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6A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, November 23,2022
Mayors’ pets compete for title of ‘cutest dog’
By Erica Jones
ejones@dawsonnews.com
In a friendly city vs.
city competition,
Dawsonville and
Dahlonega are competing
from now through Nov.
28 to decide which mayor
has the cuter dog.
In a contest put on by the
Rotary Club of Dahlonega
Sunrise, community mem
bers can vote to help their
favorite dog win the tide, a
cash prize and a spot in
Dahlonega’s annual
Christmas parade.
Representing
Dawsonville in the contest
is Mayor Eason’s black lab,
Ella, who is a rescue dog.
She was hit by a car when
she was just a puppy and
Eason
Taylor
had several surgeries that
have left her with a smile
that sets her apart from the
competition. According to
a press release by the
Rotary Club of Dahlonega
Sunrise, she is a 92-pound
lap dog who loves to cud
dle and have books read to
her.
“Ella is tough, smart and
extremely friendly just like
Dawsonville,” Dawsonville
businessman and contest
committee member David
Photos courtesy of the Rotary
Club of Dahlonega Sunrise
Dawsonville Mayor
Mike Eason's dog Ella
is competing against
Dahlonega's mayoral
pet for the title of
"Cutest Dog'.'
Robertson said in the
release.
Representing Dahlonega
in the contest is Mayor
Dahlonega Mayor
JoAnne Taylor's dog
Wylly is competing
against Dawsonville's
mayoral pet for the
title of "Cutest Dog"
JoAnne Taylor’s fluffy,
petite cream-colored Wylly,
who is also a rescue and
was abandoned on the
streets by previous owners.
According to the release,
though she was wounded
by fights and seriously
undernourished when she
came to Mayor Taylor,
Wylly has thrived since her
adoption.
“Just like Dahlonega,
Wylly is strong, mighty and
definitely much beloved,”
Dahlonega businessman
and contest committee
member Bruce Varner said
in the release.
Should Mayor Eason’s
Ella win the contest, Taylor
will present Eason with a
bottle of crafted Dahlonega
wine. If Mayor Taylor’s
Wylly wins, Eason will
present Taylor with a bottle
of prized Dawsonville
moonshine. The mayoral
competition has been
intense so far, the release
added, with the vote tally
going up and down
between the two dogs.
Ella and Wylly are two
of dozens of animals
entered in the Dahlonega
Sunrise Rotary’s Pet Photo
contest. Competition cate
gories in the contest
include Cutest Dog, Cutest
Cat, Best Creature Great &
Small (other living ani
mals) and Angel Pet
(departed pets).
Anyone over 18 years
old can enter their pet at
gogophotocontest.com/
dahlonegasunriserotary.
The entry fee is $5 which
includes five votes. Votes
are $1 each, sold in $5
increments.
‘Poverty Simulation’ an eye-opener for community members
Erica Jones Dawson County News
Participants visit different stations Nov. 15, during
Family Connection's "Poverty Simulation" event.
By Erica Jones
ejones@dawsonnews.com
“It was very overwhelm
ing.”
“We just needed a hand
up.”
“You had to make deci
sions about what you can
do without.”
“You couldn’t have any
errors on any level just to
breakeven.”
“I was so happy when it
was over.”
These were some of the
words spoken by Dawson
County community mem
bers and business leaders
following Family
Connection’s Nov. 15
“Poverty Simulation” event.
During the simulation,
participants were assigned
personas and backstories
and challenged to live for a
“month” in their characters’
shoes. Each character was
given an income, bills and
challenges to overcome,
mirroring the lives of those
who are living in poverty.
The exercise was divided
up into four 15-minute
“weeks”, during which
each participant went to
“work”, “school”, and visit
ed several stations set up to
mirror needed resources,
including the bank, grocery
store, social services, medi
cal clinic, mortgage compa
ny and more. With the set
income each participant
was given, they were asked
to figure out how to make
ends meet and pay their
bills for each week, which
often exceeded the amount
of money they had coming
in.
Jessie Moore, a family
consumer sciences agent
with the University of
Georgia Extension office,
facilitates poverty simula
tion programs throughout
the area. She said that the
goal of the exercise is not
only for participants to test
whether they can survive in
poverty, but also to raise
their awareness and empa
thy for those who are living
in poverty for real.
“They have to go
through, pay bills, get food,
make sure their kids go to
school, go to work, so
they’ve got a lot of things
that they have to do to sur
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vive that month,” Moore
said.
Following the simulation,
participants debriefed about
their experiences in the
exercise, expressing their
surprise and frustration at
how difficult making ends
meet, even in a pretend
world, proved to be.
“From an educator’s per
spective, I recognized how
anxious and frustrated par
ents get under very stressful
situations and how they’re
going home and trying to
take care of family in that
situation, so that has a last
ing effect on students that
come to us and that we see
everyday,” one participant
said.
“I had to make the deci
sion between buying medi
cine or feeding my chil
dren,” another participant
said.
Several of the volunteers
who ran the stations also
shared their thoughts, say
ing that having to turn peo
ple away or being unable to
help, even in a simulation,
also proved to be more dif
ficult than they thought.
“You and I think about
‘we’re gonna have
Thanksgiving and
Christmas’ and ‘I’m gonna
go to school and graduate’
and ‘we’re gonna retire
when we’re 65’... those
people that you’re acting
like don’t think past that
first day and they don’t
know how to get to that
next place — and you were
ready to quit after a month,”
one volunteer said.
Rebecca Bliss, coordina
tor for Dawson County
Family Connection, said
that, as someone who
works with families and
individuals in need every
day, she’s seen firsthand the
difficult decisions that peo
ple have to make in order to
survive, like choosing
whether to take their child
to school or take a sick fam
ily member to the hospital.
“You start making deci
sions that you normally
wouldn’t,” Bliss said to the
group during the debrief
ing. “All of your observa
tions warm my heart
because I think you truly
got what you were sup
posed to get out of this and
the empathy for this situa
tion.”
Moore closed the debrief
ing by reminding partici
pants to use their frustration
and the other feelings they
felt during the exercise as a
springboard to help make a
difference for people who
are really living lives simi
lar to the characters in the
simulation.
“There are folks out
there that you will encoun
ter, probably as you walk
out the door, that are deal
ing with a lot of these same
situations and can’t escape
it after an hour or an hour
and a half,” Moore said. “I
hope that you take any of
those frustrations that you
have; that can be great fuel
for projects in the commu
nity and projects you want
to work on as a group or as
an individual to help.”
If you or someone you
know is in need of help or
resources, reach out to
Dawson County Family
Connection at 706-265-
1981 or go to https://
dawson.gafcp.org/.
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