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Wednesday, March 9,2022
dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 3A
Habitat for Humanity names new board members
By Erica Jones
ejones@dawsonnews.com
Habitat for Humanity — North
Central Georgia (HH-NCG) has
named three new board mem
bers, including Betsy McGriff of
Dawsonville.
According to a press release by
the organization, each of the
three new board members will
bring their own background and
skill set to their new positions.
Eva “Betsy” McGriff is the
business development director at
Cooper & Cooper Company
General Contractors and is an
experienced community and eco
nomic development professional,
the release said. She will join the
McGriff Maher
board with experience in strate
gic planning, community
engagement and local govern
ment.
Along with McGriff, the
HH-NCG leaders have appointed
Anne Maher of Atlanta and Mike
Pennington of Marietta to the
board.
Maher is an adjunct professor
at Georgia State University’s J.
Mack Robinson
College of
Business, before
which she spent 30
years in executive
positions with the
Coca-Cola
Company and
Pennington General Motors
Corporation, the
release said. She is joining the
board with extensive tax and
finance expertise.
Pennington is the commercial
director for Path & Post Real
Estate and has extensive experi
ence as a commercial real estate
consultant, the release said. He
will join the board with experi
ence in real estate, negotiation
and marketing.
“Habitat for Humanity —
North Central Georgia has a long
track record of success thanks to
dedicated board members just
like Anne Maher, Betsy McGriff
and Mike Pennington,”
HH-NCG Executive Director
Steve Napier said in the release.
“We appreciate their commit
ment and look forward to the
many contributions these individ
uals will make to the organiza
tion in the years ahead.”
HH-NCG has been in opera
tion since 1994 and serves
Cherokee, Dawson, Forsyth and
North Fulton counties. The orga
nization offers new home con
struction and rehab programs
focused on helping families
become first-time home buyers; a
home repair program which
serves the needs of current non-
Habitat seniors, veterans and dis
abled homeowners; corporate
team building activities and stu
dent engagement programs
involving high school students
from local area high schools.
According to the organiza
tion’s mission statement, its goal
is to “bring people together to
build homes, communities and
hope”, therefore enabling indi
viduals “to build strength, stabili
ty and self-reliance through shel
ter”. For more information about
HH-NCG, go to https ://habitat-
ncg.org/.
Local church fundraises for member’s medical needs
Julia Fechter Dawson County News
DeAnna Clark's church, The Soul Filling Station
hosted a March 4 benefit to raise money for her
medical costs related to severe health problems.
By Julia Fechter
jfechter@dawsonnews.com
Regardless of her loca
tion, Dawsonville resident
DeAnna Clark has made it
a point to love others as
Christ loved the church.
Now, she is in a position
to receive the same kind of
selfless love after being
diagnosed with multiple liv
er-related condi
tions and told that
she only has several
months to live.
This past Friday,
her church body,
The Soul Filling
Station, held an
evening hot dogs-
and-BBQ benefit to
raise money for Clark’s
medical expenses on their
campus at 77 Hugh
Stowers Road in
Dawsonville.
At least $2,100 was
raised in cash, not counting
money given through a
CashApp for Clark. People
interested in donating that
way may send donations to
SbcncfitDcAnnaClark.
Sharon Anglin, a mem
ber of the church, said she
and others got Clark a
CashApp card to help with
medical expenses.
“No matter what we
raise, it’s more than she has,
and she’s very apprecia
tive,” Sharon said.
Sharon’s known Clark
for between 20-30 years,
and her friend was with the
church for about 10-15
years before leaving for a
time and eventually return
ing a little over a year ago.
Clark explained that a
couple of years ago, she left
Georgia to be with her sis
ter in Texas, where she
stayed for about two years.
In February 2018, she
was severely injured during
a tree removal accident.
Clark suffered a fractured
skull, brain hemorrhage,
multiple broken back verte
brae, 34 broken ribs, a bro
ken left leg and a
crushed shoulder.
In other words, it
was a miracle that
she survived.
“God spared me
because I actually
died three times,
twice on the way to
the hospital and
once in the ER...but he
brought me through that,”
Clark said.
During her hospital stay,
doctors did tell her that she
had liver cirrhosis, but it
wasn’t advanced at that
time. Clark didn’t have the
money to address that issue,
and as with many other
people, the pandemic com
plicated her ability to go to
a doctor.
Then, she started feeling
really bad. Fifteen months
ago, she decided to do
something about it., right at
about two o’ clock in the
morning.
“I just got in my car and
drove straight to Georgia
because I wanted to be
home. You know you
always feel better at home,”
she said.
When first returning to
Dawsonville, she stayed
with her aunt, Della
Fortner, before she found
her own place.
Now, Clark not only has
primary biliary cirrhosis,
but also two autoimmune
deficiencies attacking her
liver, and her spleen has
also been impacted as a
result.
With her various medical
appointments, church
friends Keri Freeman and
Kay Fortner have been her
caregivers.
Faith journey
While Clark’s had a lot
of ups-and-downs over the
past few years, she’s contin
ued looking to God and her
faith in the midst of it all.
A couple dozen faithful
gathered for a special wor
ship service after getting
their fill of food at the
church on Friday.
Associate pastor Will
Anglin led the service in
lieu of pastor Bob Benson.
When it’s been hard for
Clark to get through the
day-to-day of things, she
teared up describing her
friends that carry her and
are continually by her side.
Keri Freeman, also a
praise team member,
described Clark as someone
who, growing up, was
someone who “was always
willing to step in, be a sis
ter, auntie or whatever you
needed.”
Another singer, Shawn
Hall, said that Clark
touched his life when he
started attending The Soul
Filling Station years ago
and heard her sing “The
Anchor Holds.”
“It reached into my
soul...and that’s what it
means, that it (faith) will
hold through anything,” he
said.
“When you know that
you don’t have time or you
possibly may not have time,
it puts things into a whole
different perspective,” Clark
said. “Because [then] you
know time’s short, and
you’ve got to make sure
you’re right with God and
everything you’ve wanted
to do.”
She elaborated that if not
for God, she would’ve
given up a long time ago.
During her whole jour
ney, Clark has inscribed on
her heart part of the Bible
scripture Psalm 91, which
states, “He that dwelleth in
the secret place of the most
High shall abide under the
shadow of the Almighty. I
will say of the FORD, He
is my refuge and my for
tress; my God; in him will I
trust.”
Clark smiled and said of
the scripture, “It’s my
strength.”
The special worship ser
vice began with the song
“Don’t You Tell Me He
Can’t Do It. The lyrics for it
describe seeing God’s heal
ing power at work through
miracles and other stories
that prove His faithfulness,
while also recognizing that
it’s okay to not fully under
stand how God works.
Another song,
“Surrounded (Fight My
Battles)” captured the
mood of the service with
the continual refrain “This
is how I fight my battles.”
Rather than a literal scuf
fle, Clark chooses to fight
her battles with worship
and a circle of people
around her praising and
worshiping. She even got
up to sing a song later in the
night.
“They say I’m dying,”
she said of her doctors, “but
you know what, I think I
feel much better and look
much better than I did a
year ago.”
“So many of us could get
discouraged about what
we’re going through,” said
Will Anglin. “She doesn’t
allow what the doctors told
her to stop her.. .she comes
in [to worship] with hands
raised.”
Billy Anglin, who played
the bass guitar during the
worship event, added that
“at no point” had he seen
Clark lose faith in him as a
fellow believer.
“I love you for who you
are and for coming home,”
he said. “Fet it be said,
we’re fighting with a loved
one. We’re fighting with
you. We love you.”
Eater, he repeated what
Clark had said about her
condition and emphatically
added, “If you’re not dead,
He’s not done.”
The church members and
other friends of Clark
acknowledged Clark’s
future fight ahead of her as
she’s hopefully able to
move forward with getting
a liver transplant.
And they also recognized
that as Christians, the eter
nal victory has already been
won.
With a triumphant fist in
the air, eyes closed and
mind focused on reverent
worship, Clark sang with
the others during the song,
“Ain’t No Grave.”
Clark and the other wor
shipers sang, “When I hear
that trumpet sound, I’m
gonna rise up outta the
ground. There ain’t no
grave gonna hold my body
down.”
Clark
Commissioners talk possible family land gift exemption
By Julia Fechter
jfechter@dawsonnews.com
With generations of fam
ilies wanting to stay in
Dawson County, it’s no
surprise that the Board of
Commissioners took up a
proposal about family gifts
of land during the March 3
work session.
Rather than a formal
variance process, this pro
vision, if ultimately
approved, would allow the
county manager or another
designee, like Planning
and Development, to
approve a family density
exception.
According to agenda
packet documents, that
exception could allow for
the creation of no more
than five lots, including the
parent tract, for intra-fami
ly ownership transfer.
Therefore, minimum lot
dimensions of five acres
would not be required.
BOC Chairman Billy
Thurmond mentioned that
multiple people have con
tacted him about this sort
of idea. He discussed pro
posed language that prop
erty must be deeded with
no money changing hands
and with “love and affec
tion” between family
members.
“It offers a family who
Photo courtesy of Roxanne Howard
The Dawson County Retired Educators Association
held its February meeting on Feb. 15, complete
with a devotional, speaker, line dancing and lunch.
Dawson County Retired Educators
Association holds Feb. meeting
By staff reports
The fourth meeting of Dawson County Retired
Educators Association was held on February 15, 2022.
Dr. Charles Blackstock of Fighthouse Baptist Church
gave the devotional. Janet Duffey spoke on wellness
and the value of movement, then taught the group
steps to several line dances. A delicious lunch was pro
vided by the hospitality committee. DCREA provided
chocolate treats to each of the schools as a pick me up
for the teachers. DCREA’s next meeting will be held
on March 15 at Fiddy’s Cookie Cottage in
Dawsonville.
wants their child to stay in
this county the opportunity
to stay here...so I think it
has some value,”
Thurmond said.
He added that he
received the land he lives
on based on “love and
affection” from his aunt
and uncle.
District 4 Commissioner
Emory Dooley hoped such
an exemption could open
up tracts without opening
up changes to everybody.
He also mentioned mul
tiple families who’ve con
tacted him with the situa
tion that they have several
acres and want to give each
child a couple acres on
which to build a house.
His own house sits on a
little over two acres, he
said, and that land was
given to him by his grand
father. He gave the exam
ple that if at least five acres
of land was given to anoth
er relative now, it wouldn’t
be fair to others who
received property at earlier
times.
Dooley mentioned that
though he understood the
current five-acres require
ment, because of it, there
have recently been issues
of spot zoning with higher
density in the middle of
residential-agricultural
(R-A) properties.
“But I don’t like putting
a burden on families
who’ve been here for years
that just want to expand
what they’ve got,” Dooley
said. “To me, this would
help protect R-A zoning
Dooley, District 1
Commissioner Sharon
Fausett and District 2
Commissioner Gaines all
in different ways pointed
out that protecting R-A
zoning would have to be
balanced with people’s
right to sell.
Gaines added that R-A
zoning close to Ga. 400
may look denser than zon
ing in the county’s north
ern areas.
Since this exemption has
just been proposed, it will
need to go through the
standard public hearing
process, and proposed lan
guage may be changed to
reflect the county’s exact
intentions with the mea
sure.
Dawson County Humane Society
706-265-9160
a no kill shelter
Doggy Spotlight
Meet our little dairy cow looking boy, Stone! This
sweet dog would be perfect for families with high
energy children to run and play and rough house with.
The toughest thing when it come to Stone will be
finding him a home where he gets enough exercise.
He is a high energy boy and he will need a high
energy family to match.
Stone is super friendly to all friends, furry or
not. He does well with other dogs, however, we
always recommend a meet and greet first to ensure
compatibility.
Stone is approximately four years old and weights
60 pounds.
STONE
For more information contact the 706-265-9160 | 633 Martin Rd, Dawsonville
Dawson County Humane Society Adjacent to the Rock Creek Sports Complex
Visit our RESALE SHOP & BOUTIQUE All proceeds benefits
Wed. - Sat. 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. | 54 S. Lumpkin Campground Rd. the Humane bocietv
ANH Collision
Specialists
706-216-0992
103 Industrial Park Road,
Dawsonville
Bradley M. Maple
CPA, PC
706-216-2362
2390 Thompson Rd • Ste 100
Dawsonville
