DUDLEY MAYS HUGHES

A Beacon of Agriculture and Education

No other resident of a county surrounding Laurens County has had more of a lasting impact on the history of Laurens County than Congressman Dudley Mays Hughes of Danville, Twiggs County, Georgia. Though his grandfather was a resident of Laurens, Dudley Hughes lived most of his life on his plantation in Danville, Georgia. As a railroad baron, agriculturalist and congressman, Hughes led the citizens between Dublin and Macon out of the abyss of Reconstruction through the zenith of the cotton boom, which prematurely ended with the coming of the boll weevil and the resulting bank failures and worker migration to the North.

Dudley Mays Hughes was born on October 10, 1848 in Jeffersonville, Georgia. His parents, Daniel G. Hughes and Mary Moore Hughes, were prominent residents of the county. His father represented Twiggs County in the Georgia legislature. His grandfather Hayden Hughes, of Laurens County, was one of Central Georgia’s largest slave owners.

Hughes received most of his primary education at private schools, primarily at Oakland Academy. Though he never formally completed his studies at the University of Georgia, Dudley was made an honorary graduate. While in college, Dudley developed life time friendships with many of Georgia’s future leaders, including Henry W. Grady, Governor Nat Harris and University of Georgia Chancellor Walter B. Hill.

Dudley Hughes’ station in life was set in 1870 when he left college in the middle of his senior year to try his hand at agriculture. Though very adept in his academic faculties, Dudley was also masterful the modern methods of agricultural principles. After a trial run on his grandfather’s farm in Laurens County, Hayden Hughes rewarded the young man with a bounty of a thousand dollars for his excellent work. Hughes used his grant to purchase and establish his Danville farm into one of the section’s most profitable operations.

Hughes realized that in order for agricultural operations to prosper, that railroads were an absolute necessity. The closest railroad to his home was the Central of Georgia Railroad in Wilkinson County. Hughes  epresented Twiggs County in the Georgia Senate from 1882-1883. With his enhanced political power and support, Hughes consulted with his father and his contemporaries John M. Stubbs of Dublin, Ashley Vickers of Montrose and Joshua Walker of Laurens Hill in the creation of a railroad from Macon to Savannah through Dublin temporarily under the name of the Macon and Dublin Railroad then officially as the Savannah, Dublin and Western Shortline Railroad, which eventually became the Macon, Dublin and Savannah Railroad. In July 1891 near the end of his six-year term as the railroad’s first president, Hughes and a host of  dignitaries rode the inaugural train from Macon to Dublin. Hughes remained active in the railroad’s operation as its vice-president for several more years until northern investors took over its management from its local progenitors.

After subordinating his railroad interests to his passion for farming, Hughes concentrated on the development of his plantation and the promotion of agriculture and horticultural interests across the state. Along with his close friend John M. Stubbs, Hughes was active in the establishment of orchards around Montrose and  Dublin. He served for four years as president of the Georgia State Agricultural Society and ten years as a founding member and first president of the Georgia Fruit Grower’s Association. As president of the Agricultural Society, Hughes pledged to do all in his power to work for the society as a Beacon light for the farmers to look to for guidance and encouragement. In 1977, Dudley Hughes was named to the National Agricultural Hall of Fame along with Eli Whitney as the sixth and seventh members of the most honored  griculturalists in American history, joining George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington  arver, CyrusMcCormick and Justin Morrill. Hughes maintained a large naval stores operation and a 90,000 tree orchard in Laurens County. Hughes was one of the first farmers to use telephones to coordinate his diverse farming operations at various locations in Twiggs and Laurens County. He took a personal and active interest in farming, riding a thoroughbred horse from farm to farm to make sure everything was going smoothly.

Hughes was a fervent conservationist, historian and Christian. He was a Mason, Elk and member of the Georgia Historical Society. Hughes was a leader in experimentation of agricultural theories and promoted the establishment of three hundred experiment stations around the state. Despite his iconic stature, Hughes remained loyal to his local church, serving as a deacon and Sunday school superintendent. His expertise and leadership were always in demand. Gov. Joseph Terrell appointed Hughes as Commissioner General of
Georgia for the St. Louis World’s Fair.

Though he disdained politics in his early life, he answered the call of his colleagues for political office on a higher scale. After an unsuccessful campaign for Congress in 1906, Hughes was elected to represent the 3rd Congressional District of Georgia in 1908. He served two terms before transferring to the 12th  Congressional District in 1912, easily winning reelection for two more terms. He won coveted seats on the House Military, Agriculture and Education committees. Always a zealot of education, Hughes served as a trustee of the University of Georgia, the University of Georgia School of Agriculture, South Georgia Normal School and Georgia Normal and Industrial College, now Georgia College and State University.

One of Congressman Hughes’ most lasting contributions on a national basis came in1914, when Democratic president Woodrow Wilson appointed him to a presidential commission to explore the viability of federal funding of vocational and agricultural education in public schools. As the Democratic Chairman of the House Committee on Education, Hughes worked with fellow Georgian, Senator Hoke Smith, in developing a bill, which became known as the Smith-Hughes Act. Adopted by Congress in 1917, the Smith-Hughes Act provided matching federal funding for vocational education.

Dudley Hughes married Mary Frances Dennard in 1873. Their children were Hugh Lawson Dennard Hughes, Henrietta Louise Hughes and Daniel Greenwood Hughes. Dan G. Hughes followed in his father’s footsteps by serving as Georgia’s Commissioner of Agriculture. Hugh, a successful Twiggs County businessman, served as a Trustee of the University of Georgia and Middle Georgia College. Henrietta Louise, known affectionately as “Miss Hennilu” outlived her brothers and lived in her father’s Magnolia Plantation until her death at the age of 102. Magnolia Plantation was restored about two decades ago and stands a monument to the Hughes’ legacy of his contributions to the agricultural and education progress of Georgia. Dudley Hughes died on January 20, 1927 and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Perry.

Dudley Hughes was considered a man of high integrity, always sympathetic and interested in those with whom he conversed. He was always erect in his in his carriage and looked everyone straight in the eye. He was known to have loved children and animals, always grateful for their presence in the midst of his hurried world. Though some people may disagree, the founders of the Town of Dudley named their town in his honor. Many also think that Montrose was his middle name and therefore he was the name sake of that town as well. “Colonel Hughes,” as he was known to most of his friends, was honored when the citizens of Montrose, Allentown and Danville attempted to form their own county named in his honor. The city of Macon did name a vocational school for him and his hometown of Danville was named for his father, Daniel G. Hughes.

DONNIE FOWLER

Still swinging for the fences
By Ed Grisamore - egrisamore@macon.com

Donnie “Dodger” Fowler could knock the stitches off a softball. He could crush one a country mile from his mailbox halfway up Chicken Road toward Dudley.

He covered so much ground at shortstop, folks were convinced he had enough range to also cover second base, left field and half of Laurens County.

He played so hard he would shake enough infield dirt from his uniform at the end of every game to plant a row of butter beans.

Obsessed? Yes, you could call it that.

“I eat, sleep and drink softball,” he said.

He once played three games in one night — in three different towns. He suited up for a contest in Perry at 6:15, then hit the pedal for a church league game in Haynesville at 8 and arrived in Cochran in time for a 10 p.m. nightcap.

The march of time has now slowed him, as it does all ballplayers. He will turn 61 next week. He has played plenty hurt, battling through prostate cancer, lung problems, kidney stones and a ruptured disc.

He still plays in a senior league, a hard-nosed circuit of graybeards and ibuprofen. There is no “disabled list” in softball. You bleed and hobble from one sweaty dugout to the next. And the extra ice in the cooler isn’t just reserved for the beer in the parking lot after the game.

The only time he missed most of a season was in the early 1980s when Gary Hardie of Milledgeville, who had played in the New York Mets farm system, slid into him at second base and went hard into his knee.

Even today, Dodger is a tough out.

Not to mention, a legend.

Nine months ago, he was inducted into the USSSA Hall of Fame. It was the greatest moment of his ball-playing career. He was so nervous he asked a friend to deliver his acceptance speech.

It may not be Cooperstown, but Donnie will settle for Allentown.

He was born in Perry on Aug. 14, 1949. That same day, someone stole his father’s Model A Ford.

Ernest Fowler worked at the cement plant in Haynesville. When his five sons weren’t playing baseball out in the yard, they were down at the sandlot next to the plant.

Donnie practiced his swings by taking his bat and thumping an old tire. On Sunday afternoons, he would follow his older brother, Marvin, to semipro baseball games. When the team was short-handed, he sometimes got to play.

Although he stood only 5-foot-7, he was a crafty pitcher and sure-handed shortstop at Perry High. He led the team in hitting his junior and senior years.

Coach Roy Umstattd recruited him to play at Middle Georgia College, a junior college powerhouse in baseball, but he didn’t have the grades. He was never one to study. He cracked more bats than books.

The Los Angeles Dodgers were always his favorite team. He began following them as a young boy during their days in Brooklyn before the team moved to the West Coast in 1958. That same year, a rookie named Ron Fairly, who was born in Macon, played his first game with Los Angeles. Macon was a minor-league affiliate of the Dodgers at the time, playing their homestands at Luther Williams Field. Donnie remembers listening to many of those games on the radio.

His proverbial “cup of coffee” in professional baseball was no more than a tiny swallow. In 1970, he went to Vero Beach, Fla., during spring training for a tryout with the Dodgers. He was more nervous than a long-tailed dog in a room full of rocking chairs. Plus, he couldn’t hit a curve ball, and he was released after two weeks.

So he came home and began a career in softball than has now spanned 41 years. He met his wife, Bonnie, at a softball tournament in Dexter. He has played on almost a dozen teams that have won national championships in their divisions.

When softball players began using aluminum bats, he stuck with a wooden model he had bought for $5 at a hardware store in Perry. It was his own “Wonder Boy.” When it finally broke, it broke his heart, too.

They started calling him “Little Dodger” after he hit three home runs in a game in Fitzgerald. That was nothing. Another time, he knocked 10 straight out of the ballpark.

He still loves the Dodgers, even in the land of the Braves. He can’t hold his eyes open long enough to watch their games on TV from the West Coast, especially since he has to get up with the rooster on Chicken Road. He drives 54 miles to his job in shipping and receiving at the Boeing plant in Macon, arriving each day at 7 a.m.

A few years ago, he bought a Dodgers uniform with his name and No. 44 on the back of the jersey. He told his family and buddies he wants to be buried in it.

Until then, he’s going to keep swinging for the fences.

Reach Gris at 744-4275 or gris@macon.com.

BEN COCHRAN

Cochran is Mr. Versatility for Air Force
FRANK SCHWAB

@Colorado Springs Gazzette



Senior Ben Cochran would have punted some balls during Wednesday’s practice, but the drill was for the punt block unit, and Cochran was needed to rush the punter.



Good thing for Cochran there’s no third unit. If there was, he would probably be on that, too.



Cochran is the jack of all trades for Air Force. Coach Troy Calhoun said if the punting race was close at the end of camp, Cochran might be his punter this season, never mind that Cochran’s listed position is safety. Or that Cochran hasn’t punted since high school.



Cochran is used to filling in wherever needed. He started his career as a quarterback and moved to safety as a junior, but when Falcons quarterbacks were hit with injuries, he was the one who filled in. Against BYU, he played his first significant snaps at quarterback since two seasons before, when he was on the junior varsity, and he led Air Force to three scores.



“He’s never waffled about anything,” secondary coach Charlton Warren said. “If you went to him and said ‘I need you to be a fullback tomorrow,’ he’d say ‘All right coach, anything I can do to help the team.’”



Cochran is a backup at both safety positions and the fifth member of the Falcons’ nickel defense when it uses a third safety. He could be the primary holder for field goals, he’s a candidate at punter, he’s a member of other special teams units, and if called upon as an emergency quarterback, he said he would be ready for that, as well.



“I feel like I could go out tomorrow at quarterback and execute, just because I’ve done it so long,” Cochran said.



Cochran moves around because he wants to play. Versatility gets noticed by coaches, and his attitude about assuming any role is an endearing trait to the staff.



“I just want to get on the field anywhere I can and compete,” Cochran said.



Asking Cochran to punt might be a bit of a stretch, but Cochran said he could do it. Whether Calhoun would follow through on that or is just trying to keep the heat on the team’s full-time punters will be seen. Cochran said punting would just take a little bit of extra practice time.



“You can make it work,” Cochran said.



Cochran is able to function at many positions because of his intelligence, part of which can be credited to his background at quarterback.



Warren said not everyone can handle so many assignments. But Cochran said playing multiple spots helps his overall understanding of the game.



Perhaps Cochran’s unselfishness has kept him from becoming a full-time starter at one position. But Cochran has no issue with that, and his versatility means he will be a “significant contributor,” in the words of Calhoun.



“We’ve at times pulled him in different spots that were best for the team, even though it might not have given him the best chance to play,” Calhoun said. “I want to try to do everything I can to give him the best chance to play.”

SARAH HOWARD

Howard makes a name for herself with shot put


By JOHN KOSATER
@ Macon Telegraph

There aren’t many shot put competitors in Georgia as good as Sarah Howard.

She is currently the top-ranked high school shot putter in the state, and she is No. 13 in the nation. And after her sophomore year at Trinity Christian, she already has the second longest throw in Georgia high school history, private and public school included.

In this year’s GISA state meet, she won the shot put by 10 feet, breaking the GISA state record by 4 feet, and added the discus title. For that, Howard has been named The Telegraph’s All-Middle Georgia Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year.

Much of Howard’s success can go right back to her family.

“My dad threw the shot in high school and then in college at the University of Georgia,” said Howard, who also has the highest GPA in Trinity’s sophomore class. “I can remember picking up the shot put when I was 5 or 6, and it seemed like a fun thing to do. As I got older, I tried most of the other sports, but I wasn’t real good at any of them. I seemed to always go back to shot putting and as I got older, I kept getting better.

“I really enjoy it now, because it is a great way to get to spend a lot of time with my dad. He is fun to hang out with and has been a great coach for me. He knows when to push me and he knows when to ease off.”

Howard has been training hard all summer, trying to get stronger. She recently finished second at the New Balance National High School Meet and will travel to Singapore at the end of the month as part of the American team in the Youth Olympics.

“I went to Italy last year for the Youth Olympics and didn’t do that well, but I feel like I am way ahead of where I was last year,” she said. “I feel like I know what to expect this year, and it won’t be so overwhelming to me. I just want to continue to gain experience and enjoy myself, and if I can do that, I think I will perform well. I have put in the time in the weight room and working on my technique, so I feel pretty good about the trip.”

With two more years of high school, Howard really hasn’t thought much of where she will go to college but does hope to continue throwing the shot put on that level.

“It’s something that I really like to do, and I would like to see how good I can get,” she said. “I know that I have a long way to go, but I definitely hope to continue throwing in college. I am usually pretty focused on my training, but it is great to have someone like my dad around that knows the kind of training I need to be the best.”

ADMIRAL BILL GOODWIN

Rear Admiral Bill Goodwin retires


Ends 35-year Naval career with ceremony Friday

@Fox 43

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) - Rear Admiral John W. "Bill" Goodwin retired from the U.S. Navy following a 35-year career during a ceremony Friday aboard USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) pierside at Naval Station Norfolk.

Goodwin most recently served as the Assistant Chief of Naval Operation, Next Generation Enterprise Network (ACNO NGEN) in Washington, DC. Prior to that, he served in Norfolk as the Commander, Naval Air Force U.S. Atlantic Fleet (AIRLANT).

A native of Dublin, Georgia, Goodwin graduated from the University of South Carolina and was commissioned in May of 1975. He earned master's degrees from the Naval Post-graduate School and the Naval War College.

Goodwin was designated a naval aviator in 1977 and has experience flying the A-7E Corsair and the F/A-18 Hornet. He served as the commanding officer of Strike Fighter Squadron 94 and the underway replenishment ship USS Rainier (AOE 7) and was the first commanding officer of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76). As a Flag Officer, Goodwin served a tour of duty with the U.S. European Command in Stuttgart, Germany; commanded the Abraham Lincoln Strike Group and served as AIRLANT Commander prior to assuming the duties of ACNO NGEN.

TONY J. EDMOND

Patriot Academy Welcomes New Staff



By 1LT Kyle Key
May 7th, 2010

Human Resources NCO, SFC Tony J. Edmond

“God Bless the Guard!” can be heard echoing through the halls of the National Guard Patriot Academy High School when Sgt. 1st Class Tony J. Edmond reports to work. Edmond, a native of Dublin, Georgia, reported to the Patriot Academy in April 2010 to serve as a Human Resources Non-Commissioned Officer.

The Patriot Academy is the U.S. Department of Defense’s first and only accredited high school for dropouts who wish to serve their country and earn their diplomas. Approximately 1.2 million high school students nationwide drop out each year, a trend the National Guard Patriot Academy is trying to end–one Soldier at a time. Edmond said he has the passion and dedication it takes to help guide these former dropouts to make positive changes.

“I just really want to make a difference in young lives,” said Edmond.

Edmond is a 17-year military veteran having served on submarine duty with the U.S. Navy and as a human resources specialist with the Georgia and South Carolina Army National Guard. He is a 1983 graduate of East Laurens High School in Dublin and is currently scheduled to graduate from the American Military University with his bachelor’s degree in Military History in the fall of 2010.

LEH KEEN

Keen Fast Tracking In Grand-Am


Jonathan Ingram
Senior Writer, RacinToday.com Friday, 2 July 2010.By Jonathan Ingram
Senior Writer

@RacinToday.com

Daytona Beach, Fla. – Leh Keen is on the fast track in sports car racing. That’s not a reference to the infield and oval road course at the Daytona International Speedway, scene of Saturday’s Grand-Am Rolex Series race. Keen’s career is on the fast track.

The driver from Dublin, Ga., began the season as the Rolex Series’ defending co-champion in the GT class. In March, Keen co-drove a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car to victory at the Sebring 12-hour in the GT Challenge class of the American Le Mans Series.

In May, he was part of a four-man team that finished second aboard a Ferrari 430 GTC in the 24-hour race at the Nurburgring, the world’s most challenging GT race. In June, Keen was on the podiom in second place aboard the same Ferrari at his first Le Mans 24-hour.

This weekend, Keen is co-driving a Mazda RX-8 for Dempsey Racing with James Gue, who qualified fourth in class behind pole winner Sylvain Tremblay’s Mazda. Over-all, the No. 41 Dempsey Racing entry will start 16th behind Daytona Prototype pole winner Ricky Taylor, whose Dallara-Ford leads the field in the 100th race of the prototype class launched in 2003.

Titled the Brumos Porsche 250, the race will be the fourth in six weeks for the Grand-Am series – and the fifth race for Keen in that span.

A GT class specialist, Keen considers Daytona his home track. While accompanying his father, he saw his first race at the famed Florida track at the age of 13. “I had been begging to go before that,” he said of the relatively easy trip to Daytona from Dublin to watch the Rolex 24 at Daytona, “but my mother made me wait until I was older.”

Most of his friends drove pick-ups, but Keen followed a path laid out by his father, Lehman Keen Jr., a banker with a fondness for powerful Porsches.

Keen’s informal training included track days with the Porsche Club of America in his father’s equipment, which included a Porsche 911 993 GT2 Evo that had raced at Le Mans in 1996. “We showed up with the biggest gun and kicked everybody’s butt,” recalled Keen. A stint at the Panoz racing school at Road Atlanta followed when he was 18.

“I’ve really just always been into driving cars,” said Keen, who taught himself to drive on the dirt roads around Dublin, located in the rolling piney woods region between Macon and Savannah. “I’ve been doing that since I was 16. I always wanted to progress with the car and develop it a little bit better. The first car I drove was a Mercedes E320. It belonged to my grandfather and was four-wheel drive and no traction control. It had very good steering angles. I really had some fun with that car.”

In his first season in the Grand-Am Rolex Series in 2005, Keen co-drove a Porsche to victory at Watkins Glen with Autometrics Motorsport. He scored a victory with Synergy Racing at Mid-Ohio in 2006, then was brought on board at the front-running Farnbacher Loles Motorsports for 2007.

After a heavy crash at Mid-Ohio caused by a car blocking the track curtailed his season, Keen came back to win at the track in 2008 with Farnbacher Loles. A pairing with Dirk Werner in 2009 resulted in a Grand-Am Rolex Series GT championship for Farnbacher Loles, a season that included another win at Mid-Ohio, one of the most technically demanding tracks in North America.

When the Farnbacher Loles team broke up shortly after the end of the 2009 season due to the legal problems of financial consultant Greg Loles, Keen kept in touch with the team’s technical guru, Horst Farnbacher.

Keen credits Farnbacher, whose son Dominik is also a driver at Hankook Team Farnbacher, for sharpening his skills. “I hadn’t really evolved too much at that point (when he joined Farnbacher Loles in 2007),” said Keen. “Then I started to evolve strongly. I always got along well with Horst and I always got along well with Dominik.”

An effort to stay in touch with Horst Farnbacher paid off once his Ferrari team was launched with the backing of Hankook Tires. “It’s just weird how thing work out,” said Keen. “I kind of got to know Horst a little better so I could go to Le Mans. Then we ended up going to the Nurburgring.”

At the Nurburgring, Keen drove in the fastest class over-all aboard his Ferrari in a starting field of 198 GT machines on the famed “Green Hell” circuit measuring over 15 miles. At Le Mans, the GT2 class Ferrari was the slowest of the four classes in the high-speed French race dominated by the prototypes of Peugeot and Audi.

Now he’s back at his home track where the Daytona Prototype category is marking the 100th start for the closed cockpit cars. Keen is open to the prospects of driving a prototype, but it’s not a priority.

“One thing now, I’m getting content with what I’m doing,” he said. “I never had a thing for prototypes. I’m so totally into GT cars.”

– Jonathan Ingram can be reached at jingram@racintoday.com



Jonathan Ingram
Senior Writer, RacinToday.com Friday, 2 July 2010