[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 7]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 10269]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



   CELEBRATING THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE OKEFENOKEE HERITAGE CENTER

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                          HON. SAXBY CHAMBLISS

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 8, 2000

  Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. Speaker, today I am proud to honor the 25th 
Anniversary of the outstanding Okefenokee Heritage Center. It is an 
honor for the community to be gifted with this great facility for 
teaching and learning.
  The Okefenokee Heritage Center has been an institution serving South 
Georgia for 25 great years. When the building was finished 1975, it 
added a world of learning for all ages in the community. This is why I 
pay tribute to the silver anniversary of this vital facility for 
Waycross and Ware County. I praise the tireless efforts that the people 
of Waycross have contributed for this great museum. I hope for 
continued success in the future and I thank them for their dedication 
and hard work.
  I believe that the following editorial from the Waycross Journal 
Herald clearly depicts how important this Heritage Center is. I 
sincerely appreciate the hard work and support of people like Catherine 
Larkens, Current Director of the Center, Sonya Craven, President of the 
Board, to all the Board Members, Ware County Commissioner Chairman 
Roger Strickland, Mayor John Fluker, Dr. William Clark, III and Gus 
Karle. Most importantly, I want to recognize Mrs. Sue Clark. As a 
result of her determination and perseverance, today we celebrate 25 
years of the Okefenokee Heritage Center and its significant 
contributions to our county.

            [From the Waycross Journal-Herald, June 1, 2000]

                Okefenokee Heritage Center Observes 25th

       Friends and supporters of the Okefenokee Heritage Center 
     gathered yesterday at the center's Augusta Avenue site to 
     commemorate 25 years of service to this community. It was a 
     memorable, sun-splashed afternoon of short speeches and 
     renewed acquaintances.
       Mrs. Sue Clark, wife of well-known Waycross eye surgeon Dr. 
     S. William Clark Jr., is credited with being the primary 
     community figure who conceptualized, promoted and implemented 
     the idea of building a heritage-themed museum in Waycross. It 
     was her perseverance and organizational drive, together with 
     the resources of the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad and several 
     other key players, which helped to make today's heritage 
     center a reality.
       In his prepared remarks, former Rice Yard Superintendent 
     A.A. ``Gus'' Karle commented Wednesday that he located the 
     center's ``Okefenokee Chief'' steam engine at a South 
     Carolina rock quarry and told Mrs. Clark about his find. He 
     said she contacted the quarry's owners that same day and 
     within days had marched into the Seaboard Coast Line's 
     corporate offices at Jacksonville and arranged to have the 
     locomotive transported to Waycross.
       ``I got a call from Seaboard CEO Prime Osborne. He 
     mentioned this locomotive and said Sue Clark had just left 
     his office,'' said Karle. Together with Seaboard's Henry 
     Pigge, plans were soon put into motion to transport the 1912 
     vintage locomotive from South Carolina to Waycross in 
     December 1973.
       The locomotive is the showpiece among the Heritage Center's 
     exhibits. It's a wonderful example of early 20th century 
     technology spared from the salvager's torch and preserved for 
     future generations by Sue Clark's vision.
       The locomotive's steam whistle was operating Wednesday, 
     harkening back to a day when the telegraph key was the 
     fastest means of communication and belching, noisy steam 
     locomotives rolled into Waycross from all directions, 
     disgorging passengers and welcoming new ones on those ``magic 
     carpets made of steel.''
       It was America's ``Age of Innocence,'' a time before the 
     horrors of World War II and national ascendency to superpower 
     status. It was a time when this newspaper was located at the 
     corner of Plant Avenue and Isabella Street (now Jack Williams 
     Park), enabling the late Editor & Publisher Jack Williams Sr. 
     to gaze out his office window at locomotive engineers and 
     their passengers as they rounded the crossing enroute to the 
     Waycross Rail Depot.
       His son, the late Jack Williams Jr., said the building's 
     glass windows would actually shake in their frames as these 
     steel behemoths passed outside.
       The old building is gone now, but a scaled-down 
     reproduction rests beside the railroad track at the Heritage 
     Center for future generations to enjoy.
       What a wonderful facility our Heritage Center has truly 
     become. The entire community owes a debt of gratitude to Sue 
     Clark for her hard work and vision. Her ancestor, the late 
     Dr. Daniel Lott (one of four founders of Waycross in 1871) 
     would be justly proud of what she has accomplished.

     

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