1946 - A Year of Progress

By John Harvey

December 1945 and January 1946 was a period of renewed activity in our county.  As mentioned before, the annual Christmas concert was begun and some old traditions were renewed.

On December 19, 1945, a memorable meeting was held.  On the night, a county-wide meeting was held to decide if the people of the county wanted to build a hospital.  Before the meeting was over, two committees had been formed; one, the hospital committee, was to study the Hill-Burton Act (Fed. Bill 191) and oversee a fund raising drive.  The other was to visit other cities where hospitals had been built to study their operation.

Most important of all was that over $17,000 was pledged for the hospital even before a campaign had begun.  

In other stories of the time, we find that the county Agricultural Agent, J. O. Chandler, announced that the farm terracing program suspended during the war, was to be re-instated under the direction of W. M. Putney, Frank Burrell and T. V. Wagner.  Farmers were advised to sign up as soon as possible so that the funds could be applied for.

On February 14, it was announced that 25 head of deer had been brought in from Wisconsin and placed on the Piedmont Wildlife Refuge through the aid of Charles N. Elliott, state director of the Fish and Game Commission.  The article further stated that eight head had been brought in 1935 by a group of local sportsmen.  These deer had been turned loose on the lowlands of the Ocmulgee River.  It was estimated that these had increased to about 60 head but many had been killed by farmers when they got into their crops.

It was stated that though the actual number of deer in the county was unknown, the state had announced that it was illegal to kill any endangered species such as deer, bear, and beaver.  It was also announced that plans were being made to increase the protection of dove and quail populations and that hatchery-raised birds would soon be introduced into the county.

Additional Comments:
Transcribed by Suzanne Forte (suzanneforte@bellsouth.net) April 2005,  from copies of articles contained in the Monticello News. There articles were prepared by Mr. 
John Harvey and published in this newspaper during the 1970's and 1980's time frame. Some were under the title "Jasper Reflections", others "Bicentennial Bits".
Permission has been granted by Mr. Harvey for use of these very valuable and informative articles.

Copies of articles provided by Benny Hawthorne.