Fitzgerald leader enterprise and press. (Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County, Ga.) 1921-1964, 1923-07-05
COMMUNITIES
VIEW OF LIFE
Happy Mountain Valley Memorial To
Service Altered by Work of Sharp
By LLOYD A. WILFOIT, City Editor
In Atlanta Constitution

eyes sat IN the offices of the Consti-
tuition and told of life work that has
resulted in the transformation of an
entire community's view of life.
That gray haired man of vivid coun-
tenance and intense gaze wins DIR.
Ramsay C. Sharp, president of Rein
hardt College of Waleska, Cherokee
County, little Methodist institution
of learning that nest1es in a broad,
green valley Graded in the lap of the
towering Bird and Pinelog mountains
Unaccompanied by the verbal her
aldry that usually presages news
paper STORY of distinguished accom-
plishment, DR.. Sharp's life work came
to light in piecemeal during the course
of quiet conversation. Sensational
ism was in no way associated with his
words-and it would be little less than
treacherous to convert them into the
product of the yellow journalist"
Sixteen Years Service
AS result this story of Ramsay C.
Sharp and his quiet work in the Geor-
gia mountains violates all "news" rules
frcn1 the start and unfolds itself in the
same calm manner adopted by the mar
rator
To the few who do not know DR..
Sharp and his work at Reinhardt, be
it said that he has devoted sixteen
years of his life to the deve1opmnt
OF tn littf school in the hazy Georgia
valley of the Blue Ridge foothills.
AS he told of the slow but const-
ant growth of the institution school
and its effect upon the mountain life
about it, DIR. Sharps love for his work
and hope for its continued expansion
shone in his face. ''What about
moonshiners?" he was asked do
they trouble you or your students
what is their attitude toward Rein
hardt?"
DR.. Sharp pulled at homely briar
pipe before he replied in the slow
mountain drawl that bellies the snap
in his eyes.
Explains Statement
"Once they gave us lots of trouble"
he said, but that was number of years
ago. Now we give them trouble"
"How do You explain that state
ment?" he was asked again.
And his reply brought to light the
transformation of the viewpoint on
life of the community about Rein
hardt College.
well. it's like this" explained DR..
Sharp. when I took up the reins at
Reinhardt sixteen years ago or there
/ abouts, the 400 square miles of valley
land about Waleska was a center for
tn whisky manufacturing businss. The
man who believed that the government
had the right to refuse to allow any
citizen to make or drink whisky was
regarded as fool-but there were
those in the community who held just
that view. students of Reinhardt ac-
cepted the view of the majority of the
people about them, and the influence
of whisky made itself felt in the
school" He pulled again at the briar
in reflective mood
Have Fought Traffic
"Reinhardt and its authorities at all
times have fought liquor in its native
haunt" he continued. One time Twas
nearly mobbed for denouncing its bale
full grasp upon the mountain life-but
still we fought liquor boldly and op-
emily. "And now the day has come
when the situation has completely
changed Students of Reinhardt, with
out exception, realize that liquor is an
enemy to be stunned. I speak truly
when tell you that they will not toll
crate a moonshine still in all the 400
square miles of the Blue Ridge valley
of which it is the cultural, social and
geographical center.
"Reinhardt young men have tramp
ed the hills and torn from their hot
beds many a still betrayed to their
keen sight by the smoke. And today
could call upon hundreds of its stu
dents and alumni who would walk rs
miles to destroy the copper nonstros-
ity that is the curse of the Georgia
mountains" And there you have it.
Viewpoint Altered
Sixteen years og the mountain peo-
pie believed that they had right to
manufacture and drink whisky and
they heatedly resented any attack up
on this so-called right.
Today the are openly arrayed against
the very institution they protected 16
years ago,
The standard of a community has
undergone change; the minds of men
have been brought to a realization of
error; new era of peace and prosper
ity has dawned-and Reinhardt is the
answer.
Asks 100000 Fund
Reinhardt was founded in 1883 by
Captain A. NJ Reinhardt, widely
known and beloved Georgian who
gained his own education with great