In March of this year, long-time educator and administrator, David Richardson passed away.
Since the late principal had been in the education field for quite some time and had such a great influence on the students and faculty at Miller County High School, a group of teachers decided it would be appropriate to honor his name in some form.
A David Richardson Memorial Committee was formed at MCHS, and several memorials that would be appropriate to honor the late principal were discussed by the committee.
At the regular April Board of Education meeting, the memorial committee met with the board of education members and superintendent. Committee members said that a donated bench had been ordered and mentioned the possibility of a name change for the football field or building to honor the late Mr. Richardson for his many years of dedication and service to the Miller County School System.
At this meeting, the BOE was in favor of this, as long as it would not cost the county any tax monies. Several people in attendance at this meeting said nothing was said about bringing whatever was decided by the memorial committee back before the BOE for final approval, so the committee acted without any taxpayer expenses.
The money was collected from faculty members and a sign reading “Richardson Field” was purchased to go over the scoreboard at the football stadium on Perry Drive. A bench to honor the late principal was also donated to be placed on the school grounds but has not yet been delivered.
The committee, acting, they thought, on the wishes of the BOE members, ordered a sign reading “Richardson Field” from Quality Signs in Bainbridge and placed it over the scoreboard before the first home game, which was August 19 against Calhoun County.
Now for the story....The sign has been up the entire football season, and no one has mentioned the sign until after last week’s homecoming game against Lanier County.
Every week in the Miller County Liberal, football articles have appeared referring to “Richardson Field” in several places and football pictures showing the scoreboard have been published in the newspaper, with the sign above the scoreboard, and there have been no problems with the sign and the field being renamed “Richardson Field.”
On Wednesday morning, October 19, the sign was removed from the scoreboard. The reason was given -- the committee did not follow proper protocol. No one will say who made the complaint, or which BOE member or members voted to take the sign down. As one teacher stated, “I’m sure they used proper protocol in the matter.”
There are a number of teachers who will think long and hard about doing anything extracurricular under this BOE and administration.
A number of voters have stated that they wished that there was an election tomorrow for the entire BOE.
Superintendent Robbie Phillips stated that “a meeting was held and it was decided that the sign needed to come down until the proper procedures were carried out by the board of education.” When asked, Superintendent Phillips would not comment on who was present in the meeting and who made the decision to take the sign down or if that meeting was a legal meeting of the BOE to take care of this matter. He did say the sign was taken down and put in a safe place, so if and when it was voted on by the BOE members to be put back up, it would be in good condition. Superintendent Phillips also commented that he had not noticed the sign being up until he was approached by an individual wanting to know when they were going to dedicate “Richardson Field.” It’s hard to believe that he or anyone had attended all the home games and not noticed this sign.
After talking with Joe Battles of Quality Signs in Bainbridge who was responsible for putting the sign up, Mr. Battles commented that he received a call from the Miller County High School principal, Mrs. Ginger Webster, to remove the sign due to a controversy.
The Liberal will continue to get to the “truth” of who is responsible for taking the sign down, and why no one on the BOE complained until eight weeks after the fact.
To date, the BOE has not voted legally for or against the name to be removed from the field sign. The committee members were under the impression that they did their work as requested by the BOE.
It seems that protocol by the BOE, or lack of it, might be the problem.

The Miller Seminole Forestry Pageant was held October 22, at the Miller County Elementary School. Mrs. Edward Locke from Bainbridge served as the mistress of ceremonies for the pageant which featured 26 young ladies vying for the titles of Teeny Miss, Tiny Miss, Little Miss, Junior Miss, Teen Miss and Miss Miller Seminole County Forestry.
The 2004-2005 reigning queens were on stage to begin the ceremony. They were Tiny Miss Alanda Lane, Junior Miss Ivy Lee Heard, and Teen Miss Victoria Jeter. Ivy Lee and Victoria served as hostesses to the mistress of ceremonies.
In the Teeny Miss division, second runner-up is Amia Scott; first runner up is Chloe Ard, and the new 2005-06 Teeny Miss queen is Mallory Moulton. She was sponsored by Dr. April Hartman. Mallory is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Moulton of Donalsonville. Mallory is one year old. Other Teeny Miss awards were Photogenic, Mallory Moulton; Prettiest Dress, Mallory Moulton; and Prettiest Hair, Mallory Moulton. People’s Choice Award was Chloe Ard.
In the Tiny Miss division, second runner-up is Mahaylee Micham; first runner up is Analeigh Cook, and the new 2005-06 Tiny Miss queen is Mallory Middleton. She was sponsored by Sinclair and Evelyn Shingler. Mallory is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Greg Middleton. Mallory is five years old. Other Tiny Miss awards were Photogenic, Mallory Middleton; Prettiest Dress, Mallory Middleton; Prettiest Hair, Mallory Middleton; Interview Award, Analeigh Cook; and People’s Choice, Summer Sheffield.
In the Little Miss division, second runner-up is Taylor Clark. First runner-up is Kiley Harden, and the new 2005-06 Little Miss queen is Megan Tharpe. She was sponsored by her parents. Megan is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jeff Tharpe of Bainbridge. Megan is nine years old. Other Little awards were Photogenic, Kiley Harden; Prettiest Dress, Taylor Clark; Prettiest Hair, Amber Watson; Interview Award, Sydney Kirkland; and People’s Choice, Sydney Kirkland.
In the Junior Miss division, second runner-up is Lelia Collins. First runner-up is Morgan Roberts, and the new 2005-06 queen is Summer Sheffield. She was sponsored by her grandmother, Patricia Butler. Summer is the daughter of Vance and Paige Sheffield. Summer is 10 years old. Other Junior Miss awards were Photogenic, Summer Sheffield; Prettiest Dress, Morgan Roberts; Prettiest Hair, Morgan Roberts; Interview Award, Summer Sheffield; and People’s Choice, Alexis Burr.
In the Teen Miss division, second runner-up is Marlena Collins. First runner-up is Maggie Bridges, and the new 2005-06 queen is Fallyn Askew. Fallyn is the daughter of David and Cile Askew of Colquitt and Robin Askew of Edison. Fallyn is 15 years old. Other Teen awards were Photogenic, Marlena Collins; Prettiest Dress, Maggie Bridges; Prettiest Hair, Maggie Bridges; and Interview Award, Marlena Collins.
In the Miss Division, first runner-up is Elizabeth Adams, and the new 2005-06 Miss is Ashley Holt. Ashley is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Holt of Colquitt. Ashley is 21 years old and was sponsored by Stones and Halls Cabinet Works. Other Miss awards were Photogenic, Ashley Holt; Prettiest Dress, Elizabeth Adams; Prettiest Hair, Ashley Holt; and Interview Award, Ashley Holt.
These new queens will reign as the local queens. Tiny through Miss will be competing at the State Forestry Pageant. This pageant will be held in Tifton in June.
“We greatly appreciate all the contestants. We also appreciate all of our sponsors and the local forestry unit and rangers. Without you, this would not be possible. Last but not least, Way to Go, Smokey Bear!” said pageant organizers.

As you drive down Colquitt’s Main Street and look across from Cotton Hall, you will see that the Colquitt Miller Fire and Rescue Building is getting a new addition. The 11th mural in the Millennium Mural Project, “Nuthin’ but a Will,” currently being painted, will be completed in two phases. The first phase which will take place during the next few weeks will feature three ovals which will continue the tradition of telling area stories, this time depicting stories of the Colquitt Miller County Fire and Rescue Team.
The first oval tells the story of several firemen going to the bank and signing personal notes to acquire enough money to purchase the Jaws of Life. This took place after an accident occurred, and the rescue team was unable to get a person out of their vehicle and the person died. One of the firemen said, “We stood right there in the middle of (Highway) 27 and vowed this would never happen again; we were getting the Jaws of Life.”
The middle oval features one of the most recent stories of the volunteer fire department which tells of their efforts during the tornadoes that hit Miller County earlier in 2005. It features a group of firemen rescuing victims while the background shows a landscape that has beaten and stripped from the effects of these natural disasters.
The final oval portrays the Miller County Fire and Rescue Team’s Bike Brigade. This was a group of boys who would come to the fire department on their bikes to every call that came in and to all of the firehouse meetings. Their dedication and hard work had a major influence on the members of the fire department. Many of these young boys are currently active members of the volunteer department.
Phase 2 will take place during March of 2006. During this time the space around the ovals will be painted with scenes of firemen, fire trucks, and other images that represent the volunteer department. This will be in painted in shades of gray while leaving the ovals in full color. Once completed, a dedication ceremony for the mural will take place.
Muralist, Cheryl Mann Hardin from Dothan, AL, was chosen to be the artist of this mural. This will be her second in Colquitt. She worked with some of the children of Miller County to complete the 10th mural in Colquitt, “Summer in the Swamp,” located at the New Life Learning Center in Colquitt. She has also been the artist of murals in other towns, Dothan, AL; Auburn, AL; and Columbus.

Marianne Merritt Melton was the special guest speaker at Miller County Hospital's third annual breast cancer luncheon on Tuesday, October 18.
Marianne spoke about first finding something that was a little unusual and experiencing some soreness in her right breast. She tried to dismiss this from her mind, and other things got in the way of her having her yearly mammogram on time. She was deeply worried and hadn't told her husband. When she finally told her husband, Robert, he insisted that she call the hospital that very day for a mammogram. The Miller County Hospital said, "Come now," and she did.
Unfortunately, the results were not good. She had to undergo a mastectomy and later began chemo at Phoebe Putney in March of 2004. Things did not go well on her first treatment, and she decided to go for a second opinion at Arlington Cancer Center in Arlington, Texas. There, Dr. Karel Dicke told her that the chances of survival could be as high at 75-80% rather than the 35-50% given at Phoebe. Marianne chose to follow the ACC's protocol, which included 10 chemotherapies (two were high dose) and 33 radiations.
Marianne returned home for good on January 28, 2005, just in time to help her husband coach a girls' varsity basketball game that night. She is currently back at work at Miller County Elementary School and teaches physical education. Marianne serves as the assistant coach of the Miller County Girls' JV and Varsity basketball team. Her husband, Robert, is the head coach of each.
Marianne attributes her success in fighting this battle with cancer to several things. First, she was in good physical health before the diagnosis. During her long treatments, she continued to exercise diligently and feels that this not only helped her physically, but mentally as well, in defeating this disease. She also credited the many prayers from family, friends, and especially her students, in helping her with her recovery.
Approximately, 75 women heard Marianne's story. She finished her story by encouraging all women to do monthly self-exams and to have their mammogram annually after 40.

Week of October 23, 2005