Newspaper Page Text
34 Pages 3 Sections, Plus Preprints A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. Winder, Barrow County Georgia 50« Copy Wednesday, April 5, 2017
Barrow
Briefs
Benefit ride
set for
Nichole Allen
A benefit motorcyle/jeep ride
will be held April 22 for Nich
ole Allen, the Barrow County
woman, who was 18 weeks preg
nant when she was hit by a vehi
cle involved in a police chase on
March 3, causing her to lose her
unborn child. As a result of her
injuries, Allen will no longer be
able to have a child.
The ride will be held at the
Winder Moose Lodge, 434 Ga.
211 Northwest. Registration
begins at 10 a.m. with the ride
beginning at 11 a.m.
Registration is $20 per person.
Those who wish to attend, but
not ride, are invited to join for
food from 1-3 p.m., a silent auc
tion from 1-5 p.m., and “Spin to
Win” from 2-4 p.m.
For more information or dona
tions, contact Tiffany Thomas
at 678-629-0117 or tiffany.thom-
as072609@gmail.com.
Local author
to hold book
signing event
in Auburn
Local author B.W. Evans
will be holding a book reading
and signing event April 15 at 2
p.m. at the Auburn Library.
During the event, local
school students will also read
from their works in recognition
of Poetry Month.
Evans’ first book, “French
Toast.” is now in second print
ing. It is the first of a four-book
series that will be released over
the next two years.
Other books in the series
include “Remembrances with
Smiles,” “1045 Avondale.” and
“I Can Learn to Love Again.”
Evans also plans to publsih
three other independent col
lections. They include “Black
Roses Under a Harvest Moon,”
“Jerusalem’s Children” and
“Wild Geese Flying.”
Index:
Church News
10A
Classifieds
4-5C
Legals
6-11C
Obituaries
11A
Opinion
4-6A
Public Safety
7-9A
Sports
1-7, 10B
Mailing
Label Below
o
New school staffers hired, BOE buys buses
By Ron Bridg'eman
News-Journal Reporter
The Barrow County Board of
Education unanimously voted to
buy 10 buses after a short dis
cussion about purchasing them
from a company that manufac
tures in Georgia versus one in
North Carolina.
The board also continued
staffing the new Winder Ele
mentary School, which will
open in August.
It hired five new teachers and
approved the transfer of 27 oth
ers to the new school. The board
received resignations or retire
ments from 99 teachers.
The board met for about an
hour in a routine meeting that
included three absences by
board members.
The board approved the pur
chase of four 48-passenger buses
for $91,464 each and six 72-pas
senger buses for $79,722 each
from Peach State Freightliner.
It was the school system’s
first purchase with money from
SPLOST V and the first bus
purchase in two years. Board
member Ricky Bailey asked at
the work session last week for
the contract award to be on the
agenda for discussion rather
than part of the consent agenda.
He said Yancey Bus Sales, the
other bidder, manufactures its
buses in Georgia.
He said Peach State manufac
tures its buses in North Carolina.
A Georgia law requires school
boards to consider purchasing
items from companies that man
ufacture in the state if “rea
sonable and practicable.” Ken
Greene, assistant superintendent
for support services, said the
state leaves it to local boards to
define those terms.
He recommended the contract
be awarded to the low bidder.
Peach State was the low bidder
by about $10,000 for the 10
buses.
Greene also said the smaller
buses cost more because they
have specialized equipment,
See BOE on Page 3A
‘A night of hope’
CALLING FOR BIDS
Auctioneer and BrandBank senior vice president Chris Maddox calls for bids on a portrait
during the 19th annual “A Night of Hope for Children” live and silent auction Friday evening
at the Winder Community Center. The auction is the biggest annual fundraiser for The Tree
House, Inc., an organization that provides help and relief to victims of child abuse in Barrow,
Jackson and Banks counties. The nonprofit has offices in Winder and Commerce. There
were 24 live-auction and 145 silent-auction items up for bid. For more photos from the auc
tion, see page 3A Photos courtesy of Abbey Smyth and Jake Bruce
Tree House, Inc. holds annual live, silent auction
A crowd of about
300 people filled the
Winder Community
Center on Friday eve
ning for the 19th annu
al “A Night of Hope
for Children” live and
silent auction, the larg
est annual fundraiser
for The Tree House,
Inc., an organization
based in Winder that
provides support and
relief to victims of
child abuse in Barrow,
Jackson and Banks
counties.
The organization has
offices in Winder and
Commerce.
There were 24 items
put for bid in the live
auction and another
145 in the silent auc
tion.
Auction chair San
dra Holliday said the
organization may have
raised the highest
amount of money at
the annual auction yet,
estimating that it raised
more than $55,000 on
Friday.
Holliday said that
could be attirbuted to
the organization intro
ducing mobile bidding
to the auction.
For the first time,
auction guests were
able to place bids on
their smart phones,
tablets or at bidding
stations.
With mobile bid
ding, guests were able
to stand in front of the
item or bid from their
seats.
Alerts were sent to
their device letting
them know if they were
being outbid. When the
silent auction ended,
guests knew immedi
ately if they were the
winning bidder.
LARGE CROWD
Roughly 300 people attended the auction.
CHECKING IT OUT
A guest looks over auction items Friday.
A guest puts in a bid during the 19th annual “A Night of Hope for Children” live and silent
auction Friday. The auction is a fundraiser benefit for The Tree House, Inc, a nonprofit that
helps victims of child abuse in Barrow, Jackson and Banks counties.
Winder
council
approves
items
By si. aron Hog'an
News-Journal Reporter
Winder City Council,
at its monthly meeting on
Tuesday, approved the fol
lowing items that were dis
cussed during the Monday
work session:
•an ordinance to amend
Chapter 13, Article I of the
Code of Ordinances to pro
vide for definitions, regu
latory fees for certain busi
nesses, grammatical chang
es and for other purposes.
•a proposed amendment
to the Code of Ordinanc
es Chapter 16, Article I,
Section 16-7, removing the
section “Posting property
without owner’s consent”
due to the section being
covered in Article XXIII.
•a proposed amendment
to Appendix A: Compre
hensive Zoning Ordinance,
Article IV: Establishment
of Districts.
•the first reading of an
ordinance to amend Chap
ter 3 pertaining to alcoholic
beverages and the proximi
ty to schools, churches and
other sites for consumption
of alcohol by the drink on
premises, and for other pur
poses.
•tabling action on
the McNeal Road Proj
ect. Council originally
approved $2.6 million for
this project including con
tingencies. A change order
for an additional $50,085
is needed at this time and
Mayor David Maynard
said on Tuesday there was
going to be another change
order coming up before the
project is finalized. Council
made the decision to table
action on the item and vote
on both change orders at
the same time.
•authorized Maynard to
revise and sign an agree
ment with Great South
Amusement for the Spring-
Fest Carnival that will take
place May 26-June 4 at Jug
Tavern Park.
•the proposed budget for
the 2017 Jug Tavern Fes
tival to be held Septem
ber 15-16. The proposed
budget is $50,000 and
will be finalized as part
of the city’s Fiscal Year
2018 budget. Approval of
the proposed budget will
allow staff to plan activities
prior to the FY2018 budget
being approved.
•the closing of East Can
dler Street between North
Broad and North Jackson
streets on April 28 from
6-11 p.m. The City of
Winder and the Winder
See Winder on Page 2A
