Shade beekeeper considers tending hives sweetest job on earth
Written by Jenaye Antonuccio
Monday, 15 June 2009 08:04
A veil. A smoker. A cage for a queen.
These are a few of the many tools needed when Jack Cantrell works with a hairy, four-winged, five-eyed insect that communicates through dance and works itself to death producing gold.
Cantrell, local beekeeper and president of the Athens County Area Beekeeping Association (ACABA), is devoted to all things bee: his license plate reads “HUNEBEE,” the last four digits of his phone number is “BEES,” and he’s comfortable nearly always wearing his plastic beekeeping helmet. His fascination and dedication has spanned more than 40 years, save for one in which he was unhappily hive-less. “I couldn’t stand it anymore,” he says, “so I got started again. All my life all I ever wanted to do was raise honey bees.
“I carry a hive tool like most people carry a pen,” he says.
On the home front: Memorializing the Athens 'Magazine Lady'
Written by Jenaye Antonuccio
Friday, 22 May 2009 10:34
In 1971, the National Holiday Act established Memorial Day as a three-day-weekend. Since then, Memorial Day has been celebrated more with barbeques and sporting events than honoring those who have died while in service to our country. The VFW states, “Changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed greatly to the general public’s nonchalant observance of Memorial Day.”
This story is about a woman who at her time of death in 1974, age 77, did not die in service. Rather, it is about her simple act of giving during World War II that eased the minds of thousands upon thousands of soldiers — many never to return — that passed through Athens aboard troop trains, before their final destination to fight for victory.
How could you spend 10,950 days, 262,800 hours or 15,768,000 minutes – the equivalent of 30 years? Some examples: Fight a war in central Europe; watch one branch form on the giant, fernlike dioon plant; pay off a mortgage; announce football plays as a sports broadcaster…
Terry Beitzel has gladly invested her 30 years by being a mother to other people’s children – as a foster parent. “It’s been a blessing,” she says. “We’ve gotten to be involved in so many lives.”
One Earth, one town and one man: Life on the big blue marble
Written by Jenaye Antonuccio
Monday, 20 April 2009 00:00
Forty-some years ago, while astronauts explored the moon, they witnessed Earth begin its rise over the moon’s horizon. The astronauts broke protocol and snapped quick photographs. Those images moved us. Margaret Mead observed, “But it was not until we saw the picture of Earth from the moon that we realized how small and helpless this planet is, something that we must hold in our arms and care for.”
A few years later, two Earth Days were established. The first, created by peace activist and scientist John McConnell, took place on March 21, 1970 and was sanctioned by the United Nations to be celebrated on the vernal equinox. The other, founded by Sen. Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin on April 22, 1970, began on college campuses and is now celebrated nationally. The premise of both was to emphasize the need to share responsibility as environmental stewards or trustees of earth.
Athens Glimpses of Home: Taking the next cue: One local woman's life script
Written by Jenaye Antonuccio
Sunday, 08 March 2009 20:00
Berry Dilley, at age 75, is ready to begin again.
'If I live as long as my mom did,' she says, 'I've got 25 more years to go. And I'd like to do it well. I'd like to have a rich, full life.'
Athens Glimpses of Home: Local toon artist colors outside the lines
Written by Jenaye Antonuccio
Sunday, 01 February 2009 20:00
ON A QUIET ATHENS STREET, between MODEST HOUSES AND FRIENDLY NEIGHBORS, A MAN SITS alone AT HIS tidy DESK, WORKING. IT IS EARLY MORNING. THE LARGE WINDOW COVERING SHIELDS HIM FROM THE COMING DAY'S OVER-ABUNDANT LIGHT AND INEVITABLE DISTRACTION. THOUGH OCCASIONALLY RISING, STRETCHING, and FEEDING THE WOOD STOVE WITH self-hewn KINDLING, HE IS FOCUSED, TRAINED TO MASTER THE MOMENTS SO THE DEADLINE cannot ATTACK!!!
Athens glimpses of home: Going green: Local family transforms vacations into opportunity
Written by Jenaye Antonuccio
Sunday, 16 November 2008 20:00
Who will raise up the new generation of conservationists?' This is a question often posed by The Sierra Club, America's oldest environmental organization.
Athens glimpses of home: One woman's journey through pages of Athens history
Written by Jenaye Antonuccio
Sunday, 29 June 2008 20:00
The secret of a good life is to have the right loyalties and hold them in the right scale of values.' – Norman Thomas, six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America
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