About The Braselton news. (Jefferson, Ga) 2006-current | View Entire Issue (March 30, 2022)
o o Serving Braselton, Hoschton, Chateau Elan, Traditions, Reunion, Deaton Creek and West Jackson $1.00 copy Wednesday, March 30, 2022 Vol. 15 No. 16 A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. www.BraseltonNewsTODAY.com 12 pages Business news Woolridge named new general manager of Chateau Elan Robert Woolridge has been named Chateau Elan’s new general manager, ac cording to a press release from the Braselton resort. Woolridge has 37 years of experience in the lodging industry. In his new role, Woolridge will oversee all aspects of operations at Chateau Elan, from day- to-day staff management to guest and client relations. “With an award-winning winery, spa, world-class dining, golf and luxury hotel. Chateau Elan has a legacy of hospitality like no other.” said Woolridge. “I am excited to serve as general manager and look forward to continuing to distinguish the property with unparalleled guest ex periences.” Woolridge brings 35 years of experience from Marriott International, with over 20 years spent in At lanta. In his last position with the company, he served as general manager at the W Atlanta - Buckhead. lead ing the staff through full system integration follow ing Marriott’s acquisition of the property and repo- WOOLRIDGE sitioning the luxury hotel through a $20 million cap ital investment. During his time there, Woolridge grew revenue per available room by 25% following the repositioning. He also spent time as gener al manager at Atlanta Ever green Marriott Conference Resort at Stone Mountain, Atlanta Airport Marriott Gateway and Atlanta Mar riott Perimeter Center. Most recently, Woolridge worked as a principal con sultant at his own company, RLW Consulting, provid ing strategic analysis and planning to businesses with a hospitality-focused lens. COVID update COVID hospitalizations at NGHS lowest since start of pandemic Northeast Georgia Health System (NGHS) is seeing its lowest COVID hospi talization figures since the beginning of the pandemic two years ago. As of March 25. NGHS was treating just eight COVID patients across its campuses, while NGHS’s Braselton campus reported no COVID patients on that date. The system was treat ing 340 COVID patients just over a month ago. COVID hospitalizations have fallen so drastical ly that NGHS announced that it would scale back its COVID data updates to weekly rather than daily. Meanwhile, new COVID cases in the area remain very low. See COVID, page 3A MAILING LABEL Corn liolc k time In Hoschton i JOIN A LEAGUE NEARYOU Photo by Ben Munro Patty Moore tosses a cornhole bag while being cheered on by teammate Theresa Dearman Wednes day (March 23) during opening night of Hoschton’s new cornhole league. The league, held in the parking lot in front of The Red Thread Kitchen, is sponsored by the Hoschton Downtown Develop ment Authority (DDA). See more photos on Page 7A. Braselton Braselton Civic Center opening April 1 Photo by Ben Munro The $6.28 million Braselton Civic Center will host its first event Friday (April 1). By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews. com The long-awaited Bra selton Civic Center will at last open its doors. The $6.28 million, 40,000 square-foot build ing located downtown will host its inaugural event on Friday (April 1) after sup ply shortages postponed the facility’s opening for ap proximately nine months. “Finally ... much antic ipated,” Braselton Town Manager Jennifer Scott said of the facility being ready. A local insurance agent, Cindy Phillips, will chris ten the venue by hosting her agency’s 30th anniver sary there, Phillips will host a private dinner for 300, then open the event up to the public at 8 p.m. “She expects a whole lot more to show up then,” Scott said. The state fire marshal inspected the facility on March 25. while the health department held its inspec tion on March 28. Furniture was slated for move-in on March 29. The civic center is al ready booked heavily for at least the next two months. Upcoming events include a high school prom, wed dings and corporate events. The Braselton Downtown Development Authority will host its annual Toast of Braselton fundraiser there on May 12. According to civic center director Sloane Meyer, the town also looks to host an indoor concert at the civ ic center possibly in late July, a Shakespeare festival during a Medieval Faire in October and themed-movie nights, including The Great Gatsby and The Wizard of Oz. Scott said she is unsure of a projected revenue fig ure for the center for 2022. noting that she’ll have a better idea when the town begins collecting rental fees. Demand, however, has exceed what was orig inally anticipated. “It is amazing,” Scott said. “It is every single day we get calls. It’s marvel ous.” Located on Davis St., the civic center is situated in the hub of activity down town — across the street from dining and drinking establishments and adja cent to the town’s parking deck. “I hope it’s ideal,” Scott said of the location. “That’s what we planned.” The civic center is also on the town’s trolley-ser vice line. While the facility will open its doors this weekend, the town has not scheduled a celebratory grand open ing yet. But Scott looks for ward to when the town can show off the building. “It’s gorgeous,” she said. “It really is. It’s just a real ly, really beautiful facility. I'm really excited for peo ple to see it.” Hoschton Historic cemetery has over 50 gravesites, mostly unmarked, according to official By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews. com A historic cemetery site brought up last week at a Hoschton City Council meet ing has over 50 gravesites, most of which are unmarked, according to an official. Jennifer Landers, com munity director of Kolter’s Cresswind community in Hoschton, said most of the gravesites were discovered around four years ago during a study of land designated for Phase 4 of Cresswind using ground-penetrating radar. The cemetery was men tioned during the recent council meeting when resi dent Ross Billingsley, who lives in Cresswind, spoke to the council about histori cal sites on the property and Kolter’s plans to protect the cemetery site. Billingsley added that the cemetery area is potentially a slave gravesite, saying the cemetery is situated on land See Cemetery , page 3A
