Saturday event a boost for book
Newsflash: It's really cold. Turn. Off. Your. Sprinklers. Quit icing up the dang streets. Now, really, how hard is that?
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On to other things.
The timing turns out to be perfect for one of the participants in this Saturday's "Music for the Miller" concert.
The event will be held at 8 p.m. Saturday (Jan. 9) at West Acres Baptist Church in Evans. It's the senior project of three Greenbrier students: Michael Ryan, Lizzie Derr and Katherine Bonner.
The event is a fund- (and awareness-) raiser for the Miller Theater, the old downtown facility that is in need of rescue. In addition to music and dance performances, Saturday's event will include comments from Don Rhodes, who will talk about entertainment in Augusta and the heyday of the Miller.
Rhodes, with Morris Communications - parent company of The News-Times - is the longtime writer of the Ramblin' Rhodes music column, and author of books including Say It Loud! My Memories of James Brown, Soul Brother No. 1.
The perfect timing part? With just days before Rhodes is to speak, Globe Pequot Press sent me a copy of his newest book: Mysteries and Legends Georgia: True Stories of the Unsolved and Unexplained.
The timing of Rhodes' book release can't hurt but give a little more heft to his comments Saturday. But the timing is pretty good for me, too; I just finished reading Stephen King's newest novel, Under the Dome. I look forward to now checking out Rhodes' latest work.
Incidentally, my career in newspapers started 27 years ago this year with an internship at The Augusta Herald. My first seat in that smoke-filled newsroom was between Rhodes, who covered the city of Augusta, and legendary county government reporter Margarett Twiggs.
Those were the days.
Boost for Kemp
These seem to be pretty good days for Brian Kemp.
Gov. Sonny Perdue on Monday appointed the former state senator to fulfill the unexpired term of Secretary of State Karen Handel, who resigned to run for governor.
Kemp was already in the running for the job, so being made the instant incumbent is expected to help him out considerably in the race. It might be a little unfair to the other candidates seeking the post, but it's a tough old world.
Even though he's from Athens, you might have met Kemp before this current run. He ran for the Republican nomination for state secretary of agriculture back in 2006, losing to Gary Black, who then lost to Democratic fixture Tommy Irvin in the General Election.
Black is seeking the nomination again, and has a pretty good chance at dethroning Irvin this time around - though rumor has it that Irvin, who has had health problems, might step out of the way and let a younger candidate take on Black. We'll see.
By the way: Black beat Kemp in Columbia County in the primary in 2006, 46 percent to 30 percent. And while he lost statewide to Irvin in the General Election, he won Columbia County 54-44 percent. Black is speaking at 6 p.m. Monday at the Greater Columbia County Republican Women's meeting at Jones Creek Clubhouse. Cost is $12, and reservations are due Friday by e-mailing wanda.duffie@yahoo.com.
Our Waterloo
Since the days of Napoleon, a career-ending event is referred to as someone "meeting their Waterloo."
We met ours 105 years ago, but it wasn't the end of Columbia County.
Historian Charles Lord stopped by recently to show me documents he'd found while researching former places in Columbia County.
One he discovered is the postal district of Waterloo, established in 1905.
According to the application from Kiokee postmaster C.W. Davidson, Waterloo was located about halfway between Kiokee - a little west of the Greenbrier area - and Evans. That would put it somewhere around Halali Farm Road.
But get this: While the Postal Service granted the district with the name Waterloo, the name Davidson had originally requested was Grace.
That area isn't far from the current location of Grace Baptist Church. It wasn't formed until 1990, when members met in a home on Old Evans Road before moving to Hardy-McManus Road. Its location now seems almost preordained.
Barry L. Paschal is publisher of The Columbia County News-Times. E-mail barry.paschal@newstimesonline.com. Follow on twitter at www.twitter.com/BarryPaschal