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NOTICE or MEETING CHANGES The CC Board of Commissioners will meet Thursday, January 3rd, 7 p.m. The Development Authority of Crawford County will meet Januaiy 3rd at 5 p.m. Thursday, January 3,2013 2 Sections, 14 Pages Benefit Concert Packed By Abigail Adams The Georgia Post How many Crawford Coun ty residents can you pack into a theater? Apparently a lot as was evident at the Cox Capi tol Theater December 22nd, 2012. Supporters of Kaden Howard, a brave little boy who has been battling cancer since the summertime, came out to a benefit concert in the theater performed by up and coming singer and Roberta native Meiko along with some her friends. Meiko decided to put on the concert in hopes to help the family with some of the ex penses they are facing with the many trips they will have to make to Tennessee. Although Kade’s latest CT scan came back clear, he will be receiv ing 31 treatments at St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital in Tennes see. Kade actually spent his Christmas in the hospital and was unable to attend the con cert performed in his honor. Although Kade was not pres ent it did not stop residents of Crawford County from pour ing into the theater to enjoy the show consisting of Meiko, Josh Rifkind from Songs for Kids Foundation Inc., Angel Snow, and Cranford and Sons. Performers at the Benefit Concert were Josh Rifkind, Angel Snow, Cranford and Sons are the last four guys with Meiko in the very middle of the photo (green dress). The concert was for Kade How- All the acts censored their language for the “kid friend ly” concert and most played Christmas songs in their sets in honor of the season. To start the show, Josh Rif kind native of Atlanta, GA and foimder of Songs for Kids Foundation Inc., took the stage. Rifkind founded Songs for Kids in 2007 in Atlanta, GA. The foundation takes singers to children’s hospitals across the nation to sing and entertain the children receiv ing treatment there. “Our mission is to enrich the lives of children in need through music. For kids suf fering from an illness or hard ship, music is a powerful tool to inspire, motivate and up lift,” the brochure about the foundation states. Songs for Kids currently services seven children’s hos pitals and over fifteen special needs kids camps. Rifkind entertained the children in the crowd at the Cox Capitol The ater bursting into “Wheels on the Bus” and getting the audi ence to sing along. One little girl was seen dancing along to his songs in the audience. To find out more about the Songs for Kids Foundation you can find them online at www. songsforkidsfoundation. org. Next on the set list another Georgia native making her way in the entertainment world ard and the Cox Capitol Theatre was filled to capacity for the per formance. Meiko is a native of Crawford County and a graduate of Crawford County High School Class of 2000. A Look Back At The Year That Was This year has been filled to the brim with the election, ne gotiations over LOST funds and let us all not forget the end of the world that never hap pened, but now we have come to the end of it and must move on to a new year. To start the New Year out right let’s have a look back at what’s happened in the community in 2012: January: -Starting the year, The Geor gia Post columnist and histori cal writer, Billy Powell took a look into “Crawford’s Greatest Mystery,” and wrote about the life and descendants of John Turner Spillers. -Commissioners Dean Fripp and Paul Chapman were re elected unanimously as Chair man and Vice Chairman. -Crawford County teacher, Rhonda Harris goes through a scary ordeal when her purse was snatched in Macon, Ga. -The county advances the city of Roberta funds to com plete several water projects until the city received their SPLOST funds in July of 2012. February: -Cooley Farms was recog nized for environmental excel lence during the 2012 Interna tional Poultry Expo in Atlanta. -Newly formed Recreation Board meets and elects offi cers. Brad Cody was elected as president, Greg Blasingame as vice-president, and Pamela Busbee as the treasurer/secre tary. -Subway is named Busi ness of the Quarter by the RC- CCOC for the first quarter of the year. -Over $180,000 in money, vehicles, firearms, and prop erty was confiscated by the Crawford County Sheriff’s Department after a year long investigation of a drug traf ficking ring. -Missing woman Rebecca Ruth Thaxton is foimd in the woods off Giles Circle, af ter being missing for almost twenty-four hours. March: -Roberta Evangelical Church builds pavilion to re place the gazebo that burned in 2011 in David Bailey Park, Roberta. -Peaches to Beaches state wide yard sale running along 341 linking peach-growing counties in middle Georgia to the Golden Isles takes over Ro berta. The annual event covers 240 miles and 19 counties and happens the second Friday and Saturday in March. -City council denies a re quest to close a road that had residents concerned about lo cal children’s safety due to the increased traffic on Church Street. The street is actually a dirt roadway and residents of the street asked that the city to consider closing the road down after several had close calls with vehicles. The coun cil, after some discussion, de nied the request much to the dismay of those present at the meeting. -John Turner Spillers’ grave site was foimd by historian Sidney Goodrich and colum nist and historical writer Billy Powell at Providence Cem etery outside of Roberta, GA. -The recreation facility be low Wallace Field gets a make over thanks to the help of the community. A ribbon cutting ceremony was held in March for the newly renovated fields. Just in time for ball season! April: -A brand new store opens out in the county. Crossroads Store on Marshall Mill Road owned by Roy Walker and managed by Cheryl Pritchett opened in early April. -Roberta and Knoxville go 4G! PS Data Wireless began offering 4G LTE Wireless broadband to customers in Ro berta and Knoxville. -Crawford County and Tay lor County combine their ef forts in the fight against cancer as Crawford invited Taylor county residents to participate with them in the Relay for Life. -Benjamin Thiessen, student of Crawford County Junior High was picked as student ambassador for showing sev eral qualities including leader ship, citizenship, and his desire to leam about diverse cultures. He spent the summer touring Europe. -Farm Bureau was picked as Business of the Quarter by the RCCCOC for the second quar ter of the year. -Human remains were found by a park ranger patrol ling Camp Benjamin Hawkins April 21st. The remains could have been that of a man that went missing earlier in the month of April. -“The Pink Building” on the square in Downtown Roberta receives a makeover after be ing sand-blasted back to its original color after being an antique rose color for several years. (Year in review will con tinue in next week’s edi- and now hailing from Nash ville, Tennessee, Angel Snow dubbed Macon as “the cutest little town,” and proudly told the audience her brother is a second year student at Mercer University Law School in Ma con, GA. Her last song “Holy Night,” had the entire theater quiet in rapt attention before their loud roimd of applause. “My thoughts and prayers are with Kade and his family and I am so happy to be a part of this tonight,” Snow said during her set, “Thoughts and prayers also go out to all the families affected by the recent tragedies in our country.” Next on the list was the act most of the crowd had been patiently waiting on. Meiko, in a glittering green, festive dress took to the stage with her guitar. She started her set with the song that got her recognized during her time performing at the cafe where she waited tables starting out in L.A. The song “Reason to Love You,” was heard by a lady from Grey’s Anatomy and Meiko’s career has been moving steadily up from there. Keeping true to the kid- friendly concert, one of Meiko’s Christmas songs was one from her childhood that she said, “is about bullying and how you shouldn’t bully someone because you never know, they might become ‘the most famous of all’,” Rudolph the Red-nose Reindeer. After that Meiko performed the song she played earlier this year for Jay Leno on The Late Show, “Leave the Lights On.” During her set the children of the audience gathered at the front of the stage sitting on the floor. Although all the pro ceeds from ticket sales (minus the rental fee for the theater) went to Kade and his family, Meiko also announced that she had her childhood piggy bank set up and encouraged people to “feed the pig,” to donate to Kade as well. Before ending her set with one last Christmas song, “Merry Christmas,” she sang a quick funny little ditty called “You and Onions Make Me Cry,” that she had written for a friend in film school who was making a short five minute film about a man encounter ing a hotdog girl after a bump to his head. “I didn’t quite understand the gist of the movie and there was this really weird ketchup and mustard scene, but I fig ured what the heck,” she said before giving the audience the giggles with the cute little song. After Meiko left the stage and took to the audience to sign autographs and meet with people, a band hailing from Hilton Head, SC, Cranford and Sons burst onto the stage with their unique “bluegrass with a kick,” style of music. The band had the audience dancing in the aisles and in front of the stage as their foot stomping music filled the the ater. It even had Meiko danc ing a jig as she met with her fans. “Give it up for all the ladies,” the Cranford and Sons lead singer said in between songs and laughingly added, “It’s nice to watch people who can actually play their guitars, in stead of banging around and hollering like I do.” To find out more about any of the bands above you can visit some of these sites: Meiko- meikomusic.com, Josh Rifkind- www.songs- forkidsfoundation.org, Angel Snow- angelsnow.net, and Cranford and Sons-www.fa- cebook.com/cranfordandsons.