The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • 72

1 Georgia farmers grow optimistic about the '90s F3 Metro Monitor F6 INSIDE: Funeral arrangements made for mayor's mother F3 Srje Atlanta 3ournal the Atlanta constitution SUNDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1989 SECTION The changing face of Southern hospitality Natives overwhelmed, newcomers overlooked I Where they come from 03 Here are the 12 states with the largest rjrzri iMXj population migrations to Georgia between fj 1985and 1986. I m53dP( 1 1 Total MfJmaM Htctmn 3JL HTJsl S'lFi towrfai lf J-g I Sourm; Buru of th Cwm MBltf I from," said Mrs. McLendon, 74. "Now there's not enough time. Now there are too many of them from faraway places, who don't appear to be sinking roots into the community, who appear not to like Southerners really, they think they're smarter than we are "So I end up thinking they don't like me, and I don't like them.

And that's not really true at all, but that's what happens," Mrs. McLendon said. In the city symbolizing the new South, the tolerant South, intolerance is seeping under the magnolias. Neighbors remain strangers, clinging to stereotypes that keep them apart. On the Emory University campus, Dana White, a one-time New Yorker, says he sees NEWCOMERS Continued on F8 By Jan Gehorsam Staff writer To Vivian McLendon, Southern hospitality was a ritual of sparkling wine and dainty sandwiches that smoothed differences, warming natives and newcomers alike to the essential goodness of Southern life.

Not anymore. After playing hostess for 40 years, Mrs. McLendon has parked her welcome wagon, overwhelmed by stampedes of strangers and what she calls their "save the South" attitude. She hasn't even met her newest neighbors in Buckhead and may never meet them. Their house across the street has changed hands a dozen times in 17 years.

"In the past, we would invite people to our home, regardless of where they came Ron HoskmsSpecial i Hawkins, who moved to Decatur from Toron to, unpacks as neighbor Susan Dews holds Mrs. Hawkins's 1 1 -month-old son, Sam. Man, grandson find body after Lewis Grizzard Joey IvanscoStatf Jennifer Beasley, a student at the Howard Schools, tackles an algebra problem. She's become an A and student. Learning to overcome firemen give up By Maria Odum Staff writer A southwest Atlanta man didn't think the fire department looked hard enough for his missing son when firefighters sifted the ruins of a fire near his house on Christmas Eve.

So the man and his grandson searched the site themselves. On Saturday they found a body, and the medical examiner's office is tentatively identifying the victim as the man's son. Melvin Parks 55, of 261 Taft St. said he told Atlanta Fire Bureau officials that his son, Melvin Parks 35, often slept on a mattress inside the vacant three-room house that burned to the ground last Sunday. Firefighters combed the rubble twice on Christmas Eve and again last Tuesday but found no bodies, said Department of Public Safety spokesman Keith Williams.

After the second fire department search, fire officials "told me they were trained to search for bodies and that they had been out there for two or three hours and found nothing," Mr. Parks said. He was not satisfied. Around 10 a.m. Saturday, Mr.

Parks and his grandson, Leon Cobb, 16, grabbed a pair of rakes and marched the four blocks to the burned-out house on Joyland Place. In less than 15 minutes, they found a male body, Mr. Parks said. He feels certain it is his son's remains. "My grandson was scraping what he thought was a pipe," Mr.

Parks said. "But then he raked it down to the bone, and that's when we realized it was the leg of a body." Mr. Williams, the Public Safety spokesman, confirmed that "a male body was found. But at this MAN Continued on F2 Legislators to focus on child welfare By Jane O. Hansen Staff writer In a year when gubernatorial politics will steer legislators away from knotty issues like abortion, one issue they're finding as easy to embrace as apple pie is the reform of the state's child welfare system.

The 1990 legislative session will mark the "Year of the Child," some officials are predicting. As testimony to that possibility, Gov. Joe Frank Harris Friday unveiled a legislative agenda that gives top billing to three issues, one of them children and youth. Interviews with House and Senate leaders suggest that even in a year of budget austerity, programs for abused and troubled children will be among the winners. '90 ASSEMBLY Continued on F2 School helps pupils conquer their 'invisible' handicaps By Betsy White Staff writer As a learning-disabled student at Cobb County's gargantuan Lassiter High School, Jennifer Beasley was failing miserably.

"I felt like I was in a hole and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't dig myself out," she said. In desperation, she and her family turned to the Howard Schools, and Jennifer reluctantly enrolled in March 1987 as one of the first students at Howard's new Roswell campus. "Howard seems to be exactly what she needed," said her mother, Jo Beasley, who marvels at the startling turnaround in Jennifer's attitude and academic achievement during her 2Vi years there. "What they do is absolutely amazing," agreed Jennifer's father, Jack Beasley. "When you take a kid who won't go to a high school and go to one who's looking forward to college well, that's what the Howard School has done for Jennifer." Founded in 1950 when few public schools had programs for mentally retarded pupils, let alone for those with the "invisible" handicap of a learning disability, Howard is one of the nation's oldest schools devoted solely to INNOVATIVE Continued on F3 Looking back at '80s: They were best of times, worst of The decade of the '80s a personal retrospective: The thing I did 1 regret the most: Taking up snow skiing.

It cost me a lot of money, time and effort to realize snow skiing was never going to be any fun as long as I couldn't do it in Florida while wearing golf shoes. Number of divorces I got in the '80s: One. Half as many as I got in the 70s. Worst movie I saw in the '80s: "The Accidental Tourist." The best: "The Untouchables." My worst financial move: Purchasing a new house before I had sold the old one. That, and spending good money to see "The Accidental Tourist." The most astounding thing my dog Catfish, the black Lab, chewed up and ate during the '80s: (Tie) A light bulb and an entire set of wicker furniture.

Getting a proper grip on dental floss My most satisfying accomplishment of the '80s: I solved "New York City Marathon," while watching "Wheel of Fortune" when only an and a were showing on the puzzle. Second place: I finally figured out the proper way to hold dental floss. My selection for Man of the Decade for the '80s: Judge Wapner. My selection for Woman of the Decade for the '80s: Dr. Ruth.

Best advice I received during the '80s: "If you'd shave off that beard, you'd look 10 years younger." The worst: "YouUUove the opera." The one thing I didn't do in the '80s that almost everybody else did: Get a car phone. I thought about it, but then I said to myself, "That's stupid. My car is the only place they can't find me." People who put phones in their cars in the '80s will install them in their showers in the '90s. Worse place I visited during the '80s: (Tie) The Soviet Union and the dentist's office. The best: Switzerland.

No snakes. No mosquitoes. Pair of VCRs just fine as bookends The most useless thing I bought in the '80s: Two VCRs. I still can't figure out how to connect them to my TV. I'm using them as bookends.

Scariest quote I heard in the '80s: "Hmmmm Which is what my doctor said as he listened to my heart about eight seconds before he told me it was in need of repair. Worst joke I heard during the '80s: What do you call a boomerang that won't come back? A stick. Best joke: I can't tell it here, but it involves 13 parrots. Person who got his during the '80s who I think deserved it the most: The Ayatollah. Second place: Jim Bakker.

Best new food of the '80s: Dove Bars. Worst: Vegetarian lasagna. New fashion trend of the '80s my grandfather would never have believed could happen: Earrings for men who aren't pirates. Best fashion comeback of the '80s: The tattoo. The most important thing I learned about myself in the 80s: I am no longer a promising young man.

Joey IvanscoStaff Betty Hayes, a teacher at the Howard Schools, helps Jack McPher-son as Hugh Eaton (left) looks on. Classes have 10 or fewer pupils. Underground is Atlanta's 'Times Square' Peach drop will herald arrival of new decade By Scott Bronstein Staff writer Forget the apple in New York's Times Square. Atlantans are expected to stream downtown tonight, 80,000 strong, to celebrate New Year's Eve and watch what organizers hope will be the first annual peach drop. Continuing its longstanding tradition of emulating New York.

Atlanta this year is planning its own version of Gotham City's famed party, billed as the first official downtown Atlanta New Year Eve party replete with a plunging peach, a big-band swing orchestra and a giant release of balloons. Revelers who go to the bash can watch the ceremonial descent of a mammoth, 6-foot -wide foam and fiberglass peach. The oversized inedible will float down from the top of the 138-foot light tower standing at the entrance of Underground Atlanta, in what is known as Peach-tree Fountains Plaza. The outdoor party at the plaza is being billed as a safe, fun, "family event." There is no charge, alcohol will be banned in the area and organizers say they hope the party will be fun for all ages. The party takes place just across the street from where the Light Up Atlanta street festival turned to disaster in June 1986.

A bottle-throwing melee culminated a weekend of crime and violence, including a shooting death. City police and Underground officials say they have learned lessons from that violent street festival, when 46 people were arrested and gangs of young hoods roamed the streets ripping chains from women's necks and snatching pocketbooks. The officials say this year's New Year's Eve party will be different, largely because there will be a heavy police presence throughout Underground, the adjacent MARTA station and surrounding neighborhood. "We're saying 'Come on own, UNDERGROUND Continued on F4 Nick ArroyoStaff Authenticity check Ahin Geis, a Florida antiques dealer, takes a close look at the signature on a miniature tool crafted by Rolan Gruaman during SB annual D.S. Clarke Antique Show Saturday at the Georgia odd Congress Center.

The show opened Saturday and continues from noon to 6 p.m. today and New Year's Day..