In a move that took even the lawyers involved by surprise, Judge Tommy Wilson appointed Sen. John F. Kennedy as special master to mediate the ongoing battle between Lamar County and the Solid Waste Authority…
Posts published in “Headlines”
Through its new Atlanta counsel, the Lamar County commission has filed action in Lamar superior court seeking an emergency order to vacate the current Lamar County Regional Solid Waste Authority (SWA) board, allow the county…
The first Tired of Tires effort is set for Friday-Sunday, April 25-27 at the county road department located at 730 Grove Street. Grant funds are being used to rent a dumpster to collect tires for proper disposal.
Car tires only can be dropped off from 2-6 p.m. on Friday and Sunday and 8 a.m.-6 p.m. on Saturday. No rims will be accepted.
Boy Scouts, 4-H kids and other volunteers will man the operation. The county commission hopes the grant monies can operate the removal effort for four or five months.
The Barnesville city council voted unanimously April 7 to approve a contract with GFL Environmental for trash pickup and other sanitation services in the city. The service was previously provided by AmWaste which operates the Cedar Grove Landfill here. GFL is based in Thomaston.
AmWaste had told city officials and local civic groups that trash collected here was going to a facility in Cordele where recyclables were removed. “We found out all the trash was going to the landfill here. GFL will take our trash to a transfer station for handling,” mayor Kelly Hughes said.
The official switchover is set for April 21 but GFL personnel will begin delivering trash cans to homes here beginning Tuesday, April 15. The new trash cans will be accompanied by a flyer giving residents information on their new trash pickup day.
For more information or to report a problem, call city hall at 770.358.0181.
Former Barnesville resident Col. John Mooneyham died Feb. 22 at his home in Clarkesville, Ga.
Col. Mooneyham was the senior ranking officer at the US Embassy in Kuwait City, Kuwait when Iraq invaded. He got his charges, including his wife and son, out but was held as a prisoner of war in Iraq for four months. He was the last embassy staffer out of the country.
Prior to that Col. Mooneyham did two tours in Vietnam with the 101st Airborne Division. Funeral services were be held Saturday at Hillside Memorial Chapel in Clarkesville. A full obituary is published in the obits section.
A 74-year-old Van Buren Road man who suffered from dementia managed to walk out of his home early Sunday, Jan. 5 and made his way to a pond on the property where his body was…
By Ann Mann
Hershel Greenblat was born in the caves of Ukraine during the Holocaust. He shared his story of survival at Barnesville First United Methodist Church where they dedicated a new daffodil garden as part of “The Daffodil Project.” The Garden commemorates the 1.5 million Jewish children who did not survive the Holocaust.
Hershel begins his story with a reflection that strikes at the heart, “Think of one child, Benjamin. A seven-year-old, whose only crime was being Jewish. What could he have become? A doctor, a teacher, a father? His life was snuffed out by hatred, a loss we commemorate with daffodils. Each bloom remembers a child who died too soon.”
Greenblat’s narrative is not just a recounting of history, it’s a journey through the unimaginable horrors of the Holocaust and the resilience of those who survived. His story begins with his parents, Abraham and Mary, young Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe who refused to succumb to despair.
In 1939, the Nazi war machine invaded Poland, enforcing the Nuremberg Laws that stripped Jews of their rights, homes, and humanity. Abraham, one of 16 children from Lublin, Poland, was the sole survivor of his family. At just 19, he went underground, resisting not with weapons but with acts of humanity: seeking food, medical supplies, and ways to educate others. Mary, 18 at the time, joined the resistance despite losing her leg to shrapnel. Together, they exemplified courage in the face of unrelenting brutality.
Hershel was born underground in the caves of Ukraine, where his family hid from both Nazi and Russian persecution. “I spent the first year of my life in the cold darkness of those caves,” he recounts. His parents’ determination to survive was tested repeatedly, including when Abraham risked his life to save Mary after her injury, leaving baby Hershel behind in hiding. “Three and a half weeks later, bandaged and on crutches, my parents returned for me.”
Hershel’s narrative weaves through the atrocities committed against Jews across Europe. From the ghettos where families were starved and humiliated to the mass killings in forests and the gas chambers of Treblinka and Belzec, he paints a harrowing picture of systematic annihilation. “Six million Jews were murdered, including 1.5 million children. My family was among them,” he says. His father’s family perished in the death camps, and his mother’s parents, siblings, and their children were shot near Kiev.
For those who survived, life remained precarious. After the war, Hershel and his family undertook a perilous 1,600-mile journey to a displaced persons camp in Austria. “I was five years old and weighed only 18 pounds,” he recalls. Yet even amidst despair, life persisted. “There were weddings, babies born, and funerals. We clung to hope.”
In 1950, the Greenblats emigrated to the United States, arriving at Ellis Island. Hershel vividly remembers seeing the Statue of Liberty for the first time: “Even as a child, I felt a sense of possibility, a sense that now, maybe, I could have a future.”
Their arrival was marked by the kindness of strangers. Red Cross volunteers handed out donuts, milk, and care packages. A third-grade teacher in Atlanta helped Hershel adapt to his new life, teaching him English and buying him his first pair of jeans. “She saved my life,” he says.
Abraham and Mary worked tirelessly to rebuild. Abraham purchased a small grocery store, repaid the loan, and spent the next 17 years helping to feed the hungry in their community. The family’s journey from persecution to prosperity exemplifies the resilience of the human spirit.
Today, Hershel shares his story to honor the memories of those who perished and to inspire future generations to combat hatred. “The daffodils we plant aren’t just flowers, they’re symbols of life stolen too soon,” he says.
His story is not only one of survival but of determination to make the world better. It’s a reminder of the devastating consequences of hatred and the enduring power of resilience and hope. He shares his story today to remind people not to look away when they see evil and injustice.
He shared the advice he gives students today. Love and respect your parents. Give your teachers the love and respect they deserve. Love and respect each other. Don’t be a bully. Don’t be a bystander when you see injustice. He says, “the world stood by and watched the murder of six million people. Don’t let it happen again.”
As we reflect on Hershel’s journey, we are reminded that it is not enough to remember. We must act to ensure such atrocities are never repeated. Each life lost was more than a statistic, it was a story, a dream, a future cut short. May we honor their memory by striving for a world where humanity triumphs over hate.
(You may view Hershel Greenblat’s presentation on the Barnesville First United Methodist Church YouTube channel. Ann Mann is an Emmy Award-winning journalist, now serving as pastor to Barnesville First United Methodist Church. You can email her at annmann@comcast.net. Her new book, “Finding Hope in the Storm,” is available on Amazon.)
The county commission voted unanimously Nov. 19 to let bids for a $5.3 million, DOT-designed road improvement project in the area of the Rock Springs campus in northeast Lamar. Acceleration/deceleration and turn lanes are planned…