About The Jenkins County times. (Millen, Ga.) 2023-current | View Entire Issue (April 7, 2023)
Local Living ..2 | Perspective „4 Faith & Family ..3 Eagle News „8 Farming & Fishing „9 Sports 10 & 11 Feed the BEES Page 3 It's Friday, but Sunday is coming! Eagle Notes Page 8 Shop Local and Eat Local Stand-off ends without incident By Joe Brady, Editor for The Times Sunday evening, April 2nd, saw Millen Police Department officers requesting help from Jenkins County Sheriff’s Deputies and SWAT from Burke County. Andrew Dean Wilson of Sylvania was apprehended after holding authorities at bay with a knife for several hours. Wilson barricaded himself inside an abandoned home on East Winthrope Ave, across from Dollar General. Wilson was allegedly being disorderly inside the Dollar General store, prior to the standoff. Employees with Dollar General Stores notified law enforcement and as officers approached the defendant, he fled on foot. Brandishing a knife and threatening officers, Wilson barricaded himself inside the East Winthrope Avenue home. Unable to get Wilson to exit Burke County SWAT the dwelling, officers set up a perimeter and requested SWAT and additional law enforcement to the scene. After two hours, authorities including SWAT were able to make entry into the structure and remove Wilson without incident. He was charged with aggravated assault on a police officer and obstruction of a police officer. He is currently in the Jenkins County Jail. Andrew Dean Wilson Southeast Produce Council Welcomes the Big Idaho® Potato Truck to Headquarters By Anna Burch, Special Contributor for The Times Millen, GA - The Southeast Produce Council welcomed the Big Idaho Potato Truck to its headquarters in Millen. SEPC members and staff hosted an Idaho Potato Bar, serving fresh, baked potatoes with toppings for the community to celebrate the Big Spud’s arrival. The Big Idaho® Potato Truck is on its 11th cross-country journey! It began in 2012 as a one-year campaign to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the Idaho Potato Commission and quickly g ee POTATO page 3 Millen Primary Care welcomes Gilmer Jodie and her husband Richard when not running after son Rafe, are avid hunters, fishers, and hikers. They also own a wedding venue, The Copper Barn, in Portal. Jodie is currently accepting new patients at Millen Primary Care, (photo contributed) By Hannah Derriso, Reporter for The Times Jenkins County continues to grow in the medical field as it welcomes Board Certified Physician's Assistant, Jodi Gilmer, as the newest addition to Optim Primary Care with Dr. Chandra Patel. Jodi will be seeing patients, walk-ins, DOT physicals and sports exams. A graduate of Portal High School, Jodi received her bachelor’s in chemistry with a minor in Biology, and then went on to earn her Masters of Science in Physician's Assistant Studies. Jodi is currently accepting new patients and welcomes walk-ins. She and her husband, Richard, and spunky son Rafe, spend their time with their 3 dogs, cat, goats, and chickens, and enjoy living the farm life. Avid hunters, fishers, and hikers, they love spending as much time as possible outdoors, where Jodi also has a green thumb and puts it to use in her vegetable garden. When they aren't outside enjoying mother nature, you can find them cheering on the Georgia Bulldogs and Atlanta Braves. In addition to providing medical care, Jodi and her husband also own The Copper Bam, a classic, farm-chic wedding venue located right outside of Portal. Stop by and welcome Jodi to the neighborhood! By Joe Brady, Editor for The Times The deadline for seniors to make application for the MLK Scholarship is Friday, April 21. Seniors may pickup an application from the school counselor’s office at the high school. Since it’s inception in 2009, the MLK Scholarship Committee has awarded over sixty high school seniors the scholarship. The funding for this scholarship is based entirely on donations. “The goal is to provide scholarships to deserving students of Jenkins County,” Ms. Johnnie Mae Sherrod explains. The amount awarded to each student is based on the number of approved applicants and the amount of money raised. The Scholarship funding drive is currently in process until April 30 and businesses as well as individuals are encouraged to help change a life. “In addition to donations, the scholarship committee also has several fund raisers throughout the year,” Sherrod says. The scholarship is also known as the MLK, Jr/Charles Beale MLK scholarship deadline rapidly approaches Memorial Scholarship after prominent Jenkins County native Charles Beale, a member of Morrison Grove Baptist Church, member of Jenkins County Laymen’s Association, and a member of the Millen Optimist Club. In addition to organizing the Jenkins County Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration, Beale also organized the Landrum High School Alumni Association, Millen Community Youth Sunday Services, and the Jenkins County Baccalaureate Services. By Tyler Busch, Podcast Director & Staff Writer for The Times If you have stepped foot recently, in B&T’s Fresh Food Mart in downtown Millen, you will be surprised to see, literally, a small red plane on top of a display of potatoes at the entrance of the store. Bobby Inman, manager of B&Ts participates in these contests throughout the year. This is not his first win. This contest is the Idaho Potato contest. The Idaho Potato Commission Board, this year put out an image of a potato, flying a small red plane. We had to create a display to show Idaho grown potatoes and related products. Bobby says, “the display includes over 200 potatoes”. You may be familiar with the Idaho potato truck that travels around the country, with the legendary 6-ton potato. In fact, it rolled into town Wednesday. Inman says, “it’s like pulling teeth trying to get like the Oscar Meyer mobile or Johnsonville big grill to come to your town”. We can thank Bobby and David Sherrod, from the Southeast Produce Council for bringing the Idaho Potato truck to Millen. Bobby has done similar attention-grabbing displays at stores across Georgia. He talks about when he put a 1946 Farm All tractor inside a BI-LO grocery store in Washington, GA. For that display he, “drove the tractor inside, to the produce section, and put hay bales around it and attached a wagon”. That display was the start in his pursuit to make grocery stores and his displays more attention-grabbing. The displays bring in people, and Bobby has said for the current display, folks are coming from “Twin City, Garfield, Statesboro, Waynesboro, Sardis, Sylvania, Swainsboro, just because there’s a plane in here”. In addition to the grocery store operations manager and display creative designer, Bobby is a mechanic. Bobby says his creative abilities “come from See PLANE page 5 Millen manager brings plane inside grocery store JENKINS COUNTY ^yji^er •13!) > Get Back in the Swing of Life Our Swing Bed skilled care program is the in-patient extended care you need to get home and back to your life. We can help you regain your independence. Visit JenkInBinedicalcenter.com or call 478.982.4221 for more information.
