The 23rd annual National Mayhaw Festival is scheduled to be held Friday and Saturday, April 14 and 15. Everyone around town is gearing up for the annual event.
The annual event will kick off on Friday morning, April 14, with the annual Mayhaw Classic Golf Tournament to be held at Crooked Oak Golf Course, starting at 12:00 noon. You still have time to enter this, so make your plans today.
Also on Friday morning, some of the best cooks around will be selling their homemade cakes and goodies at the annual bake sale to be held on the square. Some of the best homemade goodies around will be offered. You’ll want to get your Easter goodies at the bake sale.
Also, on Friday, some of the best BBQ you’ll ever eat will be available. You can choose from pork, beef or chicken. It all promises to be the best!
For all the runners and walkers, the 5-K run and one mile fun walk will kick off Saturday morning, April 15, at 8:30 a.m., beginning at the Family Resource Center (next to the sheriff’s office). Registration will begin at 7:00 a.m.
Then at 10:00 a.m. the Mayhaw Festival Parade will adorn the streets of Colquitt with bands, beauty queens, clowns, motorcycles, and much more.
After the parade, everyone will head down to Spring Creek Park, where admission will be FREE to enter the park. Some of the best arts and crafts in the area will be on sale along with anything you might want to eat.
If you get tired of walking, you can enjoy the shade of the amphitheater as you listen to some of the greatest music you’ll ever hear.
The Mayhaw Queens will be walking around the festival, promoting the annual event. The queens were recently aired on Channel 4 in Dothan, AL, on Tuesday, April 5, at 10:00 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. E.S.T., advertising the festival and will appear again on WCTV, Monday, April 10th at 9:20 a.m. and again on WALB, Albany on the Ruthie Garner Show Wednesday, April 12, at 12:00 noon.
Get ready for a weekend of fun and excitement!

You never know who or what you may see in Colquitt.
Last Thursday, Mrs. Ruth Tully came briskly in the Miller County Liberal telling us that we needed to go to Hometown American Pie. She went on to say that there was a young man eating lunch that was riding his bicycle from one corner of the United States to the other.
Knowing that Mr. Terry, who was out of town for the day, would want me to “get the scoop,” I hurriedly went over to the restaurant and asked the man when he finished eating would he come by the news office. He did and this is the story:
His name was Rasiel Suarez. His hometown is Asheville, North Carolina, and he is 37 years old.
Early in March, the day after his 37th birthday, and just a few weeks from his returning to his home in Asheville from Morocco and Peru, Rasiel said his good-byes to his two children, Max and Eric, rented a SUV one-way, packed with all the things needed for his trip and left Asheville heading for Key West, Florida. This is where he would begin the 3,600 mile trip from one corner of the United States to the other, his destination being Seattle, Washington.
When asked why he was making this trip, he replied, “to see America, meet people,” and with a giggle, “to get my body in shape.” He added that he already had a farmer’s tan because of the heat in the Florida Keys.
So far, Rasiel said that everything has been great, except for the fact that he was having to ride on roads with no shoulders.
“And with the giant SUVs on the road today, along with the semis storming by you, you do get a few honks and ugly remarks, but overall it has been great.”
Most of his nights are spent in a tent that he has with him, but some nights, he rewards himself by staying in hotels. He doesn’t eat as much as he drinks. He says he drinks a lot of Gatorade and Powerade and eats on occasion.
Rasiel spent two nights in Colquitt at a local hotel because of the cold weather. He had not prepared for weather like this, so he had no coat or long pants with him. After talking with him a few minutes, he was taken in back of the Liberal office where Mr. Terry has a “clothes store” from where he lost his weight due to diabetes. Tammy Richardson and I managed to find him a coat, sweat shirt and pants which he was most grateful for, since we didn’t have the shopping mall he was looking for to buy some warm clothes.
Rasiel said on a good day he averages about 60 miles , that is, if everything is going his way. On several days of his journey, he stated the wind had been a major factor, along with some of the biggest hills he has ever encountered. But overall, so far, things have been going the way he expected.
When asked if he had run into any misfortunes, he quickly commented “yes,” but it turned out it really wasn’t, but it was enough scare for the whole journey. He had stopped at a convenience store for a snack and, when he left, forgot his backpack which had all of his cash plus a $2000 camera in it. It was about four miles down the road when he remembered it. He said he quickly turned around to go back, knowing that it would be wasted time. But when he rode up, he said there were kids playing, and they had put his backpack on top of a parked car. He thanked them and offered them cash for giving it back to him. They refused it and wished him a safe journey. Rasiel stated, “That incident gave me encouragement to ride even harder when I left to make up for the time I had lost. There are still good, honest people in the world.”
Rasiel hopes to finish his trip some time in May, but says he doesn’t have a specific date set.
If you would like to keep up with Rasiel’s journey, you can log on to his website at www.rasiel.com.

Although Miss Christy Joiner, the daughter of Brenda and Jerry Cannon Joiner, lives in the quiet, peaceful, calm town of Colquitt with her family, she has won national attention for her literary talents and adorns magazines around the world.
A graduate of Henderson High School in Atlanta, Christy attended the University of Alabama, University of Georgia, and Georgia State University. At the University of Georgia, she was an active member of Kappa Delta Sorority, where she remains an alumni.
The all-American beauty recently became a published writer and cover model. Christy received recognition for her poetry when she won a national poetry contest. Her winning poem was written about her near-death experience. Entitled “The Death of Me,” it was published in the International Library of Poetry and won the Editor’s Choice Award.
Christy has also signed with a major modeling agency. She appears in a myriad of magazines. Among them are Tallahassee Magazine, Emerald Coast Magazine, Hawaiian Tropic, Stuff Magazine, and she is a semi-finalist in Maxim Magazine. In addition to magazines, she appears on billboards and in catalogues. She works under a show business name in order to protect her low-profile in Colquitt.

According to Miller County Extension Agent, Tim W. Moore, the lifing of the moratorium on water permits will be welomed news to may area farmers who need to drill new irrigation wells.
Governor Sonny Perdue and Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) Director Carol Couch announced today that the moratorium on new farm-use water permits will be lifted in the Flint River Basin Region.
“I am very pleased for Southwest Georgia that we can lift this moratorium on new water permits for the region’s farmers,” said Governor Sonny Perdue. “Not only is this good policy, based on sound science, it is great news for the region and the state. The steps we are taking strike a proper balance between the importance of water conservation and supporting Georgia’s agriculture industry.”
EPD developed the Flint River Basin Regional WaterDevelopment and Conservation Plan based on recommendations of a stakeholder advisory committee and technical findings of several sound science studies. The plan will better manage the water resources of the state’s Flint River Basin, while meeting the irrigation water needs of the region’s farmers. The 19-member stakeholder advisory committee, which met during a year-long series of public meetings, consisted of farmers, business people and others from throughout the area.
”The scientific studies show that increased pumping of groundwater and surface water, especially during times of drought, can have a significant impact on the health of the Flint River and its many tributaries,” said EPD Director Carol A. Couch. “Protecting this important water resource will help address the long-term irrigation needs of the region’s farmers. In accomplishing this objective, I am
grateful to Senators John Bulloch, Ross Tolleson and George Hooks, and Representatives Bob Hanner, Richard Royal and Tom McCall for their assistance and counsel.”
EPD has held farm-use water withdrawal permit applications since 1999, pending results of the scientific studies and development of a water management plan. The moratorium on new farm-use permits will be lifted, but applications will be closely evaluated to meet the requirements of the plan.
The goals of the plan, as defined by statute, are to promote conservation and reuse of water, guard against a shortage of water, promote the efficient use of water resources, manage the water resources of the Flint River Basin such that they are sustainable and consistent with the public welfare.
Permitting decisions will be based on the requested amount of water, the connections between groundwater and surface water as determined by computer models, the impact of water withdrawals on stream flows and the presence of endangered or threatened species.

The First Baptist Church has done it again, and this may be the biggest and best Wild Game Banquet to date.
Over 500 men and boys attended the sixth Wild Game Banquet held at the Family Life Center at the First Baptist Church in Colquitt on Tuesday, March 21, 2006.
Andy Hynes, assistant pastor/minister of students, was the master of ceremonies for the evening of one of the largest varieties of wild game served in the area. The guests were also served up some great entertainment by other sportsmen. This event was started back in 2000, and has been held each year except 2005. Those attending have not only enjoyed some of the best eating anywhere, they have been entertained by celebrities such as race car great, Bobby Allison, Georgia football coach, Ray Goff, Realtree sportsmen and for the third time, pro fisherman, Glenn Chappelear.
The evening began as newly named permanent pastor, Dr. Carl Sullivan, welcomed everyone and started with a prayer. He told that this was perhaps his first official meeting as the newly designated pastor for Colquitt First Baptist Church.
Master of ceremonies Hynes then introduced the seven or eight contestants in the Turkey Calling Contest. They each did a good job of calling the gobblers, and the judges had a hard time selecting a first and second winner from the group. The winners were Keenon Adams, first place; and Curt Williams, second place.
MC Hynes then introduced the guest speaker, Glenn Chappelear, a professional fisherman since 1997 who has won over $33,000 in prize monies. He has already been on tour with the Forrest L. Wood (FLW) 2006 tournaments in three states and will be in three other states by June.
Glenn Chappelear is not only a pro fisherman of fish, but is a fisherman of men. He stated that he is on pace to conduct 40 banquets throughout the U.S.A and has seen over 400 people check on commitment cards they prayed to receive Christ as their personal Savior at these events.
Prior to the dinner, Chappelear showed the crowd of men and boys some of his great skills as a fisherman.
Speaking of the wild game dinner, it was certainly one to remember. The over 60 tables were numbered, and drawn at random for serving those seated at the tables.
Other than being one of the last tables drawn, it was a wonderful dinner. Can you imagine having the choice of the following prepared in numerous ways: wild hog, turtle, sausage (deer and hog), alligator, brunswick stew, buffalo, catfish, deer, deer and beef meatloaf, duck and rice, duck dressing, elk, fried turkey, frog, low country boil, pork, quail and dove, rabbit, along with many trimmings.
After the dinner, Glenn Chappelear again told of some of his tours, his ministries and experiences. He gave pointers on fishing for fish and for men.
On each of the tables were commitment cards for the guests to fill in to tell something about their church life, if they were Christians, if they wanted to be Christians as well as to have their name put in the box for a chance to win one of the many great prizes purchased and donated. Many area businesses donated the large array of door prizes. The winners of the guns were Ben Bridges, Thomas Sullivan and Jason Houston.
Checking the cards, it was reported that 41 men had given their professions of faith and 64 rededications of their life to Christ.
Dr. Marshall thanked everyone for coming to the sixth Wild Game Banquet, and after a prayer the men were dismissed with full stomachs, and hopefully a better heart than they came into the meeting with. Most of the guests were already making plans to attend the seventh Wild Game Banquet.
As one of the guests stated, “This is the only thing I’ve seen in this area that can draw over 500 men to a Christian meeting, and everyone seems to enjoy it all.

Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John W. Oxendine is urging Georgians to change the batteries in their smoke alarms at the same time they change their clocks to daylight saving time on April 2.
In conjunction with the “Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery” fire safety program, the annual change from standard time to daylight saving time in the spring is a good time to make sure your smoke alarm is working as it should.
“Every year in Georgia we have numerous fire fatalities in homes that didn’t have smoke alarms, or where the alarms didn’t function,” Oxendine said. “If you have a smoke alarm, make sure it’s in working order. Changing the battery at least once every year and cleaning dust from the device are easy ways to ensure continued protection of your family and your property. Having a working smoke alarm doubles the chances you will survive a fire in your home.”
Daylight saving time begins Sunday, April 2 at 2 a.m., when clocks are set ahead one hour.

Week of March 26, 2006