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4A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, May 18,2022
Lanier Tech celebrates Class of 2022 with ceremony
By Erica Jones
ejones@dawsonnews.com
Lanier Technical
College held its 56th
annual commencement
ceremony on May 6, cele
brating the school’s class
of 2022.
According to a release
by Lanier Technical
College, this year marked
the first in-person gradua
tion ceremony since the
beginning of the COVID-
19 pandemic.
“Following two years of
drive-through commence
ments due to the COVID-
19 pandemic, 328 exhila
rated graduates walked in-
person through Lanier
Tech’s Hall campus Quad
to receive their creden
tials,” the release said.
College leadership,
board members, academic
deans, instructors and staff
were all present at the cer
emony, along with the
graduates’ family and
friends, to cheer them on
at the commencement.
Lanier Technical College
President Tim McDonald
shared opening remarks at
the ceremony, commend
ing the Class of 2022 for
its hard work and for mak
ing history with its num
ber of graduates and the
degrees they earned.
“The Class of 2022 is
1,129 strong, earning over
2,000 individual creden
tials,” McDonald said dur
ing his remarks. “Your
class also earned more
than 390 associate degrees
and 400 diplomas which
is an all-time record. You
are an extremely bright
class, carrying an average
program GPA of 3.46, and
set an all-time college
enrollment record in fall
of 2021 with 5,065 stu
dents.”
According to the
release, students were
excited to walk in person
and to receive their diplo
mas at the commencement
ceremony.
“I am currently a certi
fied nurse assistant at
Northeast Georgia
Medical Center thanks to
the program at Lanier
Tech,” Medical Assisting
Program Graduate Lizbeth
Rodriguez said in the
release. “Now I’ve com
pleted the Medical
Assisting program as well,
which really made me fall
more in love with the
medical field.
Accomplishing these pro
grams really helped me
find my passion.”
“I have truly enjoyed
my time here and the pro
gram has made me into
the person I wanted to be,”
Motorsports Vehicle
Technology Graduate
Ridge Hobson added.
Photos courtesy of Lanier Technical College
Lanier Technical College celebrated the school's Class of 2022 with a com
mencement ceremony on May 6.
‘The Place’ marks one year near downtown Dawsonville
Julia Fechter Dawson County News
A team from Keller Williams Community Partners volunteered with The
Place of Dawson at RIC-Rack's food pantry on May 12.
By Julia Fechter
jfechter@dawsonnews.com
With dozens of people
preparing grocery orders,
sorting items and answer
ing questions, the efforts
at The Place of Dawson at
RIC-Rack last Thursday
painted a genuine picture
of the phrase “helping
hands.”
This past weekend, The
Place of Dawson County
celebrated one full year of
working with the long
standing RIC-Rack thrift
store, located at 829 Ga. 9
in Dawsonville. The Place
was founded in Forsyth
County in 1975, where it’s
worked for over 40 years
serving community needs.
In 2021, The Place of
Forsyth County merged
with RIC-Rack Thrift
Shop and Food Bank to
form The Place of
Dawson County. Since
then,
The Place has been sup
porting Dawson County
families in need through a
variety of services, rang
ing from the food pantry
and thrift store to career
and skills coaching, rental
and utilities assistance and
more.
The Place of Dawson
County office is located at
517 Allen Street in
Dawsonville. Their office
is currently open on
Mondays from 10 a.m. to
2 p.m., Wednesdays from
noon to 4 p.m. and
Thursdays from 10 a.m. to
2 p.m.
The nonprofit’s food
pantry at 829 Ga. 9 North
is open on Thursdays and
Fridays from 10 a.m. to 1
p.m., and its thrift store is
open Tuesdays through
Saturdays from 10 a.m. to
5 p.m. People can find
more information about
the nonprofit’s services at
www.theplaceofdawson.
org, by calling 770-288-
0088 or emailing info@
theplaceofdawson.org.
Throughout the week,
the Dawson-area nonprofit
hosted appreciation days
for clients, local govern
ment employees and
school officials and
offered thrift store discoun
ts and raffled goodies to
commemorate what
they’ve been able to
accomplish alongside the
community this past year.
One of The Place at
Dawson’s accomplish
ments was the transition to
a client choice system
where people can select
toiletries and other such
items needed in addition
to food.
The system operates
similar to chain grocery
store pickup.
Nonperishables are
packed at a separate loca
tion, while produce, dairy
and/or meat requested is
placed into bags at the
Dawson location. Also
included for clients now is
a recipe of the month.
Outreach Coordinator
Amy Palmer and Food
Services Manager
Deborah Ross have been
mindful of local internet
difficulties and helped cli
ents fill out their orders
either over the phone or in
person using tablets.
“It’s about taking out
any barriers,” Palmer said.
If someone forgets to
order groceries, they can
pick up an emergency bag
so they don’t leave The
Place of Dawson at RIC-
Rack without food, she
added.
Clients may also take as
many quick-pick food and
other grocery items as
they need. Ross estimated
that the food pantry serves
upwards of 40 Dawson
County families.
Like its Forsyth coun
terpart, the nonprofit’s
Dawson thrift store con
tains clothing, kitchen
ware, home decor, elec
tronics, furniture and other
items sorted across two
floors or levels.
“The great thing about
our thrift store is all the
money stays local and is
poured back into the com
munity,” Palmer said.
Clients may receive
vouchers if they need but
otherwise cannot afford
clothing, furniture or dish
es. For example, said
Palmer, school social
workers have vouchers so
that students and families
in need are able to come
over and pick out items.
Palmer said food is “just
the beginning” in terms of
The Place’s desire to
empower clients.
“Our big thing is pur
pose,” she said. “We really
want to help people have
purpose, autonomy and
confidence.”
To that end, The Place
offers essential services
such as free GED classes
with childcare and dinner
or computer office skills
coaching to help people
become more self-suffi
cient.
“Because we don’t
receive state and federal
funds, we can look for
gaps in service,” Palmer
added, explaining how
they look at the communi
ty and work with other
agencies. “We don’t want
to reinvent the wheel...if
there’s another organiza
tion that can help.”
Along with the staff,
volunteers play an integral
role in The Place of
Dawson’s thrift store and
food pantry operations.
Palmer appreciates the
volunteers all the more
with her smaller staff.
“There are people that
are here every week, and
we don’t take them for
granted,” she said. “It’s
such an honor for them to
come here.”
Groups like Cumming-
area Keller Williams
Community Partners help
with tasks like sorting
donations, fulfilling the
perishable parts of client
orders or restocking at the
food pantry. Kailah Garcia
with Keller Williams
explained that Thursday
was their office’s RED
Day, which stands for
“renew, energize and
donate.” The occasion
serves as an international
day of service for each
realty office to give back
to their local community.
This year, the Cumming
office is donating time and
resources to The Place and
humane societies in both
Forsyth and Dawson
counties as well as to the
senior center in Forsyth
County.
“All of our agents go
out and work on these dif
ferent projects just to give
back to the community
that we [already] help
serve at Keller Williams,”
Garcia said.
Families and individuals
have also joined alongside
larger groups to help with
The Place.
“I’m in a networking
group with a guy where he
said, ‘I want my kids to
see the community...just
to open up their world,
[so] he and his kids came
and helped with the food
pantry,” Palmer said.
She reflected on the last
year, calling it “amazing”
and voicing gratitude for
the community’s eager
embrace of The Place of
Dawson. Earlier this
spring, the nonprofit
received the “Best of
Dawson” award for “Best
Thrift Store.” Then, at the
Chamber of Commerce’s
annual gala, The Place
accepted an award for
“Outstanding New
Member.”
At the nonprofit’s core,
the organization is rela
tional at heart and cen
tered on building rapport
with clients.
“We just love building
relationships and being
there [with clients] through
the good times and the bad
times,” Palmer said.
Dawson County Humane Society
a no kill shelter
706-265-9160
Doggy Spotlight
Gabriel is a big boy and going to need owners who recognize he will be a lot to handle.
Gabriel has amazing potential to be a loyal and very loving dog however, he will not
be easy. This big boy would do best with experienced German Shepherd owners who
will more easily recognize the traits of the breed that have gotten out of hand over the
course of his time here, one of those traits being his resource guarding.
At first meets Gabriel is often aloof or standoffish as he has a tough time meeting
new people, however, once he has a chance to calm down and bond with someone, he
hecomes extremely attached, and has heen known to resource guard them, their space,
and anything the belongs to them. It is a very common trait for this breed and even more
common in animals that have been displaced multiple times. Potential adopters will need
to be aware and open to finding solutions to solve these issues as they arise.
Gabriel is a bit choosy with people and other animals, so it will prohahly take some time
and effort before you can bring him home with you, as well as a meet-and-greet if you
have other fur-babies. If you’re an experienced pet-parent looking for a loyal-to-the-end
kind of companion, comeby the shelter and introduce yourself to Gabriel today! He is
eight years old and weighs about 110 pounds.
Gabriel
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
Wed. - Sat. 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. | 54 S. Lumpkin Campground Rd.
All proceeds benefits
the Humane Society
Bradley M. Maple
CPA, PC
706-216-2362
2390 Thompson Rd • Ste 100
Dawsonville
Dawsonville
Veterinary
Hospital
706-265-8381
ANH Collision
Specialists
706-216-0992
103 Industrial Park Road,
Dawsonville
