Newspaper Page Text
o
o
16 Pages, 2 Sections, Plus Preprints A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. Winder, Barrow County, Georgia $1.00 Copy Wednesday, September 8, 2021
17-year-
old dies of
COVID-19
A teenage Barrow Coun
ty resident died of compli
cations from COVID-19
last month, according to
the Georgia Department of
Public Health.
The 17-year-old Black
male was among the latest
confirmed COVID-related
death among county res
idents confirmed by the
DPH over the last week
with the total standing at
154 confirmed deaths and
five “probable” deaths as of
Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 7.
The male, who died in
early August, was not a stu
dent in the Barrow County
School System, a district
spokesperson confirmed.
It was unknown whether
the male had an underlying
medical condition, accord
ing to the data.
The male is by far the
youngest Barrow resident
to die of COVID-19. A
31-year-old white female
with an underlying condi
tion was also listed among
the recently-confirmed
deaths in the county.
WFD to
hold 9/11
ceremony
Saturday
The Winder Fire Depart
ment will host its annual
9/11 memorial ceremony
Saturday, Sept. 11, on the
20th anniversary of the Sept.
11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The event will honor the
more than 300 firefighters,
more than 60 law enforce
ment officers and other pub
lic safety personnel who lost
their lives.
The event will begin at
8:30 a.m. — a few minutes
before the time the first
plane hit the World Trade
Center in New York — at
the WFD headquarters, 90
North Broad St.
The public is invited to
attend.
Index:
Public safety
3A
School/social
.... 3B
Classifieds
4B
Legals
5-7B
Obituaries
5-7A
Opinion
4A
Sports
1-2B
MAILING LABEL
Hammond appointed to vacant Winder council seat
By Scott Thompson
sthompson@barrownewsjournal.com
Shannon Hammond was sworn in
Tuesday, Sept. 7, as the newest Winder
City Council member after the council
appointed her last week to fill the vacant
at-large seat.
The vote in favor of councilman Chris
Akins’ motion to appoint Hammond over
nine other candidates during a called
meeting Sept. 2 was 4-1 with council
man Sonny Morris opposed. It came
after Morris’ motion to appoint Bobby
Yarbrough to the seat failed for lack of
a second.
Hammond is a former long-time em
ployee of the Barrow County School
System, having worked with the district
as a middle school teacher, elementa
ry school counselor, assistant principal
and eventually as director of federal
programs. She was later hired as federal
programs director for the Oconee Coun
ty School District in 2012 and is now in
her fifth year in the role for the Walton
County School District.
“It’s definitely an honor.” Hammond
said of her appointment. “It’s a bit of a
surprise, I guess, just because there was
10 for them to choose from. But I feel
like this is the right move for me, and
I’m looking forward to serving.”
Hammond becomes the fourth woman
to serve on the city council and replac
es former councilwoman Holly Sheats,
See Hammond, page 8A
Photo by Scott Thompson/
New Winder City Council member Shannon Hammond
shakes city attorney John Stell’s hand after being
sworn in prior to the council’s Tuesday, Sept. 7 meet
ing. The council appointed Hammond last week to the
vacant at-large seat.
Photos by Scott Thompson
Photographs and recognitions received by the late Judy Loftin were on dis
play Saturday, Sept. 4, as a dedication ceremony of the interchange at high
ways 316 and 81 in Barrow County was held in her honor.
316/81 interchange dedicated to
late school counselor Judy Loftin
Family and friends of the late Judy
Loftin gathered Saturday afternoon.
Sept. 4, for an official dedication cere
mony for the interchange at highways
316 and 81 that was named in her honor.
Loftin, who died in 2017 at the age of
70, was a counselor for 30 years in the
Barrow County School System and was
recognized multiple times with awards
from counseling organizations for her
work. The great-great granddaughter of
local historical figure Carter Hill, she
was born and raised on a homestead
on Punkin Junction Road at the site of
the interchange that was completed and
opened last fall.
The Georgia General Assembly in
May approved a resolution naming the
new interchange the Judy Hill Loftin,
LPC Memorial Interchange.
During the dedication ceremony Satur
day at Winder-Barrow High School’s W.
Clair Harris Stadium, state Rep. Terry
England recalled when Loftin’s husband,
Bob Loftin, emailed him a couple of
years ago about getting the interchange
named for his late wife and said he was
glad to see that come to fruition.
“I think it’s only appropriate,” England
said. “Those of us who knew her under
stood and knew the passion she had, not
just for students, but for individuals and
people. There were countless generations
of people touched by her love and com
passion for her fellow man, and many of
us will now ride by (the interchange) and
think a sweet thought about her.”
Along with England, Bob Loftin and
the Loftins’ son, Will, gave remarks
during Saturday’s ceremony.
“This is just a great way to memori
alize her and what she stood for,” Will
Loftin said, remembering his mother as
a caring woman who was also a strong
mental health advocate. “She would help
anybody. She would have gone the extra
mile for anybody.”
Loftin’s son, Will, gives remarks
during Saturday’s ceremony.
State Rep. Terry England gives re
marks about Loftin during Saturday’s
ceremony.
Loftiin’s husband, Bob, gives remarks
during Saturday’s ceremony.
Former long-time
BOE member, Winder
councilman Dixon dies
By Scott Thompson
sthompson@barrownewsjournal.com
Bob Dixon, a for
mer long-time Barrow
County Board of Ed
ucation member and
Winder-Barrow High
School basketball and
football coach who lat
er served two terms on
the Winder City Coun
cil, died Thursday,
Sept. 2, after being hos
pitalized recently due
to COVID-19 and other
complications. He was
85.
Funeral services were
held Sunday afternoon,
Sept. 5, the day when
Dixon would have cele
brated his 86th birthday,
at First Baptist Church
in Winder, where he
was a member.
A native of Vidalia,
Dixon began his career
in education as a teach
er and coach at WBHS.
He led the school’s
boys’ basketball team
to the state title game
and GHSA Class A and
Class AA runner-up fin
ishes in 1961 and 1963,
respectively.
He was later the head
football coach at the
school and was at the
helm when W. Clair
Harris Stadium, for
which he led the de
sign efforts and was
instrumental in helping
to build, opened. The
Bulldoggs went 7-3 that
year and finished the
season on a five-game
winning streak after a
2-3 start. Dixon, who
was 15-5 in two seasons
as head football coach,
is part of the school’s
athletic wall of fame.
After his coaching
career, Dixon was dis
trict sales manager for
Moen, Inc., a Fortune
500 company, but he
stayed involved in ed
ucation, serving on the
Bob Dixon
school board from 1972
to 1998.
Dixon was elected to
an at-large city council
seat in 2009 and won
a close re-election bid
four years later. He ini
tially qualified to run
for a third term in 2017
but later dropped out
of the race for family
health reasons. His sec
ond wife, Diane Moon
Dixon, died in April.
“Bob was a great
man,” councilman Son
ny Morris, who served
on the council with Dix
on and was a junior in
high school when Dix
on arrived at WBHS,
said Friday, Sept. 3. “I
go way back with him.”
Ironically, a few hours
before Dixon passed,
his niece-by-marriage,
Shannon Hammond,
was appointed by the
council to fill the oth
er at-large seat that
had been vacant since
late July. Dixon’s first
marriage was to the
late Nancy Jenkins Dix
on, whose brother was
Hammond’s stepfather.
“He was a giant of a
person,” Hammond said
Friday of Dixon. "(Be
ing appointed to the
council) is a bittersweet
moment for me because
I know he would have
had so much to tell me.
I know he would have
had a lot of advice for
me.”
Auburn council approves annexation, rezoning for subdivision
By Morgan Ervin
For the Barrow News-Journal
The Auburn City Council approved an annex
ation and rezoning request during its Thursday,
Sept. 2 meeting to allow for a large subdivision at
the intersection of Carl-Cedar Hill and Bill Robin
son roads.
The council’s approval rezones two parcels to
taling 98.2 acres from agricultural land in Barrow
County to the planned suburban village zoning
classification within the city of Auburn. The site
will consist of 315 single-family detached homes
served by one vehicular access on Carl Cedar-Hill
Road with an overall density of approximately 3.2
units per acre.
The proposal was originally presented to the
city’s planning commission during its meeting
June 16 but was tabled to its Aug. 18 meeting,
during which the commission recommended ap
proval with over a dozen attached conditions.
The conditions attached to the approval stipulate
dimension, landscaping and architectural design
requirements and a mandatory homeowners asso
ciation. Road improvements recommended by a
preliminary traffic impact study are also part of the
approval’s conditions, which require a deceleration
lane and left turn lane into the subdivision.
Due to the request of Jason Hutchins, a neigh
boring property owner concerned about his live
stock potentially getting into the development, the
council added a condition to include a six-foot tall
wood privacy fence along the boundary line of the
development and the Hutchins property.
Another condition added on behalf of Hutchins
will require a disclosure be included on the final
plat for all properties within the subdivision to no
tify all purchasers the property is contiguous to a
farm operation and animals, which may produce
sights, smells and sounds associated with agricul
tural practices.
BUDGET APPROVED
Also at its meeting, the council approved a bal
anced $6.71 million budget for fiscal year 2022,
which begins Oct. 1. That includes a $4.1 million
General Fund.
The budget checks in about $240,000 higher
than the FY21 budget. The budget includes rough
ly $126,000 more in police department spending
and a $94,000 increase in the parks and leisure ser
vices department.