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36 Pages 3 Sections, Plus Preprints A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. Winder, Barrow County Georgia 50« Copy Wednesday, January 11, 2017 Barrow Briefs MLK Jr. celebration set The Barrow County Martin Luther King Jr. Committee will hold its annual MLK Celebra tion on Monday, Jan. 16, as the nation celebrates the federal holiday in honor of the revered civil rights icon. A march will be held at 10:30 a.m., begin ning with a prayer at the steps of White Oak Spring Mission ary Baptist Church, 123 East New St., Winder. The march will go across Martin Luther King Boulevard to Wood Avenue, take a right turn onto Oak Street, continue onto Capital Avenue, back to Martin Luther King Boulevard and then back to the church. Following the march, a cer emony, expected to last about two hours, will be held in the church sanctuary. The keynote speaker for the ceremony will be Tharon L. Johnson of Atlan ta law firm Greenberg Traurig. On Sunday, Jan. 15, the MLK Gospel Concert will be held at White Oak from 6-8:30 p.m. Literacy Ball The 24th annual Adult Literacy Barrow Literacy Ball will be held on Saturday, Jan. 28, at the Winder Community Center. Hors d’oeu vres will be served at 6:30 p.m. with a dinner and dance to follow. There is still time to become a sponsor or to purchase tickets. Tickets to this year’s event may be purchased at Peoples Equity Partners, LLC, 58 West Candler St. Contact: Kelly Holliday at 770-851-0934. For information on sponsorships, you may contact Sally Brown. Executive Direc tor of Adult Literacy Barrow, at the Adult Learning Center in the Wimberly Center, 163 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive (formerly King Street), Winder, 770-531- 3369. For more information about the 24th Annual Literacy Ball ~ A Novel Affair, see the Adult Litera- cy Barrow website at www.adult- literacybarrow.org and the ball’s Facebook page. Index: Church News 8B Classifieds 4-5C Legals 6-11C Obituaries 10-11A Pets of the Week 3C Public Safety 7-9A Sports 1-7B Mailing Label Below 8 14 5 4 1 7 Brown takes over as new executive director at Adult Literacy Barrow By Scott Thompson News-Journal Editor This year is providing literally a fresh start for Adult Literacy Barrow — a new location, new staffers and, after a nearly five-month vacancy, a new executive director. Sally Brown, a GED instructor at Lanier Technical College for the past 15 years, was selected recently to lead the organization and started work with the part-time position Dec. 1. She was one of three finalists inter viewed by the organization's board of directors. Brown will also continue in her current part-time instructor capacity with Lanier Tech. “I'm very excited to get to work.” Brown said. “Adult education has been a passion of mine for quite some time now, and now instead of just working with my students, I can help get more programs going around the county.” Brown has also been involved with local nonprofit organizations, includ ing Habitat for Humanity and the American Red Cross. “She has handled grant monies and donations and has keen sense of responsibility, which makes her per fect for Adult Literacy Barrow,” board chair Susan Wages said of Brown this week in an email. “Sally is very passionate about the adult education program in Barrow County. She has ideas of expanding the offerings and is an out-of-the box thinker. She believes that where there is a need, there can be a solution. “Sally is a problem solver and an encourager for our mission of ele vating the level of education of our citizens in Barrow County. This, too, makes her perfect for Adult Literacy Barrow. Our board of directors is so pleased that she has agreed to the role of executive director.” See Brown on Page 3A BROWN Lost business pillar LONGTIME LOCAL BUSINESSMAN DIES The Winder and Barrow County community are mourning the loss of longtime business man Larry Jones, who died Saturday at the age of 93. Jones, pictured here with his wife in 2011, was the former owner of Larry’s Easy Pay tire shop and Larry’s Furniture. A native of Monroe, Jones started Larry’s Easy Pay in 1948 with his wife, Dorothy. The couple has vir tually been in local business ever since, selling boats, lawn mowers and furniture, among other items. File photo Longtime businessman Larry Jones dies at 93 “Larry was one of the last of the ‘greatest gener ation’ here in Winder. He really helped the growth and development here. When people would come to his stores, he would sell a handshake with a promise and he was just one of our best citizens when this was still ‘the small town of Winder. -Tommy Jennings President, Barrow County Chamber of Commerce on the passing of Larry Jones By Scott Thompson News-Journal Editor A longtime pillar of the Winder business community has passed away. Larry Jones, the former owner of Larry’s Easy Pay tire shop and Larry’s Furni ture died peacefully Saturday, according to an obituary. He was 93. Jones, a native of Monroe, started Larry’s Easy Pay in 1948 with his wife, Dorothy. The couple has virtually been in local business ever since, selling boats, lawn mowers and furniture, among other items. Jones was a member of sev eral civic groups throughout Barrow County and was also an active member of First Unit ed Methodist Church in Wind er. He was named the Barrow County Chamber of Com- By Scott Thompson News-Journal Editor Despite forecasts of up to two to four inches of snow, Bar- row County mostly avoided the worst of the winter storm that rolled through the area Friday night and early Saturday morn ing. While there was a light snow shower, there was very little to no accumulation throughout the county and no significant issues merce’s “Shining Star” in 2013. “Larry was one of the last of the ‘greatest generation’ here in Winder,” chamber president Tommy Jennings said Monday. “He really helped the growth and development here. “When people would come into his stores, he would sell a handshake and a promise and he just was one of our best as a result of the weather were reported. Most of the snow and ice asso ciated with the system pushed further north into the mountains. “We ended up basically just running our normal call vol ume,” Barrow County Emergen cy Services public information officer Capt. Scott Dakin said. “We were ready for what (the National Weather Service) predicted, but were OK with not having the call volume that citizens when this was still ‘the small town of Winder.’ He will be missed.” A memorial service for Jones was held Tuesday morning at First United Methodist Church. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donations be made to the church in Jones’ memory at 280 North Broad St., Winder, 30680 or online at www.winderfumc.com. could have occurred if it had hit.” The threat of severe wintry weather did force some chang es to the local sports schedule, including the postponement of Friday’s Apalachee-Winder-Bar row basketball game at Wind er-Barrow. For more information on all the sports postponements and scheduling changes, see today’s sports section starting on Page IB. Innovation center gets approval for opening By Ron Bridg'eman News-Journal Reporter The Barrow County Board of Education Tues day agreed to collaborate with ArtsNow, a nonprofit focused on arts programs and education, to create a “Center for Innovation” at the former Russell Middle School building. The board met briefly Tuesday in its regular ses sion. It heard a report about the proposed center and discussed it at length last week in its work session. The center will focus ini tially on the development of arts integration and STEAM curriculum. It will start with middle school students. The memorandum of understanding approved Tuesday projects a long term partnership for the two organizations that could extend into summer school and after-school programming. Board members men tioned last week the pos sibility of working with existing YMCA programs and expanding them to the school facility. Supt. Chris McMichael told the board last week he does not expect the first year of operation to cost the school district much money. He explained the contribution of the school system is mostly the school building. He noted utility and security costs already exist for that building. He said he expects the center to open this summer and to host summer work shops this year and classes in the next school year. The MOU calls for to develop, pilot, and dissemi nate innovative educational content for (and with) Bar- row County students. It includes a provision for a satellite office in the school facility for ArtsNow and for an “executive direc tor-level” person to work at the center and oversee cur riculum development and teaching resources for the two entities. The MOU is for a five- year period with an auto matic renewal for another five years. Either side can withdraw from the agree ment with six months notice. At the work session, See BOE on Page 3A Barrow County avoids worst of winter storm