“A Henry County Christmas Story”
It was Christmas 1975 in McDonough, Georgia and it was a cheerful season for most. Times were good and the town and county looked like something from a Norman Rockwell painting. Nostalgia was everywhere. The people decorated with all the Christmas cheer that could be brought forth in this small town atmosphere. All seemed right with the world, but something was wrong.
There was a family in town whose father had lost his job the week before Christmas and it being a small town word got around about the condition of the family. He needed what money he had to keep a roof over their heads and the utilities paid. There wasn’t enough to buy Christmas toys for the kids. It was a time before food pantries and the such and no one really knew about the family in the quaint little neighborhood where they lived.
But all wasn’t lost that Christmas of 1975 as a young man whose parents knew of the problem decided to dip into his savings and do something really good for a family that year. His problem was he couldn’t drive because he was an epileptic. But he found a driver for the Christmas Eve run that year. This young man had bought presents for boys and girls as the family had both. He even bought a Christmas tree. There was a ham and all the trimmings for the meal and something else a small stocking with a few dollars inside. Then the run was made late on Christmas Eve and quietly the tree and gifts were placed on the porch with the ham on ice in a cooler with all the other food. Then the special little stocking was placed on the screen door that read, “Merry Christmas from Santa.” Then off the young man and his driver went to their homes for Christmas Eve.
The next morning to the surprise of the family a great Christmas for the family was to be had. Toys for the children, new kitchen tools for the mother (blender, mixer, and coffee pot), the dad had a set of tools, a flashlight, and work gloves. And in the special little stocking were $100.00 in one dollar bills. And the ham and food made the day as the family had a Christmas from Santa. The parents cried and the kids squealed with joy.
They wondered who the special Santa was that cold Christmas Eve night in 1975, but no one ever came forward to admit to the special deed. It was a special Christmas of Christian kindness to a family long ago in McDonough, Georgia where the people were special and always had wonder in their eyes. I was glad to have known of the Christmas Eve ride of two young men who brought something special to a family in need.
Thank you and Merry Christmas to All and May God Bless,
Pastor Dr. Mike Moon
“Always remember no one is a failure as long as they have friends.”
Warring Factions on the Henry County BOC
It has not been a secret for sometime that there has been friction between the Chairman of the BOC Mr. Tommy Smith and the Board of Commissioners and the County Manager Mr. Walker whom they hired. The question has been about the powers and authority of the Chairman verses that of the County Manager. There is an excellent article in the Henry County Herald over the matter that as promised will be in two parts because it is such a long extended piece. It looks as though the Chairmanship is being reduced in power by the BOC and the County Manager. There have been vocal exchanges such as the one by 5th District Commissioner Mr. Bruce Holmes on December 16th when he said the following: Quote “Having a title does not make you a leader,” said Holmes. “In the last two years, I have not seen any leadership from the chairman, nor have I seen any vision. The entire region thinks we’re a joke of a county with everything that’s going on in Henry County.
All I’ve seen over the last two years is different employees being attacked and intimidated, and I guess that’s the reason why the chairman seeks to have executive powers — so he can fire everybody.” Mr. Holmes may have to remember all that and prove it on the witness stand at the Superior Court of Henry County where Chairman Smith has filed a suit against the BOC.
At the BOC meeting of the 16th it was voted 5-1 to ask the Legislature to decide about the duties of the Chairman and the County Manager. The problem will be where will the authority come from to decide the matter the Court system or the Legislature. The Legislature cannot override the outcome of a court proceeding. That is why the BOC is trying to manuveur itself in this fashion. If they wanted to avert a lawsuit why didn’t they suggest this in the first place? Again trying to manuveur around the system. There will be a lot of hard feelings about this case especially in the districts of the county.
There is one key element of the whole process that the BOC has forgotten. They were elected by their respective districts to serve in those districts. Mr. Smith was voted in by the majority of the voters in the entire county to serve as the Chairman of the BOC. They may not like the man, but personalities do not get the job done. The BOC tried to manuveur against Mr. Smith right after he took office by trying to get Senator Jeffares to limit his authority and he ended up looking wrong in the Senate.
Remember that personalities do not get the job done. Mr. Smith has done the best he could with little support since he took office. He knows about the behind the scenes talks and dealing with the government of the county and he knows that they don’t want him in office because he does not conform to what they want. Remember also that there will be others in those districts who can replace each and every one of you come election time. The people are being left out of this whole affair. They are the ones who decide what will happen in that building on Henry Parkway in McDonough. The people know what is happening because they are not as dumb as some would like them to be. They know that there is a group out of the northern part of the county who want to build a coalition to try and take over and create a lifestyle like they have in Clayton County. They know about the special private meetings on the subject and those in Henry County don’t care for
it. This is Henry County not Clayton County. If they love the style of Clayton County then move to Clayton County and leave the people of Henry County alone. That is why there has been such turmoil in the City of Stockbridge for several years now. It is because those who want it to be like a city in Clayton County or Fulton County and the people don’t want it. Jeff Turner was a good police man in Henry County and he probably is what the people of Clayton County want for a Chairman, but he has no authority in Henry County. But there will be changes soon to what is happening because the people of Henry County are getting enough of this infiltration of people who want to disrupt the government of this county. But the people here haven’t seen nasty and ugly yet. What happened at the meeting of the 16th was just a child’s play to what is on the horizon. People are tired of all this and when it all comes down there will be a lot of new faces in
the governmental complex of this county.
A Fed Up Citizen of Henry County
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Lack of Respect for a Cemetery
Sometime back in the summer my senior researcher for the CRG contacted the 5th District Henry County Commissioner about a cemetery in his district that needs to be cleaned. This cemetery is very old and has a historical person buried there from Stockbridge. He is Mr. Gossett one of the first town commissioners when it was a township and founder of the Stockbridge Presbyterian Church. The cemetery is the Gossett-Dodson-Hanson Cemetery on Flat Rock Road. A couple of years ago a teacher from Stockbridge got some class members together to help clean the cemetery, but he can’t do this all the time.
The 5th district commissioner got with DOT and other parts of the Henry County Government and they said it was not their problem. Well it is according to the laws of the State of Georgia pertaining to abandoned cemeteries. The chairman of the board wanted to help, but was maneuvered around by the county manager. This all looks bad and there is no other way to state it but they don’t care.
They are supposed to clean the cemetery and have a group such as the Juvenile Court to keep it clean a couple of times a year. This is a situation where the people of the community will have to take action by contacting the BOC and raise the roof about the lack of respect for the dead. It is time.
Alfred Britt, Founder of the CRG
The Passing of a Friend
It is official now the Henry County Board of Education voted 4-1 to do what they call re-purpose a school. McDonough Elementary will now go to the pages of history as the school will become Patrick Henry Academy from Stockbridge. The superintendent of schools felt it would be cheaper to move the school than to update the current one and put the elementary students in three other schools.
By moving the Patrick Henry school those students who have problems with school anyway many will drop out. The parents who have to take them to school in Stockbridge will have to back track in the mornings trying to get to work. And those students who once could walk to McDonough Elementary will have to be bussed to those other schools. All because of money. McDonough will be losing another part of their history with the closing of this school.
And what will become of the Old Stockbridge High School that is Patrick Henry currently? No one will answer that question. Hopefully, there isn’t some under the table deal to let it go to some private group. If they want to really make a difference, use the school as a satellite campus for one of the larger Universities in the area. That would make sense to give people who must work a chance to go to evening classes to further their education.
But in all that has gone on about this, no one really listened to the parents and alumni of the McDonough Elementary School. No real thought was put into how they felt. But that is where elections play a key role in the future. Find candidates that will truly listen to the public to run against those who don’t. Time will tell.
McDonough Elementary Alumni
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