Fresh Loaf

(photo by Joeff Davis)

If you live in Villa Rica, you know 31-year-old J. Collins as your mayor for the past five years. If you die in Villa Rica, your family and friends might know him as the funeral and embalmer at J. Collins Funeral Home & Cremation Service.

“I’m what you call an old-fashioned country undertaker. I live above the funeral home.”

“Generally winter months are busiest. We’re busy from November through March.”

“I didn’t grow up thinking I would be a funeral director. I worked in a funeral home after I graduated high school as a part-time job. It was just a way to earn some extra money.”

How does funeral directing help him in politics? “Being in funeral services, you deal with people on a very personal level. I’ve always been a people person.”

“Being in such a small town, most of the people I take care of are friends, neighbors and relatives. It takes an emotional toll.”

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Last week, the grown-ups running Georgia’s House of Representatives voted to stop the state from issuing license plates bearing the mascots of colleges and universities from outside Georgia.

The move came just two weeks after an AJC report raised the specter of Florida Gators commemorative plates, and three weeks after the House cried like colicky babies about how UGA didn’t get to play for the national championship this year.

Tomorrow, Georgia’s House of Representatives will vote on a state constitutional amendment that will make English the state’s official language. Never mind that English is already Georgia’s official language, by law.

The resolution, HR 413, was introduced by Rep. Timothy Bearden, a Republican from, of all cities, Villa Rica.

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