The book, pictured, is now for sale. (Image courtesy of The History Press)
The book, written by William Austin, is being sold at various locations through the help of the Cedartown Touchdown Club.
The book, which cost $20, is being sold as a fundraiser for the Bulldog community. It can be purchased at any home Cedartown football game this fall, or at Main Street Books or at Merle Norman.
The community can also contact the Cedartown Touchdown Club in order to buy the book by e-mailing CHStouchdownclub@aol.com, or by contacting them on Facebook at CHStouchdownclub.
According to Randy Prewett of the local booster club, anyone living out of town who wishes to purchase the book can have it shipped to them for the book price, plus the cost of shipping.
For more questions about purchasing the book, contact Prewett at 770-546-5628 or Ed Novinger at 706-844-4730.
Austin’s book chronicles the history of Cedartown High School football from 1900 until the 2001 state championship game.
According to a press release by History Press, Inc., the synopsis of the book is:
“Few teams in Georgia high school football can document their history as far back as the (Cedartown) Bulldogs. Cedartown High School played its first game at the turn of the century, kicking off a historic tradition that endures today. Join author William Austin, born and raised in Cedartown, as he recounts the history of this proud football program. Austin covers the careers of expert coaches like Doc Ayers and John Hill and highlights the star players and crucial games that helped shape Cedartown’s legacy of tough play on the gridiron. From that first game in 1900 to the 1946 conference champions, through the 1963 state championship team and all the way to the 2001 state championship game, here for the first time is the history of Bulldogs football.”
Austin, the author, has deep-seated roots in Cedartown according to The History Press. Three of his great-grandfathers enlisted in the Confederate army in Cedartown and served the duration of the war.
As a youth, Austin washed cars and learned auto mechanics working for Bill Byrom at Byrom’s Auto Center on the corner of West Avenue and College Street. As a delivery boy for Hunt’s Drug Store, he knew the location of every street in town and most of the residents.
While serving a four-year enlistment in the U.S. Air Force, he followed the Bulldogs by subscribing to The Cedartown Standard in places as far away as Korea. It was upon returning to Cedartown and enrolling at Floyd Junior College that the door to literature was opened.
Later, he lucked into the world of horse racing. Sitting in the saddle astride the world’s most dynamic athlete, he relished having a job that was more fun than work.
In 1987, he married the former Jeanene Cook, daughter of Reverend and Mrs. J. Shelby Cook. Traveling the racehorse circuit was not an ideal way to raise their small son, Benjamin. In 1989, Austin and his family settled in Aiken, S.C., where he is a machine technician for Bridgestone/Firestone. Jeanene teaches high school, and Benjamin is the dean of students at Catawba College in North Carolina.