Selected Layouts - Pierce County Living

PIERCE COUNTY Living

LOST LETTERS

TELL A TALE OF WWII HEROES

ANGEL IN OUR MIDST ANTIQUE-HUNTING

LOCAL PILOT EARNS WINGS HELPING OTHERS

WE’RE THE LATEST DESTINATION! PIERCE COUNTY LIVING 1

L E T T E R F R OM T H E E D I T O R

A spring day overlooking a private pond in Eastern Pierce County

Pull up a chair and relax.

You’re at home in one of Southeast Georgia’s best places to live and work. And if you don’t know all about this great community we’re privileged to call home, don’t worry.

We’ve got plenty of information here to get you up to speed in no time. Plus, there’s a surprising number of tales here you won’t find anywhere else.

Pierce County Living magazine is a true community effort. We are grateful to Tommy Lowmon and the Blackshear Main Street Program and Angela Manders at the Chamber of Commerce for their “push” to get this magazine into your hands. Their ideas and support made all the difference. Thanks also to many talented local and area writers and photographers whose works are displayed here. Most important, thank you to dozens of advertisers whose commitment made this publication possible. We appreciate you all.

For nearly 150 years, The Blackshear Times has excelled in providing the latest news and advertising. Pierce County Living magazine helps showcase our community in a different way that makes us proud. We hope you will feel the same.

Pierce county Living Robert M. Williams, Jr. Editor & PublishEr Cheryl S. Williams AssociAtE PublishEr Managing Editor Wayne Hardy

Advertising Sales Paige Parker

Associate Manager Sandy Head

Staff Writer Jason Deal

Production Manager Tammie Cason

Staff Writer Rose Aldridge

Graphics Designer Julie Cunningham

Office Manager Joan Teglas-Duplessis

Graphics Consultant Erica Chancey Special thanks to many who helped make this magazine possible, including: Tommy Lowmon and the Blackshear Main Street Program, Angela Manders and the Chamber of Commerce, Matt Carter and the Development Authority, Stephanie Bell, Melanie Clough, Berry Henderson, Tom Strait, Rem Farr, Jennifer Carter Johnson Photography, William Boyle, Robert Dixon, Jeffords Studio, Paul Christian, the City of Blackshear, Pierce County Commission, City of Patterson, Wayne Morgan, Jack O’Brien and Casey Jones.

This magazine is another quality publication of SouthFire Newspapers and produced by Southeast Georgia’s most honored newspaper

6 PIERCE COUNTY LIVING

The Blackshear Times

Table of CONTENTS Carter, Cooper & Kayla, children of Anthony & Jennifer Johnson, explore a shady dirt road in Eastern Pierce County.

COVER STORIES

15

Antique Hunting

That unique treasure may be awaiting downtown!

10

21

Angel In Our Midst

Jon Drawdy’s plane and time are waiting to help others.

WHY DO YOU LIVE IN PIERCE COUNTY?

64

Whether born here and never left or just arrived, everyone has reason this is home.

26

THE SYCAMORE TREE

HISTORIC DOWNTOWN BLACKSHEAR

70

HUNTING IS HEAVEN WITH A GOOD DOG

77

‘ESCAPE INTO A RARE WILDERNESS’ The Satilla River beckons as a nearby getaway for locals or those from far away who can find it.

61

VINTAGE VACATION VOYAGER

MADE WITH PRIDE IN PIERCE COUNTY Economic development means jobs and our Development Authority wants to help.

86

Passion for the perfect hunting companion brings sportsmen from far away to Offerman.

56

ALL AROUND EXCELLENCE

Dane Smith and family travel in 1940’s style while on getaway and draw envious glances.

Our award-winning Main Street program is bringing trade, traffic and life back downtown.

46

One local family gave more than most in WWII.

A lengthy, but still incomplete, list of accomplishments by local students and teachers.

Residents, churches unite to provide a helping hand, or heart, to those hurting or in need.

43

31

Lost Letters

BOONDOCK SURVIVAL Personal defense is both skill and art and one local man has become a global expert.

93

PIERCE COUNTY RESOURCE GUIDE Whatever your need, an address and phone number here can lead to nearby assistance.

‘GOOD IS THE ENEMY OF GREAT’ A relentless pursuit of excellence has distinguished Pierce County Schools.

Pierce counLiving ty

On Our Cover: This beautiful photo by Managing Editor Wayne Hardy captures gracious living in our community well. The stately 5,000 square foot home of Truman and Donna McClain and their daughters, Emily, Caroline and Elizabeth, sits amidst 40 acres on Highway 84, just west of Blackshear. That’s Emily’s barrel horse, Harry, contentedly grazing.

IN OUR MIDST S ANGEL HELPING OTHERS LOST LETTEREROES LOCAL PILOT EARNS WINGS

TING ANTIQUE-HUN DESTINATION! WE’RE THE LATEST

TELL A TALE OF WWII H

PIERCE COUNTY LIVING 7

WHY DO YOU LIVE IN PIERCE COUNTY? Longtime natives and newcomers tell us why they live where we love

By Rose Aldridge

Why do you live in Pierce County? It probably has something to do with the people here. Maybe it’s the mild weather. Good schools and good churches may have had an influence on your decision. We asked people, both natives and transplants, why they choose to live here.

NATIVES Pam Hitchner, director of Blackshear Presbyterian Daycare and Preschool “I tried to move away, but it just didn’t work,” she says, laughing.

Jane Foreman, cashier at Wall’s IGA Foreman calls Pierce County “God’s gift to mankind”, and has never desired to live anywhere else.

Hitchner comes from a large Pierce County family (her parents are Jimmy and Diane Davis, who live between Blackshear and Bristol), and most of her siblings still live here. As a young adult, though, Hitchner was lured away by the big city lights of Miami.

“This is an ideal place to live,” She believes. “The weather is great and we live close to the beaches and the mountains.”

She soon was disillusioned by what she found there.

“I’m just in love with Pierce County,” she enthuses. “It’s a little less industrial but a lot of farming. Farming gets you close to God.”

“Nobody loves anybody in Miami,” she believes. “I had to come home to where people love each other.”

Hitchner says this is where “God wants me”, and she has found her passion in running the daycare center at her church.

“I love the church and the people here,” she says. “People really care about each other here. We look after each other.”

She laughs again and reflects on what that can mean.

“Everybody is all up in each other’s business — but in a good way.”

10 PIERCE COUNTY LIVING

Foreman raised five children here and all but one still call Pierce County home.

Foreman believes her job gets her closer to God, too. If you’ve been through her checkout lane more than a time or two, she probably knows your name. Whether she knows you by name, she’s sure to greet you with a huge smile and a cheery word.

“I have a job where I get to talk for a living,” she says, flashing one of those smiles. “I love that.”

Yvette Newton, Pierce County Schools administrator “I’ve had opportunities to leave, but I’ve always chosen to stay here,” says Newton. “This is home.”

Newton graduated from Patterson High School in 1981, the last year the school existed, before consolidation with Blackshear High, to form PCHS. After college she came back home and worked as the county’s assistant clerk and in a local bank before returning to college to earn a teaching degree. She and her husband, Robert, a sheriff’s deputy who also grew up here, have two children and live in the Otter Creek community.

“If you grew up somewhere and you love it, you owe it to that community to come back and try to make it better,” Newton believes.

While it is important to give back to the place you call home, She says staying here is certainly not without its benefits.

“There is a support you get here that you don’t have when you go away.”

Matt Carter, Pierce County Development Authority Executive Director When Carter graduated from Pierce County High School in 1990, he thought his hometown had nothing to offer. He moved away. But, like many others, he came back.

“This is a close-knit community where people genuinely care about one another,” Carter says.

He also believes that if young people don’t come back, the community can’t improve.

“I wanted to help make this an even better place to live,” he states.

His job gives him a front row seat in that endeavor. As a “salesman” for Pierce County, he can easily list the community’s attributes.

“Number one is the school system,” he says. “Our schools produce some of the best employable individuals.”

He also believes it’s Pierce County’s churches and “excellent” recreation department that make good selling points.

But as with most we talked to, Carter believes it’s the people who really make the difference here.

“We help one another,” he says, pointing out it’s not just the older generation with this caring attitude. “Amris Jam is a fine example of that. It’s put on by the younger generation to help children who are sick.”

Jerome Lincoln, Patterson Elementary School assistant principal.

Lincoln graduated from Patterson High School in 1980, moved to Delaware and Savannah, and didn’t return until 2007, showing that the hold this place has on its natives rarely lets go.

His father’s illness brought him back here, but is not what keeps him here, he says.

“We spent a lot of time together fishing and talking,” says Lincoln of his father.

“That alone was reason enough to come back home.”

Lincoln’s father passed away in 2011 and he and his family thought briefly of moving again, “But we decided this is where we belong,” he says. “When I thought about my own childhood and the values I learned here, I wanted my own children to have that same kind of opportunity.”

Lincoln and his wife, Jeanette, a teacher at Pierce County Middle School, have two school-age sons.

Mary Thompson, housewife It’s hard to believe Thompson is a transplant, since she’s lived in Pierce County for 58 years. She moved here as a bride in 1955, and has been here ever since.

Mack (her husband) got a job here helping to clean up the Okefenokee Swamp after it burned,” she recalls. “We liked it here and we stayed.”

Mack Thompson opened Pierce Timber in Blackshear in 1966, and the business is still thriving as a family-run operation.

“Growing up in the city is nice, but growing up in the country is even better,” he believes.

Thompson can sum up her reasons for living here easily.

TRANSPLANTS

“It’s a good home with good schools, good people and good churches,” she believes.

“I wouldn’t live anywhere else.”

Mike and Lynn Keenan. He’s a nurse at Mayo Waycross and she is business manager for the Okefenokee Library System.

The Keenans are among Pierce County’s newest transplants, having moved here just this past November when Mike took a job at the hospital in Waycross.

“When we first came here and were looking for a place to live, we went to look at a house in the Lakeview area of Blackshear,” explains Lynn.

While that house didn’t work out for them, the trip to Blackshear gave them a good look at the community.

“We rode around town, rode by the library, and we loved it,” says Lynn. “We kept hearing people say Pierce County was a good place to live.”

The couple soon found a house they liked on the west side of Pierce County, and settled in.

“We like it here,” says Mike. “The people who said it’s a good place to live were right.”

Misty Wagner, homemaker and independent Scentsy representative Wagner’s journey to this area is typical of many others: the railroad brought her and her family here. Before moving here, the family lived in Jacksonville.

“Brian (her husband) got a job here with CSX,” she tells.

This was in 2012, and the couple had one baby girl. While their daughter was still in diapers, it wasn’t too early to think about her future, they believed.

“We chose to live in Pierce County because of the school system,” she states emphatically. “We had heard it was the best around.”

They soon found Pierce County to be a peaceful place to raise their family, which now includes a one-year-old boy.

“Patrick is our only Pierce County and Georgia native,” she says, laughing. “So I guess we are putting down roots here now.” 

PIERCE COUNTY LIVING 11

Attention All High School Students & Parents!

spot

Can You a Good Deal?

If you could take college classes and be awarded both high school credit and college credit at little to no cost, wouldn’t that be a deal too good to miss?

sweet

Coastal Pines Technical College has a partnership with most area high schools that includes Dual Enrollment and ACCEL.

DUAL ENROLLMENT:

using HOPE to earn dual college and high school credits Students receive simultaneous course credits that count toward high school graduation and future postsecondary education.

Best of all, all hours paid by HOPE under a dual enrollment program do not count toward the total HOPE scholarship or grant hours that Georgia students can use after high school for their undergraduate studies!

ACCEL: Allows Georgia high school students to take coursework leading to an associate or baccalaureate degree from a TCSG college or other eligible postsecondary institution in Georgia. Courses are available only in the areas of the core graduation requirements for college preparatory students.

Hours attempted as part of the ACCEL program will not be counted in the HOPE Scholarship credit hour cap.

How do I know if these courses are right for me or if CPTC offers courses at my high school?

Kate Bussey (912) 632-2355 E-mail: kbussey@coastalpines.edu Serving Bacon, Pierce, and Ware Counties

For more information, contact your local CPTC Student Affairs Coordinator.

Rana Zauner (912) 287-6569 E-mail: rzauner@coastalpines.edu Serving Brantley, Camden, Charlton, and Clinch Counties

Waycross • Alma • Baxley • Camden • Golden Isles • Hazlehurst • Jesup

Jovon Jones (912) 588-2581 E-mail: jjones@coastalpines.edu Serving Appling, Jeff Davis, Long and Wayne Counties Carley McDonald (912) 280-4000 Ext. 4206 E-mail: cmcdonald@coastalpines.edu Serving Glynn, McIntosh, and Camden Counties

www.coastalpines.edu PIERCE COUNTY LIVING 19 eQUAL OPPORTUNITY INSTITUTION

Blackshear:

Georgia’s Newest Antique Mecca Story by

T.M. STraiT Photos by

angela ManderS

Helen. Madison.

Blue Ridge.

If the names of these Georgia towns hold no common meaning to you, then you’re probably not a dedicated antique treasure hunter. And if you’re not, you may want to think about becoming one, because Blackshear is itchin’ to be added to the list.

With the recent addition of two more quality antique shops, Blackshear is well on its way to becoming a must-visit destination for antique lovers. It’s easy to spend a full day exploring the diversity of offerings and surprises in store around our community.

Alison, my wife and best friend, grew up in a home centered on the hobby of antiquing. Her parents would often spend family vacations traveling through various towns just to visit the antiques stores, or to hit different antiques shows or events.

This did not seem to a teenager the ideal way to spend vacation time, but as an adult she has come around to it, and now looks forward to time exploring the world of antiques.

Our house has been carefully seeded with various finds, making our home unique and special. She likes collecting dog items, including pictures, ceramics and stuffed animals. She loves tins and old signs, primitive furniture, and stained glass.

Alison’s mother is into something called “Shabby Chic,” which I have had trouble completely grasping, but I think it refers to items allowed to show their age (in a loving way,) particularly furniture and home decor. From what’s in her home and stores she visits, the items are very

often white. Come to think of it, I might qualify as Shabby Chic.

Alison’s father is also into antiques, particularly primitive furniture. He has a collection of something called face jugs, ceramic jugs that have three dimensional face designs. Some are kind of humorous.

Some are actually quite scary. He was part of an auctioning group for a long time, and now runs estate sales several times a year.

Alison and her family aren’t alone around here in their love of antiquing. There are quite a few who love and support the hobby, as evidenced by the growth in shops, and the number of booths within those shops. Many of the shops around here contract space in their stores for individual vendors to display acquisitions they wish to sell. This is a good thing, because it gives the base of support needed to sustain a large and diverse antique shopping experience.

A recent tour of shops in our area would indicate we are well on our way to being a true antique Mecca. Local stores feature an amazing variety of offerings, and antique aficionados will need a full day to properly absorb them all.

These are the stores we visited: »

PIERCE COUNTY LIVING 15

3 G’s Flea Market

Corner Market

Hoot’s Nest

Turn right at Ware Street and then turn right onto Highway Avenue and about a block on the left, is 3 G’s Flea Market.

This is the least formal of the antique destinations in Blackshear, but as antique hunters know, the type of place where you may often find the best bargains.

3 G’s has a wide variety of interesting items, including nice displays of ships and Coca-Cola paraphernalia. There was a healthy display of used books, and a great assortment of records, all for incredible prices. I was able to pick up some artists I collect, including Slim Whitman, Patsy Cline and Linda Ronstadt.

So, if you’re looking for those artists — sorry, I already bought them.

Every antique Mecca needs its super store, and, for Blackshear, it is Corner Market Antiques, operated by Marlene and Jerry Richardson. A little further east down Highway Avenue from 3 G’s, near the Heritage Bank, Corner Market offers 22 quality vendors presenting a wide variety of antiques and collectibles.

You can find everything from the most feminine antiques and jewelry, to a booth called Mancave, with flashing beer signs, beer cans, and tools.

Almost across the street is Hoot’s Nest, a used furniture and home decor specialist.

If you have a room in your house that you want to outfit in a particular retro style, this is the place to go.

The three owners (Cyndie, Steph and Pam) are making an effort to bring life to this store, and are working on a number of restoration projects, including a beautiful antique red tea cart they proudly showed us.

Another high quality vendor there, a favorite of Alison’s, is J. Scott Johnson, offering a wide variety of furniture and quality home decor. He has over 30 years experience (although looking at him, he must have begun when he was two), and has been featured in Southern Distinction Magazine. His items are popular, and he has a high rate of turnover, and is worth repeated visits.

There are many great vendors at Corner Market that make it a mustsee stop. Be forewarned, though, the only way to get to a part of their vast showcase is up a steep flight of stairs. It’s worth the huffing and puffing, however. One of the vendors up there has what may be South Georgia’s highest quality collection of used books, The Antiquarian Bookman, owned

by Michael Jacobs features a large number of books, many a cut above what you usually find. Jacobs’ collection is rich in regional books, history, military and classic fiction. I found a collection of John Steinbeck novels calling my name.

16 PIERCE COUNTY LIVING

Pass It On Marketplace Turning right on Main Street, in a block of stores opposite the Heritage Bank, is Pass It On Marketplace, owned by Tatum Gill.

It has attractive booths with well-defined collections. Near the entrance, a beautiful farm table with greens, browns and fruit paintings had Alison oooing and ahhing.

Part of the seating for the table were rush style loveseats. (You really have to like family “togetherness” to want to get those.)

I thought of getting a sign that said “Always Kiss Me Goodnight,” but then I thought I’d have to be careful where I put that. I saw vintage clothing, and tutus for the young dancer in your family. There was also a great display of metal toy farm implements and trucks, and a nice shelf of books by local author Belinda Jo Adams.

I love it when local businesses support local authors. (Hint, hint!)

foundation for a great There you have it. The st stores are open Mo r. day trip to Blackshea ay. Start around 10:00 Tuesday through Saturd of our fine local and take a break at one (That’s another ch. lun ty restaurants for a tas ward to), and then article I REALLY look for night downtown at our plan on staying over el where you’ll feel like hot al well managed loc nds. you’re staying with frie

Trackside Treasures

Country Gypsy

On Central Avenue by the railroad tracks is a place owned by Delane Craft, called Trackside Treasures. Their focus is on interior and decor, and they plan on opening soon a section of antique furniture. They also had a great collection of children’s booths. The owner has had booths before, but this is her first independent operation. She and her staff were extremely helpful and friendly.

At the corner of Main and Park Streets, near the Blackshear Presbyterian Church, is The Country Gypsy, owned by Dawn Wall. She’s a friendly, charming lady Alison and I have known from back when our boys were in Tee Ball together. Her store is the most elegant by far, and has much of that elusive treasure known as “Shabby Chic.” I had to make sure I was not standing too close to a For Sale sign, lest I be sold — and at a hefty discount.

Country Gypsy’s walls are decorated with sections of old boards and ceiling tins from a myriad of places. This makes for a unique experience, and must be seen to be appreciated.

including Blackshear If y’all antiquers are not destinations, you are on your list of must-see a trip soon, and tell ‘em n pla , missing out. Please It might not be worth Tom and Alison sent ya. worth an additional be a discount, but it should cial all by itself? smile. And ain’t that spe Michigander, T. M. Strait is a native since 1978, rgia Geo in d but has live in 1997. nty Cou ce Pier to ing mov native ear ksh Blac He is married to has and e), ridg Ald erly Alison (form Sons”; what he calls “My Three fession, in. He is a CPA by pro Greg, Doug and Benjam active is He . sion pas by r y telle and an enthusiastic stor ering cov blog and has a diverse in Community Theater e mor h muc and try fiction, poe family, politics, theater, aitlineestr w.th ww at ed ress add called The Strait Line, tmstrait.blogspot.com.

Winfield Farms Vintage & Now On the other side of the Central Avenue tracks is Winfield Farms Vintage & Now – Antiques, Collectibles, Vintage and More.

Owner Ellen Ennis is eager to guide you to a particular item you’re seeking or let your browse the selection of items from yesteryear or just yesterday. The store features an entire wing of CocaCola collectibles and the rest of the floor includes gifts for men, women and children, from both local and out-of-town vendors.

PIERCE COUNTY LIVING 17

Rays your potential

at the new Coastal Pines Technical College.

Altamaha Technical College and Okefenokee Technical College have joined forces to give you more. More locations. More programs.

More opportunities. More ways to reach your potential. Expect more.

For more information, visit us at coastalpines.edu.

Equal Opportunity Institution

Story & Photo

By Wayne Hardy

This ‘Angel’ has earned his wings Local dentist enjoys helping others while feeding his passion for flight The sky is a playground for Dr. Jon Drawdy since earning his pilot’s license in 2004. It has been a gateway to explore the country and enjoy distant vacations with his family. The dentist and Pierce County resident says he finds excuses to escape into the blue a few times a week from the nearby WaycrossWare County Airport.

But his first three years of recreational flying only took Drawdy so far. His talent and resources as a pilot needed a higher calling.

“I felt a burden to do something to give back to my community,” he says. “I enjoyed flying, but it needed to have a purpose.”

That led Drawdy to join Angel Flight Soars in 2007. The non-profit group uses a network of volunteer pilots to provide free ground and air transportation to patients

without the financial means to get to specialized — and potentially life-saving — treatment available only in facilities far from home. The program is not an air ambulance, but provides assistance based on families requesting aid.

“I enjoyed flying, but it needed to have a purpose.”

Drawdy donates his airplane, fuel and time to make life easier for those often going through the biggest challenge of their life. He says a significant number of his passengers are cancer patients, as well as those making regular visits to the Joseph Still Burn Center in Augusta.

Though it may not seem an incredibly long distance to some, Drawdy explains a six to eight hour drive from South

Georgia can be insufferable for a burn patient.

Angel Flight arranged just over 2,500 missions in 2013 — an average of around seven a day — for patients ranging from newborn to 97 years old with a variety of 155 medical problems.

Drawdy has already flown close to 100 missions, including some for local patients, throughout each of the six states Angel Flight Soars serves. Organization officials say he often goes beyond what is asked.

“Almost every other week it seems like he’s flying for us,” says Jet Stovall, Angel Flight Soars mission assistant.

In many cases, one pilot will fly to a destination, even if the visit is only a scheduled checkup, and another pilot handles the return trip. Drawdy, however, often waits for his passengers.

PIERCE COUNTY LIVING 21

Sisters Alexis (left) and Amber Thomas joined Drawdy on a trip to a special camp for kids living with a kidney disease.

Drawdy says he was inspired by teenage cancer patient Zack Corbin (right), who shares a love of flight.

“Jon’s so great about hanging around for a few hours to fly the patient back,” Stovall says.

Drawdy has a goal to provide at least one transport a month, checking official message boards for new postings in his area.

“The number of kids and adults who need to travel far away for specialized treatment is amazing,” he says. “I feel very blessed to have my three boys who are healthy and have never had any significant medical problems, but I certainly can relate to these families who would do anything to get the best medical treatment possible for their children.”

Drawdy says he has little time to get to know his Angel Flight passengers before contorting his 6-foot-8-inch frame into his six-seat, Piper Lance PA32-300R lowwing airplane. Most of the time getting acquainted takes place thousands of feet in the air between check-ins with air traffic control.

“Some patients have been terrified and never flown before,” he explains. “I try to do everything I can to put them at ease.”

Spending extended time together in close quarters often allows him to know the person beyond their health woes.

Drawdy keeps photos of passengers and eagerly recounts their stories.

“It brings back a lot of memories,” he says, looking over the snapshots. “On every 22 PIERCE COUNTY LIVING

flight you create a bond with a patient.”

One of his first Angel Flights was an 8-year-old boy from Asheville, North Carolina, diagnosed with Legg-CalvePerthes disease. The condition interrupts blood flow to the hip and legs, creating complications from bone cell death.

Doctors feared leg amputation was needed. They recommended advanced treatment at a children’s hospital in Tampa, Florida as a final chance to avoid losing the limb.

That commute remains Drawdy’s longest at about 500 nautical miles in a straight line. The program generally tries to keep

“On every flight you create a bond with a patient.” pilots within 200 miles for each flight, sometimes splitting the distance among pilots, Drawdy says.

The weekly sessions went on for months, but Drawdy feels that was an acceptable sacrifice for a family looking for a miracle.

“Ultimately, the doctors who treated him were able to prevent amputation of his leg, when other physicians had given up hope.”

Hope is what Angel Flight pilots provide through their work, though Drawdy insists he receives plenty in return.

Experiences he particularly cherishes are those with Zack Corbin, a teenage brain cancer patient from Hazlehurst, who is also about the age of Drawdy’s oldest sons.

“At a glance, he seemed to be energetic, active, just like my boys,” Drawdy says.

“Very few patients I have transported have had the determination and positive attitude he demonstrated.”

The two made numerous flights together as part of Corbin’s regular chemotherapy at Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Atlanta.

Drawdy learned his passenger had developed a love for flight while living near an airport. The teen even had a chance to share control of the airplane.

“He was in the fight of his life, but he showed such enthusiasm about the flights despite his ailment,” Drawdy says.

“I wish I had the hope and courage I felt he had in the face of life’s challenges.”

Corbin, who graduated high school in 2014, says the time in the air was more than he ever expected.

“I thought I would just get in the back on the plane, get there and then leave,” he says. “Dr. Drawdy’s definitely made it enjoyable.”

That’s a stark difference from the misery Corbin endured driving to Atlanta, having his body drained by the treatment and then returning home, says his grandmother, Mary Ann Corbin. Not only has Drawdy flown them, he has volunteered to drive them to and from

the hospital, even staying overnight due to inclement weather to fly back the next day.

“He’s gone over and beyond to help us. He has sincere compassion and concern,” Mary Ann Corbin says. He even sent Zachary cards for Christmas and graduation.”

Those uncompensated flights paid richly, Drawdy says, as he watched an aspiring pilot enjoy the experience during his battle to live. The family also showed appreciation for their treatment.

“I received several red velvet cakes from his grandma,” Drawdy says, cracking a smile.

Drawdy poses with Kevin Satterwhite and an Angel Flight Soars volunteer at an Atlanta-area airport after a fly in for treatment.

Some Angel Flight missions are listed for “compassionate purposes,” as opposed to medical reasons, such as chauffeuring a pair of Georgia sisters from Thomasville to Convington for special summer camp.

The two had kidney transplants due to a genetic disease and the camp taught families about living with such conditions.

Contacting Angel Flight Soars

About 20 Angel Flight Soars pilots are available throughout Southeast Georgia, according to Drawdy, and it’s their willingness to donate time and resources that ultimately make the program successful.

More information about the Atlanta-based group is online at www.angelflightsoars.org, where families can request assistance and pilots can sign up to volunteer. Donations may also be made through the website.

“Being a pilot is challenging, but I’ve found it to be very rewarding,” he says.

“I’ve tried to put my skills to use to help others similar to what I do everyday in my (dental) practice.”

Though it’s not accolades he seeks, others in the community have praised his dedication. Drawdy received the Waycross-Ware County Chamber of Commerce’s Health Hero Award in 2012 for his work with Angel Flight Soars. The honor is given to a medical professional or citizen for extraordinary work related to the healthcare industry.

Running regular missions can be expensive and needs of patients don’t always fit neatly into his schedule, but he knows there are patients who could not make the journey without help. Drawdy say he’s declined all offers of payment from families, noting gratitude is enough.

“Angel Flight is a true ministry and I feel blessed for being involved,” he says. “The need is always there. The appreciation you get from patients makes it all worthwhile.” 

Angel Flight Soars is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization supported entirely by private and corporate donations.

Contact Angel Flight Soars at 877-426-2643 or 770-452-7958.

About the pilot Dr. Jon Drawdy and his wife, Paula, have three sons, Michael, David and Thomas. The family attends Patterson Baptist Church.

Drawdy has had a dental practice in Waycross for 19 years. He serves as dental director and coordinator of a teledental program for the 16-county Southeast Health District, headquartered in Waycross.

Drawdy is also a volunteer firefighter with the Hacklebarney Station of the Pierce County Fire Department and he serves on the board of directors at First Southern Bank.

PIERCE COUNTY LIVING 23

30 PIERCE COUNTY LIVING

FEATURE STORY

Farm Boys Front Lines on the

By Wayne Hardy

America was in a fight — literally — for the future of the free world in the 1940’s. War raged across Europe and would soon spread throughout the Pacific and East Asia. Just outside of Bristol, Georgia, three brothers in a family of eleven were enjoying life on the farm.

Wallace, J.R. and Lewis Thornton talked about the weather and tobacco prices with their parents, Elbert and Louisa Thornton. They enjoyed rich southern breakfasts of cane syrup, fresh eggs and sausage with their six brothers and sisters.

That was all to soon change. Those comforts would be only memories. The American way of life was threatened. South Georgia farm boys felt their call to duty.

In the months before Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, the brothers enlisted in the military: J.R. and Wallace to the Army and Lewis to the Marines.

They left home to be thrust into chaos thousands of miles from familiar fields. They were soldiers sent abroad, but they never let go of home.

The brothers wrote letters to family checking on “normal” life back on the farm. They lamented missing out on the luxuries of cane syrup and cigarettes and anticipated picking back up when they returned home. They complained, joked and expressed care for their loved ones.

Business Development Center knew his late uncles served in the war, but few details had been told of their experiences. Except, that is, when his uncles’ spoke of their wartime life through letters written decades before.

Dixon was looking for nuggets of family history in 2010 when he searched through a trunk belonging to his late mother, Irene Dixon. The trunk, at his sister’s Athens home, had been converted into an end table.

Inside was a treasure of about 70 yellowed letters, almost all penned by the brothers during World War II. “I was elated,” Dixon recalls. “That was a trunk that had been sitting in our family living room all my life.”

The penciled scrawlings give insight to how the Thorntons adjusted to life in an unfamiliar world and, even in the darkest times, could find comfort in joking with family as if they were still home.

“Most of (the letters) were stuck in mother’s old pocketbook,” Dixon says. “She had intended to save them.”

At times, they expressed uncertainty about the conflict that would ultimately re-shape the world.

The letters gave Dixon a new appreciation for his mother’s family.

Dozens of letters and cards outlining the journeys of the Thornton brothers remained shrouded in family discussions, according to their nephew, Robert Dixon.

“They were poor farm folk, struggling to make a living, and three sons go off ready to fight a war for what they believe in.”

Dixon, 67, splits time between a family farm here in the St. Johns community and Decatur and Sarasota, Florida.

The retired administrator with the University of Georgia Small

And, perhaps, without a true understanding of what lay ahead for three brothers on three continents in the war of all wars.

J.R. Thornton believed he would come out a better man after three years in the Army.

PIERCE COUNTY LIVING 31

He enlisted Feb. 11, 1941 and soon took a four-day trip by troop train over 3,200 miles to the west coast to begin basic. About four months later, Thornton was shipped to the Philippines to enter a war raging with Japan in the Pacific.

Before departing, the private expressed hopefulness and homesickness in one of his earliest letters to his “sis,” Irene.

“Sometimes I think it would have been better if I had never had anything but the back end of a mule and a corn crib to look at,” he wrote from Ft. McDowell in California nine days after he joined, recalling days on the farm.

The young soldier seemed awed by life stationed across the country, according to one of his last letters from the base.

“I am going in to Frisco [San Francisco] the first time tonight so I can’t tell you a thing about the town other than it is a wee bit larger than your city of Blackshear.”

Thornton shared less-glamorous aspects of military life, including what he called an “awful mess” in boarding a ship with 2,000 men for a 23-day trip to the Philippines. Still, he believed it was the right choice.

Military life was growing on him.

“I don’t think I will be sorry I joined. I like it more all the time.”

Months of training on home soil, however, apparently did not prepare Thornton for everything about living in a new world.

“This is one hell of a place,” he lamented in a July 12, 1941 letter from his new station in the islands. “It was so hot and dry when we first got here, you could barely breathe. Now it rains all the time.”

Thornton described, incredulously, how residents used sidewalks as toilets for lack of plumbing in some areas, with some living in 18th century stone houses or bamboo huts without bathrooms. He says the only comfortable place to go off duty is one of four air-conditioned theaters.

The Profile Name Jesse R. Thornton Date of Birth 12/04/1913 Branch of Service U.S. Army

“If you want to know how I feel about this place — I don’t like it. Don’t ever leave the good old USA, there is no place you can beat it.”

If you know a nice girl that would make a good wife tell her to see me as soon as I get back to the states because I am going to marry the first girl that will have me. - J.R. Thornton often asked for updates on family and even made note of getting a response from Lewis, who was stationed in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. After pleasantries, he ended a letter with a business matter, advising family on keeping an insurance policy on him.

“If you think I am a good risk you can keep it up, but don’t worry — I am coming back ...”

Conditions in the Philippines continued to weigh on Thornton, as he wrote in September.

“It is just plain hell to stay in and just about as bad to go out,” he writes. “The only kind of places you can go to are the ones where

32 PIERCE COUNTY LIVING

... all the other soldiers go to and I guess you know what kind of women follow soldiers around ...”

Thornton, perhaps jokingly, wrote he planned to stay out in the field 29 days a month and get drunk on one of them — not his idea of fun. He dreamed instead of simplicity back home; of starting his own family. “... If you know a nice girl that would make a good wife tell her to see me as soon as I get back to the states because I am going to marry the first girl that will have me.”

This Christmas card postmarked Manila P.I. November 9, 1941 is the last communication received from J.R.

Not all of Thornton’s letters delved into discussion. Tucked away in Dixon’s collection is a card dated November 9, 1941 with “Season’s Greetings” on the front and the image of a riverside village surrounded by palm trees. There is no mention of merriment or misery, just a preprinted Christmas and New Year’s greeting signed, “With Love, Jake.”

One of the few letters Irene sent to J.R., now in Dixon’s possession, was written in December, about a month after the solider sent the holiday card.

It is marked “Return to Sender.”

Around the same time, Wallace Thornton was longing for home from Camp Blanding, just down the road, in Florida.

“Say I sure would like to be there to get some of that good old syrup and pork,” he writes to sister Irene Dixon in a Dec. 2, 1941 letter. “I have been thinking about hog killing and cane grinding for the last two months, but I guess I will have to wait till next year now.”

Two months later he writes from Ft. Benning, asking if another brother has been drafted. E.D. Thornton, it turns out, stayed home to manage the family farm.

“I think one of the boys ought to be left so the name won’t die.”

In the same letter, Wallace Thornton is concerned for the lack of reply from his younger brother J.R. who is in harm’s way while he himself remains stateside. They had written regularly.

“Sure hope J.R. is safe. I haven’t heard from him since the middle of November. The Japs are sure raising H--- over there. Sometimes I wish that I was over there to help them poor boys.”

Wallace reiterates his concern in another letter three days later to their father about upcoming leave time.

“Well I hope to see you soon if things happen like I think. When have you heard from Lewis and J.R.? I heard from J.R. the 15th of November but don’t know how he is getting along with the Japs since they got there.”

Despite the tension, Thornton maintains humor when writing to E.D. Thornton Feb. 20, joking his brother must like working around women at his job. “... Tell the best looking one to write me and send me one of her pictures and I will send her one of mine to put in the garden to keep the rabbits out.”

Less than a week later, worry of his brothers’ situation persists in a letter to Thornton’s sister.

“Say, when have you heard from J.R. and Lewis? Guess it is pretty hard to get a letter to the [Philippine Islands] now.”

The Profile Name Wallace W. Thornton Date of Birth 11/23/1910 Branch of Service U.S. Army

PIERCE COUNTY LIVING 33

Another month. The same question.

“Well I sure am glad to hear that Lewis is getting along fine but am worried about J.R.,” he writes. “Sure would like to know how he is, so if you hear from him, let me know.”

“I am fine except I get a little homesick once in a while. But I soon get over that,” he wrote from abroad, March 5, 1944.

“Things sure are different here. Even the money. We are having a time learning to count this kind. We could be rich, and not know it, but guess that is too good luck for me.”

The letters are unclear if, or when, Wallace may have received updates about J.R., Robert Dixon says.

Thornton asks for home comforts such as cookies, cigarettes and notes items like soap are being rationed.

In July, Thornton is still asking about brother Lewis, who had not been sent into a combat zone, while lamenting he is watching the war from the States.

“I would give anything to be back in the States. Guess I was never intended to be a traveler — not this far from home at least.”

Tell the best looking one to write me and send me one of her pictures and I will send her one of mine to put in the garden to keep the rabbits out. — Wallace “Well, I don’t know what to think of the war. Sometimes it looks like the Germans and Japs are going to win but I hope not,” he wrote.

“That would be the worst thing that could happen to this country.

“I had rather be dead than to live under their rule.”

After two more years of hearing about the war, Thornton would be called to action. The soldier’s military path had taken him from near Bristol, Georgia to Bristol, England in February, 1944.

Even simple basics from home seemed like luxuries from thousands of miles away.

“A good tomato sandwich would sure be good now after being here where we can’t get anything like that,” he writes in April.

“The restaurants here have sandwiches that are two pieces of bread with nothing between or at least so little you can hardly see it, much less taste it, and the cake is made without sugar.”

That summer, Thornton’s tour takes him to France, where he updates his sister on his location in a July 23, 1944 letter.

“Guess you think I am dead, but not yet. I haven’t had time to write or haven’t had paper in the last few days.”

It appears he was in, or near, the heart of a battle against the Nazi regime at the time.

“This leaves me getting along good as could be expected,” he wrote. “Keep the home fires burning and we will keep the Germans running I hope.”

Letters from Wallace Dear Bud,

Wallace (above) sent this letter to E.D., the third brother in the family.

Postmark February 20, 1942.

34 PIERCE COUNTY LIVING

is ng fine., I guess, but it alo ng tti ge am I e, m w? As for ees coldWell how are you by no ere the wind is five degr wh y da to ll hi a to t ou nt pretty cold here. We we it or not. e in this camp, believe els re he yw an is it an er th u like it ere you work. Guess yo wh ce pla e th e lik u yo e of Well I am glad to hear n't take care of all thre ca u yo if t bu o to d ul ess I wo r pictures because of the girls. Gu d to send me one of he an e m to ite wr to e on ng rabbits out. them, tell the best looki the garden to keep the in t pu to e in m of e on and I will send her on as possible.

Will send it to you as so y. nd ha in e m co d di Well, the money sure so love all ht up with my writing ug ca t ge I as on so as ite e best of luck.

Tell Irene that I will wr th my best wishes for th wi u yo e se I l til e m the girls a little for Your Bud Wallace

But Thornton kept looking for brighter days ahead in his next letter to his sister. “... Here is hoping the worst is over.”

Irene Dixon wrote back in early August, 1944 to reassure her brother.

“Sure hope you’re home soon. Be careful and hope for the best.”

Her final two letters never made it to him.

Both were returned. The latter has the dreaded red letters stamped across the middle of the envelope.

D E C E A S ED Elbert and Louisa Thornton had five boys and four girls. They managed their farm near the Pierce-Appling county line.

Then war arrived.

Telegrams from the War Department in August, 1944 reported 33-year-old Sgt. Wallace Watson Thornton died in combat July 31, 1944 following the Battle of Saint Lo in France. The official U.S. Army Center of Military History describes the battle as a “symbol for First U.S. Army’s victory in a most difficult and bloody phase of the Campaign of Normandy ...”

Thornton had been listed as missing in action, only to have his fate confirmed days later. He was promoted to corporal after his death.

“May the knowledge that he made the supreme sacrifice for

his home and country be a source of sustaining comfort,” Major General J.A. Ulio wrote in a Sept. 1, 1944 letter of condolence.

Handling devastating news was routine, though not easy, for the family by this point.

Jesse Randall “J.R.” Thornton had been missing in action since early May, 1942 after a battle with Japanese troops who ultimately seized Corregidor Island in the Philippines. Two years later the War Department declared a presumption of death, about two months before Wallace’s death. An official report sent to the family Sept. 27, 1945 stated the private had died of malaria in a prisoner of war camp May 26, 1942.

Before perishing, the soldier had survived the notorious Bataan Death March, considered one of the greatest wartime atrocities.

Imperial Japanese Army guards led about 75,000 POWs — about 12,000 Americans — already emaciated and ill from a lack of food and medicine in the preceding battle, in groups of 100 over a five-day walk to a prison camp. Guards reportedly killed prisoners who became too weak along the way to continue the march. As many as 10,000 men are believed to have died during the Bataan Death March.

The nearly 60,000 survivors were crammed into a camp designed for 10,000 people. Malaria and other diseases ran rampant through the camp, which had little running water and food. J.R. Thornton became one of the roughly 400 men, on average, who died every day.

An Oct. 20, 1945 letter to Thornton’s father, signed by Gen. Douglas MacArthur, credited the young soldier’s bravery for holding the line against insurmountable odds.

Dear Sis, Just a few lines to let you know that I am getting along fine. The spring fever is working on me, I think, for I sta y sleepy all the time but feel fine most the day if I stay busy. We get up at five and stay on the job till five or six.

Well I sure am glad to hear that Lewis is getting along fine but am worried about J.R. Sure would like to kno w how he is so if you hear from him, let me know.

Guess that I could get a leave if Lester is very sick. The Red Cro ss checks those things sometimes so if you sen d a wire, be sure he is in bed wh en they check on it or if you know the Red Cross workers, you might get them to O.K. it without any trouble even if it didnt wor k the other way.

Savilla Irene Thornton Dixon (above) stored the conversations long after her brothers died. Her son, Robert Dixon, discovered the collection decades later.

Well it is getting time to fall out so I better stop or I wont get thi s off today so write often. Hoping to see you soo n and wishing you the best of luc k.

Love Wallace P.S. Tell E.D. he better write and not to get mad because I asked him to tell the girls to write me.

PIERCE COUNTY LIVING 35

ABOVE: A second telegram was sent August 30, 1944, conďŹ rming that Wallace was killed in action on July 31, 1944, in France.

RIGHT: This letter was returned to sender. A telegram was received by Irene Dixon on August 20,1944, informing her Wallace Thornton was reported as missing in action since July 31, 1944, in France.

BELOW: A clipping from The Blackshear Times (left) announces yet another tragedy for the Thornton family. A letter signed by General Douglas MacArthur (right) offers condolences for J.R.’s death.

36 PIERCE COUNTY LIVING

“It was largely their magnificent courage and sacrifices which stopped the enemy in the Philippines and gave us the time to arm ourselves for our return to the Philippines and the final defeat of Japan,” the letter states. “Their names will be enshrined in our country’s glory forever.”

But the Thornton boys’ father never saw the letter. He died back home in January that same year. Their mother had died more than a decade earlier.

The third brother, Cpl. Lewis Thornton, was a Marine at Pearl Harbor, where he survived the infamous Dec. 7, 1941 bombing by Japan. By mid-1944 he had returned to American soil and was stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.

The thought of losing Lewis was too much to bear for what was left of the family back home.

Irene Dixon wrote the War Department Oct. 27, 1944, almost two month’s after Wallace Thornton’s death was confirmed, pleading officials to not send yet another brother to war. “[Lewis] is all we have left that is perfect,” she wrote.

The military complied. Lewis exited the service about a year later. He moved to Florida to work in the construction business, married and raised a family. He died in 1996.

Perhaps having at least one brother return home kept the family’s painful rift from going any deeper. Robert Dixon says he grew up only knowing that two of his uncles died in the war. Details, like the letters, remained locked away for decades.

“I wondered why my mother, aunts and uncles didn’t talk about J.R. and Wallace,” he says. “I suppose it was still so painful all those years later.”

The Thornton farm boys who died for their country are resting overseas.

J.R. Thornton was buried in a makeshift grave upon death, Dixon says.

His body was later exhumed and placed in the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines. He is among the 17,000 American military dead from World War II buried in the 152-acre site on a plateau.

Wallace Thornton is buried in the Normandy American Cemetery in the French coastal village of Colleville-sur-Mer. The 172-acre cemetery holds graves of nearly 9,400 American soldiers, many of whom died in the D-Day landings and later battles.

Though he is buried on foreign soil, Wallace Thornton’s sacrifice is honored each year by locals. Dixon says residents in a small village around Normandy have each adopted a grave site. They place flowers at the cross headstone on All Saints’ Day out of appreciation for freedom from the Nazis.

The Profile Name Lewis L.. Thornton Date of Birth 08/28/1918 Branch of Service U.S. Marine Corps

The military gave the Thornton family the option of having their brothers’ remains returned home instead of interred at the American memorial cemeteries.

“The family obviously didn’t do that, because they probably didn’t have the money to pay for [having them buried at home].”

Dixon’s happenstance discovery gave him a chance to honor his uncles’ sacrifice and open a new branch of family history. Both men died before he was born.

PIERCE COUNTY LIVING 37

“I knew it was a treasure. I had to preserve the letters.”

Dixon sorted and typed copies of the handwritten letters, tucking them neatly into binders and later military-themed scrapbooks.

Dixon’s discovery also revealed his two uncles received posthumous Purple Heart medals, accompanied by certificates of gratitude from President Franklin Roosevelt. Dixon felt there was more to be uncovered and a new search began.

“I thought they should have gotten more medals [based on their service].”

Dixon contacted the National Personnel Records Centers in St. Louis and began a 10-month exchange of emails and phone calls. A records official’s research provided additional medals the brothers should have received.

Wallace’s awards included the Bronze Star, as well as medals and ribbons including the French Croix de Guerre (Cross of War), a World War II victory decoration and honors for conduct and his involvement in the European campaign.

J.R. received presidential, Army meritorious, Philippine president and Philippine defense unit citations, along with POW, victory and campaign medals and an honorary service lapel button.

Dixon’s nearly three-year project documenting his uncles’ service led to a compilation of three keepsake books of letters and photos, as well as two shadow boxes bearing medals and photos for Wallace and J.R. Thornton.

“This was an act of love to try to put this together,” Dixon explains.

Dixon’s work brought part of the brothers back to family. There is no grave here to visit and pay homage. Dixon’s compilation put memories in the hands of his aunt, Louise Westberry, the last of the Thornton siblings, who died in May, 2012, not long after 38 PIERCE COUNTY LIVING

he completed his work. Westberry was born about a decade after the brothers and never knew them as well as she wanted, Dixon says. She only saw her older brothers speaking through their letters.

“She would hold the medals and look over them like they were pieces of her brothers,” Dixon says. “She was tremendously appreciative I had taken time to do research and get the medals.”

Dixon continued to work on his collection, searching for the lone missing piece: a photo of J.R. A family friend’s photo taken many years ago of a cross marking J.R.’s grave held the center spot in Dixon’s frame of medals.

But then came a turn of luck.

Early in 2013, a cousin found, inside her Grady Street home in Blackshear, a forgotten photo of Wallace and J.R. together tucked away, fittingly, inside another end table.

“Everyone who looks at the photo says I favor J.R. more than anyone else on either side of my family,” Dixon says.

The medals and letters have made rounds among the family.

Dixon says his will calls for them to be donated to a museum at Camp Blanding in Florida, where both Wallace and J.R. were sent upon enlisting. The items can be returned to family upon request.

Now, and even in the future, Dixon hopes work on his family history can memorialize their sacrifices — and perhaps unlock new stories for others.

“There were a lot of guys who served and a lot of them didn’t return home,” he says. “Maybe this will stir someone else to look in their trunk and see what they can find.

“We tend to forget people so fast.” 

Robert Dixon (below) spent roughly three years documenting his uncles’ service using his mother’s collection of letters and his own search for photographs and a complete account of their medals.

“Time will not dim the glory of their deeds.”

– Gen. John J. Pershing, First chairperson of the American Battle Monuments Commission

PIERCE COUNTY LIVING 39

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“Liked

by Many, Cussed

by Some, Read by Them All!” or over 145 years, you’ve made us Pierce County’s first choice for news and advertising! We are the oldest continually operated business here and Publisher Robert M. Williams, Jr. has been caretaker of your local newspaper for more than four decades. We are proud to present accurate, fair and complete news to you every week, without fail, for more than a century and we’re especially proud to provide a host of new, specialty products, like this Pierce County Living Magazine to inform and entertain you. Thank you for your support!

L-r: Managing Editor Wayne Hardy, Production Manager Tammie Cason, Advertising Representative Paige Parker, Office Manager Joan TeglasDuplessis, Graphic Designer Julie Cunningham, Associate Publisher Cheryl S. Williams, Staff Writer Jason Deal and Editor & Publisher Robert M. Williams, Jr. (Not shown are Associate Manager Sandy Head and Staff Writer Rose Aldridge.)

Photo below shows The Times office in downtown Blackshear in 1907, with editor E.Z. Byrd seated at right.

The Blackshear Times

121 South Central Avenue • Blackshear •PIERCE 449-6693 COUNTY LIVING 29

HUNTING IS HEAVEN with a good dog

Story By Berrien C. Henderson | Photography By Field Dog Imagery

Driving through Offerman, Georgia, turn down Offerman Loop at the Baptist Church off Highway 84 and cross the railroad tracks to venture a bit deeper into the country (as if you weren’t already there!) until, off to the right, stands a sign: “Mossy Pond Retrievers.” Under that: “Today Pups. Tomorrow Champs.”

With Mossy Pond Retrievers nestled beside a cornfield and a slice of woods, it’s easy to see a bit of heaven does, indeed, sit on the property. Owner Brad Arington has three buildings drawing attention to the 4,000+ square foot kennel, equipped to house 70 dogs, on one side and a five-stand sporting clay area across from it. The center piece, however, is the lodge overlooking a track pond. The 7,900 square foot, four-bedroom lodge affords hunters the opportunity to stay close while their dogs receive training from the Mossy Pond team. The track ponds serve as training grounds for Brad and his fellow handlers at Team MPR — Lee Howard, Colby Williams and Mack Boatright — to prep the dogs for clients.

46 PIERCE COUNTY LIVING

And train they do with an operation that has netted them national notice at such competitions as the 2012 Crown Championship Retriever Trials in Huntsville, Alabama, along with the 2012 Fall Grand in Catoosa, Oklahoma, as well as 2012 Master Nationals in Demopolis, Alabama. All of that is hard work, but along with a dedicated team, they also have the sponsorship of Loyall Dog Food company plus the support of the dog training and breeding company, Orvis. Such matters bespeak the height of professionalism in the field. Team MPR puts dogs through their paces under a variety of conditions and scenarios.

Clients’ dogs receive training on retrieving ducks, pigeons, pheasants and

quail in a variety of hunting scenarios that include working from boats, stands, fields, and blinds. Brad and his team know just what clients need besides delivering what they want. After all, growing up in a small town and doing more than their fair share of pursuing things outdoors gives them practical experience and opportunity to pay forward knowledge gleaned from their collected lifetimes’ efforts.

While Mossy Pond Retrievers has carved a busy dog-training business out of the woods and fields, the business has also found success in another niche: weddings, reunions, and other catered affairs — all helmed by Emily Smith of P’s and

Brad Arington takes a bead on a bird with the first dog he trained, 13 year-old Bo.

PIERCE COUNTY LIVING 47

Q’s Catering. The Lodge also provides a place for local sports shooters and enthusiasts to test their mettle on the fivestand range. This would include the local teen shooting team led by Blaine Hill and community coaches Mike Davis, Kelly Dixon, Brett Sapp, and Jerome Jones. In opening the property to the Mossy Pond

can spread even faster. With a level head for what a dog and a client both need, he soon began having more business than he could handle. Soon he began moving from training and bartering into a full-fledged small business. When luck and opportunity and hard work intersect, changes comes fast.

handling dogs brought from out of town.

From other counties. Then other states.

His reply when asked of his farthest clients was directly modest: “New York.

Texas. Los Angeles.”

In fact, at the time of the interview, Arington was expecting one of MPR’s Los Angeles clients to fly in to Georgia.

Of course, he’s been amazed how the business has grown, and when talking of the company’s future, he revealed there is now a Mossy Pond Retrievers located in Greenville, South Carolina, and an even newer branch now open in Marlboro, New York. There is a need out there, and he and Team MPR are just the Southern gentlemen to do it with their bedrock work ethic married to current and expanding skills set for training dogs professionally.

It rests in a group of people led by an individual who found something enjoyable to do, filling a need, and opening up a market to locals and the not-so-locals. The best training. The best experience. The best service.

Mossy Pond Lodge in Offerman.

Shooting team, which is endorsed by the 4-H/Scholastic Clay Target Program, Arington almost guarantees forwarding a love of sport shooting, hunting, and doghandling for a future generation.

Despite an impressive roster of awards, sponsorships and community relations, Arington hasn’t forgotten the humble beginnings of his business that came from the encouragment of a friend.

“I hadn’t been graduated from high school long, and a friend asked if I’d train his dog,” Arington remembers. “I helped him out, and he offered to keep me in (ammunition) for the full hunting season.

At a time when I was most concerned with how I’d get gas money and ammunition money. That was a sweet deal!”

It didn’t take long for that one incident to lead to more friends wanting Arington to train their dogs. In a small town, word spreads, and in the hunting community, it

48 PIERCE COUNTY LIVING

That, says Arington, is what Mossy Pond Retrievers and Team MPR are all about.

“It reached the point where having started out working from my mother’s house just wasn’t cutting it anymore,” Arington recalls. “Business kept coming in, and I knew if I was going to be taken seriously, I couldn’t look professional working from a house.”

That’s when a friend stepped in and made an offer to build a kennel in Mershon. That helped Arington spread out and soon his business grew to the point he had to move Mossy Pond Retrievers to where it currently sits in Offerman. Any small business owner would jump for joy to be able to say his or her business had nearly quadrupled in the span of a few years. “We got noticed for professional handling and working closely, managing pedigrees. These things matter to clients, and it’s just like dealing with thoroughbreds.”

Such circles create their own buzz, and Arington soon found himself training and

A sign visible upon leaving the property may explain the company’s philosophy well: “Hunting is Heaven with a good dog.” 

Brad Arington (left) and Mossy Pond Retrievers Offerman manager, Lee Howard, observe a dog going through training.

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3416 Hwy 34 West • Blackshear • 807-HOME (4663) PIERCE COUNTY LIVING 51

We’re the experts on electricity.

Since 1996, Boyette Electric, Inc. has been a leading provider of electrical services to customers in Georgia, South Carolina and Florida. Boyette Electric has extensive experience in all commercial applications. Our trained staff can help you with all your electrical needs from lighting control systems, power distribution, design build and more. Call on us for expert service with high quality and reasonable cost a top priority.

BOYETTE ELECTRIC, INC. 912-449-3062 • 2889 Bob Bowen Rd • Blackshear GA 31516

Carl Boyette

Any Meal. Any Time.

TM

Chop House Burgers Premium Breakfast Dinner Platters

3428 US Highway 84 • Blackshear, GA 31516 • 807-4353 80 PIERCE COUNTY LIVING

Adam Ferrell

Personal Injury & Wrongful Death Criminal Law We understand our clients depend upon their

Family Law

attorney to obtain the most successful outcome in

Business & Corporate Law Wills, Probate, and Estate Law General Trial Practice

their particular case. No two cases are alike, and every client's needs are different. By focusing on our client's needs and employing a combination of hard work, experience, legal expertise, and thorough preparation, our firm has been able to provide clients with the outcomes they expect and deserve.

ADAM FERRELL, P.C. attorney at law www.adamferrell.com | 72 PIERCE COUNTY LIVING

128 NW Central Ave | Blackshear, GA 31516 | (912)

449-3000

Pam’s

Shear Designs Hair - Nails - Waxing Open Tuesday, Thursday & Friday

Corner Market

Pam Rowell Owner/Stylist Logan Rowell Stylist/Nail Tech

furniture and antiques Tues - Fri: 11 am - 5:30 pm & Sat. 10 am - 4pm jerry & marlene richardson, owners

6162 Hacklebarney Rd. Blackshear, Georgia

23 Vendors - jewelry, books, furniture & more

449-0690

We’ve got you covered.

416 Folks Street, Waycross, GA 283-5857 - 283-1827 (Fax)

Family Prescriptions Gift Headquarters Peace Of Mind

CROSBY, HENDRY & HOWELL Certified Public Accountants

R. Keith Hendry, CPA keith@chhcpa.net

J. Carey Martin III Owner - rPH

B umpk y r t n in ou s

C

Shawn R. Howell, CPA shawn@chhcpa.net

Phone: 912-449-6616 • Fax: 912-449-5759 3487 Hwy. 84 West • Blackshear, GA 31516 Email: blacksheardrugco@att.net

BLACKSHEAR A R E A ’S

#1

GIFT SHOP Mo nday PM -Saturday 10 AM- 6

Southern style at its best....Something for everyone.

Home Decor, Simply Southern T-Shirts, GA Items, Tyler Candles, Jewelry and so much more. Y’all come on by!

144 Main St. Blackshear, GA | 912-449-3396 PIERCE COUNTY LIVING 85

‘Where

Excellence is Standard.’

From earning National Showcase School status, to leading the region in academic performance or winning consistent championships on the athletic field, Pierce County Schools have earned a reputation for leading the way in innovative educational methods. Pierce County teachers consistently go the extra mile to insure our students gain the knowledge necessary to achieve their goals. Making certain that “Excellence is Standard” requires a coalition of dedicated educators, committed parents and enthusiastic students.

Make Pierce County your home and let us help your children reach their fullest potential.

Pierce County

Schools

Terri Deloach, Superintendent • Mark Dixon, Chairman, Board of Education Members: Duward Boatright, Jimmy Lynn, Pat Park, Jack Saussy.

PIERCE COUNTY LIVING 81

M.E. Shoppe Blackshear’s original consignment store.

Carrying Newborn, Girls, Boys, Juniors, Men’s and Women’s clothing & shoes.

Handbags, Jewelry and much, much more!

Thank You for Over 32 Years of Business

(l-r) Tammy Summerall, Nohemi Szeker, Alane Davis, Mary Jordan, Sarah Shuman and Jill Jordan

3344 Strickland Ave Ext. • Blackshear, GA • 912-449-3436

Hearts & hands helping others If you want to lend a hand or if you need a hand, The Sycamore Tree is a local Christian-based ministry supported by individuals and local churches. Volunteers donate their time as we help with food, clothing, furniture, household goods and limited short-term financial assistance. Resources are limited, so needs are evaluated on an individual basis. We also share the love of Jesus as we offer encouragement and support through prayer and listening. We welcome donations of time (many different volunteer opportunities), resources (money and new or used goods), and especially prayer.

The Sycamore Tree 204 NW Central Ave (Warehouse - 242 Taylor Street) Blackshear, Georgia 90 PIERCE COUNTY LIVING

Facebook.com/Neighbors.Sharing.The.Hope

Tuesday & Thursday:10-Noon and 2-5 pm sycamoretree@accessatc.net

(912) 807-4673

Your dream can come true here.

We’ve all visited communities that made us think, “Wouldn’t this be a great place to live!” We’ve got one. There are country roads to travel, historic sites close by, events in the park, down-home Southern meals, and let’s not forget close proximity to the beach, historic Savannah and the metro appeal of nearby Jacksonville. Golfers enjoy three championship golf courses. Boating, fishing or canoeing are easy on the Satilla River, one of the Southeast’s last unspoiled waterways.

You could be like Martha and Rick Fey, relaxing here with their son, Brian, and his wife, Jenna, in their backyard. The Fey family brought their dream of owning a McDonald’s franchise to Blackshear over 16 years ago from Gainesville, Florida. Today, their company operates six of the popular restaurants across Southeast Georgia — with their corporate headquarters in downtown Blackshear. Your dream can come true right here, too. Come to Pierce County and see.

PIERCE COUNTY LIVING 99

Our faith is 2,000 years old.

But our church life is as new and exciting as today.

Rev. Mike Stone Senior Pastor

Emmanuel is a regional church located in Blackshear. We maintain a hometown atmosphere while also drawing families from Appling, Bacon, Brantley, Ware, and Wayne counties. At Emmanuel, you’ll enjoy Spirit-filled praise and worship, dynamic Bible-based preaching, and exciting Bible classes for all ages. Our exceptional children’s and student ministries help us minister to every member of the family. Visit us online or in person and see why hundreds of people across Southeast Georgia call Emmanuel their church home. We invite you to join us for a worship service soon.

EBAPTIST mmanuEl CHURCH

100 PIERCE COUNTY LIVING

217 W. Carter Ave | Blackshear | 912-449-4481 www.ebchurch.net