About Upson beacon. (Thomaston, Ga.) 2008-current | View Entire Issue (May 29, 2024)
blackboard The Upson Beacon Wednesday, May 29, 2024 Page 4B This page and subscriptions provided to the Upson-Lee The Peoples Bank ^IVFGriff of Georgia "The way Banking used to be" Member 943 N. Church Street • Thomaston (£} fdic 706-646-1462 ™ v Insurance Services 517 N. Church Street Thomaston, GA 30286 706-647-8121 School System by these generous partners in education... U-L’s Mackey, Mitchell Accepted to DCI’s Memphis Blues Marching Band Need Upson Support to Get There Alex Mackey (left) and Mazon Mitchell (right) at the Upson-Lee High School band room. Andrew Carroll Sports Editor acarroll@upsonbeacon.com Two Upson-Lee Marching Knights are set to perform on one of the biggest stages in marching band as Alex Mackey and Mazon Mitchell prepare to join with the Memphis Blues. The Memphis Blues are a competitive marching band that take part in Drum Corps International, which is essentially the major leagues of marching band. ULHS Band Director Cameron Born spoke with the Upson Beacon. “I’m thrilled for them. They’re going to learn a ton while they’re on tour. They get to eat, sleep, and breathe band for a month and a half straight, and I can’t wait to see what kind of progress they make over the summer.” Both Mackey and Mit chell play tuba for U-L and are underclassmen. For Mitchell, that youth equate to some nerves, commenting, “I’m nervous, but excited. We’re going to be learning a lot of new techniques. It’s a new learning pro cess.” Mackey said that hav ing Mitchell on the trip will help ease the nerves a bit. “With us both going, we’re doing it together. We know each other. We’ve marched before with each other.” The opportunity for both is an accidental hap penstance that occurred following a change for the low brass directed by Born in 2023. The Knights swapped from the old sou- saphones to new contras for marching season, which lined up perfectly with what the Memphis Blues use on the field for tubas. Born commented that he made the swap due to a better tone quality from the contras over the sousa- phones. Born said there will be some adjustments that have to be made for the pair. Mackey and Mitchell are used to performing in a band where they are two of three tubas. The Mem phis Blues marches with no less than 12 and, ac cording to Born, the Blues will likely have more than 150 members on the field including percussion and guard. The season for the pair of Knights begins with training camp on June 22, and the Blues will travel to Sevierville, Tenn., Atlanta, Muscle Shoals, Ala., and will end on July 13 in Little Rock, Ark. Mitchell was accepted first, and it spurred Mac- key to audition as well. Mackey commented that when he was accepted, the first person he reached out to was Mitchell with a text, stating, “You’re not going to believe this.” The acceptance into the Memphis Blues is not all sunshine and rainbows, however, as both Knights will have to come up with $1,300 just to perform with the band. Born stated that the money does not include traveling to Memphis, nor does it include laundry. Should members of the community and readers wish to help both members of the Marching Knights make the trip to Memphis, both Mackey and Mitchell have Go- FundMe accounts setup for donations. Those links are at https://gofund.me/3e9b6 182 and https://gofund.me/ededc 89L South Receives GFA Scholarship Upson County student Macey South has been named a recipient of a Georgia Foundation for Agricul ture Scholarship. South is one of eight graduating seniors statewide selected to receive a $3,000 GFA scholarship. Two other graduating seniors were awarded $4,500 scholarships. GFA scholarships recognize de serving and outstanding college stu dents pursuing agriculture or ag-related degrees at a college in the University System of Georgia, Berry College or Emmanuel College, or a school in the Technical College Sys tem of Georgia. “Georgia Farm Bureau is proud to support the Georgia Foundation for Agriculture’s programs,” said GFA Board Chairman and GFB Pres ident Tom McCall. “The foundation offers these scholarships as an in vestment in the future of Georgia farming, and we’re excited to see what these students can do as they move into their agricultural careers.” South, a graduating senior at Upson-Lee High School, is the daughter of Marcus and Neely South of Thomaston. She plans to attend Fort Valley State University and study animal science beginning this fall. South has served as president of the ULHS Future Farmers of Amer ica chapter the past two years, and she is a member of the Junior Cat tlemen’s Association. Through FFA she has shown livestock and won multiple grand champion titles. As a ninth grader, she was ac cepted into the local Youth Leader ship Upson program, learning about Courtesy of GFB Macey South Upson County history and indus tries, as well as visiting state repre sentatives at the Capitol in Atlanta. U-l Golf Rounds Out Sports Year at State Andrew Carroll Sports Editor acarroll@upsonbeacon.com Upson-Lee golf trav eled to Lafayette Munici pal Golf Course for the GHSA AAA State Cham pionship match on May 19 with play on May 20. The Knights picked up the AAA area one cham pionship in early May at Raintree Golf Club, but things did not go quite as smoothly for the Knights in North Georgia. Cason Blakely led the way for the Knights in the opening round, scoring 78 on the day. Whitaker Hawkins finished out his high school career with a score of 81 over 18. Nick Davis likewise played his final tournament for the Knights with a score of 88. Trent Coker tabbed 93, Jackson Moore 95, and Hudson Chastain fin ished the day with an even too. The overall score for the team came in at 340 in round one. Day two for the Knights did not fare much better, except for Moore and Chastain, which both improved their scores down to 92 each. The 346 team score on day two placed the Knights 10th overall in AAA. The Lady Knights ended 11th at state to fin ish out the season. Courtesy of GSC Local graduate Madison Walker, front row, smiling, during Gor don State College's spring 2024 commencement ceremony. Area Student Achievement Local students continue to achieve excellence while con tinuing their education: Local students recently graduating from Gordon State College include Brooke Byers, Carlie Collins, Caylee Daniel, Hannah Dunnahoo, Maggie Ellington, Pedro Gaspardo, Hannah Glover, Colton Greene, Maribeth Hardeman, Me lissa Heredia-Chegue, Desiree Herring, Kristy Huang, Donna Joiner, Quienyetta Martin, Annie Pasley, Raeann Swails, Chikeyva Tomlin, and Madison Walker. Isabella Jacobs recently graduated from Shorter Uni versity with a bachelor’s degree in nursing. Ravikanth Kaithalapuram recently graduated from Trine University with a master’s degree in information studies. Sabryna Lay was recently featured as a Canes Spotlight at Georgia Southwestern State University, which highlights students who hold leadership roles, are involved in extra curricular activities, and excel academically on campus. Lay recently graduated with a degree in English. Kezari Weston Submitted Three-Year-Old Weston Catches Albino Catfish Three-year-old Kezari Weston of Thomaston se cured the catch of the day when he reeled in a rare al bino catfish while fishing with his grandparents in Lizella earlier this month. Joey and Necole Wes ton, affectionately known to Kezari as Pop and Lol- lie, told the Upson Beacon that he secured the fish on his fourth catch of the day. “We were all shocked and excited when we real ized it was this beautifully unique and rare albino catfish,” Necole said. “Ke zari loves to fish but would run off when he reels them in... He told his Pop that we have to come back soon and catch too more catfish (his favorite).” According to online sources, albino or leucistic catfish are caught periodi cally around the country, but for fishermen, “It is somewhat similar to hit ting the lottery.” While some may catfish for the rest of their lives, it is likely they will never catch, or even see, another fish of the like. Necole was filming the catch, and Kezari was nearly shaking with joy as they reeled in the fish. Kezari is the son of Ja- Kordney Weston and Ja- niya Bentley.
