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Wednesday, December 24,2008 Vol. 1 No. 9 22 PAGES 2 SECTIONS A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. WINDER, BARROW COUNTY GEORGIA 30680 250COPY Last week for $5 deal This will be the last week for Barrow County readers to sub scribe to the Barrow Journal at the introductory rate of just $5 per year. The rate is for charter sub scribers to the Journal who live in Barrow County. The special rate will end Dec. 31. The maximum number of years at $5/yr. is three years, but sub scribers may purchase mul tiple subscriptions for friends and family. Starting Jan. 1, the subscription rate will move to $15 per year. During the introductory period, the Journal has been mailed to every household in Barrow County for free. Starting with the Jan. 7 issue, only subscribers will receive a copy in their mail. “The response to the Journal has been tremendous,” said co publisher Mike Buffington. Subscribes may drop or may mail their subscription to: Barrow Journal, 77 East May Street, Winder, Ga. 30680. Early deadline set for holiday Due to the New Year’s holi days, the deadlines for submit ting church, social and school news to the Barrow Journal have been moved to Friday, Dec. 26. Items received after the deadlines may not be pub lished. The Journal office will be closed on Thursday, Dec. 25, for Christmas and Jan. 1 for New Year’s. The offices will be open on Friday, Dec. 26, and Jan. 2. Holiday kids featured today The first Barrow Journal Holiday Kids pages are feau- tured in today’s edition. See four pages of photos beginning on page 6A and continuing through 9A. CC £ < o 5 o « E <«o5 o q_ a. < o o A tale of two churches... Sacrifice brings life back to old church REVITALIZED INTERIOR The inside of the Sanctuary of the Holy Spirit has a new look after much work. Photo by Jessica Brown BY SUSAN NORMAN hat members of the Sanctuary of the Holy Spirit recently dressed up as Charles Dickens characters to sing Christmas carols the night of Winder’s annual parade seemed fitting since the tale of their church building’s salvation after a series of tribulations and per sonal sacrifice reads like a story straight out of a Dickens novel. Less than four years ago, Rev. Phillip Adair was the pastor of a small congrega tion that met in Loganville in rented meeting space. One day in March of 2005, his wife, Linda, picked up a real estate book and noticed an ad for an old brick church in Winder. On a whim, the couple drove to 71 W. Candler St., where they found the once- proud church with three bell towers padlocked, but a for- sale sign was nowhere to be seen. About to drive away, the couple spotted a woman near by getting into her car and asked her if she knew who owned the vacant church. She said she had worked for its owner, long-time Winder physician C.B. Skelton. The Adairs arranged to meet Dr. Skelton and his wife Penny about a week later on a Sunday afternoon, when members of their Loganville congregation could come too. That closer inspection of the building revealed an original 1904 roof that leaked all over the place, interior walls with holes so large the visitors could walk through them, and a basement that had become an unsavory haven for cats. rats and fleas. Dr. Skelton, who many years earlier had operated a Christian supper club at the church, had once sold the building nearly a decade ear lier, but that congregation had been unable to raise funds to restore the building and in late 2004, handed it back to him. NEAR DISASTER While members of Adair’s Loganville congregation looked around the church that afternoon, their pastor went down to the basement. When he came back upstairs, he stepped on rotted floor ing and near-disaster struck. He fell from a floor in one of the bell towers down into the basement, landing hard on his left foot and nearly severing his tongue in the process. Bleeding copiously, he crawled back upstairs and was assisted by his 34-year- old son, Sean, and another man who half-carried him to more solid ground. An ambulance rushed Adair to Gwinnett Medical Center, where doctors initially feared he had broken his back, his leg and his foot. The injuries proved not to be quite that serious, but he did walk with a limp and a cane for a year and also had to ask his wife to speak for him for about a month. Then, just a week after that accident, a chronic medical condition landed his son Sean in the hospital, where doctors determined they needed to perform life-saving surgery. Battered and hurting, the pas tor decided to put his church buying plans on hold. But a couple of days after their son’s successful surgery, the phone rang. It was Dr. Skelton, and he had a surpris ing proposition. “He said, ‘Phil, what is it that you believe about God and the church?’ continued on page 3A THE PROCESS BEGINS The steeple is lowered as work began on the church located on Chandler Street. New surroundings WALL EXPLAINS HER OFFICE SET-UP Gloria Wall (R), Barrow County Clerk of Superior Court, explains the set-up of her office in the new Barrow County Courthouse to newly-elected Superior Court Judge Currie Mingledorf on Friday. Wall will be retiring at the end of this year after serving the county as clerk of superior court since 1997. See more photos of the courthouse tour on page 5A. Photo by Blair Buffington Non-profit group to run local camp 1,000 kids with special needs to be served next summer BY SUSAN NORMAN Fort Yargo State Park next year will greatly expand its recreational services for Georgia children with spe cial needs. A non-profit organization devoted to providing camp ing experiences for chil dren with serious medical or disabling conditions has signed an agreement with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources to reno vate and to operate Yargo’s Camp Will-A-Way. On Jan. 8, the Camp Twin Lakes organization based in Rutledge will take over the Winder campground and begin the first phase of a $4 million renovation. “The problem is that the camp has fallen into disre pair. There have been a lot of needed improvements over the years that were not com pleted because of budgetary issues,” said park manager Eric Bentley. “This organiza tion is going to assist us by taking over the campground and taking over the capital improvements.” Bentley said Camp Will- A-Way from now on would exclusively serve special- needs campers instead of other large groups that have been using it for church events and also family reunions. ’’They will be operating the facility for special needs children only; that’s what the camp was originally designed for,” he said. The first phase of improve ments will be funded through the Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation’s $1.5 million grant to Camp Twin Lakes. The initial improvements will include the renovation of eight of the 16 camper cabins; rebuilding the medi cal lodge, the multipurpose building and amphitheatre; improving the arts and crafts center and overall acces sibility with sidewalks and other features; and adding new program areas such as archery, biking and climbing, according to a press release. Camp Will-A-Way will be closed until the renova tions are completed in May. Then the park will welcome an estimated 1,000 children over 11 weeks of camps, Bentley said. The second phase of capi tal improvements will be completed in time for the 2010 camping season. "They’re going to renovate the rest of the sleeping cab ins and they’re talking about building a new swimming pool and improving the din ing facility and the rest of the camp,” Bentley said. Under the DNR conces sion agreement, the state will retain ownership of all of the improved facilities. The agreement is for five years and is renewable, offi cials said. Once the improvements have been completed. Camp Will-A-Way will operate year round, serving the chil dren through weekend and weekday programs, accord ing to a press release. continued on page 3A O