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20 Pages, 2 Sections
A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. Winder, Barrow County, Georgia $1.00 Copy Wednesday, January 25, 2023
The Chamber’s 2022 Shining Star is Terry England for
his outstanding contributions to the Barrow County
community through serving as state Representative
since 2004. “His dedication, sacrifice and legacy has
made a lasting impression on the Barrow County com
munity and his community service, selfless giving and
many contributions has enhanced the quality of life in
Barrow and serves as an inspiration to others,” said
Barrow Chamber president Tommy Jennings.
The 2022 Citizen of the Year is Ben McDaniel. McDan
iel is the Barrow County economic development ad
ministrator, serves on the Northeast Georgia Health
System advisory council and previously served on the
Barrow County and City of Winder’s Board of Ethics.
McDaniel is also a board member of the Barrow Book
Partnership, Adult Literacy Barrow, the Rotary Club of
Winder and the Barrow County Farmer’s Market. He’s
also served on the community’s 2017 and 2023 SPLOST
committees and was a citizen advocate for the most
recent ESPLOST. McDaniel is a past president of the
Rotary Club of Winder and the president-elect of the
Barrow Area Rotary Club for 2023-2024. McDaniel also
serves as the vice president of the Piedmont Soccer
Academy. He currently serves as the lead coordinator
of the Chamber’s Leadership Barrow program.
Chamber celebrates
Barrow’s ‘shining stars ’
The Barrow County Chamber of Com
merce hosted its 76th annual Dinner and
Awards Celebration Saturday, Jan. 21 at
the Braselton Civic Center. This year's
beach-themed event featured an invoca
tion and pledge to the flag by Dr. Geoff
Murphy, pastor at Winder First United
Methodists Church, dinner by Leather and
Lace Coffee Co., remarks and recognition
of Chamber President/CEO Tommy Jen
nings, remarks from outgoing chair Chris
Maddox and a presentation of gavel and
ceremonial cannon ball acceptance of the
2023 Chamber of Commerce chair Ma
son Orr, owner of Digital Creations 4 U.
The 2022 Chamber awards presenta
tion was hosted by the chamber’s 2023
first vice-chair David Bleth, owner of
Harrison Poultry. The presenting spon
sors of the event were Northeast Georgia
Medical Center Barrow and Bank OZK.
The Diamond Sponsor was Georgia Pow
er. Platinum sponsors were Akins Ford,
Jackson EMC and Solvay. Gold Spon
sors were Barrow County School System,
Peach State Federal Credit Union, Lanier
Tech and Winder Housing Authority. The
Dessert Sponsor was Roll Off Systems
and the “Potty Sponsor” was 2 Brothers
Septic. The following were the recipients
of the 2022 Chamber awards: Claude
Tuck Award—Lisa Maloof; Ambassador
of the Year — Patty Taylor; Community
Service Award — Staci Waters; Distin
guished Service Award — Lindsey Gree-
son; Small Business of the Year — Hill’s
Ace Hardware; Large Business of the
Year — Harrison Poultry. Inc. Citizen of
the Year — Ben McDaniel; Shining Star
of 2022 — Terry England
See Chamber, page 2A
Credit: Barrow Chamber
Hills ACE Hardware is this year’s Small Business of
the Year, which has served the community for 75 years.
The family-owned business is dedicated to making the
community a better place, has a reputation for hon
esty and integrity and gives back to the community.
Pictured above is the Hill family.
Credit: Barrow Chamber
Harrison Poultry is the 2022 Large Business of the Year,
as was recognized for its exemplary contributions to
schools, nonprofits, clubs and organizations. The larg
est employer in Barrow County, Harrison Poultry con
tributes enormously to the economy in Barrow Coun
ty and honors the community by donating the time of
their employees to adopt a mile to clean up stretches of
S.R. 316, sponsoring agricultural education for almost
900 third through fifth grade students and making con
tributions to many churches and nonprofits in Barrow
County. Pictured: David Bleth, president/CEO of Harri
son Poultry.
MEET THE
CANDIDATES
Top THREE ISSUES
ACCORDING TO THE CANDIDATES
SEE PAGE 4B
Election update
As of Tuesday, Jan. 24, 985 citizens of Barrow
County have early voted in the Jan. 31 Special Elec
tion for District 119 State Representative. Accord
ing to Monica Franklin, director of Barrow County
Elections and Voter Registrartion, voter turnout is
low, even for a special election. The turnout num
bers so far are comparable to the turnout seen in
SPLOST or ESPLOST elections, said Franklin.
Winder requests
new wholesale
water agreement
with Barrow County
By Morgan Ervin
morgan@barrownewsjournal.com
Winder Mayor David May
nard recently sent a letter
to chairman of the Barrow
County Board of Commis
sioners Pat Graham, respond
ing to the county’s recent ac
tions in expanding its water
system.
In the letter, Maynard re
quests that Graham enable
county staff to begin negotia
tions with the City of Wind
er to develop a formalized
wholesale water agreement
to bring before the Board of
Commissioners for its consid
eration.
“The City of Winder shares
your concern on protecting
the investment the citizens of
our communities have made
in developing critically im
portant infrastructure, wheth
er developed by the cities or
the county, to ensure citizens
of Barrow County and our
communities and the utilities
remain solvent in the future.”
said Maynard.
“We believe that we have
found some opportunities for
betterment of both the county
and the city, and more impor
tantly for all of our citizens.”
Maynard said the city
has expressed interest to the
county’s staff in developing
a revised wholesale water
agreement with the county
that would “guarantee large
volume sales and a long-term
revenue stream for Barrow
County that solidifies the in
vestment of all of Barrow
County citizens.”
“Unfortunately, the City of
Winder has not been present
ed with the same opportunity
that other communities in
Barrow County have been of
fered,” said Maynard.
“Knowing your concerns
regarding the future viability
and the need for large-vol
ume sales, we were surprised
to learn recently that Barrow
County was considering re
moving one of our large-vol
ume connections in, what is
to us, a vitally important con
nection point for both Winder
and Barrow county in Carl.
It is our understanding that
this is being done to develop
the ability to sell water to the
Town of Braselton.”
“This connection point is
an existing investment by the
citizens and could be opti
mized to sell more water with
the support of a revitalized
wholesale water agreement
versus asking the citizens to
invest in additional infrastruc
ture to achieve the same result
that is available in the current
form.” said Maynard.
By disconnecting this con
nection point in Carl, Winder
would need to build and oper
ate its own booster pump sta
tion to provide adequate water
pressure for its customers. A
booster pump station could
cost upwards of $500,000.
According to Maynard,
“Serving customers should
See Water, page 2A
MAILING LABEL CO 9 • . ■ rw-r ■ l -| . -| •
darrow-saurus coming to L<rll park this summer
This summer the Center for Innovative Teaching park will be home to the only “Barrow-saurus” in the world. This unique and
challenging playground climbing rope feature will give children and parents the opportunity to climb and play together. Fam
ilies in Barrow will be able to enjoy this unique structure in their own community, and is anticipated to become a destination
and attraction for the region.
Credit: Barrow Community Foundation
The “Barrowsaurus”, a one-of-a-kind rope pyramid
that is 27 feet high and 70 feet long, providing fun and
challenging play for the entire family.
Credit: Barrow Community Foundation
The highlight of the CFIT park is the Destination Playground (pictured above) that
is aimed to be one of the premier playgrounds in the state of Georgia. The play
ground will feature unique and challenging play pieces, including climbing blocks,
swings, twisters, slides, climbing ropes, a zip line, as well as ADA-accessible fea
tures for children with disabilities.