Page 2A June 12, 2019
eReporter
By Diane Glldewell
news@mymcr.net
After 42 years owning and
operating Dodd Builders
Supply, Mike and Jennie
Dodd are retiring and will
no longer be helping cus-
tomers with the'tr hardware
and building needs six days
per week. They have sold the
business to Griffin Lumber
and Hardware, which plans
to begin serving customers
in Forsyth the first of July.
Dodd said Gritfin Lumber
& Hardware carries a full
line of hardware and build-
ing materials. In fact Griffm
carries OrgiU Hardware,
the same as Dodd Builders
Supply, so customers will see
familiar brands and lines.
"They are very customer-
oriented like us. They will
carry on s'unilar to us;' said
Dodd. "They care about
their customers. They'll be
good for the community."
Dodd's customers and his
community matter to him,
and he wants the business he
built to continue to take care
of them. He has served as a
city council member for 18
years and has two years to
go on his current term. He
said Forsyth is home, and he
has no intention of leaving.
He came to Monroe
County in 1972 to work in
forestry, a new graduate of
University of Georgia where
he attended with Monroe
Countians Nolen Howard
and Billy Lancaster. He
worked for Harold "Unk"
Kendrick for four years
until the opportunity to
open Dodd Builders Supply
arose. He and Jennie, whom
he had married in 1974,
opened the business at 70
West Main Street and stayed
at that location for 20 years.
Dodd said the build-
ing had been a home and
then for a number of years
had been a medical clinic.
Jennie and her siblings had
been bom at the clinic. He
said Jennie's office at Dodd
Builders was across from
what had been the delivery
room at the clinic, and Jen-
nie was teased that she had
not traveled far from where
she began life.
The couple welcomed
three sons, Emie, Jon Eric
and Corb'm, the last two
bom while their parents
were working at the business
on West Main Street. Jennie
was helping a customer
when she told him she had
to leave to go have baby
Corbin at Monroe County
Hospital. The Dodds now
have added three daughter-
in-laws and four grandchil-
dren to the family.
Dodd said theirs was
truly a family business, and
Jennie's father, Jack Murray,
was an important part of it
for many years. Jack Murray
also served on Forsyth city
/
council.
By 1997 Dodd Builders
Supply had outgrown the
lot on West Main Street and
moved to its present location
on Harold G. Clarke Park-
way near Exit 185 offi-75.
"We didn't have room and
were growing so fast;' said
Dodd. "We did well. I'm
proud the community sup-
ported us"
He said his loyal employ-
ees, like Kenny Walker and
Jeanette Sosebee, have been
key to the long-term success
of Dodd Builders Supply,
too. Walker has been with
the Dodds since the begin-
ning, the whole 42 years.
He will also be retiring with
them as the store is trans-
ferred to its new owners.
"Kenny is my fight-hand
man;' said Dod& "I don't
know what I would have
done without Kenny"
He said they went through
a tough time during the
downtum of the economy;
and it had been difficult to
get back up to full force.
After weathering that storm,
when he was approached
by Griffin Lumber and
Hardware about buying the
right time to sell.
When asked what he will
miss most, Dodd said it will
be his customers. "I enjoy
dealing with people. I love to
talk to people" said Dodd.
"We always had the coffee
pot going, and there would
be a group of contractors
around."
He said he built fiiend-
ships with customers over
the years, whether he saw
them every couple of days or
every few weeks. He would
keep up with what was hap-
pening in their lives. " aat's
the beauty of a small town '
he said.
Besides continuing his
involvement with Forsyth
on city council, Dodd plans
to use his extra time after
retirement p)aying golf,
catching up with things that
need to be done around his
house, spending lime with
his children and grandchil-
dren and traveling a little.
He grew up in North Geor-
gia, one of six children, and
still has a lot of family there.
His father was one of nine
and his mother one of seven
children; so he has a lot of
extended family, too. He
would like to visit Norman-
dy one day; where his uncle
and father were part of the
invading forces in WWlI;
his uncle was wounded in
the Battle of Saint-Lo, and
his father-in-law served
in the Arm}, Air l~or=o it.
the Europe during the war.
Dodd would also like to
visit Gettysburg where his
great uncle was killed and is
buried at the battlefield.
Dodd said he is proud of
being a part of things the
Mike and Jennie Dodd wave goodbye after selling their
business. (Photo/Diane Glidewell)
Forsyth city council has
done and is proud the city is
financially strong.
"We have work planned,
but we have funding for it
rl** ~od" gaid Dodd. "~Ve
have a good mayor and
council:'
He is pleased that Griffin
Lumber & Hardware is a
family organization and is
civic-minded. The president
is C.J. Griffin, and it is based
in Cordele, with businesses
in Tifton and Griffin as
well as Forsyth. It began
as Cordele Sash & Door.
Randy Maddox, who is cur-
rently working at the Griffin
store, will manage the For-
syria store, and the company
will build up staff in Forsyth
as they take over.
"I enjoyed my 42 year run,
but it's time to take it easy ,'
said Dodd.
By Will Davis tried to drive her 2013 Hyun-
pubhsher@mymcmet dai Sonata offa tow truck on
June 3 in a futile attempt to
A naked Forsyth woman stop the 1 a.m. repossession
of her vehicle.
::HEAT N
Etheridge
The repo man, tow truck
driver Austin Roberts, said
they had been looking for
a 2013 Hyundai Sonata,
which belonged to 19,year-
old Shakayia Whatley, for
non payment for about
three months. Whatley was
originally from Arizona,
said Roberts, but they finally
found the car at a Freeman
Avenue address. As Roberts
loaded the vehide onto his
tow truck around 1:30 a.m
he saw a woman go into
Whatley's apartment to alert
her. Roberts said Whatley
ran outside naked, screaming
and crying.
Roberts told Whatley if
she would put some dothes
on and give him the key, he
would let her get her things
out. So Whatley gave him a
car key; wrapped herself in
a blanket, and got inside her
car on the tow truck. But
then, said Roberts, What-
ley told her dad and sister
to move their cars parked
behind the tow truck so she
could drive o~ She was also
screaming that he couldn't
take the car because she has
seen how it works on the TV
show "Lizard Lick Towing".
Roberts said he told her that
show is fake. Roberts told the
Reporter she must've given
him a dead key because she
then cranked her car. But
because of the tow truck,
she was unable to move it.
Meanwhile, Whatley's family
members surrounded the
vehide so Roberts dialed 911.
Soon four Monroe County
deputies and two Forsyth
officers arrived to help.
After deputies asked her to
exit the car numerous times,
Whatley got out.
While deputies interviewed
witnesses, a female witness
yelled and cursed repeatedly
while filming the incident on
her phone. Deputies asked
the female witness numer-
ous times to step away and
stop agitating the situation,
warning her that if she didn't
return to her own apartment
and continued to interfere
then she would be ar-
rested for disorderly conduct.
Meanwhile, a male witness
also came out of his apart-
ment and was also instigating
things.
Deputies then allowed
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Whatley to get her bdong-
ings out of her car. When
Whafley and two other wom-
en continued yelling and ar-
guing back and forth, Mercer
gave Whafley 10 minutes to
remove anything she needed
from the car. Roberts then
towed the car awa)
"Everybody at that apart-
ment complex seemed to be
her friend;' said Roberts. "It
was me versus their whole
entire family."
Roberts said they usually
repossess cars from people
not making payments at
night because that's when
people are home But he said
the TV show "Lizard Lick
Towing" hasn't been good for
repo men.
"It makes our job 1,000
times harder," said Roberts.
"People think they can do
what they do on that show,
and it's just not true?
Roberts said after a year do-
ing the job this was the most
difficult rep ssessi h '
o on es ever
done. But Roberts, whose
company is based in Byron,
said local law enforcement
did a great job defusing the
situation.
Monroe County Deps.
Yolanda Mercer and Paul
Stewart, Sgt. Willie Brown
and Cp[ Nicolas Ortiz and
Forsyth Police officers Ter-
rance Thomas and Kevin
Power res rended to the
standoff.
UGA's Malik
hosts camp
for locals Sat.
Former MP and current
UGA defensive end Malik
Herring is bringing some
of his Bulldog buddies
to host a free one-day
camp for Monroe County
kids at the rec depart-
ment from 11 a,m.- 4 p.m.
on Saturday, June 15.
* :m.
Ag Pre-K to 5th Gradq
Parents can register their children online at
https://www.forsythumc.org/
United Methodist
68 West Johnston Street, Forsyth, GA
478-994-5706
IIIIII I II I II III I A II
, ~ ~ ',
