People are Talking!

Compliments to the HHC (Happy History Committee)

for

Newborn, GA – Characters, Places Tales

Published October 2013

With an overwhelming sell out of the first 250 copies printed!

Reprint! Black/White copies are now available.

At the Schoolhouse Reunion and Tour of Homes on October 19:

·         Hulon Adams said, “This book is very well done and it is apparent that a lot of work has gone into it by the folks who have worked on it so long and so hard.”  

·         As the School Reunion folks picked up their books, they immediately started thumbing through it and commenting about how beautiful it was.

·         Katy Kearney said “I am reading my amazing new book, it is really impressive!! SO MUCH WORK!!  I read the part about Jeanette Zeigler being an air traffic controller in WWII and thought to myself, I wonder what her parents were like to raise such a person, then realized I have all that info right in my hands.  What a great thing!!!  Seriously Sally, it's a GREAT book and I am sorry that I said I hated the Happy History for making us miss so many great fishing days”.

·         Ruth Sams said that Hudy picked up her book and when she got home a neighbor came over to look at it and they really like the book.  Hudy is taking it to church with her to church to show it to everyone.

·         Ted Sheldon said that one of the visitors to Linda Woodworth’s home said, “He could not comprehend a small town our size pulling off we did today.”

·         Bill Hodges wrote to the HHC:  “Jeanette is, I know, ‘glowing in heaven’ and so proud of the characters that put Newborn on the map, at least, for the day.”

On the Sunday after the release of the book there were lots of compliments on the book at Newborn United Methodist Church:

·         Tray Polk said he loves it and wants another copy.  

·         Betty and Sam Walton said they love it.   Also, Sam said  the more he reads in the book the more he likes it!!!

·         Jan Hatchett said she is really enjoying it and it shows that we put in a lot of hard work on it.  

·         Martha and Denise Ellwanger said they love it, and  

·         Harris and Judy  Carson say they love it.

At the next Town Council Meeting, the Mayor of Newborn, Roger Sheridan, speaking about the book commented on 

·         how much can be accomplished when people work together.

Various friends have written in:

·         Cara Strahley :  “What an Amazing Book.  I had no idea your book was such a big project - well done! I'm looking forward to reading it soon.  Again, thanks so very much. What an awesome accomplishment and gift to Newborn your committee produced”.

·         Eugenia Robertson Thompson wrote:  “Sally and Wayne –OMG!!!  I received my Newborn book in the mail today, and it is amazing!!!  I sat right down at the dining room table and started looking at it, and before I knew it, an hour had passed and I was still sitting in that hard chair and supper wasn’t even started!!!  What a treasure!  SO MANY HOURS of work went into that, and it really shows.  My sincere gratitude to you two and to all the others who worked so hard on it.  Please pass my message on to them”.

·         Tom Krieger said “I read the interview with Leonard Hardeman.  You nailed it.  That is exactly what I was looking for in the book.  The Town needs to have more copies of the book printed.”

·         Beth Scarborough wrote:  “I delivered the color book to Leornard and Arsie Mae today and they were beyond thrilled.  Arsie Mae was determined to keep it in her hands and not let it be borrowed.  Leonard said he had more stories if we wanted to do another book”.

·         Lindy Kerr wrote:  “Excited, Excited, Excited:  That's the mood at the Kerr house today because we got a brand new book, "Newborn, Ga, Characters, Places, Tales" in the mail today. Our after supper entertainment will be perusing our new favorite book!   I can't wait!!  Ps: the cutest little girl is on page 6”.

·         Ruth Sams wrote regarding Ellen Sams Davis:  “When Wayne talked to Ellen this morning she said that she should be painting in her studio but she couldn't put the book down”.

·         Ted Sheldon wrote:  “Saw Glen Johnson at PO this morning.  He said a strange truck driver bought one.  The driver had stopped to stretch his legs and was talking to Glen about Newborn.  Glen told him if he wanted to know about Newborn, go to Town Hall and buy a new book that is out.  He did, a color one.”

·         Mellie Pitts Carson wrote:  “I just wanted to congratulate you and your cohorts on the THE BOOK.  It is so interesting that I find myself reading through and 2 hours have passed!  What an undertaking and what marvelous results!!!”

·         Beryl Budd wrote:  “I picked up the book and it is wonderful!  I have not been able to start reading it yet because it has been in Sandra's hands since I picked it up. lol!”.

·         Peggy Smith wrote:  “Dear Ruth and Wayne, What a wonderful surprise it was to receive the Newborn book yesterday! Getting all these memories and pictures into print is a huge accomplishment.  You must be very pleased with the outcome of your years of work.
I have heard some of the stories from Helen, Elizabeth and Helen Conger.  Now I know who Miss Mellie was, and others.  Helen Conger lives not far from me and it will be fun to go through the book with her.  Many thanks for sending the book.  I keep thinking how much Glen would have enjoyed it.  I'm looking forward to reading more of it.  Take care, Peggy.”

·         Ellen Sams Davis wrote:  “Wayne and Ruth, Thank you so very much for the book on Newborn.  I can't seem to put it down......the photos are priceless!!!!!  And the tales are so much fun to read. (We were really cute little kids!) Thanks for getting a color edition for me.  I realize that most will be b/w, but it will be fun to check out the color.  In reading the tales, I realize how much we missed of other people and their lives.  Sad.  Thanks again and congratulations on such an important documentation of life in a rural, small Georgia town. Well done! Love,  Ellen.

More feedback:

·         Leona Benkowski bragged on the book and said what a good job The HHC did with the book.   She loves it.

·         Carla from Mill Pond Rd. loves the book and says the book is wonderful and anybody who lives in Newborn needs to have one.

·         Helen Porter Conger said:  “Thank the Happy History Committee for doing the book, I am  thoroughly enjoying it and it has brought back so many good memories.  I want to know what you all are going to do next!  I wish I had sent pictures of Father and Grandfather.  I am thinking now that Clifford Childs lived on Robertson Road behind Hamp and Eula Carson's house, I remember a chimney standing there where the house burned down.”
She said, “John Estes thought he had problems all the time with his landlines.  He of course had the problem with Clifford Childs but also with Mr. Whitten.  He used to go see Mr. Bill Porter (Old Man Estes would be drinking and with his pistol in his pocket) and complain to Mr. Bill that Mr. Whitten was taking one row each year into his land.”  Old Man Estes called Helen “Little Bill”  and used to say, “Little Bill, don't you tell anybody what I have said.”  She said of course she wouldn't because she was so scared of him!! 

·         Ellen Banks Shadrick said:  “I want to tell The Happy History Committee how beautiful your book is and how much I am enjoying it!!!”  She is very happy and enjoying and pleased with the book and she is thrilled to have it!!

·         Beth Fehrmann said:  “All I heard for a year and a half was you all were working on the History, History, History.  The stories I would hear were wonderful and then there were the problems you all were having with the pictures moving and so on.  So I feel like I lived it with all of you.  I do not know what I was expecting, but the book has surpassed that.  The book is beautiful and really, really wonderful.  The Happy History Committee did a fantastic job on the book.  It is really amazing and something to be really proud of”.

·         Lewis Banks said, "All of you did a really good job on the book."

·         Mary Jane Dixon wrote:  "Congratulations on the "History" - You and your committee did an excellent job!"

·         Frances Morrow Tucker wrote:  "I sure have enjoyed the Newborn Book.  Sally, you did such a good job with my letter, thank you, I know you worked hard on it."

·         Laura Lee Elliott wrote:  " The Book - Newborn, Ga. is so wonderful!  The history, the nostalgic reminiscences, the "characters", the photographs - all tied together with a love and sense of place & community.  I am so proud of you and others creating such a memorable and lasting book."

·         Katy Kearney talked to a lady named Nancy that lives on Pitts Chapel Road that went on the tour and bought a book. Nancy, a former schoolteacher, loved the tour.  Nancy loves the book and thinks it is really, really fantastic. She is a grammar freak and only saw once where there were double words and told Katy she did not even have to get out her red pen!! Nancy loves the way the book kept the way people talked in their own voices. She also found out from the book that she is related to the Webb family that lived in Newborn at the Willson house even though Nancy is not even from around here!”