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Wednesday, February 13,2019
dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 9A
Man charged in wreck that injured woman, 3 kids
By Allie Dean
adean@dawsonnews.com
A Dawson County man was
arrested last week after a Jan.
31 wreck on Hwy. 136 injured
four passengers in the car he
was driving, including three
children.
According to Georgia State
Patrol SFC Curtis Bradshaw,
Michael Don Land, 38, of
Dawsonville, was arrested
Feb.4 on charges of
DUI (drugs), three
counts of DUI (child
endangerment) and
three counts of serious
injury by vehicle as well
as charges of reckless
driving, failure to main
tain lane and child
restraint violation.
Bradshaw said Monday the
adult passenger of the vehicle,
Crystal Gooch, 30, remains
hospitalized with seri
ous injuries at Northeast
Georgia Medical Center.
The 4-year-old and
5- year-old passengers
have been released from
Eggleston Children’s
Hospital, while the
6- year-old remains a
patient at the hospital.
The child was improving at last
report, Bradshaw said.
GSP was called to investigate
the crash around 2:30 p.m. Jan.
31.
Bradshaw said that a 2005
Buick LaCrosse driven by Land
was traveling west on Hwy. 136
when it veered off the road to
the left and traveled down a
steep embankment.
The car struck some small
trees at the bottom of the
embankment and came to rest
on the south shoulder of the
roadway.
Gooch was transported with
serious injuries while Land suf
fered non-life threatening inju
ries.
Two of the children suffered
serious injuries and were taken
by helicopter from the scene.
The third suffered non-life
threatening injuries.
Jail records show Land is
being held without bond in the
Dawson County Detention
Center.
Land
Life lessons from a puzzle
Last week I bought a
puzzle. When I was brows
ing the store I stumbled
upon a gorgeous picture of
a secluded cottage with a
beautiful flower garden
next to a lake with a weep
ing willow tree.
I didn’t even think about
the 1,000 littie pieces inside
the box. I saw the picture
and I wanted that picture.
I sat down to put my puz
zle together this weekend,
opening up the pristine box
and carefully dumping all
1,000 pieces onto my small
coffee table.
In this pile of pieces I
knew that picture on the
box was hiding, and I could
certainly put it together in a
couple hours with ease.
But I underestimated just
how monumental it is to sift
through 1,000 puzzle piec
es.
After two hours I was
still making sure all my
pieces were turned right
side up. A whole two hours
and I was nowhere near
close to having a finished
picture.
As I sifted through hun
dreds and hundreds of piec
es to find all the edges to
build the frame, it became
clear that my coffee table
was too small.
I had to transfer all the
work I had done to my
kitchen table and dump all
the pieces onto the newer,
bigger table. It felt like I
was back to square one.
Of course my husband
who is compulsively tidy
was in shock when he came
home from work to see our
table completely overrun
with an assortment of color
ful puzzle pieces.
He looked at me with
wide eyes and his mouth
agape.
“The coffee table was too
small,” I shrugged.
Jessica Taylor
Columnist
'In my mind I was
panicking to say
the least at the
overwhelming task
I set for myself. I
was so consumed
with the pretty pic
ture that I never
stopped to think
how long it would
take me to put it
together. I knew
what I was work
ing toward, but it
didn't make the
process any easier,
with hundreds of
pieces looking
exactly the same.'
In my mind I was panick
ing to say the least at the
overwhelming task I set for
myself. I was so consumed
with the pretty picture that I
never stopped to think how
long it would take me to put
it together. I knew what I
was working toward, but it
didn’t make the process any
easier, with hundreds of
pieces looking exactly the
same.
It took patience and dili
gence, two skills I’m not
well equipped with, to
accomplish even the small
est task of building the puz
zle’s perimeter.
I spent most of my week
end getting a backache
from hunching over my
kitchen table, trying to
make sense of the pieces
before me.
Sensing my distress, my
husband sat down beside me
and began to help me make
sense of what seemed like a
senseless array of colors.
After hours and hours,
the picture finally came to
life Sunday night and we
reveled in our hard work.
It got me thinking a lot
about life.
Each of us is given our
own puzzle to solve, and
we dump out the pieces and
try to make sense of what
we have before us.
We keep our eyes on that
picture on the box, knowing
that we have all the pieces
we need in front of us to
bring it to life.
But making everything
we’ve been handed fit
together is the challenge,
especially when some of
the pieces we have don’t
seem to go together at all.
With patience and deter
mination, the picture
becomes a little bit clearer
piece by piece.
Eventually it all comes
together and you can stand
back, looking proudly at the
life you’ve built.
And of course, I thought
to myself, just like my puz
zle of the cottage with the
garden, I didn’t put it
together on my own.
Just like my puzzle, my
life didn’t happen on my
own. When I got stuck, I
always had a little bit of help
to get me back on track.
Lunny how much you
can learn by putting togeth
er a puzzle.
FROM 1A
Fitness
center, Monarch at
Dawson Village, stated
the groups have been and
continue to be committed
to filling the anchor space
in the Dawson Village
shopping center in the
northeast corner of the
Ga. 400 and Hwy. 53
intersection.
“We are thrilled that
Planet fitness is investing
in Dawson County and
look forward to experi
encing the positive
impact that this invest
ment will have on this
center and community,”
the statement reads.
Kroger moved to a
new 125,000 square foot
building in November
2016 as the anchor for the
Dawson Marketplace
shopping center.
The development author
ity issued a bond agreement
with Kroger in 2015 to give
the company some tax
relief once the store opened.
The arrangement also
included a stipulation that
Kroger would continue to
maintain the old store and
aid in finding a new tenant
for the building.
Emilia Pearson, a rep
resentative of Monarch at
Dawson Village, said that
the group will be improv
ing the center by upgrad
ing the parking lot lights
and resurfacing the park
ing lot.
“Along with Planet
fitness, we are pleased to
announce that we will
also have a new chiro
practic office and tanning
salon opening at the cen
ter in the next few
months,” Pearson said.
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Cumming, Forsyth leaders weigh
regional commission alignment
By Kelly Whitmire
DCN Regional Staff
City of Cumming and Lorsyth County
officials will soon decide whether to stay
with a regional group aimed at north
Georgia or one more focused on metro
Atlanta.
Lorsyth County Commissioners and the
Cumming City Council conducted a joint
meeting at the Lorsyth County
Administration Building, where they
heard from the Atlanta Regional
Commission about what the organization
offers compared to the Georgia Mountains
Regional Commission, the group both
municipalities are currently a part of.
“I don’t what you’ll get with us versus
them, I’m just trying to explain some of
the things that we do have,” said Doug
Hooker, executive director of ARC. “I will
say that we have had the fortune and the
blessing of being a larger staff and larger
portfolio. That’s true not only in Georgia.
We’re actually fairly unique in the nation
in that very few of our peers across the
nation have the breadth that we have in
terms of community support roles.”
Hooker said ARC offers services
including aging and independent services,
arts and creative placemaking, community
development, leadership building, trans
portation, economic development and the
homeland security coordinator for
Gwinnett, DeKalb, Cobb, Lulton and
Clayton counties, a federal designation.
Unsurprisingly, transportation is of par
ticular interest to officials, and county
commissioners said they were previously
told they could receive extra ftmds from
the Georgia Department of Transportation
if the county was part of ARC.
On the city side, a move to the ARC
would also mean Mayor Troy Brumbalow
would be eligible to join the Metro Atlanta
Mayors’ Association.
ARC and GMRC are among a dozen
regional commissions across the state.
ARC represents Henry, Cobb,
Rockdale, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Douglas,
Cherokee, Lulton and Layette counties,
municipalities in those counties and the
city of Atlanta.
Hooker said there had previously been
concerns the larger and more urban areas
of the commission could receive more
attention than suburban areas but said after
a recent study “the study was clear that if
anything, it’s quite the opposite.”
GMRC is made up of Lorsyth, Dawson,
Lumpkin, Union, Towns, White, Hall,
Banks, Habersham, Rabun, Stephens,
Lranklin and Hart counties and their cities.
During discussions after the presenta
tion, ARC officials said those who most
often ask for services are the ones who
receive them. City and county officials
said they do not use many of the services
of GMRC.
Brumbalow said Cumming has failed to
qualify for some offerings.
“We’ve ran into looking at trying to fix
some problem areas in the city, it’s like we
don’t qualify. It’s not blighted enough. As
long as somebody will pay the rent, then
it’s OK,” Brumbalow said. “It’s not OK
with me, but that’s kind of where we are
as a community. We could have a lot
worse problems than we do.”
The process to change over would
involve going through the Georgia
Department of Community Affairs and
gaining approval by the Georgia General
Assembly and would likely take a few
years.
No action was taken, and another joint
meeting will take place to gather informa
tion from GMRC.
Georgia Mountains
HOSPICE
Georgia Mountains Hospice
Asks You To Vote for your local
‘Mardi Gras in the Mountains’
King and Queen
PLANNING UNDERWAY FOR MARDI GRAS
IN THE MOUNTAINS
Georgia Mountains Hospice will
again be hosting the 14th annual
Mardi Gras in the Mountains
Gala on Saturday, March 2, 2019.
They are partnered this year with
the Ellijay and Jasper Councils of
the Knights of Columbus and the
Rotary Club of Jasper. Festivities
the night of the event will include
a catered buffet meal, music by
“Banks and Shane” and a silent
auction that will run throughout
the evening.
The highlight of the evening will be
the crowning of the “Mardi Gras in
the Mountains” King and Queen
in true New Orleans style. The
Gala committee has chosen eight
individuals from four surrounding
counties as nominees and area
allowing you to vote in an online
process that will keep the chosen
couple a wellkept secret until the
night of the event.
The nominees for
Dawson County
King Nominee
Bob Alman
and
Queen Nominee
Andrea McKenzie
Visit www.mardigrasinthemountains.org to review the nominees of the
“Mardi Gras in the Mountains” Gala event and place your monetary bid
for your favorite King and Queen. Votes will be monetary donations, with
each dollar equaling one vote. Tickets may be purchased online, there is
a discount for early ticket purchase.
Do not miss this opportunity to celebrate with members of these
organizations who share in the same vision and dream for members of
your communities. All monies raised from this event will benefit Georgia
Mountains Hospice and local charities supported by the Knights of
Columbus and the Rotary Club of Jasper.
For more information on the evening events, how to purchase tickets or
the voting process, please contact Gina Pendley at 706-253-4100 or 800-
692-7199 or go to http://mardigrasinthemountains.org.
Votes may be mailed to Georgia Mountains Hospice r w
~ 70 Caring Way ~ Jasper, GA 30143 ~
