By Jacob Bembry and Bryant Thigpen
Greene Publishing, Inc.
   “It’s a great honor. I’m so humbled and grateful,” Claude Thigpen, a Greenville native, who was inducted in the Florida State University Sports Hall of Fame on Friday, September 5, said.
   Thigpen has worked for the FSU athletic program for 53 years, beginning in 1955. Among the jobs he has held are ticket manager, business manager and assistant athletic director.
   Through the years, Thigpen’s duties included accounting, supervising business office personnel, promotions and handling seating assignments and ticket takers and sellers.
“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working the athletes and the coaches,” he said. “They were all great people. I never worked with anyone who was hard to get along with.”
   After a stint in the Air Force, Thigpen began attending Lively Vo-Tech in Tallahassee.
   “One day, I heard about a job in the athletic program and I applied and began working as an accountant,” he said. “I wore many hats during my time at FSU. I am mainly remembered for my time in ticket sales.”
   He held the title of assistant athletic director from 1978-1989, handling game-day operations for football, in addition to handling the travel arrangements for the football team and FSU’s official party.
   Although he formally retired in 1989, he has kept busy as the coordinator of FSU’s courtesy car program.
   Thigpen has the distinction of having worked under all 13 athletic directors at FSU.
   During Thigpen’s tenure at FSU, he has seen the good and the bad. He saw the football team go from being cellar-dwellers to winning two national titles and producing two Heisman trophy winners.
   “It was unbelievable,” Thigpen said of FSU’s football dynasty in the 1990s. “Look where we were in the 1950s and 1960s and then we’re up there with the Ohio States, the Floridas and the Notre Dames.” In 1972, he saw FSU’s basketball team, coached by Hugh Durham, play UCLA for the national title.
   “We had a short guy back then, on the team, named Otto Petty, that dazzled everybody,” Thigpen said.
   He has also seen FSU grow from 5,000 students to 40,000 students and the football stadium increase from a seating capacity of 15,000 to 83,000 plus skyboxes.
   “We have the greatest fans in the world,” Thigpen said. “I love being associated with the fans, who are so loyal and dedicated.”
   Although he formally retired in 1989, the 80-year-old Thigpen still works part-time at FSU. His part-time work gives him time for enjoying his favorite activities: fishing, golf and working in the yard.
   Thigpen lives in Killearn Estates in Tallahassee with his wife, Carleen. They have six children and seven grandchildren.

Sexual Offender Registers

By Jacob Bembry
Greene Publishing, Inc.
   Louis Wilson Driggers has registered as a sexual offender in Madison County.
   Driggers is a 5’8” tall, 150-pound 65-year-old balding white male, with hazel eyes, whose qualifying offense was attempted sexual battery by an adult on a victim under 12 years old.
   The charges stem from a case in Columbia County.
   Driggers registered with an address at 165 NW Date Palm Way in Madison.

Madison Votes To Proceed With Lawsuit Against Madison Heights

By Ginger Jarvis
Greene Publishing, Inc.
   The City of Madison is proceeding with the purchase of property to establish a new park. At their regular meeting on September 9, the city commissioners approved a contract to pay $43,000 for a vacant lot at the intersection of Bunker Street and MLK.
   The park plan has gained a $32,000 grant to help purchase the property from ARC. Work on park construction will begin after the city and ARC collaborate on storm-water retention.
   In other business, the commissioners agreed to sell 1100.1 square feet of city property to Raymond Pinkard.
   According to a survey presented by Stephen Pike, the property was originally part of the Pinkard lot and was gradually swallowed up in city right-of-way.
   Pike said that Pinkard wants to bring the lot on South Horry Avenue back to its original dimensions in preparation to sell. The cost will be $385.
   The board also approved the second reading for a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and several resolutions related to the grant application. There was no public comment during the hearing.
   City Attorney Clay Schnitker informed the board of consequences that might ensue if the city wins a judgment against the owners of Madison Heights Apartments.
    “You may not be able to cut off their power,” he said, “but you could do that if they fail to pay again.”
   Schnitker said that they could look into interrupting the cash flow from Housing and Urban Development (HUD), intended to pay for utilities.
   The owners are in arrears over $20,000 for city utilities.
   The board agreed to proceed with the lawsuit.
   The board set the second budget hearing for September 23 and changed their November meeting to Monday, November 10, due to a conflict with the Veterans Day holiday.

Parent Volunteers Needed

By Michael Curtis
Greene Publishing, Inc.
   During the regular Madison County School Board meeting of September 2, one item not on the agenda, but one that certainly scored top priority, became more evident.  In order for progress to take things up to the next level, especially at the Central School and High School, strong support must continue.  And while its evident that the Board, Superintendent and staff are in full support, there is another piece that’s as essential as all of those elements combined.  In a word, that element is parents.
   When this reporter received a call from Central School Principal Sam Stalnaker recently regarding the Response to Intervention program, it was evident that there is a strong focus on all exceptional needs.  When he called again a few days later to introduce school staff he had assigned to work with the paper to ensure good communications with the community, it was evident that accountability and accessibility were also priorities.
   In fact, on September 4, Stalnaker drafted an information paper titled Creating a Positive Partnership: Madison County/Madison County Central School that he sent home to parents explaining the core missions of the Central School.   Now that these processes are in place, however, there remains one element powerful enough to compromise the whole mission, that is parental support and involvement is absolutely crucial to the mix. 
   Consider both extremes.  On the one hand, there are children that come from very challenging home lives, including hundreds living in deep poverty.  These children are often referred to as “at-risk” children.  On the other hand, there are children who come from homes where both parents are present and educated and have sufficient resources to support and influence the child.  These children are usually involved in developmental activities as well as sports. 
When these children meet in the classroom, experts like Dr. Ruby Payne, who has proven her accuracy in writing numerous guides on schools in this situation, have made it clear that the group will end up taking a climate of the more troubled behavior.  In a class of twenty, it only takes two or three to reduce the learning experience considerably.   
   What is the answer?  Although a little redundant at this point, the obvious answer is parents.  Of course, the School Board and Superintendent must approve and build curriculum and programs that are self-contained.  In other words, the administration can’t make parents do anything officially but abide by state requirements such as immunizations and attendance.  Practically speaking, however, the least required isn’t historically sufficient, so reach out now, parent volunteers are needed.