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Wednesday, January 26,2022
dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 3A
4-H announces winners of annual Pumpkin Growing Contest
Photos courtesy of Dawson County 4-H
Left: Cooper Beary won first place in the 2021 Dawson County 4-H Pumpkin Growing Contest with his 120 pound pumpkin.
Center: Charlie McCall won second place in the 2021 Dawson County 4-H Pumpkin Growing Contest with his 104 pound
pumpkin. Right: Tate Beary won third place in the 2021 Dawson County 4-H Pumpkin Growing Contest with his 94 pound
pumpkin.
By staff reports
Dawson County 4-H has
announced the winners of its
annual Pumpkin Growing
Contest for 2021.
According to a release by the
organization, each year Georgia
4-H promotes a Pumpkin
Growing Contest, where stu
dents compete at the county
level with the hope of moving
on to the state level. The county
contest is sponsored by Burt’s
Pumpkin Farm owners, Johnny
and Kathy Burt.
This year’s first place winner
was Cooper Beary, whose win
ning pumpkin weighed 120
pounds. He received a $75
check from Burt’s for his win
ning pumpkin.
The second place winner was
Charlie McCall with his 104
pound pumpkin. He recruited
help from his Papa and said in
the release that “When I saw
that pumpkin in my Papa’s gar
den, it had winner written all
over it”. He received a $50
prize.
The third place winner was
Tate Beary, who won first place
in last year’s contest. He won a
$25 prize with his 94 pound
pumpkin and said in the release
that “the weather was either too
hot for several days and then
too rainy so it made the pump
kins smaller”.
Both Cooper and Tate Beary
have moved on from simply
competing in the pumpkin
growing contests to selling the
pumpkins they grow, the
release said.
“The Beary brothers have
taken their pumpkin growing
hobby to another level and you
can find them selling their
pumpkins at the Amicalola
Regional Farmers Market here
in town once harvesting comes
back around,” the release said.
4-H members who competed
in the contest planted seeds,
controlled weeds, applied fer
tilizers, watered the plant and
prevented pet mayhem in or
around their prize pumpkins,
the release said. This year’s
contest has 32 4-H members
signed up to participate so far.
“They should have their
seeds in the ground and
already see the fruits of their
labor sprouting,” the release
said.
To see highlights of all of
the pumpkins entered in the
2021 pumpkin growing con
test, go to www.georgia4h.org.
To learn more about 4-H in
Dawson County and how to
get your students involved in
the group, call the Dawson
County Extension office at
706-265-2442.
Deputy Henson cherishes 32 years with sheriff’s office
By Julia Fechter
jfechter@dawsonnews.com
When Shane Henson
started with the Dawson
County Sheriff’s Office
in 1989, he didn’t real
ize his tenure with the
agency would endure for
over three decades. Now,
32 years later, he’s glad
it turned out that way.
Both Capt. Henson
and Maj. Greg Rowan
were recently recog
nized by DCSO for
working there for at
least 30 years.
Henson said that he
initially intended on get
ting involved with animal
science, rather than law
enforcement as a career.
However, a different
path opened up to him
as a teenager living in
Dawson County. While
he was still in high
school, he started on a
volunteer basis with the
county’s then much-
smaller fire department,
of which Rowan was the
fire chief at the time.
“There were probably
30 of us [volunteers] in
training classes togeth
er,” Henson said. “When
we got involved with
that (firefighting), we
worked together with the
sheriff’s office...with
our buddies, we were
there every night and on
the weekends.”
After a short stint
away from Dawsonville,
Henson returned and
started with DCSO as a
part-time dispatcher and
jailer’s deputy.
“Dispatch used to be
both the jailer and the
dispatcher. When I start
ed, there were only like
six inmates [at the jail],”
he said. “From midnight
to 8 o'clock in the morn
ing, I was the only one
there.”
Then in 1992, he went
to the police academy
and subsequently began
working full time at
DCSO. He had stints as
a patrol division deputy
and a member of the
Appalachian Drug Task
Force before getting
married and starting a
family.
Henson then worked
in the criminal investiga
tions division before
returning to patrol.
When he started work
ing with the Dawson
County School District
in the 2000s, he held the
rank of sergeant. Henson
said he served as a
school resource officer
for at least 10 years and
was promoted to the
rank of lieutenant during
that time.
“What I liked about
the school system was
the kids...you could go
to hang out with them
and if you were in a bad
mood, and they’d cheer
you right up,” Henson
said.
For a little over a year
now, he’s been working
at the county court
house.
Without a doubt,
though, Henson consid
ers DCSO’s annual
“Shop-with-a-cop” event
“one of the biggest
blessings” he gets each
year as an officer.
“It's just the joyful
laughter and smiles you
get out of everybody
involved,” he said about
the event. “It’s a good
feeling to give back. If I'm
alive and well, and my
health is good, I’m going
to be there for that.”
Capt. Henson reflected
on how his job and the
nature of emergency
calls have changed over
the years.
“Every call is interest
ing,” he said. “You’ve
got people who’ve lost
something all the way to
something really bad
[that’s happened.]”
Catching speeders has
become more of a chal
lenging and sometimes
dangerous task with
increased traffic on local
roads.
Henson also explained
that citizens have
become more friendly to
deputies and show sup
port over the past sever
al years. He credits that
to personnel keeping the
public’s trust with the
sacrifices they make and
their love for the com
munity.
“It’s unbelievable how
much more our county
[as a whole] has gotten
behind us,” Henson said.
“It’s that kind of support
that makes you pick
your head up after a bad
day and go back again.”
PUBLIC NOTICE
Election Qualifying Fees
Pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 21-2-131 Dawson County
Governing Authority shall fix and publish qualifying fees
for county offices not later than February 1 of any year
in which a general primary, nonpartisan election, or
general election is to be held. Offices for the year 2022
elections shall be as follows:
Office Qualifying Fee
County Commissioner, District 1 288.00
County Commissioner, District 3 288.00
Board of Education, At Large 288.00
Board of Education, District 3 288.00
The qualifying period will begin
Monday, March 7, 2022, at 9:00 a.m.
and will end on
Friday, March 11,2022, at noon.
Captain Shane Henson,
pictured right, joined the
Dawson County Sheriff's
Office in 1989, shortly
after graduating from
Dawson County High
School.
Photo courtesy DCSO
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