Tech Topics - Fall 2007 - (Page 16)

TheHill HOMETOWN CELEBRATES Wayne Clough, front and center , was the batboy brother, Ronnie, for the Douglas kneeling second baseball team. from right, playe future Georgia His d on the team Tech alumni, Lu that included tw cius Penn, AMat Phys 56, MS Ph o more h 59, front left, ys 61, PhD Phys and James M. 64, standing, se Tanner, cond from right . By John Dunn I t was a day of handshakes, hugs and a hometown homecoming. Douglas, Ga., stuffed the red carpet and instead made it a golden homecoming for native son Wayne Clough on June 14. City officials awarded him the key to the city, presented him with a proclamation and told him they are proud of him and his accompGrowing up in lishments and the Douglas when I admirable reflection did was a great he gives back to the time for a boy citizens of the city of 11,000 people. who loved the President Clough outdoors and the and his wife, Anne, freedom to roam. stepped off the plane . . . Douglas was to a rousing recording of the “Ramblin’ a place that Wreck” fight song and allowed me to the enthusiasm never explore and my waned. imagination to “We just want to honor Wayne Clough soar. for his achievements, not just as a ‘thank you’ from this President Wayne Clough and community, but his wife, Anne, make a quick because he has done stop during their busy day to pose for a photograph. such great things for Georgia and the entire nation,” said JoAnne Lewis, president of the Douglas-Coffee grandfather Gaskin, related to me on Chamber of Commerce. my grandmother’s side, served as “He’s our hero,” agreed Frances mayor of Douglas as did my father. My Lott, Arch 59, CEO of Lott Properties in mother and father, born near HazelDouglas. “He’s our most esteemed hurst, moved away during the depths native son.” of the Depression, but moved back It was a day Clough could hardly when they could in the 1930s and raised have anticipated as a boy. Speaking at a their family in Douglas, where my Rotary club luncheon meeting held at the Douglas Golf and Country Club, Clough confessed that as a boy, he and friends would sneak in after dark and go skinny-dipping in the club’s lake to retrieve golf balls, which they would later sell to golfers. “My family has deep roots in this community,” Clough said. “My great- “ after the plane’s arrival at 10 a.m. and ended with the Chamber of Commerce’s annual recognition at 6:30 p.m. in the city’s Central Square Complex. Clough was the keynote speaker at the event attended by alumni, childhood school classmates, cousins, friends and members of the Georgia Tech community. In talks at both the Rotary club and the chamber event, Clough described a ROB FELT happy, Tom Sawyer-type boyhood, with woods to explore and a swimming hole that had once also supplied water for steam engines, where all a boy had to do was “watch out for water moccasins.” Clough added that he learned many of life’s lessons in Douglas. “An early understanding of physics came in the third grade when, after a lecture in class by my teacher, Ms. Spivey, about why we should not fight, I proceeded to start one. After being called in for what I assumed was a negotiation I might pull through, she escorted me to the cloak room and pulled out a very large paddle, which I noticed had holes in it. Being analytically tenure,” Clough said, adding, however, inclined, I wondered about the holes, that politics did not agree with his dad, but it did not take long for the stinging and he did not seek a second term. “I to make me forget the question,” he was blessed by great parents and said. experienced a wonderful childhood in “Later when I took my first physics Douglas that was enriched by my sister course it came to me that the holes had and brother, Phyllis and Ronnie.” two functions — first to reduce air Clough’s agenda began promptly father ran the ice and coal plant. “My father ran for mayor on the promise to establish a hospital in Douglas, which then did not have one, leaving the residents to drive to Waycross and stay there as best they could during an illness,” Clough said. He won and “was very proud that the first hospital was built during his 16 “ TECHTOPICS | FALL 2007

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Contents Mail Call Alumni House Historic Renovation 007 Buzz Bash Dazzling Daylilies Living History Cover Story: Key to the City The Hill Tapping Technology Robotics Rivalry No Easy Ride Giving Back Balancing Act Student Life Burdell & Friends Epic Story of Heroism Yellow Jackets Very Good Team Passport to Retirement Real World

Tech Topics - Fall 2007

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