Newspaper Page Text
4A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, December 12,2018
Photo courtesy Dawson County Emergency Services
Two men were killed in a head-on collision
Tuesday on Ga. 400.
FROM 1A
Crash
Chastain, 56, of
Dawsonville, was driving
a 2003 Lincoln Town Car
traveling south on Ga. 400
in the left lane. Colquitt
Juanez Thompson, 63, of
Dahlonega, was driving
2015 Chevrolet Silverado
traveling north on Ga. 400
in the right lane.
The release states that
Chastain’s car left the
roadway, crossed the
median, traveled into the
northbound lanes and col
lided head-on with
Thompson’s buck.
Both drivers were pro
nounced dead on the
scene. There were no
other passengers in either
vehicle.
The release states that
both drivers were wearing
seatbelts and that distract
ed driving does not appear
to be a factor in the wreck.
Drugs and alcohol are also
not suspected.
Despite rainy conditions,
the release states that wet
roadways do not appear to
be a factor either.
The northbound lanes of
Ga. 400 were closed until
3:30 p.m. for investigation
and cleanup.
For the Dawson County News
Dawson County News Editor Allie Dean,
Education and Features Reporter Jessica Taylor
and General Manager Brenda Bohn pose with
the Beacon Award awarded to the publication by
the Georgia School Boards Association during
the GSBA winter conference in Atlanta Dec. 7.
FROM 1A
Beacon
Beacon Award recipi
ents are nominated by their
local board of education
and the final winners are
selected by the GSBA.
“We are honored to have
been nominated by the
Dawson County school
system for this prestigious
award and are thrilled to
have been selected the
winner by the Georgia
School Boards
Association,” Bohn said.
“Our schools are doing
wonderful work and we
look forward to continuing
our partnership by keeping
the community informed
and connected.”
Dawson County Schools
Superintendent Damon
Gibbs and the board of
education approved
Dawson County News’
nomination for the publi
cation’s work to inform the
citizens of Dawson County
of the work the school sys
tem does for its students
during the Sept. 10 board
meeting.
“We’re a very small
team and to be recognized
as one of the five winners
for print media in the state
among so many deserving
publications is a great
honor,” Taylor said. “We’re
a small town weekly paper
just doing our best to keep
our community informed.
This award says to me that
even a little hometown
paper with a four member
team like us can make a
big difference. I am so
proud to be a part of it.”
The Beacon Award rec
ognizes print and electron
ic media representatives or
organizations whose cov
erage over time has created
understanding of public
education issues by
informing the general pub
lic about programs, poli
cies and issues affecting
public schools, students
and the community
according to the GSBA
website.
“With our community
constantly looking to the
news and school system
for information, it is
imperative that a strong
partnership with our local
paper be embraced,” the
nomination read. “Their
support to offer our public
reliable information is
exceptional and second to
none. Our board of educa
tion recognizes the true
value that our Dawson
County News has on our
community.”
In the application sub
mitted to the GSBA, arti
cles written by former and
current DCN staff included
topics of school safety,
graduation rates, suicide
prevention and mental
health, the 1:1 iPad initia
tive and the Exceptional
Children’s Community
Based Instruction program.
The inaugural One
Dawson magazine that
was released to parents
and students in the sum
mer of 2018 was also
included in the nomina
tion.
“We are very proud of
our working relationship
with Dawson County
Schools and the Dawson
County Board of
Education and thank them
for their openness and
willingness to work with
us on not only our first
annual One Dawson mag
azine but in all of our cov
erage of school related
activities,” Dean said.
“This award highlights not
only the hard work that our
staff has put in but also the
outstanding work that
Dawson County Schools
do on a regular basis to
help the students in our
community reach their full
potential.”
Photos for the Dawson County News
Brian Abbott plays with a toy boat with his foster
siblings Lynn and Tara Hardwick in 1973. This
treasured family photo was one of the only pho
tos Abbott had to help him find his family.
Lynn Hardwick pulls his sister Tara and foster brother Brian Abbott in a
wagon in 1972.
FROM 1A
Brother
sometimes ‘Brian would
be whatever age now’ —
there’d be an occasional
mention but pretty much
each of us just dealt with
it individually,” Hardwick
said. “The loss of him, I
really could have seen my
life going some other
directions and maybe the
hope of a reunion with
him is what kept me from
that.”
Over the years,
Hardwick remained hope
ful and desperately
searched for Brian. She
wrote letters to put in his
DFCS file, praying he
would ask for his file. He
never did. She contacted
the television series
Unsolved Mysteries,
where staff gave her
pages of information to
help her find Brian but to
no avail. Scouring the
internet was never fruitful
either.
“While I never gave up
hope of finding him I
would wonder from time
to time if that would hap
pen before I died,”
Hardwick said.
Throughout the years,
she was often reminded
of Brian. She’d thumb
through the small stash of
photos she had taken
from the family photo
album and reminisce.
Every holiday season she
would hear a particular
song that would immedi
ately flood her brain with
memories.
“He loved the song
‘Jingle Bell Rock’ and he
would, as soon as that
song came on, start danc
ing all around the room,”
Hardwick said. “Every
time I have heard that
song over the years I
think about him dancing
around the room and that
captured his personality
perfectly.”
Then in October 2018,
as Hardwick boarded a
plane back to Atlanta, her
mother called. Having no
time to talk, Hardwick let
the call go to voicemail
and told herself she’d call
her mother back once she
landed.
“How’s the timing of
all this that I would be
sitting on this plane and
have to turn my phone off
when I get this text from
my brother, you know,
‘Okay, what about Brian?
What’s the plan?’”
Hardwick said.
She knew her brother,
Lynn, meant “the” Brian
but she was initially skep
tical, after all what were
the chances that her tech
nology-challenged moth
er would be the one to
finally find him?
“It’s going to be a dead
end, especially with her
limited computer skills,”
Hardwick said. “He told
me ‘no, it’s a picture of us
pulling him in the wagon
and it says ‘Lynn and
Tara pulling me in the
wagon.’ And then I said ‘I
think this is for real.’”
Hardwick immediately
went to the Facebook
page, and sure enough,
she saw an old family
photograph and knew her
long search was finally
over.
Her long lost little
brother was now Brian
Abbott, a 48-year-old
ICU director living south
of Macon with his wife
Anita and three beautiful
children.
“I have made a lot of
plane rides as a flight
attendant that I wanted to
end for a variety of rea
sons but that was proba
bly the longest two hours
of my life,” Hardwick
said.
She reached out to
Brian and said she would
call him as soon as she
landed. She made good
on her promise and called
him as soon as she hit the
airport parking lot, and
the siblings talked until
Hardwick returned to
Dawsonville an hour and
a half later.
“It was so strange
because I just, in my
mind, he was still this
4-year-old and yet I was
talking to this grown man
with a deep Southern
accent,” Hardwick said.
“It was just surreal. It still
is.”
Abbott had only begun
his search for his family
two years ago, when his
wife encouraged him to
create a Facebook profile
with the old photographs
he had and his birth
name.
“I really didn’t know
that I had family and my
wife had continually told
me that there were people
looking for me. There
were family that loved me
and were looking for me,”
Abbott said. “After you
have been through certain
things in your life you’re
just okay with the way
things are. I was okay
with it and I never expect
ed it but it’s beyond
expectations to see that
certain folks had looked
for you for 44 years.”
At first, Abbott wasn’t
sure how to feel after so
many years to suddenly
be reunited with a family
he only had a few memo
ries and photographs of.
“It’s kind of hard to put
down in words,” Abbott
said. “I wasn’t exactly
sure how to feel at the
time but I guess overall I
felt relieved and finally
had a little bit of closure
in the matter. I finally
found my roots.”
One week after their
initial phone conversa
tion, the Hardwicks met
with Abbott in Roswell,
seeing him for the first
time in 44 years.
“As much as it’s a gift
to me to find him, it’s
really the best gift I can
give my mother,”
Hardwick said.
Since their initial
reunion in October, the
siblings have stayed close
by talking every week.
“I try to stop and make
time to talk to them. 40
plus years is a lot of years
to not have seen them so I
at least want to stop and
acknowledge them on the
time I’ve got left to be
with them,” Abbott said.
The Abbotts and the
Hardwicks even celebrat
ed Thanksgiving together.
“This family is just so
accepting and so loving.
We came in on their holi
day celebration and they
had taken us in like they
had known all of us all of
our lives,” Abbott said.
“They’re really good
folks.”
Being reunited with his
foster siblings has also
led Abbott to more dis
coveries about his past,
including finding his birth
mother and birth siblings,
who he plans to go meet
in the near future.
“The chances that we
were only a three hour
drive apart is just a sign it
was meant to be, really,”
Hardwick said. “People
say ‘What do you want
for Christmas?’ I say ‘I
already got it. I don’t
want anything. I really
got the best gift I could
get.’”
PUBLIC NOTICE OF NOMINATION
Etowah Water & Sewer Authority (the Authority) hereby provides notice to
the users of the system that EWSA is accepting nominations for one member
of the Board of Directors. The election is scheduled for the Annual Meeting
on March 12, 2019.
For information regarding the nomination requirements please contact the
Recording Secretary, Sophia Dearwent, at the Administration office of the
Authority located at 1162 Highway 53 East, Dawsonville, GA 30534, or by
telephone 706-216-8474 ext. 234.
The nomination period shall remain open until noon on January 11, 2019.
All nominations must be made by a user of the system and be presented in
writing along with a completed nominee application form provided by the
Authority and in person to the Administration office.
"Excellence in every drop "
Compare
Our CD
Rates
Bank-issued,
FDIC-insured
6-month 2.50 % APY ' Minirnom deposit
$1000
1- year 0 7^ %APY* Minimum deposit
$1000
2- year T %APY* Minimum deposit
$1000
* Annual Percentage Yield (APY) effective 12/14/18. CDs offered by Edward Jones are bank-issued
and FDIC-insured up to $250,000 (principal and interest accrued but not yet paid) per depositor,
per insured depository institution, for each account ownership category. Please visit www.fdic.gov
or contact your financial advisor for additional information. Subject to availability and price
change. CD values are subject to interest rate risk such that when interest rates rise, the prices of
CDs can decrease. If CDs are sold prior to maturity, the investor can lose principal value. FDIC
insurance does not cover losses in market value. Early withdrawal may not be permitted. Yields
quoted are net of all commissions. CDs require the distribution of interest and do not allow interest
to compound. CDs offered through Edward Jones are issued by banks and thrifts nationwide. All
CDs sold by Edward Jones are registered with the Depository Trust Corp. (DTC).
Matt McGrath
Financial Advisor
131 Prominence Ct, Suite 120
Dawsonville, GA 30534
706-265-2358
www.edwardjones.com
Member SIPC