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Avita centers gather
to host client outing
LOCAL, 7A
Bye week rest does
Tigers some good
SPORTS, IB
^ADawsonCountyNews
WEDNESDAY I OCTOBER 24, 2018 DaWSOflNeWS ^COITI DAWSONVILLE, GEORGIA $1.00
Spencer to lead festival parade
NASCAR’s c Mr. Excitement’ to be Mountain Moonshine Festival Grand Marshal
By Bob Christian
bchristian@dawsonnews.com
As the son of a race car driv
er, it is no wonder that Jimmy
Spencer went on to become one
of NASCAR’s most well-
known figures over his 30-year
racing career.
From his first victory in the
Late Modified division at the
Port Royal Speedway in 1976
(the same track his
father Ed “Fast Eddie”
Spencer, Sr. started his
career) to his final vic
tory in the NASCAR
Camping World Truck
Series at New
Hampshire in 2003,
Spencer’s driving style
and personality earned
him the nickname
“Mr. Excitement.”
Spencer
to that
named
“He has all these
great stories from his
years in the sport,” said
Gordon Pirkle, presi
dent of the Georgia
Racing Hall of Fame.
“It is easy to see how he
got the name ‘Mr.
Excitement.’”
Continuing to live up
title, Spencer has been
Grand Marshal of the
51st annual Mountain
Moonshine Festival.
“I’m familiar with the area,”
Spencer said. “I raced with Bill
(Elliott] back in ‘94 for Junior
Johnson, but this will be my
first visit.”
It was in 1994 that Spencer
won two races over a three-
week time span, capturing the
checkered flag at Daytona’s
Pepsi 400 and Talladega’s Die
Hard 500.
These wins, along with his
12 victories in NASCAR’s
Xfinity series and one Truck
Series victory, puts him on a
short list of drivers to have won
a race in all three of
NASCAR’s top series.
Spencer was also dominant in
the NASCAR modified series
See Spencer|5A
Epstein named
Dawson County
Teacher of Year
Jessica Brown Dawson County News
Paola Epstein was named the Teacher of the Year for the school system during the Oct. 15 board of education
meeting. Superintendent Damon Gibbs stands with Epstein after she was announced as the winner for 2018.
Educator has taught Spanish at Dawson County High School for 5 years
By Jessica Brown
jbrown@dawsonnews.com
On Oct. 15, there was not a dry eye
in the crowd as Paola Epstein was
named the Teacher of the Year for
Dawson County at the board of educa
tion meeting.
In her five years as a Spanish teacher
at Dawson County High School,
Epstein quickly became a staple in the
high school, serving as the world lan
guage department chair, sponsor of the
Anime Club, International Club,
National Spanish Honor Society and
the Tiger TV and commissioner of
homecoming.
“In the classroom Mrs. Epstein is
second to none,” said DCHS principal
Brody Hughes. “You can often find her
late in the evenings working with her
students and making sure that they are
operating at their fullest potential to
gain as much as they can out of her
class and to push them beyond their
limits.”
It was a long and winding road that
brought Epstein to Dawsonville, and it
wasn’t always an easy journey.
Bom in Chile with an educator for a
mother, Epstein knew her passion was
teaching from an early age. In her for
mative years she served as a leader and
mentor to younger children at her syna
gogue. She pursued a bachelor’s degree
in education and taught history and
geography in Chile, and later studied
and taught Judaism in Israel.
She later taught in a private British
school and obtained a master’s degree
See Teacher14A
51st annual
Mountain
Moonshine
Festival looms
By Jessica Brown
jbrown@dawsonnews.com
The 51st annual Mountain
Moonshine Festival is hitting down
town Dawsonville this weekend. Rain
or shine, organizers have planned for an
amazing festival full of local flavor,
from car shows to handmade crafts to
family friendly games.
This year’s festival comes with some
changes that K.A.R.E. for Kids Interim
President Rhonda Goodwin says will
hopefully make the festival-going expe
rience much more enjoyable for all.
Ensuring traffic flows smoothly has
been the main goal for Goodwin for
this year’s festival.
“As a whole it’s very, very pleasant.
What makes it unpleasant sometimes is
the difficulty getting in and getting
out,” Goodwin said. “My goal this year
was to make it easy to get in because
once you’re in everyone’s going to
enjoy it.”
By streamlining the entries for the
show cars, moonshine cars and parade
cars to their own entrances, organizers
hope to make the process less frustrat
ing and more efficient.
There will be several road closures
this weekend because of festival activi
ties.
On Friday morning, Allen Street will
be closed for the car show. On Friday
afternoon Hwy. 53 near Jack Heard
Road will be closed to keep traffic from
entering the vendor areas.
Public parking is $10 with several
lots available around downtown.
See Moonshine 15A
Early voting for Nov. 6 election continues with high turnout
By Allie Dean
adean@dawsonnews.com
Dawson County ended the
first week of early voting Oct.
19 with 2,328 people casting
ballots ahead of the Nov. 6
election- more than three times
the amount of voters in the first
week of early voting in 2014,
the last midterm elections.
The week one total in 2014
was 725 voters, according to
Glenda Ferguson, director of
elections and registration.
Ferguson also reported that
455 people voted on the first
day of early voting Oct. 15,
compared to only 91 people
casting ballots the first day of
early voting in 2014.
The 2018 numbers do not
count absentee ballots- as of
Monday morning, 392 had
been sent out and 237 accepted
back, Ferguson said.
Voter turnout this year is
more on par with the general
election in 2016, which drew
only 159 more voters in the
first week of early voting.
Ferguson’s numbers also
show a large increase in the
See Voting 16A
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Inside
Volume 4, Number 5
© 2018, Dawson County News
Dawsonville, Georgia
Church Events
3B
Classifieds
7B
Dear Abby
6B
Deaths
2A
Legals
7B
Opinion
9A
Sports
1B
4A Trunk or Treat
promises
Halloween
fun for all
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