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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.