European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 25, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday july 25, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 7 Ayer mass. Apr army officials at fort Devens opened a $9.3 million commissary with full ribbon cutting fanfare this week even though the stores life is almost sure to be a Brief one. The fort is scheduled to be closed within the next few years. But while the supermarket lasts soldiers can shop and Sample from a Deli a bakery and a fresh fish counter with Clam bar and get service at More Check out registers than the old commissary offered. A a it a just like Yogi Berra a it ainu to Over a til its Over a a a said base spokeswoman Alex Fletcher. The grand opening on tuesday went ahead because the commissary was almost finished when an Independent Federal commission voted june 3q to shut fort Devens and 33 other military installations to save about $1.5 billion annually after 1997. The commissary opening tuesday rankled residents of the Region Northwest of Boston which will lose 9,000 civilian and military jobs when the base closes. A a there a a sense of powerlessness a said Ayer administrator Timothy Higgins. A a it a sort of an a i told you so that bureaucracies run amok and there a very Little rhyme or reason to what huge bureaucracies do. A was Federal taxpayers we should All ask Why this is going to open to be dismantled Over the course of the next couple of years. It makes you wonder if there a any Long term planning going on at the  the defense base closure and realignment com Atlanta apr a Georgia town kept its title As top banana among Watermelon producers when it won Over communities in Texas and Arkansas claiming to be the Watermelon capital of the world. A we just came up Here to prove it to everybody a Monica Willard of the Cordele Crisp county chamber of Commerce said after Cordeles watermelons beat out those grown in Hempstead Texas near Houston and in Hope in Hempstead county ark., near Texarkana. A we just did no to decide this overnight a said Willard who wore earrings shaped like Watermelon slices and a necklace with fake pieces of Watermelon. A a we be known we were the Watermelon capital for a Long  judges tasted mouthfuls of the melons and proclaimed Cordele South of Macon the Winner with 176.5 Points out of a possible 200 based on color taste and texture. Hope got 160 Points and Hempstead got open. Congress which must approve the base closings held hearings tuesday on the closure package that president Bush has already approved. But fort Devens officials set aside the gloomy Prospect of closure for a Day giving reporters guided Tours of a commissar designed to serve about 110,000 military personnel in the new England area. Larry Parretti 62, a military Retiree from Worcester said it was a strange sight. A some weird things have happened Over a 31-year career in the military a said Parretti a Veteran of world War ii Korea and Vietnam. A i done to know that this compares with anything  fort Devens officials had no idea the base would be closed when they started building the commissary in March 1990, Fletcher said. A it was cheaper to keep on trucking until we do close a she said. A if they turn around and broke the contract it would probably have Cost a lot  the army estimated that by closing Devens it would gain $160 million almost immediately. Beginning in 1997, the army would save some $55 million per year in operating costs. Fort Devens officials declined to say whether the commissary would definitely be closed. About 60 people travelled 140 Miles from Cordele for  Hempstead and Hope did no to Send delegates to Georgia. They flew their watermelons to Atlanta in refrigerated airline compartments. The Arkansas town holds the world record for the largest Watermelon a 260-Pound Melon featured in the guinness Book of world records. A i think we not Only have the biggest watermelons in the world we have the Best tasting a argued Betty Byrd executive vice president of the Hope Hempstead Ark county chamber of Commerce in a Telephone interview. A your giant watermelons Are just As Sweet As our Small  Harvey Bourland a Texas native and founder of the International Watermelon society that organized the contest rooted for the Texas Melon. But he admitted the Georgia Melon had its pluses. A i do believe a Bourland said a that Georgia melons have the Best seed for a spitting  county scraps segregated records from wire reports Lafayette Ala. A a Southern county has decided to end the pre civil War practice of segregating county marriage records in journals labelled a a White and  the Chambers county commission voted 3-1 on monday to ask probate judge Emerson w. Thompson to consolidate the indexes. Thompson said the system has been in use since the East Central Alabama county was formed in 1832. He said that no one had Ever complained about the separate  Only Black commissioner Ross Dunn said the segregated marriage journals were embarrassing. A a we re living in the past Quot said Dunn. A a it a race. You can to get around  commission chairman John Crowder voted against eliminating the practice saying the . Census makes note of race in its statistics. A this is demographics. If you can prove to me where it injures somebody i la vote for it Quot Crowder  sees Home smashed Youngstown Ohio a Man said he watched in Shock from the Street As a Crane demolishing a House next to his went out of control and smashed into his Home. A when 1 saw that thing go wild to the right i began to yell. 1 thought they were trying to tear Down my House too a Gregory George said. Brake failure allowed the cranes Boom to swing too far said Edward Lier general manager of Anthonys construction and trucking. The construction company agreed to repair the damage estimated at less than $1,000, Lier  Condor Chick Dies los Angeles a a 7-week-old California Condor Chick died tuesday at the los Angeles zoo leaving Only 52 of the nearly extinct Birds still alive. A zoo keeper working in the area of the Chick rearing facility saw the Chick having what appeared to be convulsions and contacted the zoo veterinarian. The Chick named Naca died within minutes the zoo said. The body was sent to the san Diego zoo for a postmortem in Hopes of determining what killed it. Scientists captured the last remaining condors and placed them in the zoos when it became apparent the Breed was on the verge of extinction. Attaining a wingspan of up to 10 feet the huge Birds once soared in great numbers Over a wide Range but were reduced to a handful of Birds nesting in what is now a California Condor Refuge in Ventura county North of los Angeles. With the death of Naca there Are 28 condors at los Angeles and 24 in san  Monument proposed Washington a the House veterans affairs committee tuesday approved legislation that would create a memorial to Honor world War ii veterans. The Bill authorizes the american Battle monuments commission to establish the memorial on Federal land in or near Washington. Costs Are subject to further congressional review. As the 50th anniversary of the dec. 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor attack nears said committee chairman g. V. Sonny Montgomery d-miss., a the Federal government should encourage appropriate 50th anniversary  the legislation also encourages the smithsonian institution and other Federal museums to develop exhibits including permanent collections honouring world War ii  contest banned Bay City Mich. A City officials banned a Bikini contest from a festival at a City Park As sexist and demeaning to women. A i done to believe that needs to be shown in Public a take it to a bar a City commissioner Virginia Hutte said monday. The commission did agree to allow adore Ltd. To hold other events at this weekends water sports weekend including water Scooter races concerts and skydiving. But promoter Art Dore said the Bikini ban is a stepping on the first amendment pretty  soldiers walk from the newly opened commissary at fort Devens mass., an installation scheduled to close. Fort Devens on closure list gets Brand new commissary Mission voted to close fort Devens citing its marginal military importance and the High Cost of keeping it Melon capital slices through Competition