Sharing News — By Tommy Purser
This week, Barnie O’Quinn Jr. brought by a tearsheet of the May 30, 2018, issue of The Press-Sentinel in Jesup. When I first looked at it, I was confused. Because I had seen the opinion expressed in the editorial before.
So I went looking. Indeed, in August, 2016, I reprinted a column from The Press-Sentinel that expressed that same opinion. The opinion concerned the pool at Cracker Williams Recreation Center in Jesup. In 2016, the paper’s editorial board lamented the fact that the pool was in such bad shape it had to be closed and filled with sand. They hoped that was not the end of the story and recommended Jesup officials make a trip to Hazlehurst to see the right way to build an economical pool that would serve the youth of Jesup as it serves the youth of Jeff Davis County.
The May 30, 2018, opinion applauded the City of Jesup’s budgetting of $500,000 in its capital projects fund to start renovations of Cracker Williams Recreation Center.
The latest column reiterated the paper’s 2016 stance that following the lead of Hazlehurst and Jeff Davis County would be a prudent decision.
They commended our county leaders for their efforts and the cooperation between County Recreation Department and the Board of Education, pointing out that the school system, which uses the pool for its middle and high school swim teams, pays the heating and chemical bills — roughly $4,000 — during the four months the school teams use the facility.
The editorial closed by saying, “It would be great if the city could repair and reuse the current Cracker Williams pool. However, the pool may be too far gone. In that case, the Jeff Davis model may be one the city could follow.”
Fonda Ussery also brought by an article, this one from the Scottish Rite Foundation newsletter her husband receives. It contained a quote from the late John Wayne which certainly is apt for these days of turmoil in our country. Wayne said, “This is a good country. With good people in it. Good people don’t always agree with one another. Maybe the best thing we can do in this country is agree to disagree every once in a while.”
Wayne, who died in 1979, was a staunch patriot and a Republican. But he respected every President, Democrat and Republican. President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat, said of Wayne at his death, “John Wayne was bigger than life . . . He was a symbol of so many of the qualities that make America great.”
