Georgia Department of State Parks newsletter [Spring 1969]

GEORGIA DEPARTMENT of
270 WASHINGTON STREET, S. W. ATLANTA . GEORGIA 30334

~
NEWSLETTER

SPRING 1969

LESTER G. MADDOX, Governor

JOHN L. GORDON, Director

DICK GRAY- EDITOR

\IS. mAIL..
... It is with mixed emotions that Ye Olde Ed attempts to follow the Act of 11 NEWSLETTER, by Sandy Smith.'' This .i. a hard Act to follow, believe me! Putting first things first, nevertheless, we would like to echo certain sentiments Sandy inserted in the October, last, issue: 11 Thanks to all who contributed We appreciate your votes of confidence. 11 Even more than the votes, we appreciate the items of interest fluttering into the 11 1N" bas~et, without which this task would not get off the Parkground, so to speak. 'Nuff said. ON with it!
* * * * * * *

POTPOURRI

and then there was the famous psychologist who had finished his lecture and was answering questions. A meek little man asked: 11 Did you say that a good poker player could hold down any kind of executive job? 11 "That 1 s right, 11 answered the 1 ecturer. "Does that raise a question in your mind? 11 11 Yes," was the reply. "What would a good poker player want with a job? 11
---BELL RINGER

speaking of jobs...

The beautiful brunette was applying

for a job as a secretary. Her prospective boss asked how she

spelled 11 Mississippi. 11 She frowned a moment, then asked 11 The

river or the state? but got the job anyway.

---OVERHEARD

--PARK NEWS--
REED BINGHAM-
Superintendent C.C. Powell reports completion of two more picnic shelters; he adds that the new miniature golf course should be completed 'most any time, now.
STEPHEN C. FOSTER-
Supejintand~nt Lawrence Day notes that recently his park suffered ita closest call to a drownin~ in its history. A local resident was out seven miles into the swamp, fishin~, when he apparently struck his head and fell into the water. His feet caught on t~ boat, and this was his predicament when he was found. By the time he was found, he already had turned blue, but throuah the lifesaving skill of Mr. Shorty Mus~rove, he was brought back to consciousneas in about 30 minutes.
GEORGIA VETERANS-
Superintendent Gerald Evans announces construction has started on family shelters. He adds that the fishin~ recently has been "greatl'
BLACK ROCK MOUNTAIN-
The Stde Highway Department recently began widening and treating the road to the cottages. Superintendent Jake Thompson has his own beautification project going - not to be outdone. He is getting an old picnic area back into shape. Many of the old stone fireplaces are still in working ord~r.. H e also has made a small sprin~ into a lovely, woodland fountain, and has set out several trees.
BOBBY BROWN-
This park (Mr. Carl Scott, Acting Superintendent) is now sporting an impressive pair of new park entrance signs. The project was begun sometime before Christmas.
*******
BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR MORE PARK NEWS NEXT ISSUE (OUT LATER THIS MONTH) --Ed.

, . - -------~~------
FLASH!!!
---AS MOST OF YOU KNOW ... Early each year we conduct an annual drawing for a
week's free vacation for some lucky Georgian and his family at a State Park of his choice.
This year, the drawing was held early 1n February, based on (actually FROM tfuem) receipts taken at all Parks the past calendar year.
The winner this drawing .. of t~ free one-week vacation 1n one of our new park cottages is:
Mr. Charles R. Usher Route l Cleveland, Ga. CONGRATULATIONS to Mr. Usherl!l P.S: Mr. Usher chose Vogel as his prize place-to-stay.

PARADE of PROGRESS
DID YOU KNOW? (or, "TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF PARKS FACTS . ")
As of 31 December, 1968, Parks Department fac~lities included: 122 Rental Cottages 40 Mohile Homes NEARLY 1700 CAMPSITES 10 GROUP CAMPS 51 DREAM BOATS (PADDLE-TYPE, RENTAL) 163 FISHING BOATS 38 CONCESSION OUTLETS 11 SWIMMING POOLS AND 13 SWIMMING AREAS ON LAKES 24 BATHHOUSES 13 MINIATURE GOLF COURSES SOME 60 PICNIC AREAS 6 MUSEUMS
GO GEORGIA STATE PARK~ll

TO: --Miss Brenda Bell, secretary to Personnel Officer John
W. Wilkes.
--Mr. William L. Everett, Supt. Trainee at Elijah Clark. now Superintendent at Hamburg.
--Mr. Norris Eugene Wa~e, Park Ranger at Elijah Clark (presently Acting Superintendent: see PERSONNEL notes.)
--Mrs. Benita Sims (arrived April 1st), Secretary to Park Supervisors.
(Martha) Knox, Secretary to Deputy Director

--Brenda Bell -January 30 .. (Others having January

--Ralph Fain - January 5

birthdays were

mentioned in the

December issue.)

-~W.O. Moore - February 7 --Alex Brock - February 8 --Mrs. Martha Knox - February 8 --Lee Palmer - February 9 --Cammie Camero~- February 11 --Gray Fowler - February 13 --Jim Prevatte - February 23 --Lawrence Day - February 28 --Jeff Naugle - February 28
--Anita Brown - March 12 --Lunnie Austin - March 13

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO: (cont'd)
--Andrea (Boots) Thornton - March 14 --Jerry Minchew - March 18 --Russell Slaton - March 18 --Jake Thompson - March 22 --Kaye Anderson - March 23 --Carole Price- April 9 --H.D. Struble- April 24 --Joel Crane- April 28
************
NEWS FLASH:::: IN-SERVICE TRAINING MEETING SET FOR APRIL 16th: AMICALOLA FALLS .

NATIONAL PUBLICITY CONTlNUE~
" Besides huge Chattahoochee National Forest, in the Blue Ridjie Mountains of northwest Geor~ia, the state maintains 43 parks, 32 of which have developed campgrounds. Seventeen of them rent trailers and cottages to visitors. There are also 100 miles of seashore and many privately owned recreational facilities. Golf courses are everywhere and the hunting and fishing are excellent. Georgia, the largest state east of the Mississippi, is not only the "Peach State;" it is the playground state as well."
---"GEORGIA-A FAMILY PLAYGROUND" by Florence Somers (REDBOOK MAGAZINE, February, 1969: an excerpt)
HIGH FALLS HIGHLIGHT
FLASH! LATEST STATISTICS FROM THE DESK OF INFORMATION OFFICER MABEL WILKINS SHOW ATTENDANCE FOR HIGH FALLS STATE PARK HAS ALMOST EXACTLY DOUBLED AS OF THE END OF CALENDAR YEAR 1968, COMPARED TO CALENDAR 1967. AS A MATTER-OF-FACT, WOULD YOU BELIEVE A DIFFERENCE OUT OF A TOTAL OF 389,288 OF 80 (minus) PEOPLE?? HIGH FALLS' SHORTY LETSON CHALLENGES SOME OF YOU "SLOW COMERS" TO BEAT THAT RECORD THIS YEARl INCIDENTALLY, WE ALSO NOTE SHORTY'S PARK IS SLATED TO GET A NUMBER OF IMPROVEMENTS, THIS YEAR. ALREADY UNDER CONSTRUCTION ARE: A VISITORS' CENTER WITH BATHHOUSE AND BEACH, COMFORT STATION AND 25 NEW CAMPSITES, AND A FAMILY/GROUP SHELTER.

TURN THE PAGE IF YOU DARE 1!

ROSES & RAZZBERRIES
RED TOP MOUNTAIN Wyatt Clark, Superintendent; Horace Pruitt, Park Ranger
On our visit to Red Top I deveioped car trouble on a Saturday afternoon which could have ruined our whole vacation. Mr. Pruitt came to the rescue and we were on our way in an hour. Thank you for employing such an outstanding family as the Pruitts.
---John Lesnik Lockport, Illinois
TUGALOO Charles Cobb, Superintendent
The nicest Superintendent and assistants that I have ever encountered in my five years of camping. South Carolina campers love this park.
---Mr./Mrs. Frank Woodson Ass't State Directors,NCHA Anderson, So. Carolina
GORDONIA ALTAMAHA Darrell Rush, Superintendent
Mr. Rush goes far beyond the requirements of his job in assisting campers in his Park. Apparently Mr. Flowers, his predecessor, must have set a very good example for him.
---Robert S. Whisnant (address unknown)
CHEHAW James Tabb, Superintendent
Service: excellent. The personnel were quite helpful. Park location is good. We were looking over the area for possible collection of PEROMYSCUS POLIONOTUS for research projects being conducted in the Department of Biology at the University of South Carolina. Mr. Tabb was valuable to us with his suggestions, and knowledge of the area.
---K.E. Griswdd, Trapping Supr. Dept. of Biology, U.S.C. Columbia, So. Carolina
---MORE---

REED BINGHAM C.C. Powell, Superintendent
Having traveled for 53 days and covered over 6,000 miles, want to say you have the cleanest, most nicely laid-out park we've stayed in. Thank you, very much.
---Mr./Mrs. Robert Burk Ohio City, Ohio
HIGH FALLS Shorty Letson, Superintendent
We treasure the memory: one of the nicest (parks) we have visited, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The Superintendent was courteous, friendly and helpful, the facilities excellent and clean, the scenery beautiful. So nice to have both developed and rustic camping areas. We hope to return.
---Mrs. E.M. Johnson Roanoke, Virginia
??????? ???????????
On the whole, your park is very good. However, I would suggest more level, hard-surfaced pull-off spaces for gas-operated refrigerators in campers.
---?????????
??????? ??.?????????
Extend the entrance ramps to the trailer sites. dropped my trailer wheels in the ditch in the dark.
---?????????
'??????'? ???'????????
The road from recreation center to cottages could be improved. It needs to be paved: it was quite muddy and I almost slid over the side. Except for this, an excellent park.
---?????????
(The above three "Razzberries" are authentic. We hope we will be able soon to correct these deficiencies. This month,*we could find NO complaints of any employee-discourtesy, nor any negligence of upkeep by parks personnel. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORKII
---Ed. )
*As of date of publication!

John W. Wilkes, Personnel Officer
Mr. Carl Scott is acting Superintendent at Bobby Brown. (Mr. Monroe Andrews --sorely missed by all who knew him --died, as you remember, February 24). Mr. Jimmy Austin Bond is to be inst.alled as Superintendent at Bobby Brown April 14th.
Mr. J.F. Fortson, Superintendent at Elijah Clark, suffered a heart attack the end of March. He was hospitalized in serious condition, but is expected to be back in action in about six months, if all goes well. Meanwhile, Mr. Eugene Ware, Park Ranger, will be acting Superintendent in Mr. Fortson's absence.
Moccasin Creek Superintendent Webb Short was hospitalized recently for pneumonia, but is now recuperating at home.
Black Rock Mountain Superintendent Jake Thompson's son (6) was recently down with pneumonia, but has recovered and is reported back in school.
(On behalf of all the Department, we wowld express our sympathies to the families of all on the sick list. You are much in our thoughts and we wish you a very speedy recovery. We are most grateful, also, for those who are now returned to good health, or are on the road to recover~ --Ed.)
Mrs. Sandy Smith is now a "lady of leisure'' (HAl) staying home with her twa children, Brad and Donna. Sandy resigned in January.
Mrs. Shirley Spence, who resigned in December, is secretary to Mr. Tom Murphy, Hous~ Floor Speaker.
(---As someone said recently:"We always hate to lose our pretty secretaries; we all MLSS YOUl")

PERSONNEL (cont'd) .
RETIRED: Mr. C.P. Flowers retired from Gordonia Abnamaha the 1st
of January. Mr. Flowers had been with us since early 1960. We will miss him. We wish him much happiness in the years aheadl
Vo~el Maintenance Mechanic Nathan Dyer had a severe bout with the flu the first of the year, but is long since recovered and hard at work preparing for the onrushing summer season.
Pat Clarke became a U.S. citizen, January 2lst11 Bebea Dean left for New Orleans the end of January.
***********
AND DON'T FORGET TO SEND IN THOSE NOTES ABOUT FAMILY, FRIENDS, VISITORS, OR WH ATEVER .. LET US ALL SHARE THE NEWS FROM YOUR PARKll P.S: IF WE DON'T HAVE THE ANNIVERSARY DATE OF YOUR MARRIAGE, LiT'S HAVE ITl AND BIRTHDAY DATES, IF WE DON'T ALREADY HAVE IT, TOO. (MANY WIVES OR HUSBANDS DO NOT HAVE THESE DATES IN OUR FILE: IF IN DOUBT, SEND 'EM ON.)
--Ed.

Ten Rules for GETTING A~ONG WITH THE BOSS

Have you noticed that those books and articles on how to make good usually ignore one of the most fundamental of how-to-get-ahead principles?

Knowing how to get along with your boss has nothing to do with laughing at bad jokes (which is merely politeness) or with doing one's duty well and faithfully (which is merely expected) or with apple polishing (which is merely a mistake). Knowing how is a matter of examining the wheel he turns and the wheel you turn and seeing to it that at the point where the two come together, cogs mesh instead of clashing or slipping.

To improve your technique, here are ten rules based on surveytakers and students of management methods:

Rule 1: Respect his authority and his responsibility

Don't challenge, overtly or by implication, his right to tell you what to do or to pass judgment on what you have done. This is his job. Argue all you want before a decision is reached, but not afterward, for when you buck his authority even passively, you interfere with his abili~y to do his job properly. Don't forget that he is responsible up the line for what you do do\vn the line, just as though he had done it himself.

Rule 2: Watch your timing

Learn his schedule so that you don't bust in at his busiest time or get hung up on the discovery that the morning you planned to catch him in a free moment is the morning he is regularly in conference.

Rule 3: Allow for the fact that he's only human

It is unreasonable to expect the boss to be a perfect being and complain because he is not. Yet many people do just that. He makes mistakes, too. He will sometimes forget to say please and thank you just as everyone else forgets sometimes.

Rule 4: Know his "delegation level"

Almost every boss has specific ideas about what he wants to be consulted

on and what he does not want to be bothered with. Some things he wants

to do, some things he wants you to do after checking with him, some things

he wants you to do on your own. Learn his pattern and folic

-'~

be misled by what books and articles may say on this point;

your boss ought to delegate and not delegate, but what you n

what your boss does delegate and not delegate.

Rule 5: Be businesslike

Don't let emotions- fear,.nervousness, hero worship- color your relationship with the boss. Let him set the pace, set the tone of formality or informality in your dealings.

-MORE-

Rule 6: Remember that he deals \vith a bigger picture than you do
You are in close touch with one aspect of the Agency's work; he is in close touch with many. You are respo~sible for one segment of the work; he is responsible for a bigger segment. He reports to men who have a still broader familiarity and a still larger responsibility; he may, in fact, be working under several people instead of only one, as you are. Be aware of the many factors he must consider in reaching a decision or making an assignment or passing judgment.
Rule 7: Find out how he likes to be contacted
Some bosses like you to drop in casually any time. Some don't mind if you do. Others definitely do not. Some want you to call first. Some like you to transact your business by phone. Some want you to make appointments. Some like to assign set times for various people to see them. Some like you to save all your errands and handle them all in one long visit. Some like to see one visitor at a time; others like their company in batches. Some like things submitted in writing; others don't.
Rule 8: Keep him informed
Many bosses would put this at the top of the list wi.th a red circle around it. Nothing trips a boss up with such a resounding thump as a lack of the information he needs to make plans and decisions and reports. Nothing except, perhaps, a plentiful supply of misinformation. So see to it that he gets the dope, gets it in full and on time, and gets it straight.
Rule 9: Don't concentrate too heavily on pleasing the boss
You may find yourself pleasing him at the expense of your colleagues. If you were a cold-eyed, brilliant young man destined for a meteoric rise in the world of industry and finance, maybe you would get away with it. Otherwise you are probably heading for trouble. To get along with your boss, it is usually necessary to get along with a lot of other people, too.
Rule 10: Treat him like an individual
This last rule is really a summary. Beware of thinking of your boss as an institution ratner than as an individual person. Beware of trying to understand him in terms of whatthe book says an executive is or does or thinks - or worse, should be or should do or should think. Beware of treating him like some kind of expensive and slightly awescme machine, which grinds away just above your head in a fixed, predictable pattern. Bosses aren't all alike any more than non-bosses are all alike. It is fine to bone up on executive technique and management problems and. methods . ~ut nev~r forget that you must interpret and apply the theory in individual tei'Jlls~
-MORE.o.

Rule 10 (Continued)
Basically, of course, the best way to please yotir boss is to do your job well. As you succeed, so he succeeds. You will get more satisfaction from your work. The better you get along with the boss, the better you will like your job; and the more you enjoy your job, the sunnier a place the world is. For another thing, your ability to help the boss do his job better is precisely the kind of surplus talent that can lead him to earmark you for bigger things, and soon other people may be worrying about how to handle you.
** ** **** *

S.A.FETY NOTES " READ ON, MacDUFF 111 ---~

SAFETY NOTES (cont'd)

---Accident Control Pro~ram:

.

We are gratified to report that as of the final quarter

1968, no severity rates, and only 5 medical reports. A total of

over 238,000 miles was driven. (We hope to have latest figures

for this year in next issue. -Ed.)

---DID YOU KNOW?? ..

A study of Washington, D.C. drivers shows that in 1967
eight out of every hundred drivers, aged 16 to 19, were involved in crashes in which they were at fault. By contrast, only five out of a hundred in the 45-to-54 age-bracket were in violation. The best rate, three out of a hundred, was in the 65-and-older category. (Maybe the "Older Generation" isn't to blame for ALL the bad news, after all . as some would have us believel -Ed.)

---WORDS TO THE WISE:

If you are in the habit of burning trash in a properly constructed wire mesh in_cinerator, watch your stepl Discarding bottles with liquid in them or supposedly-empty aerosol cans in such a fire can bring tragedy if one explodes from the heat and sprays fragments of glass or razor-sharp bits of metal through the holes in the wire mesh. Another unsafe act is to throw radio or flashlight batteries into such a fire. They may explode with tremendous forcel

---TIMELY TIPS DIVISION

Those who believe that unless the hazardous condition
directly affects them, is none of their concern are numerous. They are the ones who never report a bad spot in the floor
just walk around it; they never report a stack that is likely to fall, simply avoid it. They never report a motor that's running hot: that's the mechanic's responsibility.
Those who refuse to admit that an unsafe act is being committed until they learn the hard way become victims of similar events through their own stupidity. For example, someone knows
of a fellow-employee who received a fractured kneecap when he fell while trying to jump over a packing case. Rather than admit the fellow committed an unsafe act, our friend considers him a clumsy lout who doesn't know how to handle himself. After all, such accidents will never happen if a man knows w~t he is doing. (Or so the argument goes.)

from HAZARD RECOGNITION: GEORGIA Accident
Control Program (TT # 115)