About The Jenkins County times. (Millen, Ga.) 2023-current | View Entire Issue (April 14, 2023)
thejenkinscountytimes.com The Jenkins County Times Friday, April 14, 2023 - Page 5 Olct tc^Teel Ijetm/j' (tt tfecuiL By Hannah Derriso, Reporter for The Times Residents at Pmitt Health’s Bethany Home got the chance to feel like a kid again. This year, with help from some volunteers, Bethany put on an Easter Egg Hunt for its residents, hoping to bring smiles to their faces and have some fun. Many of the residents have limited mobility and are wheelchair bound, so staff and volunteers were also involved, pushing residents around the garden area and assisting them with picking up eggs. "The idea was not only to do something fun with the residents to break up the monotony of their days, but to get them outside in the fresh air and get them active," said Tammy Royal, Director of the Bethany Home. But what is an egg hunt without prizes? The brightly colored eggs were filled with typical treats like chocolate, jellybeans, and candy. "I think the residents were unsure about it at first, but once they got out there and started finding and picking up the eggs and realized there were treats in them, they actually get really cheerful about it. They were grinning ear to ear and laughing and giggling like school children,” said Royal. In addition to the "hunt," the day was filled with snacks, lemonade, sparkly bunny ears, and photo station, and even some ducks and chickens for the residents to pet. Pruitt Health’s Bethany Home is a nursing and rehabilitation center that offer a comprehensive menu of services and is committed to caring for elderly and disabled patients. With short- and long-term care processes, as well customized solutions, the center provides exceptional care through our therapy services and cozy, home like environment and is on the cutting edge of rehabilitation and aging care. By hosting social events like this, staff say they observe positive impacts on their residents’ mindsets. "To see them smiling and enjoying themselves is the biggest reward for us," said Royal. "This egg hunt made them feel like kids again and we couldn’t ask for more than that." Photo by H. Derriso Opponents argue bill threatens state’s unemployment fund Special to The Times Opponents of a bill the Georgia House of Representatives passed on the next-to-last day of this year’s legislative session are warning it could threaten a fund the state uses to pay unemployment compensation. Senate Bill 160, which the House’s Republican majority passed 97-68 along party lines, replaces a state Department of Labor administrative fee that expired at the end of last year using money that otherwise would go into Georgia’s Unemployment Insurance (UI) Trust Fund. The Senate passed the measure early last month 34-21, with several Democrats supporting it and one Republican voting “no.” Supporters said the estimated $20 million the fee would raise during each of the next three years is critical to an agency that has been underfunded for years. The legislation is set to expire at the end of2026. The labor department has lost $12 million to $14 million annually since the Great Recession struck Georgia more than a decade ago, funds it has never recovered, said Bruce Thompson, who was elected state commissioner of labor last fall and took office in January. Then, when the pandemic hit three years ago, a typical annual caseload of 200,000 to 300,000 unemployment claims soared to more than 4 million in one month’s time, Thompson said. “Customer service is just not where I want it to be,” he said. “We have a federal obligation and a moral obligation to provide these services.” The bill’s opponents aren’t arguing that the labor department doesn’t need the money. Their beef is that the funds would come from an Unemployment Tmst Fund already depleted by the demands of the pandemic. ”UI Trust Fund contributions should not be reduced to compensate for other funding allocations, as this risks the resiliency of a trust fund which already ranks below a majority of states in terms of solvency,” Ray Khalfani, senior worker justice policy analyst for the progressive Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, said in a statement March 27 after the House passed the bill. “The state has more than enough resources on hand to both replenish the Unemployment Insurance Tmst Fund and ensure that the Department of Labor can operate efficiently and at full capacity.” House Democrats made the same argument during the floor debate on the bill. “This bill presents a false choice,” said House Minority Whip Sam Park, D-Lawrenceville. “This is a bill that will risk the insolvency of our Unemployment Insurance Tmst Fund ... as a mechanism to simply do what we should be doing to begin with: investing in our Department of Labor to help workforce development and to help unemployed workers get back on their feet.” Thompson said the UI Tmst Fund is currently only 52% solvent in the wake of the pandemic. Federal pandemic relief didn’t help as it should have because the agency’s previous administration failed to encumber $102 million in federal aid and had to forfeit the money, he said. But Thompson said other states are facing the same predicament with unemployment funds that have been dramatically reduced by the pandemic. House Industry and Labor Committee Chairman Bill Werkheiser, R-Glennville, who carried Senate Bill 160 in the House, argued during the floor debate that the alternative to not passing the bill would be to not collect any additional money for the UI Tmst Fund. He urged his House colleagues not to panic. “The sky’s not falling,” he said. Thompson agreed there’s time to monitor the tmst fund and respond accordingly. “We’ll watch that solvency and see if it goes down,” he said. “If it does, we’ll address it again.” The bill is now in the hands of Gov. Brian Kemp, who has until early next month to sign it or ax it with a veto. PASTOR Continued from page 3 When the Gospel is spoken on paper, online, on radio or in person, hearers and readers have opportunities to move from death to life in a spiritual sense. Though it cost them their lives, the Apostles kept on speaking the message about Christ because these words give eternal life. "For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures," (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). CARMEN Continued from page 4 wreckage and there was no need for witness relocation. In similar fashion, earlier in high school, I was driving home from band practice. My brother was with me, and I can't remember if we were fighting or if we were laughing. We were NOT paying attention to the road. That's for sure! In front of Turner Concrete, a small track was turning left. I could not hit the ditch on the right since it was a steep hill. I could only go to the left and squeeze between the oncoming car and the one we were about to rear end. I heard a loud screech and knew I'd "made contact" with the track. I was scared and didn't know what to do. So, I took the advice of my 11 -year-old brother who screamed "JUST DRIVE HOME!". I flew home and told Mama I thought I'd hit someone. She was about to end my life right there when my brother stepped in on my behalf and said "Mama! You should not be yelling at her. You should be PROUD of her! She THREADED A NEEDLE! I've NEVER seen anyone drive like that! It was just like the movies!" Mama was so upset and yelled that <fTr^ "The Lily of my Valley" Many years ago, I had the privilege of hearing a 75 year old African American women sing at one of my revivals. Her name was Simone Grace. I state her ethicnicity because I want you to understand the story from her perspective. It seemed that Simone was born into poverty. She had been raised by her Mother. Her father died a few years after her tenth birthday. But, she told the story of what she knew about her father that she had called "papa." She knew her papa was a slave that worked on a plantation, and how he worked in the fields as a overseer. He saw to it that all of the workers did there job and that it was done as his boss had Charles Fry instmcted him to do. I remember one particular thing she said. She stated that her Papa was allowed to eat with the other maids and butlers up at the big house under a shelter. She knew that this made him, as the overseeer feel more important on the plantation. Another thing she said stuck with me my entire life. She said, "my father always would sing a song he called, "The Lily of my Valley." He told her , he had heard the song when he was a boy from an older lady on the plantation as she would sing it to all the african american children that lived there. Simone said that her father would also teach it to all the workers in the field and they would sing it as they worked from dusk til dawn. Now it seems like he remembered the words a little different but, using the words, my valley, instead of "the valley" or did he? I would like to think he wanted the lyrics to feel more personal by using the words, "my valley." As Simone Grace began to sing that revival Sunday, I remember before she started, she said; "this was my papa's favorite song. He loved Jesus with all his heart and referred to him as "the Lily of my Valley." He would always tell us children that Jesus would always be our valley, our strength, and our bright and morning star." The actual name of the hymn was, " Lily of the Valley" and is a standard gospel song which has appeared in many hymnals through out generations. It was written by Charles W. Fry reflecting his experience with the Salvation Army. You see. Fry and his family were members of the Salvation Amiy organization founded by William Booth which was then in crisis. It is recorded that Fry did not like the abuse he saw hurled at the Salvation Army when they established their ministry in 1878 in Salisbury, where the Fry family lived. Mr. Fry, who was a bricklayer, and his three sons offered to serve as bodyguards for the Salvation Army workers. The next day the four men arrived with their “weapons". These weapons consisted of two comets, a trombone and a small tuba. In between fighting off the troublemakers, the Fry men played, and their music attracted a crowd for the Salvation Army preachers. This was the first Salvation Army brass band with Mr. Fry as the leader of the band as inscribed on his grave stone. Fry took the term "Lily of the Valley" from the book of Song of Solomon 2:1 , " I am the rose of Sharon, the lily of the valley ...". He used this verse of Scripture to represent the message of the preacher William Booth to the people during the protests of 1881 describing a personal, intimate relationship with Jesus. Those words were first published in the December By Sam Eades, Publisher/Writer for The Times 29, 1881, edition of the Salvation Amiy national magazine, the War Cry. Charles Fry died the year after publishing the hymn, on August 24, 1882, in Park Hall, Polmont, Scotland. I am not sure about you, but I want to use this as my anthem. He's the lily of the valley, the bright and morning star. He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul! Sing with me and let us try using the words of "papa", He's the lily of MY valley." 11 have found a friend in Jesus- He's ev'rything to me, He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul; The Lily of the Valley- in Him alone I see All I need to cleanse and make me fully whole. In sorrow He's my comfort, in trouble He's my stay, He tells me ev'ry care on Him to roll; He's the Lily of the Valley, the Bright and Morning Star, He's the greatest of ten thousand to my soul. 2 He all my grief has taken and all my sorrows bore, In temptation He's my strong and mighty tow'r; I have all for Him forsaken and all my idols tom From my heart, and now He keeps me by His pow'r. Though all the world forsake me and Satan tempt me sore, Through Jesus I shall safely reach the goal; He's the Lily of the Valley, the Bright and Morning Star, He's the greatest of ten thousand to my soul. 3 He will never, never leave me nor yet forsake me here, While I live by faith and do His blessed will; A wall of fire about me, I've nothing now to fear, With His manna He my hungry soul shall fill. Then sweeping up to glory I'll see His blessed face, Where rivers of delight shall ever roll; He's the Lily of the Valley, the Bright and Morning Star, He's the greatest of ten thousand to my soul. COOPER Continued from page 1 grade school was built. The school was the result of a project based low- wealth application through the Georgia Department of Education. The fomier schools were over fifty years old, and the students and staff of Jenkins County deserved new facilities! The new school is 199,000 square feet and encompasses two stories. As the first school system in Georgia to apply using these funds, many hoops had to be wrangled before the occupancy date in 2018. The school is in the process now, through post- Covid funds, of adding more square footage so that more opportunities can be offered to the students of Jenkins County, including a STEAM lab for elementary students. The final big project for the Jenkins County School System is the constmction of sports facilities that will encompass baseball and softball fields, ROTC training areas, and a track. Mrs. Cooper stated, “We have had a long-time dream of adding a track to JCMHS. I am so excited to say, because of the passed ESPLOST referendum, we can do that!” Drawings are being finalized now and constmction will begin in the next few months. Mrs. Cooper wrote a column in the newspaper for the last three years to keep the community apprised of the happenings in the schools. The writings have focused a great deal on the effects of poverty and the barriers that face mral communities. She highlighted her beliefs regarding the Leader In Me program, and how students must leam early to set goals and see success. She also encouraged building positive relationships and how important relationships are to student achievement. Mrs. Cooper can be seen, often, at a sporting event, ROTC competition, or band competition in support of the Jenkins County Eagles. When asked what she is most proud of, Mrs. Cooper answers this way, “I am most proud of the relationships that I have formed with the board members, the staff, the parents, and especially, with the students. The students know me, and they know that they can count on me if they need help. That is the purpose of all of us as educators, and one that I have enjoyed the most.” the people probably got our tag number! Ernie informed her that there was no way anyone got our tag number because A) we were going at Mach 3 and B) The poor man was probably looking for toilet tissue in his glove box!! I did call and report my hit and ran and luckily nobody reported a hit so there was no run. We didn’t always see eye to eye. We still don’t. But there’s something special about siblings. Siblings are really the only people in the world who grew up like you did. It’s an odd bond- as in. I’ll eagerly give you one of my kidneys but not my phone charger. I pray fervently that my two girls will remain close throughout their lives. Call your sibling this week if you have one. Ask them about a funny memory from childhood. May happy memories come flooding back for you as you remember good times from many years ago. No matter how you feel... Get up, dress up, show up, and Never give up!
