About The Forest-blade. (Swainsboro, Ga.) 1996-current | View Entire Issue (July 29, 2020)
iM ATTRE55, i rt/v jjBEUiSrife / 1 New Mattresses ,9 IN0URSH0WR00WC4 FURNITURE • FLOOR COVERINGCOT \ 1 BILLY HICKMAN A CONSERVATIVE BUSINESSMAN TO GET US BACK TO WORK. Early voting: Monday, July 20 - Friday, August 7 Primary runoff election day: Tuesday, August 11 __ BILLY ““ Facebook www.customfurnitureflooring.com 104 West Pine St., Swainsboro GA • 237-6483 ^ JO Paid for by Billy Hickman for State Senate STATE SENATE The Forest-Blade EMANUEL COUNTY / j#.O0W ©2020 Emanuel County Nezvspapers Inc. All rights reserved. VOLUME 161, NO. 31 Swainsboro, Georgia • July 29, 2020 ONE DOLLAR Twin City Elementary Beta members place in national competition The last few months, National Beta mem bers from Twin City Elementary have been working diligently to submit entries for the National Beta Virtual Convention. In late July, they were able to cele brate that hard work when the following was announced: • Judson Underwood took fourth place in Woodwork • Lawson Frye placed sixth in Speech TCE's club originally competed and received awards at state conven tion held in Savannah in December 2019. Their victories at the state level provided an opportunity to compete at the nation al level. The National Convention, originally FRYE planned to be held in Fort Worth, Texas, was can celed due to health and safety concerns stem ming from the coronavi- rus pandemic. However, more than 12,000 Junior Beta (grades 4-8) and Senior Beta (grades 9-12) UNDERWOOD students were able to represent their schools in the first National Beta Virtual Convention. TCE's club also qual ified and competed nationally in Songfest, Fiber Arts, Mathematics, and Portfolio. (L-R) HOSPITAL EMPLOYEES MARTHA ANDERS, SARAH SUTTON LEWIS, CHELSEY SUTTON, AND JENNIFER CARAWAY SHOW HOW TO CORRECTLY MASK UP EMC joins #MaskUpGA campaign Emanuel Medical Center has joined #MaskUpGA, a cam paign to encourage all Georgians to make the choice to wear face cov erings when in public settings and to social dis tance when possible to slow or stop the spread of COVID-19 in the state. The purpose of the campaign is to encourage organizations, business es, and individuals to post on social media pic tures or videos of them selves wearing masks and to accompany these posts with #MaskUpGA and a message about why they “mask up." “This campaign is about Georgians coming together for the great er good," said Damien Scott, CEO of the hospi tal in Swainsboro. “We, along with Gov. Brian Kemp, urge everyone to make the choice to wear a mask as part of collective efforts to stop the spread of this virus. Together, we can help keep our state healthy and well." Research and data show that wearing face coverings helps reduce the spread of COVID-19. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), wear ing masks is “a critical tool in the fight against COVID-19 that could reduce the spread of dis ease, particularly when used universally within communities." The CDC further states that wear ing masks potentially slows the spread of the virus from one person to another. As Emanuel Medical Center ensures its ability to treat all patients who come through its doors and prepares for poten tial surges, it is more important now than ever that Georgians remain healthy and do their part to stop the spread of COVID-19. Along with Emanuel Medical Center, several organizations around the state have committed to joining the campaign's efforts. Photo credit: Wanda Thompson Scarboro JOSHUA JOHNSON School doors are opening! Whether online or in person, school is resum ing for most students and teachers in Emanuel County this week. Coronavirus cut the last school year off in March, prompting a four-month summer. Now, Emanuel County Schools are set to resume August 3 with tra ditional school as well as a virtual academy. Joshua Johnson, 5-year-old son of Andy and Jessica Johnson of Twin City, is shown preparing his supplies for his first day of kin dergarten at Swainsboro Primary School. David Emanuel Academy is set to resume a few days after the pub lic school system with students and faculty members reporting to Stillmore on August 7. No matter what school you go to or what learn ing option you'll be tak ing part in this year, stay focused and, most impor tantly, stay safe! In the meantime, check out the Back To School tab inside this edition for important informa tion about the upcoming school term. GHSA gives green light for fall sports by HALEI LAMB With a 12-0 vote last Monday, July 20, the Georgia High School Association's board of trustees decided fall sports would still be played this season. The decision included a short postponement of the start of football across the state, but the silver lining is no games will be canceled and all other sports are set to begin on schedule. Whether or not the GHSA would proceed with fall sports this year remained in question due to the coronavirus pandemic. As a result of the trustees' approval, high school football will now start September 4. This is a 2-week push- back from the original start date of August 21. Dates of the state finals have been delayed two weeks as well, moving from December 10-12 to December 24-26. However, dates for the championships have yet to be set as of July 27. Georgia followed in the footsteps of both Carolinas in delaying the start of fall sports, name ly football for the home state. North Carolina and South Carolina decided July 15 to postpone their high school seasons until at least September 1. Since COVID-19 crept closer to home, the GHSA has consistent ly, as far back as May, taken small steps toward the eventual approval to play in fall 2020. The governing body of Georgia high school ath letics began with approv ing an exception to allow physicals valid through the end of the 2019-2020 school year to be valid through July 27, 2020, the first official date for prac tice for 2020-2021. From there, the GHSA approved a restrictive conditioning plan which began June 8, allowing teams to begin working out at that time with stipulations like group maximums of 20 people, specific sanitation proce dures, social distancing requirements, and other similar measures. In June, the GHSA increased the group max imum from 20 to 25 and began permitting the use (Continued on page 2A) Obituaries 4A Church Page 5D Sports News....C Section Editorial Columns 4C Crime Blotter 3C Classified Listings 2D Legal Notices 3D 8122 phone + internet + technology + security * v* 11: owl let you decide www.pineland.net | 800.247.1266
