Search the ArchivesNavigation Contact InformationThe Citizen Newspapers For Advertising Information Email us your news! For technical difficulties |
Cowan is PTC’s founding father: The old story still the correct story Never let it be said that Joel Cowan needed two little old women to defend him. No, typically, the Godfather (not “father”) can defend himself from “misstatements” like those in a column by former Peachtree City Mayor Steve Brown in The Citizen, May 13. Joel’s modus operandi is simple: Say nothing and let the truth work its way to the surface. It usually does that on its own. But those who admire Joel sometimes feel obliged to nudge the truth along. So, in another story this week, Carolyn Cary will tackle the historic “errors in fact” of Brown’s rigmarole, and I’ll take you to meet the Joel I know. When we moved here in summer 1971, the Cowans had finished their new home at the lake end of Pebblestump Point. We anchored the other end of that block. Our kids went to school together, and it would seem that I taught daughter Jennifer piano. Those were the days newcomers may resent hearing old-timers describe as “when everybody knew everybody else.” It’s true. There were still fewer than 700 residents here when we arrived, charmed (like everybody else) with the unspoiled vistas that reminded us of a classy state park, all split rail fence and careful landscaping. We got to know the other residents on the west side of Lake Peachtree. Maybe half of those who lived on Pebblestump then still do. About once a month in those bucolic days we neighbors got together to play – I forget the name of it – a sort of cross between a blackjack-and-poker tablecloth game. Dave and I hosted most of these evenings so as to be able to listen to the rehashing of local lore. We moved into a house we built on the “new” or east side of the lake when we downsized in 1984. Something always hurts inside when we wonder if we made a mistake moving away from the neighborhood we loved so much. The Cowans’ first house was out on Ga. Highway 54, a little brick house well back from the road, built to satisfy a requirement of incorporation law. I often wonder if Geri was lonely so far from her friends and family. I could guess she was, but I never heard her complain. Joel’s guiding hand was on the city’s shoulder as it grew, but subtly. His determination to keep a low profile was manifested not by running for office himself but in encouraging and helping fund local candidates. He served as chief of staff for then-Governor and lifelong friend Joe Frank Harris. “My activities were geared more toward fund-raising than political strategy,” he told me in a 1984 interview in his Peachtree City office. “I get a lot of special assignments – ” and he took a telephone call. Upon hanging up, he finished the sentence in a typical display of concentration – “so essentially I’m a utility infielder.” Having seen Harris into the governor’s mansion, Joel said, “I find myself bending over backwards not to have any appearances of conflict of interest. It’s easy to avoid the conflict; it’s less easy to avoid the perception of a conflict.” It’s hard enough that he became a “founding father” to a city, when as a Georgia Tech junior he was challenged by roommate Pete Knox III to gather parcels of property in western Fayette County. Joel took Knox’s dream to heart and made it his own, doing whatever had to be done to bring to life the new city. He found money, bartered for services, listened to local advice, literally carving out with his own hands and mind the shape of what was to be. His sheer determination guided the bill through the legislature chartering the city of Peachtree City on March 9, 1959. I’ve read that Joel was elected the first mayor to satisfy the requirement for an organized government. To hear him tell it, it’s likely no one else wanted the job, and those precious incorporation papers were not going to be signed unless there was a mayor. He accepted the honor. In 1961, in the city’s first election, he stood unopposed. Son of the mayor of Cartersville, much was made of the fact that the two Cowans were thought to be the first father/son set of mayors ever known to hold office at the same time. The fact that Cartersville was an established city to the north of Atlanta and Peachtree City was as wet behind the ears as its mayor only served to enhance the colorful story of the father/son mayoral dynasty. The Cowans still live in Peachtree City, their home remodeled lavishly, a sure commitment to the future. Their daughter Jennifer, now a business partner with her father, lives in Fayette County. Sons Joel Jr. and Mark are also nearby. The first, Joel, Jr., was born on the day – July 30, 1959 – that his father closed a major deal for Peachtree City with the Phipps family. The new dad split the day between what was happening downtown and what was happening at Piedmont Hospital (Atlanta). OK, I trust the above mostly because I wrote it in the first place and I trust what carries my byline. And I trust Joel Cowan to be honest with me. But call him Godfather, respectfully. He still stands for behind-the-scenes support. And he still loves Peachtree City dearly. [Contact the columnist at SallieS@Juno.com.] login to post comments | Sallie Satterthwaite's blog
|
Copyright 2010 - Fayette Publishing, Inc. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use Policy
Server 4
