Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, April 20,2022
dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 3A
Local man nominated for Georgia Author of the Year
Photo courtesy of Larry Freeland
Freeland as a soldier during the Vietnam War,
which began in 1955 and ended in 1975.
By Erica Jones
ejones@dawsonnews.com
Dawson County author
Larry Freeland has been
nominated in the Georgia
Author of the Year awards
for his historical fiction
novel “Chariots in the Sky:
A Story About U.S. Assault
Helicopter Pilots at War in
Vietnam”.
Freeland, who served one
tour in Vietnam with the
101st Airborne Division as
an Infantry Officer and
CH-47 helicopter pilot,
wrote his novel as a histori
cal fiction book based on
his own personal experi
ence and his memories
from his time in Vietnam.
While the characters in the
book are fictional, almost
everything else in the novel
is based off of events that
happened to Freeland or
others with him during his
time in Vietnam.
Freeland completed his
book in 2020, signing a
contract with Publish
Authority and releasing it in
early 2021. Since then, he
said that the novel has gar
nered a great deal of posi
tive feedback from readers.
“The book itself has been
doing very well; it’s been
number one on Kindle
e-book off and on now
since December in one of
the two categories they
carry it,” Freeland said. “It’s
been in the top 5 going
back into November of last
year and then it hit one and
it’s been bouncing back and
forth between one and two
so I’ve been very pleased
with that.”
Freeland said that he’s
heard feedback on his book
from dozens of readers,
including fellow veterans
who also served in the
Vietnam war.
“The feedback has been
incredible, and there’s a lot
of veterans that have
responded very well to my
book,” Freeland said. “I’ve
had several people of vari
ous age groups saying ‘I
had no idea about this stuff;
I just didn’t know’, so it
was kind of an eye-opener
for a lot of people.”
Recently, Freeland heard
news that he had been nom
inated in the “First Novel”
category in the Georgia
Author of the Year awards
for 2022. He said that he
was surprised and honored
to hear about the nomina
tion, which began with his
publisher submitting his
novel to the contest.
“He knew about this and
he was responsible for
pushing it before them and
then I was notified back in
December to provide them
more information and was
being considered for a
nomination,” Freeland said.
"I didn’t hear anything and
then all of a sudden I got a
flash bulletin from a
Facebook posting of theirs
that I was nominated and I
said ‘wow this is terrific’.”
Including Freeland, there
are a total of 8 authors
nominated in the “First
Novel” category. All of the
books will be judged, and
the winners of each catego
ry will be announced on
Facebook Live on June 11
at 10 a.m.
Freeland said that he’s
incredibly honored to be
nominated for the award,
and that both the nomina
tion and seeing the response
from his readers has been
rewarding after all the hard
work he put into writing the
book.
“I’m just amazed at how
they can get the word out
and just spread all over the
place — it’s been a trip,”
Freeland said. "It’s a story
I’ve been wanting to tell;
it’s very gratifying to me
the response it’s received
and the reviews it’s received
and just the feedback. It’s a
very extensive process so I
was just very pleased that I
was nominated.”
Up next for Freeland, he
said that he has signed a
contract with Publish
Authority for a trilogy, the
first installment of which
should be releasing this
summer.
"We’re in the final stages
of the editing process for
the first book and if every
thing goes well we hope to
publish it in May or June;
we’ll certainly have it out
this summer,” Freeland
said. ‘“Legacy of Honor’ I
think will end up being the
main title, and then book
one will be ‘The Patriarch’,
book two will be ‘The Son’
and book three will be ‘The
Descendants’.”
The new trilogy, Freeland
said, will cover a timeline
of about 100 years and fol
low one family’s three gen
erations of men who fight
in all of the nation’s battles
and wars.
“Book one is a man fight
ing in World War I, book
two will be about his son
who is an aviator and will
serve in World War II, and
then he’ll have some sons
that will be in the third
book and that’ll cover all
the things we’ve done post-
Korea and the Cold War,
which will start with
Vietnam,” Freeland said.
“It’s looking good, I feel
real good about it.”
Freeland added that he
will keep readers updated
on the release date of his
new book and any other
announcements through his
website and social media.
For more information
about the Georgia Author
of the Year award including
a full list of nominees and
how to tune into the
announcement of the win
ners, go to https://www.
authoroftheyear.org/.
To read more about
Freeland and his book and
to order a copy of “Chariots
in the Sky: A Story About
U.S. Assault Helicopter
Pilots at War in Vietnam”,
go to https ://larryfreeland.
com/.
NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING
The City of Dawsonville hereby gives notice that a public meeting will be held on
Thursday, April 21, 2022 at 1:00 p.m. at Dawsonville City Hall, 415 Highway 53
East, Suite 100, Dawsonville, Georgia 30534.
The purpose of the public meeting is to:
1. Inform the public of the need for improvements to the City’s wastewater
system;
2. To comply with section 391-3-6-02 of Georgias Water Quality Control
Rules and Regulations (and amendments there to);
3. To encourage public involvement in the development of a plan to improve
the sewerage system;
4. To discuss the Environmental Information Document for the proposed
improvements.
Teacher gets pretrial diversion for Florida offenses
By Julia Fechter
jfechter@dawsonnews.com
A Dawson County man
and former DeSana Middle
School teacher is undergo
ing a pretrial diversion pro
gram after he was arrested
in Florida for indecent
exposure.
Last September, Coby
Shane Rosson, 35, was
apprehended for exposing
himself to multiple victims
who were in a pool at a Fort
Walton Beach condomini
um.
Pre-trial diversion, also
known as pre-trial release,
is an option offered to first
time offenders charged with
misdemeanor or felony
offenses.
Upon review of case
records, DCN requested
Rosson’s pretrial document
last week and subsequently
obtained an electronic ver
sion.
Rosson signed an agree
ment with the State of
Florida to begin the
12-month program, starting
on Jan. 13, 2022. The con
ditions for remaining in the
program include that
Rosson must not break the
law or associate with peo
ple who do.
He has to maintain a law
ful job and attend counsel
ing and all scheduled
appointments, and he must
also report monthly to
Judicial Correction
Services, among other con
ditions.
“If the defendant success
fully completes this pro
gram in accordance with
the contract signed by the
state and the defendant,”
stated the document, “the
State of Florida will file a
nolle prosequi or otherwise
permanently drop this
case.”
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Voting
Schedule
For the Democratic or Republican & Nonpartisan
General/Soecial Election of Mav 24. 2022
Voter Registration
Deadline:
Advance Voting:
/
f
April 25th
(new and changes)
May 2-May 20, 2022 ~
Mon - Fri 8am to 5pm
Sat-May 7 & 14, 2022-
9am to 5pm
At Board of Elections office -
96 Academy Ave
** Note: Absentee by mail ballot applications for elderly/disabled/military
need to be requested each election year, in order to receive ballots, by
mail, for the remainder of that year; time frame to request begins
78 days prior and ends 11 days prior to the election
on the application supplied by the Secretary of State’s office.
httDs://securemvabsenteeballot. sos. oa. gov/s/
** ALL absentee voters:_
Mav 13. 2022 is the last day to request an absentee ballot.
All Polls will be open Election Day from 7:00 am - 7:00 pm
1. ) WEST precinct - at Fire Station #6 on Hubbard Rd
2. ) CENTRAL precinct - at Board of Elections office, 96 Academy Avenue
3. ) EAST precinct - at Fire Station #2 on Liberty Drive
(next to Tractor Supply)
If in question about your voting location, and/or to view a sample ballot
you may visit “My Voter Page’’ @ https://mvp.sos.aa.aov/s/ or
call the Elections & Registration office at 706-344-3640
~ It is, also, strongly advised to familiarize yourself with a sample ballot.
There are several offices for vote. All is located on our website.
(No voting on Monday prior to all elections).
PLEASE NOTE: Due to continual concerns of health risks due
to COVID-19 & it’s variants, we ask that you exercise social distancing.
Any necessary changes will be posted to our website and Facebook page.
During the public meeting the City will attempt to identify public preferences for
alternative methods of improving the City’s wastewater treatment capacity. These
alternatives will be evaluated and included in the City’s Environmental Informa
tion Document.
Public participation is considered essential to the selection and development of
the final plan to be adopted prior to its approval by the State of Georgia, Depart
ment of Natural Resources.
This document is available for public inspection at the at the City of Dawsonville
offices located at 415 Highway 53 East, Suite 100, Dawsonville, Georgia 30534 or
at the office of Turnipseed Engineers, 2255 Cumberland Parkway, Building 400,
Atlanta, Georgia, 30339. The City will receive comments through April 21, 2022.
For additional information contact the City of Dawsonville at 706-265-3256.
Northeast Georgi;
Health System
Health Sy:
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CUMMING, GA 30041
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