874051. The routing number is 063107513.
Checks and money orders can be made payable to the Broderick Blue Scholarship Fund by and mailed to 5639 SW Moseley Hall Road, Greenville, FL 32331.
There is a huge debate raging just below the surface in our country, and it is as old as the nation itself. The issue is “federalism.” Are we a nation of 50 individual, unique states or are we a national melting pot where state (and local) laws are routinely trumped by the federal government?
When the Founding Fathers gathered in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787, they met because the Articles of Confederation that had been in effect since the Declaration of Independence created 13 state fiefdoms where all laws where subservient to each state law. Imagine driving up the Valdosta Highway and stopping for a toll booth and customs inspection at the Withlacoochee River. The fledgling United States was ungovernable.
So they created a Constitution to unite the country, but at the same time, they had to respect the rights of the individual states. The key phrase was adopted two years later with the Bill of Rights. The Tenth Amendment reads as such: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, not prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
This is the basis of “states rights.” Despite the negative connotation given this term during previous periods of racial strife, states rights are an important concept guaranteed by the Constitution. It means that we are a collection of 50 states, each different, and state laws do matter in areas where federal jurisdiction is limited.
Unfortunately for three quarters of a century since the days of Roosevelt’s New Deal, the federal government has encroached severely into the rights of the states. From their lofty perch on Capitol Hill, politicians refuse to recognize that Wyoming is not New York. During the Carter Administration, Congress decided that the national speed limit was 55 mph. I’ve driven on the New Jersey Turnpike where 55 is too fast. Can you imagine driving across the expanse of West Texas at a plodding 55? Dumber than dirt.
One of the actions which diminished the power of the states was the 17th Amendment to the Constitution. This was the 1913 amendment that changed the election of senators from the legislature to popular vote. In the original constitutional deliberations, it was decided that the senior half of the bicameral legislature, the Senate, would represent the states. Accordingly, each state legislature would select two senators to represent the interests of the state. Today, we have senators who are above their state’s interests and take a national perspective. In my view, this has severely damaged federalism.
Today, we are seeing the states, predominantly those from the South and West, push back. Twenty-six states, led by Florida, have challenged the constitutionality of last year’s Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). Although the challenge will be decided by the Supreme Court, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the state’s challenge.
Led by Arizona, many states are now pushing the federal government on immigration control.
Why should cash-strapped state governments be forced to pick up the tab for the social welfare (education, health care, worker’s compensation, etc.) of illegal immigrants when the federal government is failing to control our southern border?
Beltway insiders, who have no respect for the Constitution and specifically the 10th amendment, trample routinely on the rights of individual states in the name of big government. Recall when then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reacted to the reporter’s question concerning the constitutionality of Obamacare with this dismissive response: “You’re joking, right?” This is hubris.
States are returning federal funds to Washington because too many strings are attached. Here in Florida, our new governor rejected the I-4 high-speed rail project and returned a couple hundred million DOT dollars to Washington. Kansas and Oklahoma have returned major healthcare grants to HHS designed to set up insurance exchanges.
The states are reacting to overreach by the federal government. We are a great nation when the individuality of each state is recognized and respected. Too many swaggering politicians that we’ve sent to Washington have turned their back on federalism. It is time we grabbed them by the scruff of the neck and set them straight. For one, I’d like to see repeal of the 17th Amendment and return the selection of senators to the way Mr. Madison and his cohorts intended.
Emil F. “ Mickey” Shortt, age 73, of Jasper, passed away Thursday, August 11, 2011 at South Georgia Medical Center in Valdosta, Ga., following a brief illness. Mickey was born in Miami to the late Ralph and Jennie Amelia Shortt. He was a retired educator working in both South Georgia and North Florida over a span of 40 years.
He loved his students and could be found in the classroom or working in administration as assistant principal and principal in an effort to improve the quality of education in our school systems. In return he was loved by his students and co-workers and will be sorely missed.
Mr. Shortt served his country in the United States Marine Corps. and worked at Occidental Chemical Company near White Springs for fourteen years.
In his spare time Mickey loved woodworking, fishing and gardening. He was a member of New Hope Baptist Church near Jennings.
On August 16th of this year he would have celebrated 48 years with the love of his life and surviving wife, Linda Dees Shortt. Also surviving are his two daughters whom he loved with all of his heart, Melanie Gay (Randy), Jasper, and Amy Cannon (Patrick White), Lake City .; one sister, Betty Jean Springer, Jasper.; son-in-law, Craig Cannon; and two grandsons, Coleton and Casey Cannon.
Funeral services were held Saturday, August 13, 2011 at New Hope Baptist Church with Pastors Jeff Codero and John Hendricks officiating.
Interment followed in the church cemetery.
Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society or the American Diabetes Association.
Harry T. Reid Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.
It takes several people to illustrate the typical long chain between customer and farmer for a processed food product. Left to right: Willie Gamalero, Tara Orlowski, Jo Willis, Lucille Day, Kimberly Halfhill, Jerome Wyche, Doug Freer and Claire Mitchell.
By Lynette Norris
Greene Publishing, Inc.
Oliver Bradley took first place in the Kiwanis Club’s recent citrus-selling fundraiser, selling over $2300 worth of fruit. Roy Ellis took second place with $1275 in sales and George Willis came in third with $1060.
For the Club’s Aug. 11 presentation, Claire Mitchell, of Green Industries in Monticello, spoke on another agricultural topic – sustainable farming and the importance of eating locally grown food.
To illustrate what happens when people buy highly processed foods like soda, Mitchell called on people one by one to come up front and play different parts of the “chain” between the farmer (Doug Freer) who grows the corn, and the customer (Willie Gamalero) who buys the highly processed, sugary soda. Once the farmer’s corn is harvested, it needs a warehouse (Jerome Wyche) and a truck to get it there; after the warehouse, it needs a factory (Kimberly Halfhill) to turn it into high fructose corn syrup, and another truck to get it there; after the factory, it needs a wholesaler (Lucille Day) and another truck; after the wholesaler, a distributor (Jo Willis) and yet another truck; finally, the product (soda) needs to be trucked to a retailer (Tara Orlowski) who sells it to Gamalero, the customer, for a sheet of green paper.
The green paper was then passed back along the chain and each person tore off what they thought their services were worth, until a very small portion reached Freer. After Mitchell tore off even more for taxes, fuel, labor, fertilizer and other expenses, Farmer Freer was left with a bit of green not much bigger than a kernel of his corn.
Mitchell then demonstrated the alternative, buying and eating locally grown produce. The middle links – warehouse (Wyche), factory (Halfhill), wholesaler (Day), distributor (Willis) and retailer (Orlowski) – were taken out of the chain to create a more direct line between the farmer and the customer, reducing the amount of fossil fuel required to transport a processed product all over the country, and putting more profit in the farmer’s hand.
It is also healthier to eat locally, said Mitchell, because even if produce isn’t turned into processed food, the more time that passes after it is harvested, the more nutrients it loses.
Direct-buy farmer’s markets are the most well known sources of fresh produce, but some areas are also taking advantage of online buying and selling. Local farmers upload what they have to offer, and customers order produce online. The farmer receives a “pick ticket” and knows exactly how much to pick to fill the orders. Less harvest goes to waste, and the farmer does not spend hours at a market hoping to sell what he has brought; instead, he drops the orders off at a pick-up center, where customers can come get their purchases.
Mitchell, a native of Tallahassee and a graduate of the University of Florida, came to Green Industries in February of 2011, and said she was “happy to be able to build a career around all these things I care about.”
She will also be conducting a series of workshops for people interested in various sustainable gardening topics, out at Green Industries on Highway 90 in Monticello, three miles west of the Courthouse.
The workshops are $25, require pre-registration, and run every third Saturday of the month from 9 a.m. to noon. The next one is August 20, and deals with cool weather crop planting. For more information or to register, call 850-973-1702 or visit the website at www.nfcc.edu/green-industries.
Louise Florey, in her senior year, is the “Judson Girl” whose story Joe Boyles recounts in “Forever Young.”
By Lynette Norris
Greene Publishing, Inc.
Going through thousands of letters accumulated in his father’s old footlocker, Joe Boyles came across one small bundle of letters tucked into a corner, set apart from the rest. At first, once he realized they weren’t letters written by his mother, he thought about just throwing them away.
But a voice began speaking from those letters, a voice belonging to a young teenaged girl from Monroeville, Ala., at the height of the Great Depression – 1936 to 1938.
Those letters became the basis for a short, non-fiction story penned by Boyles in 2005, Forever Young: The Story of a Depression Era Judson Girl.
At the Aug. 10 meeting of the Rotary Club, he read excerpts from that story as he talked about the remarkable young girl who wrote the letters, and the friendship that began between two teenagers who met at camp one summer, nearly 70 years ago.
Louise Florey was a bright, attractive, dark-haired young girl, with a twin sister, a younger sister and a younger brother. Her mother was a widow who was raising four children in Depression-era Alabama, a woman who somehow kept things together for her children.
Louise was doing well both in school and in 4H, well enough to earn a spot in the National 4H Camp in Washington D.C. It was at that camp, during the summer of 1936, where Louis would meet fellow camper, Joe Boyles’ father, Eugene. The two struck up a friendship that would continue over the next two years, through the exchange of dozens of letters, and follow Louise to Judson College for girls in Marion, Ala., where her hopes and dreams for the future began to take shape.
In September of 1936, as Louise was entering her freshman year, she wrote excitedly about how beautiful the college campus was, not very far from the Marion Military Institute for Young Men.
The students were awakened every morning by someone ringing a triangle loudly in all the dorms; the college newspaper was called, appropriately enough, The Triangle.
At that time, the freshman classes at most colleges were set apart for a period of initiation, and Judson was no different. The freshmen, known as “rats,” were required to wear tennis shoes, huge hair bows, and the color red as they carried books for the upperclassmen. A few months later, Louise was one of the upperclassmen, gleefully greeting a new wave of “rats” on campus.
The letters reveal other glimpses into a time long past, a time when movie tickets were 35 cents, when the death of movie star Jean Harlow at age 26 would come as a shock to a young girl, when the moody, unpredictable Rhett Butler of the wildly popular bestselling novel, Gone With the Wind would capture her imagination long before Clark Gable made the role his own. It was a time when the mere prospect of having telephones in the dorm, although it didn’t pan out, was a cause for great excitement.
Louise loved to imagine that she was on “dates” with Eugene, even though they lived well over 300 miles apart. “Let’s make it a date,” she would write of a movie coming out; they would both go alone at the same time on the same day and pretend they were on a movie date with each other.
As she imagined what her life would become and what she would do after she graduated, she also imagined the children she would someday have, and like her friends, she had already picked out names for them. She would save all her letters that she received from all her friends and one day read them aloud to her grandchildren.
During the long, hot summer of 1938, Louise was on vacation from college, visiting a cousin in Alabama. On a hot afternoon, just shy of her 19th birthday, she was drowned in a swimming accident when she and her cousin were washed over the spillway of a dam.
Eugene never saw Louise again after that summer at 4H Camp; during the two years following, his only contact with her had been her letters that he so carefully saved. The letters would never be read aloud to grandchildren; they would remain silent until their discovery decades later, when they would speak to a new generation and afford a rare glimpse into a time long past – like a snapshot taken by a girl, who would herself remain forever caught in that time, forever young.
Blake Webb practices for the show during the full band camp while Kristi Ferrell shouts the counts.
By Kristin Finney
Greene Publishing, Inc.
It’s almost here …football season. This not only means that the Madison County High School Cowboys are gearing up for their games, but also that the MCHS Vaquero Guard is preparing and perfecting their show for the season. The band can be heard during every game, both home and away, supporting the Cowboys, playing their hearts out and showing off their talents.
This year’s show is entitled “The Games Cowboys Play.” The songs included in the show are “Bounty Hunter,” “Pinball Wizard,” “Mario Brothers” and “Zelda.” The band will play this show during each game’s halftime, except homecoming, where they will play a special show to honor the homecoming court.
This year, eight officers will lead the band. They are: Alana Ellison, Executive Officer; Kristi Ferrell, Drum Major; Cullen Gudz, Brass Captain; Lyric Davis, Woodwind Captain; Tommy Langford and, Tamarick Bruton, Drum Captain; Joshua Stafford, Equipment Officer; and Jacob Robinson, Uniform Officer.
The Vaquero Guard has held three camps this summer. From August 1-3, they had their Leadership Camp. From August 4-5 they had Vaquerito Camp (new members camp), August 8-12, they had their full band camp.
Aside from their weekly football performances, the band will also be competing in several competitions. On October 8, they will compete in Chiefland. Also, on October 29, they will compete in Tallahassee.
The Cowboy football team and cheerleaders from the Madison County High School will be at the Madison County Public Library on Saturday, Aug. 20, from 10 a.m.-12 noon. The community is invited to meet and greet the Cowboys. They will be signing autographs and answering questions about this year’s football games and pep rallies. Come out and show your support for your Cowboys! The Madison County Public Library is located at 378 NW College Loop in Madison. Any questions can be answered by calling the Library at (850) 973-6814.
From Madison Police Department Sgt. James Roebuck:
On Saturday 08-13-11 at 1140 pm, Madison PD officers were dispatched to 173 SW Scruggs St. in ref. to a Home Invasion robbery. On arrival of Sgt. Chris Cooks and Ptl. J. Smith, officers were advised by the victim that three armed suspects wearing mask had entered his residence and robbed him. The victim identified two of the suspects as Charles Phillips and Dontea Lewis. Inv. B. Ebberson was notified and arrived on the scene. At this time, the scene was processed and evidence was collected. A short time later, both Charles Phillips and Dontea Lewis were located and placed under arrest. Both suspects were charged with Home invasion robbery , Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, grand theft and criminal mischief.
You will not want to miss this event! If you are hurting, disconnected or unfulfilled, join other sisters who feel the same way. If you desire to make a difference in your community, come and connect with us. This conference is for all abused women and those who want to help them.
The primary focus of the Tri County Women’s Conference is emotional healing. Discover your true value and worth; join in establishing a sisterhood where women stand alongside other women for encouragement and acceptance; help yourself and others grow prosperously, develop confidence and set goals for the future.
“In this first event, we want to set the pace and start a chain reaction that will ignite the world,” says conference developer, Gloria Miller. The inspiration for the event primarily came from Miller’s own experience in volunteering at Another Way’s shelter for women. She saw women leave the shelter and return to their abusers, repeating the cycle of abuse again and again. This experience, coupled with the knowledge gained through her own personal struggles with emotional trauma, sparked her desire to help. Then a friend shared the belief that “soul ties” with the abuser must be broken in order for the abused to be truly free. This fired Miller’s inspiration to be the missing link to those in need.
“In time to come, we want to become a connecting hub for churches and other organizations that help with the practical, emotional and spiritual needs of women,” she says. “Many organizations already exist, but because they are not readily known to the churches and the public as a whole, the help they offer is not being utilized.”
Miller’s philosophy is that one group cannot fix the problem of widespread emotional hurt among women. By connecting organizations together through the Conference, individuals can be a resource in helping others. “As we do this, we can become who we are and boldly go where no woman has gone before,“ Miller says. This, in turn, will light a torch that can be passed to the next generation of women who then will pass it along to others.
If you:
Then come and see what we are about and find what you’ve been missing. Be the missing link.
Women, arise! Come out of your cocoons and be the butterflies you were always meant to be.
From HWY 19 at Old Town turn at the stop light onto South Hwy 349 and go 24 miles to the West coast in the town of Suwannee in Dixie County. The community center is on the left across the street from Salt Creek Shellfish Restaurant, behind the Firehouse Gym.
Call Gloria Miller at 352-542-9396 to get information, or go online to www.TriCountyWomensConference.org
Date and time of event: August 20, 2011, from 8am to about 5:30pm
By Jacob Bembry
Greene Publishing, Inc.
My sister, Abbie Gail Bembry, had been having problems with her teeth for almost her entire adult life. It seemed that there was nowhere that could get her the help that she needed.
Abbie is mentally challenged and local dentists were not able to help her because she is very defensive. She would put up a struggle when the dentist would try to look inside her mouth. She is very strong and has a very tight grip.
We had taken her to Shands in Gainesville to see about getting her bad teeth extracted. The dentist had recommended that she enter the hospital and be put under anesthesia so that the teeth could be extracted while she was asleep. Everything seemed ready to go until we tried to make the appointment. We were then told that Abbie’s Medicaid would not pay for the anesthesiologist.
A few months ago, Abbie’s tooth became abscessed. During a visit to the dentist at the health department, Zane Gaston, his assistant, gave me a phone number and address for Tachachale Dental Clinic in Gainesville.
Tachachale is a residential facility for adults with developmental disabilities, but the dental clinic does outpatient work in the evening.
I called and Tachachale sent paper work for Abbie’s primary care physician, Adolfo Dulay, to fill out. I took Abbie to see Dr. Dulay one Friday. The next week, I tried calling the dental clinic in Tachachale, but the person I needed to speak to was out that week.
A week later, on Monday, Aug. 1, I called Tachachale and asked when I could bring Abbie. A young lady named Nikki answered that I could bring Abbie that evening. It would have been too hard to take Abbie at that time so we made the appointment for the next evening.
I had been told that when we went that Abbie would probably just be seen the first time and that no work would be done; however, when the dentist saw how far we had traveled and the help Abbie needed, he proceeded to do extractions.
Abbie was placed in hand and feet restraints and was awake the whole time. Nikki and about five other dental assistants helped hold Abbie in the chair while the dentist did the extractions. At one point, Abbie tensed her muscle and broke one of the armbands. The dentist was able to keep her from feeling pain by giving her Novocain. The dentist said she was still able to feel pressure, which was why she kept struggling.
An hour or so later, the dentist was through and we were ready to go home.
I thank God that Abbie was finally able to get relief from her bad teeth and she will not have to worry about them anymore. God used Zane Gaston and the dental crew that evening at the Tachachale Dental Clinic to help her out.
If anyone has a family member who is disabled and needs dental work like Abbie had done at Tachachale, they can call Nikki at (352) 955-5616 to set an appointment.
