Keeper of the streets
By Bailee Gant, Staff Writer
March 11, 2008 | 12:34 p.m.
Sitting under the roof of the covered patio just outside the welcoming doors of The Gathering Place, Janet Boring escapes from the rain while casually puffing on a cigarette and chatting with a few ladies as she relaxes in a macramé lawn chair.
Dressed in a green and purple wind breaker with a splatter of rose-colored polish on her nails, it is easy to assume that Boring will be anything but. Throughout the entire interview she is curiously meticulous, including a time and date for every story she so passionately describes.
The Athens native has lived in and out of the area for 46 years but has resided here permanently since 1988. Boring keeps herself busy by taking pictures around town and acting as a reliable source for the Athens Police Department on the weekends.
“I figure they need the extra eyes on the weekends since they’re understaffed,” Boring said.
Taking on the role of a “town watchdog,” Boring has experienced the drunken endeavors that most college students hope go unnoticed, along with a few that have caused quite a ruckus with the police.
“I see the stuff that the ordinary citizen does not see -- people pissin’ in the parking garage, in the alleys, a whole lot of different things,” Boring said.
Boring’s forehead crinkles with the beginning of each new nightly tale, showing her excitement in recounting them. Her self-appointed role as keeper of the streets has helped her establish a good rapport with the officers, who have personally asked her to keep her eyes peeled and have commended her on a job well done.
One July evening, Boring watched a cop go down Court Street, making his usual rounds. She decided to give him 10 minutes, and if he was not back to his patrol car, she decided she would go ahead and "check things out."
The officer did not return, and when Boring went to investigate, she found the man surrounded by a group of belligerent drunks outside of Subway. She said she called the station for backup. Once they arrived, they began cuffing the troublemakers and she burst into applause of approval.
The criminals were angered and began to spit at Boring. To their dismay, this townie does not mess around and simply, yet forcefully, replied in her Appalachian drawl, “If your drunk asses would be home where ya should be and not drunk at the bar, no one’d be goin ta jail.”
Afterward the police thanked Boring, but she humbly stated, “Anytime, man. Anytime.”
Boring's attentive eyes not only see the intoxicated indiscretions of a weekend on Court Street but also the crimes and thefts that take place behind the brick.
"When I’m out there on the weekends, I see a lot of different things, and some that I see would upset a lot of community members,” Boring said.
If Boring feels that a situation is not right, she does not hesitate to notify the police.
“One night I had my camcorder in the parking garage, and it worked for a bit then went off," Boring said. "I went down on the stairwell at about 2 a.m. and I heard three doors open two levels below me. I heard quarters rattlin’ and I looked over the railing and I saw three people standin’ there."
Boring alerted the police of the suspicious behavior, and a few months later, the perpetrators were caught and sent to jail for the theft and destruction of parking meters.
When Boring is not keeping an eye on the town, she can be found with her camera on the top of the parking garage, a place that she has been visiting since she was a teenager in high school. The self-taught photographer thinks of the building’s roof as not only a great place to snap pictures but also as a sanctuary -- when it is not being burglarized, that is.
“I go out there to chill," Boring said. "Every time someone gets me, I go out there and hide. I like it up ‘ere 'cause it's peaceful 'n' quiet.”
Boring's favorite subjects to photograph are nature, and her creative eye can pull hidden objects from a picture like she is looking at a page from "Where’s Waldo." There is one photo in particular of a stream weathered by a waterfall, which over the years has dug away at the stone, producing a heart.
When duty calls, Boring can be rough and tough enough to play with the big dogs, but as her photographs of rainbows and robins' nests suggest, this quintessential informant is really just an artist finding the beauty in each and every day.
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