Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
The Braselton News
Page 7 A
New Year’s resolutions
Local organizations offer weight loss options
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
It’s a New Year’s resolution on many people’s
list — lose weight.
But how does someone make the commit
ment to turn that New Year’s promise into a true
change in lifestyle? Several local organizations
say they have programs to help residents in the
Braselton-Hoschton area take off the pounds in
2008.
Two area hospitals are offering 12-week
programs, while a non-profit group that meets
weekly in Braselton affords a third option.
TEAM LEAN: BARROW COUNTY
Brad Akins Winder-Barrow YMCA and the
Barrow Regional Medical Center are offering
a 12-week weight loss team competition called
Team Lean: Barrow County.
Teams of five members will compete to lose
the highest percentage of weight. Cash prizes
will be awarded for the top teams and individu
als.
Linda Easterly, chief nursing officer at Barrow
Regional Medical Center, said Team Lean:
Barrow County isn’t just about weight loss,
but about improving overall health in the com
munity.
“We want this to be fun,” she said. “We want
people to do this together.”
And once people lose weight, they’ll see
their blood pressure and cholesterol levels also
improve, Easterly said.
“Anything to get people to look at their health
status and improve it,” she said.
Team Lean: Barrow County is seeking any
local individuals or groups to participate in the
program. The groups can include churches,
workplaces, friends or other law enforcement
officers, Easterly said.
A kick-off meeting will be held on Tuesday,
Jan. 15, at 6:30 p.m., at the YMCA Winder
branch, located at 50 Brad Akins Drive.
Participants are asked to gather a team, com
plete an application and attend the kick-off
meeting.
At the kick-off meeting, there will be a
weigh-in, followed by weekly weigh-ins and a
final weigh-in on April 8. All weigh-ins will be
confidential.
The cost to participate is $5 per week, or a
total of $60. Team Lean: Barrow County will
also offer free lab work at the beginning and the
end of the program. Educational material will
be available at the local hospital and YMCA.
Team Lean: Barrow County follows a weight
loss competition sponsored by a hospital
and YMCA in Bainbridge, a town in south
Georgia.
In that competition, more than 190 teams
competed with the top team earning $4,800 and
the top individual winning $1,500, according to
the Memorial Hospital and Manor’s website.
Easterly hopes the Barrow County competi
tion will entice more than 200 teams. The more
teams that participate, the more money will be
available for the winners, she said. Door prizes
will also be available.
Participants in Team Lean: Barrow County
will also learn about improving eating and exer
cise habits, Easterly said.
“It is hard to stick with changing a habit, but
that’s what we’re trying to do,” she said.
For more information, contact Linda Easterly,
chief nursing officer at the Barrow Regional
Medical Center, at 770-307-5207 or e-mail her
at Linda.easterly@winder.hma.org; or Sheila
Duncan, YMCA of Georgia’s Piedmont, WBBA
branch, at 770-868-2917 or e-mail her at shei-
la@gapiedmontymca.org.
LIVING LIGHTER
Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC)
is helping residents shed extra pounds with its
Living Lighter program.
Living Lighter is a 12-week program led by a
registered dietitian. NGMC’s Bariatric Weight
Loss Center sponsors the program. The cost is
$300 for participants.
Components of the program include weekly
information and support sessions, personal con
sultations with the dietitian, food journaling and
calculations of participants’ Resting Metabolic
Rate (RMR). After the program ends, partici
pants will have the opportunity to continue peri
odic weigh ins, dietitian consultations and RMR
testing for an additional six months, according
to NGMC.
Tracy Nix, a bariatric program dietitian for
the Northeast Georgia Health System, said the
Living Lighter program will include activities
to help participants maintain their new lifestyle
changes.
“This is really a program concentrated on
weight loss and weight maintenance,” she said.
Living Lighter will include support groups
and educational seminars. A healthcare profes
sional — such as a psychologist, exercise physi
ologist and a representative from a sleep center
— will occasionally be featured as speakers at
weekly meetings, Nix said.
“It’s an educational program, but it encom
passes a bunch of different areas,” she added.
Nix said the program has been successful in
the past three to four year the medical center has
offered it. Participants may be seeking to lose
from 20-100 pounds, she added.
Support meetings will be held each Wednesday,
from 5-6 p.m., in the Blue Ride Room at the
Lanier Park campus in Gainesville. Meetings
start on Wednesday, Jan. 23.
For more information, or to register, call
678-343-4061.
TOPS GROUPS
A non-profit group, Take Off Pounds Sensibly
(TOPS), meets each Tuesday, at 5:30 p.m., at
the Braselton Library.
The Braselton chapter includes about 10-15
members, who meet at the library to provide
support for those trying to lose weight.
“We are a support group,” said Pat Sims, coor
dinator for TOPS in Northeast Georgia, which
includes 55 area chapters. Other area chap
ters are located at the BJC Medical Center in
Commerce and the Statham Recreation Center.
Sims said what sets TOPS apart from other
programs is the price — just $24 a year for
members.
“The cost to become a member is affordable,”
Sims said, while adding that the low cost keeps
members in the program.
TOPS Club, Inc. is based in Milwaukee, Wis.,
and provides program material for its local
chapters throughout the world.
Sims said each chapter gathering starts with
a weigh-in and 30-minute program to motivate
and encourage members to lose weight. Special
guest speakers can include doctors and nutri
tionists.
Each members’ weight loss goal is set by
their physician, Sims said. TOPS members
include those trying to lose 20 pounds, up to
200 pounds, she added.
The 60-year-old international club also fea
tures KOPS — Keep Off Pounds Sensibly —
for those who have reached their weight loss
goals.
For more information about TOPS, call Sims
at 706-353-2445.
Meetings of area councils, commissions are open to the public
The public is invited to
attend public meetings held by
Braselton’s and Hoschton’s coun
cils and planning commissions.
BRASELTON
The Braselton Town Council
meets the second Monday of
each month, at 7 p.m., at the
Braselton Police and Municipal
Court Building.
They discuss voting items in
a work session the Thursday
before the second Monday, at 4
p.m. in the Braselton Police and
Municipal Court Building.
At those meetings, the coun
cil hears public comments about
recommendations from the town
planning commission.
The Braselton Planning
Commission holds its public hear
ings on the fourth Monday of each
month, at 7 p.m., at the Braselton
Police and Municipal Court
Building. If no planning requests
have been fded, the town planning
commission usually doesn’t meet
for its regular session.
Braselton’s Zoning Board of
Appeals meets on the fourth
Thursday of the month at 7
p.m., at the Braselton Police and
Municipal Court Building. The
board also meets on an as-needed
basis, depending on requests to
be heard.
For more information about
Braselton meetings, contact town
hall, at 706-654-3915.
HOSCHTON
The Hoschton City Council
holds its regular meeting on the
first Monday of each month, at
7 p.m., at city hall. The council’s
non-voting work session is held
the Thursday prior to the regular
meeting, at 7 p.m.
The Hoschton Planning
Commission meets on the third
Monday of each month, at 7 p.m.,
at city hall.
Due to observed holidays, some
meeting dates may be altered.
For more information about
Hoschton meetings, contact city
hall, at 706-654-3034.
JACKSON COUNTY
The West Jackson Fire Board
meets the second Tuesday of each
month, at 7 p.m., at the West
Jackson Fire Department. The
meeting is open to the public.
The Jackson County Board of
Commissioners meets at 6 p.m.
the first and third Monday of each
month at jury assembly room in
the courthouse in Jefferson.
The Jackson County Planning
Commission meets at 7 p.m. the
fourth Thursday of each month in
the state courtroom in the admin
istrative building in Jefferson.
BARROW COUNTY
The Barrow County Board of
Commissioners meets the second
and fourth Tuesday every month
at 7 p.m. in the commission meet
ing room on the second floor
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of the administrative annex in
Winder.
The Barrow County Board
of Education meets the first
Tuesday of every month at 7
p.m., at Barrow County Schools
Professional Development Center
on W. Athens Street in Winder.
The Winder City Council meets
the first Tuesday after the first
Monday of each month at 6 p.m.,
at the Winder Community Center,
Winder.
GWINNETT COUNTY
The Gwinnett County Board
of Commissioners holds meetings
on the first and third Tuesdays of
each month, at 2 p.m. Before the
official meeting, the board con
ducts a work sessions at 10 a.m.
The board also holds a pub
lic hearing to consider zoning
requests on the fourth Tuesday of
each month at 7 p.m. in the audi
torium of the Gwinnett Justice
and Administration Center.
On some Tuesdays, the board
has informal discussions with
county departments and commu
nity groups that are held in the
conference room of the Board
of Commissioners suite. Informal
discussions and official meetings
are open to the public.
The Municipal-Gwinnett
County Planning Division meets
on the first Tuesday of each
month for rezoning and related
special use permit applications.
They meet the third Tuesday of
each month for special use per
mits and moved-in-house appli
cations. Meetings are held at
7 p.m., at the Gwinnett Justice
and Administration Center
Auditorium.
HALL COUNTY
The Hall County Board of
Commissioners work session meet
ings are held on the second and fourth
Thursday of the month, at 3 p.m. The
meetings are held in the commission
meeting room, on the second floor of
the Courthouse Annex Building, 116
Spring Street, Gainesville.
The BOC hold its regular meet
ings on the second Thursday of each
month, at 5 p.m. Those meetings
are held in the Georgia Mountains
Center, located on 301 Main Street,
Gainesville.
The Hall County Planning
Commission meetings are held
the first and third Monday of each
month, at 5:15 p.m. in the Georgia
Mountains Center.
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Church News
God cannot be fooled
Chloe’s getting good at
the fine art of misdirection.
At daycare, they’ve
taught her where her eyes,
ears, nose and mouth are.
She likes to point these fea
tures out not only on her
own face, but also on mine
and Amy’s.
The problem is, Chloe doesn’t just point to these features. She pokes
them. That’s not so bad when it’s your nose or your ears, but it can be
quite painful when it’s your eye.
Don’t get me wrong, though. We’re very proud of Chloe. We praise
her whenever she does it. But now she tries to turn that to her advan
tage.
Chloe has developed a habit of running from us. Amy says it’s
because I often chase Chloe through the house in order to tickle her,
and she sees it as a game. I disagree. It’s clearly someone else’s fault.
Perhaps some genetic miscoding from Amy’s side of the family. Yeah,
that would explain a lot.
One day we were at the church and I told Chloe it was time to go. She
took off running. She sprinted along between two pews. Visions of her
tripping and hitting her head filled my thoughts. I ran alongside her in
another pew until we got to the aisle. When we emerged, I caught her.
In a voice made stern by fear I said, “Baby, don’t run from Daddy.”
Right then, Chloe knew that she’d done something wrong. She point
ed to her face and said, “Eye! Eye!”
Chloe was trying to redirect me to praising her, not correcting her. She
was trying to turn me from “Strict Daddy” back into “Fun Daddy.”
I have to admit, it almost worked. Her attempts to redirect my atten
tion were so cute and transparent, I had to fight a smile.
King Saul made a similarly transparent attempt at misdirection with
God, but it was by no means as cute as Chloe’s.
Through the prophet Samuel, God sent Saul into battle against the
Amalekites. Saul was instructed not to keep any of the spoils of their
victory. Yet after the battle was over, Saul kept the sheep and oxen.
God sent Samuel to correct Saul because of his disobedience. As
Samuel approached, Saul went out to Him and said, “Blessed are you
of the Lord! I have carried out the command of the Lord!” (1 Samuel
15:13).
Saul had done no such thing, and Samuel knew it! “What then is this
bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?”
(1 Samuel 15:14). Saul’s response was that he’d saved the best of the
sheep and oxen as a sacrifice to the Lord.
Well, that was a nice sentiment, but it wasn’t what God told him to
do. Saul was trying to misdirect Samuel — and, I believe, God. He
was trying to substitute a good action (a sacrifice) for a bad action (his
disobedience.)
God wasn’t fooled. He never is. And Saul was punished for his dis
obedience.
Something that Saul should have learned, something that Chloe will
have to learn, something we all must learn is this: it’s easier to just obey
God from the outset, rather than disobey him and try to misdirect him
later.
Parrish Myers is a resident of Braselton and pastor of Pine Crest
Baptist Church. You can e-mail him from his website at www.eyesoft-
hefather.com
Bible study planned at Zion
Zion Baptist Church, Braselton, is currently conducting an 11-week
Bible study, “Jesus, the One and Only,” Wednesday nights from 6:30 to
8 p.m.
The study is DVD driven and by Beth Moore.
For more information, call the church at 706-654-3205.
Eyes of the
Father
Parrish Myers
eotf@comcast.net
. y
!
Braselton News available in stores
A number of new newsstands
have been set up for patrons to
purchase the new weekly news
paper, The Braselton News. The
newsstand charge is 25 cents.
Copies of The Braselton News
are also mailed to selected areas
of Gwinnett, Hall and Barrow
counties.
In the Braselton area, the fol
lowing stores have newsstands
for The Braselton News: Vineyard
Shops (Dollar Superstore),
Select Brokers, Hoschton Cafe,
Frankie’s Hair Salon, West
Jackson Mini Shops, Mulberry
Walk Shopping Center, P &
G Superette, Duncan’s Corner
Bottle Shop and Barberito’s res
taurant.
Other locations include:
Quality Foods and Ingles, both
in Winder; Food Lion and Bell’s
Food Store, both in Jefferson;
and Quality Foods, Prestos and
Ingles, all in Commerce.
Stores who would like to carry
copies of The Braselton News
for sale should contact Sharon
Hogan at 706-367-2350.
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