out of a job. But within two weeks, he found work with the
state. For the next ten years, William supervised prisoners
in the printing shops at the prisons in Mount Vernon and
Glennville. “I’ve never, never drawn unemployment,” he
emphasized.
One job was never enough for William. He kept a big
garden and raised everything from donkeys and bantam
chickens to peacocks and goats. The farm work gave William
and Jeannine’s children, Joseph and Dana, the opportunity
to learn practical work ethics and responsibility. “We had a
donkey, peacocks, pigeons, and bantam chickens,” said Dana.
“Dad loves animals.”
But there was always something about goats for William.
Although he was too young to remember, he knew his father
raised goats. “Goats are a poor man’s cow,” said William
smiling at his daughter.
In 2005, William retired from the state. Even then, he
continued to work with his son in the lawn service business,
which is how the infamous old blue truck came into his
possession. “We were doing some work in Mount Vernon and
found it in the back of a rundown store. It was about junk
when I bought it,” he said.
“We had to cut down trees and use a come-along winch to
pull it out of there,” said Joseph.
For two years, William worked to restore the 1950
International pick-up truck. “It had the original engine, but
the carburetor and brakes needed a lot of work. You can
hardly find parts for an International anymore. I changed the
battery from a 6-volt system to a 12-volt system and had the
seats reupholstered.”
From the first time William drove the old blue truck
through town, he realized it was a great conversation starter.
“People would come and say, ‘My dad had a truck like that
when I was a kid,’ he said. “The old truck has given us a lot of
enjoyment. People borrow it from time to time for weddings
and senior pictures.”
Pointing to the dozens of trophies that lined the shelves
against the back wall at his home, Dana said, “He won those
at car shows. He goes to all of them: The Real Squeal, the
Moonshine Festival in Oak Park, Cruise-in for a Cause,
Swainsboro Pine Tree Festival…” She named a few others.
Embarrassed by all the attention, William said, “I don’t
win. They give a trophy to everybody for just coming.”
“He meets people. They exchange stories. And he does
like to get a trophy,” said Dana, smiling at her dad.
For Christmas one year, Joseph gave his dad a metal goat
as a joke. Even after all the farm animals and fowl were gone
and the garden plowed under, his father still kept goats. And
not just any goats. William’s herd of goats were the fainting
kind. “They’re myotonic goats or Tennessee fainting goats.”
Noting my concerned expression, he quickly added, “They
don’t actually faint. It doesn’t hurt them any. They'll fall over
and look like they're dead, but they get up pretty quick.”
The following Christmas, his daughter Dana added
another metal goat to her father’s collection. Without
thinking about it, William set the metal goats in the back of
his truck one day and took off to town. From that time on,
ABOVE In the military, one of William's jobs was working in supply
ordinance in a supply camp at Fort Liggett, California. Here he is
holding an M105 howitzer artillery dud.
BELOW While working with Piggly Wiggly Southern, William
learned all about printing and became the supervisor of Southern
Graphic Arts–the division responsible for printing Piggly Wiggly's
circulars.
88 TOOMBS COUNTY MAGAZINE