The Macon News from Macon, Georgia • 15

Page IB Srlrgniph Nruis SATURDAY MORNING DECEMBER 1178 Death Hinder Third TV Station year after forming their own corporation Broadcasting Dynmanics for the purpose of acquiring channel 24 A source close to the head of Broad- casting Dynamics said a lack of financial resources was behind that group's decision to scrap their plans and join organization Manly said Friday that he guess that he (Rowe) wanted to have people who are well known locally in order to compete with Manly also said that a phone conversation he had with Rowe on Wednes stations and a communications consulting firm He died at approximately 6:30 am Friday at DeKalb General Hospital in Decatur according to his brother-in-law Don Anderson The exact cause of death has not been determined The Federal Communications Commission announced earlier this week that it had officially accepted application for a construction permit for channel 24 in Macon A Savannah-based corporation By Sidney HiU Tatograrti Staff Writer The head of a company that has applied for a permit to bring a third television station to Macon died Friday But a spokesman for Russell-Rowe Communications said Howard Rowe's death won't affect the company's plan to acquire the station In addition to being president of the Atlanta-based Russell-Rowe Communications Co the 53-year-old Rowe was the owner of two Georgia radio day left him with the impression that Rowe was about his chances of getting the station license seemed to feel that the Lewis organization going to pursue it and that the FCC would probably issue a permit sometime in Rowe who was bom in Dublin and had relatives there and in Macon also owned WSNE radio in Cumming Ga and WDGL radio in Douglassville as well as Howard Rowe and Associates an Atlanta-based consulting firm Lewis Broadcasting Inc is expected to apply for the same permit in the near future A spokesman for Herman Russell chairman of Russell-Rowe Communications said Friday that death will not affect that plans SHORTLY AFTER he filed the application with the FCC Rowe said that if he were granted the license his station would employ three former WMAZ executives The three men Stan Carey Lloyd Havis and Bill Manly were fired fron WMAZ last Milledgeville Campaigns For Center By Philip Bolton -Tatarali-Nwi Evraau MILLEDGEVILLE Community leaders have embarked on a letter-writing campaign to show widespread support for locating a public safety facility here The campaign to write a long list of state officials was approved during a meeting Thursday at the Milledge-ville-Baldwin County Chamber of Commerce Forty persons attended representing a cross-section of the city's private businsses and local institutions If funded by the General Assembly the facility would consolidate public safety training by the state including all law enforcement and firefighting training ALTHOUGH OFFICIALS FROM several areas in the state have shown interest in the center a $20 million plum sites in Macon and Milledgeville because of their central location in the state are considered the front-runners Macon and Bibb County officials have agreed to purchase a site for the center while Milledgeville and Baldwin County officials stress the saving to the state of renovating empty buildings on grounds of Central State Hospi Re Oliff has surrounded himself with mementos of 34 Christ muses as part of his decoration collec -t i including a 32-year-old tree Photo bV SILL BOYD Santa Would Feel Right At Home on Dykes Street Public Is Unprepared For Disaster: Official Boyd Spreading Spirit Good things are supposed to happen to people with the Christmas spirit Now hear the story of Joe the Polack Good things happened to him because of his Christmas spirit Joe is a big man broad chest and strong back and arms the type of macho man who can move literally He once used that physique to build tanks for the Vietnam war But really Big Joe hated the Cleveland Ohio plant and its windowless cavern on the south side BY THE TIME I met Joe the war was winding down and he was out of a job He disliked unemployment about as much as the plant Joe was looking for me more fling at something before he took the best job he could find and went back to work He heard about the Toys for Tots campaign run by the Marine reserves in Cleveland He also knew I was their front man the guy on radio and TV plugging the program In volunteer programs you-don't sneer at free labor So I put Joe to work driving a truck and picking up toys for little kids He loved it The first sergeant didn't care much for the Polack Joe's hair was too long he said Naturally everyone else took side and the first sergeant was cast as the bad guy for the rest of the toy drive Big Joe rode home with me each night We were always the last two out the door at nightAnd the next morning be stamping his feet to ward of the cold while he waited to go back downtown to more toys more fun and maybe a jab or two from the first sergeant WE CALLED HIM Joe the Polack and he never complained about the reference to his ancestry One of his favorite sayings was "Who do you think you're kidding some dumb But he worked Lord that man out-worked any two of us perhaps making up for the idleness of unemployment I would come back from one of those 6:30 news shows take a truck and hit the road for more toys As long as I would go Joe was with me Late in the toy drive Joe went on a direct toy delivery where Marines and kids mix Joe slicked down all that hair and flashed his big smile It turned out to be a party for crippled children That really got to Joe What the heck it got to all of us But those youngsters followed big Joe everywhere Kids' seem to know more about people than first sergeants WE WORKED OUR' way through 40000 toys in three weeks Finally the last ones were gone We were sweeping out the warehouse when someone asked what we ought to get Joe for Christmas And good things started happening to Joe the Polack We decided to pass the hat and buy Joe a plaque to hang on his wall so he would always remember little kids and toy-collecting Marines It was a good idea except that the hat runneth over Instead of $25 for a nice wooden plaque we had' almost $100 Another huddle I mentioned that I had told Joe about sunny Florida my wife's home state during those many rides to pick up toys I told them the Polack really was dumb He thought every place had snow cold north winds and bone-numbing chill factors show him huh? PLANE TICKETS FOR Joe and his wife ran a little more than $100 but Joe had lots of friends We bought the tickets and got Joe the plaque too When we gave him the tickets Joe looked at us in amazement A lot of the guys who tossed money in the pot had never seen Florida either But nothing was too good for Joe Things like this happen because of Christmas spirit and they kept on happening Joe joined my family for the holidays I remember him standing there in a short-sleeved shirt and stretching his Tarzan physique "Gee this is he said Right around New Year's Day one of my relatives came calling He was a big shot with a railroad When the relative found out the strapping Pole was unemployed he said by my place tomorrow got a Sure enough he did have a job outdoors and moving Just the thing for Joe the Polack JOE'S STILL DOWN there tanned healthy and happy driving those monsters now instead of just hooking cars together We see him once a year or so And he comes to mind every Christmas when good things happen to people My son Joe got his name from the big Pole He's a reminder of good things happening too Merry Christmas tal instead Local officials also say the state could save money by using support services such as the kitchen and the fire police and engineering departments already here They also point to the new Medical-Surgical Building on Vinson Highway for medical services and the Driver Training Course adjacent to the Old Capitol Education Center which could be expanded for the use GOV GEORGE BUSBEE has commissioned a feasibility study to be made for the site which is to be completed by early February and should give an accounting of how much the cost savings would be if the center is located in Baldwin County Chamber President Maynard Chambers said the meeting was called Thursday so a -united front could be presented by the community in support of the facility is very interested in the Chambers said think it would be a tremendous asset to the community It would be like having a small Industry moving in without any of the problems that an industry might WIl Dubose Civil Defense Chief EXTRA MONEY going to go to pay civil defense people more it will go for educating the says Dubose Dubose says he also thinks civil defense workers need better communications systems and warning systems He says he thinks vehicles need to be equipped with radios that can transmit to Atlanta rather than transmitting to a base station and relaying the message He also says state civil defense needs radios capable of reaching beyond Macon He says Macon civil defense workers now must relay messages from Atlanta to points south of Macon Dubose also says the city needs more air raid sirens The air raid sirens now in the city cover only 40 percent of the population By BUI Boyd Tolooraoh-Nowt State Editor COCHRAN If Santa Claus ever moves away from the North Pole he ought to consider settling at 506 West Dykes Street in Cochran A Santa-like atmosphere has already been created by a retired minister and his wife and they share their home with 60 likenesses of the jolly man in red If the home of the Rev Warren Lee Oliff and his wife Bettie is unpretentious on the outside the interior of the modest eight-room home is a breath-taking sight for holiday visitors YOUNG AND OLD marvel at the array of 19 Christmas trees 1400 decorative balls 75 wreaths and floral arrangements 82 stuffed toys and the cascade of sounds birds chirping and bell chiming out the carols of Christmas Not even in the year of the most Christmasy spirit does the average family approach Oliff enthusiasm for the holidays Standing among 60 strings of blinking lights the minister said "Children go crazy in here They never want to Which is his payment for 34 years of getting ready for Christmas Oliff moved quietly into Cochran five years ago and even though he has had more than 500 visitors this year many townfolks don't know about the interior of the home six blocks west of the courthouse He was a Southern Baptist minister in Lorain Ohio before bringing his Christmas tradition and a few other worldly possessions to Cochran FATHER JULIAN Oliff lived in Landover Md and did this for 54 years I picked it up from him 34 years he said And the Cochran resident has passed the tradition on to a third generation his daughter Delores Cason of Union Grove Wise Among Warren (Miffs more prized possessions is a 32-year-old Christmas tree that rests in a comer of the dining room raised three daughters with that tree They got it out of storage after six years and brought it to me Thanksgiving Of thousands of decorations in the Oliff home about one-quarter are home-made A few items have been purchased by friends and they see something unusual they remember me and send it to But most of the items simply represent a collection of 34 Christmases WINDING UP A tap-dancing Santa Claus the minister said' love Christmas Many men who come through here ask me why I put myself through this each year tell them that Christmas is loving and caring and sharing I like to share this to see the little children happy and wide-eyed" Oliff display restricted to children however get a lot of senior citizens and nursing home folks through here A couple of weeks ago a busload from nursing homes came through here every day for a Not everyone who comes to his home has Oliffs Christmas spirit lady told me she put up a Christmas tree if she had her A Santa-like smile crossed his features and he added told her I put up 19 of them every A small room in the back of the house is a storehouse of toys designed to please starry-eyed children YOUNGSTERS REALLY like this room They'll just stand there and stare We had a busload of 75 first-graders from Chester here the other morning before I was up and about But we took themthrough-And two days later they came back with a busload of kindergarten children It was Decorations in the room are complete even to felt cut-out decorations with magnetic strips on the back holding them to the water-heater man called this place Disneyland" he said Oliff needs six weeks to put up the decorations that also include 4000 feet of garland and it takes another six weeks to take it down Such a schedule means he starts in early October and finishes Christmas around the first of March Can anyone see the display? says the hospitable minister Visitors are welcome anytime between 10 am and 10 pm EXCEPT CHRISTMAS DAY of course Cochran's Mr and Mrs Santa Claus are expecting a houseful of children and grandchildren for Christmas Just go to Cochran and turn west on Hawkinsville Highway (Georgia 26) Five blocks past the railroad tracks look for 506 where Santa lives in Cochran By Jay Barrow Tatograrii Staff Writer Governmental officials in Macon are ready for a nuclear attack but the public probably is not says the head of the Macon-Bibb County Civil Defense unit WH Dubose who went through a simulated evacuation of Macon with government officials three weeks ago says Macon needs to educate its citizens on what to do if a nuclear attack became imminent got some plans and we think Dubose says the problem is that people don't know them got an education Dubose says routes have been set up for residents to leave Macon if a nuclear attack appears imminent is if negotiations break down and things start looking grim need about a day It isn't the old get out of town in 30 minutes he said But Dubose says most residents don't know the routes and probably would be confused HE ALSO SAYS that many people might think the danger of an attack is overrated and refuse to leave you get them to think that they survive a nuclear attack anywhere and this is just not So Dubose says the state and local departments of civil defense need to begin an education program like to have a map of the evacuation routes in every house in says Dubose He says a request by the Carter administration for more money for' civil defense may help solve the problem The Carter administration is asking Congress to raise the amount spent on civil defense from about $100 million per year in matching funds to $400 million per year Man Charged With Stealing Garbage Truck By Jay Barrow Tatatrspk Staff Wrttor Macon police have charged a man with stealing a city garbage truck so he -could chauffeur a friend on a date Ralph Smith was in the city jail Friday night on charges ranging from drunken driving to possesion of a stolen vehicle Officers said he left in his wake a sideswiped car a clipped telephone pole and a team of frustrated police who spent nearly half an hour chasing Smith around the back streets of Macon told us get out of said an officer said he didn't really steal the Smith told police he turned the keys left in the garbage trucks to take the truck He said he planned to use-it only so a friend would have a way to take out a girl But neither the friend nor the gir were in sight when police finally stopped the garbage truck shortly after 7 pm on Poplar Street There was just Smith who scowled as offi yield to a police blue lights Police listed his address as the Team Two Sgt Groover said officers chased the garbage truck on Poplar Street Seventh Street Hazel Street and Sixth Street Police said it sideswiped a car belonging to Alfonzo Veal at the intersection of Broadway and Hazel Steet and sped away THE TRUCK ALSO clipped a tele cers put the cuffs on him SEND ME to jail on he pleaded to a witness on the scene you to the man shot back sending you to jail You sent you to jail Anybody who would steal a city Smith is charged with possession of a stolen automobile drunken driving leaving'the scene of an accident driving without a license and failing to I phone pole just before officers stopped it on Poplar Police said they couldn't estimate the speed of the car Friday night They were still investigating "But it must Have been moving pretty good We had one officer pass it going the other way and he had already gone down the road and down a couple more roads when he turned around" said Groover The car that was hit was parked There were no injuries in the incident I.