Newspaper Page Text
2A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, May 3,2023
Obituaries
Marcella Hembree
Nichelson
April 27, 2023
Marcella Hembree
Nichelson, age 93, passed
away peacefully surround
ed by family on Thursday,
April 27, 2023, in Ellijay,
Georgia. She was the
daughter of the late Willis
and Irene Markley.
Marcella was born in
Coshocton, Ohio eventually
relocating to Blue Ridge,
Georgia to raise her family.
She established herself as
a remarkable homemaker
for her four beloved chil
dren Shirley, Cindy, Marilyn
and Robert. A member of
the Etowah River Church of
Christ her faith in God was
strong throughout her life.
Marcella was never one to
have idle hands or mind.
She found great joy in art
istry be it painting, crochet
ing, knitting, quilting, or
beautiful seamstress cre
ations. Marcella was
always creating beautiful
things to share with the
world and the world is bet
ter for it. She especially
enjoyed spending time out
doors hiking through the
woods of North Georgia
marveling at God’s creation
and spending time with her
cherished family.
Preceding Marcella in
death were her Sisters
Nancy Bailey and Mary
Grace Holdsworth
(Husband Charles
Holdsworth) first husband
Raleigh Hembree, second
husband Everett Nichelson,
and her son Robert Harold
Hembree Surviving are:
Brother in Law Lyle Bailey,
3 children: Marilyn Godfrey
of Dawsonville, GA, Cindy
Crump (husband James) of
Dahlonega, GAand Shirley
Williams (husband Jerry) of
Blue Ridge, GA; 6 grand
children: Steve Godfrey
(wife Jennifer), Tara
Nichelson (husband Noah),
Roger Jarrard (wife Kayla),
Teofilo Serrano, Mark
Williams (wife Kelly), Amy
Thumm (husband Alby); 11
great grandchildren;
Daughton Godfrey (wife
Leann), Jace Godfrey (fian
ce Brandy) and Kailer
Godfrey, Coleman and
Madeleine Nichelson,
Brooke Contegiacomo
(husband Austin), Mally
Roeder (husband Jordan),
Macey Williams, Justin
Baney (fiance Sarah),
Mckinleyand Emileigh
Baney; 3 great-great
grandchildren: Steven
Godfrey, Raleigh Godfrey,
Huck Roeder. Graveside
service will be held at
Chastian Memorial Park in
Blue Ridge, Georgia on
May 6th at 3:00pm.
In lieu of flowers the family
requests donations be sent
in memory of Marcella
Nichelson to Camp
Wetoga, 500 Mill Road,
Morganton, GA 30560.
Cochran Funeral Homes is
honored to serve the family
of Marcella Nichelson.
William Jerry Mann
September 13,1946
April 26, 2023
William Jerry Mann (Jerry)
was born on September
13, 1946, and passed away
April 26, 2023, after an
extended illness. Jerry was
a loving husband, father,
grandfather, and great
grandfather, who was a
true car enthusiast, and
who dearly loved his
extended family and many
friends. He is survived by
his wife, Karon Kimbrell
Mann, daughters, Jerri
Lynn Daniel and late son-
in-law, Robbie Daniel, and
Alesha Walker and son-in-
law, Andrew Walker Jr., five
grandchildren, and three
great- grandchildren.
No services are planned at
this time. Condolences
may be expressed at www.
mcdonaldandson.com.
Arrangements by
McDonald and Son Funeral
Home, 150 Sawnee Drive,
Cumming, GA30040 (770)
886.9899
Death Notices
Jason Paul
Freeman
April 22, 2023
Jason Paul Freeman, 33,
of Cumming, died
Saturday, April 22nd.
Memorial service,
Wednesday, April 26th at 6
p.m., Bearden Funeral
Home Chapel.
Catholic church offers Mass
for special needs attendees
Julia Hansen Dawson County News
Special Needs Apostolate co-leaderTony Mancini
displays touch and color-friendly tiles to help
entertain attendees of the new Mass.
By Julia Hansen
jhansen@dawsonnews.com
After 10-plus years of
intentionally serving indi
viduals with special needs,
one Dawson County
church is growing its min
istry to help those attend
ees experience fellowship
in a fun, safe way.
Christ the Redeemer
Catholic Church will hold
its first Special Needs
Mass this Sunday, May 7,
starting at 9 a.m. in the
church’s Life Teen Room.
These new services will
be held on the first Sunday
of each month at the
Catholic church, which is
located at 991 Kilough
Church Road.
“This first Mass has
been long anticipated and
very much needed. It’s the
next step for our
Apostolate,” said parishio
ner Tony Mancini.
This new mass is the lat
est way for parishioners to
serve locals of all disabili
ty levels, ages and denom
inations through the
church’s Special Needs
Apostolate.
Motivated in part by
their son who has high-
functioning autism, Tony
Mancini and his wife,
Anne worked with other
congregants and area com
munity members to start
the group. So far, the SNA
has been able to offer
activities like fun nights
and a booth at the Georgia
Racing Hall of Fame’s
2022 Labor Day Car
Show.
The church’s Life Teen
room already includes
comfortable seating, like
couches and bean bag
chairs, and there’s more
space to place extra chairs
so that 15-20 attendees can
be a part of the Special
Needs Mass, Mancini said.
The room’s ample space
allows supervising volun
teers to better respond to
any attendee needs or
behaviors, he added.
A live feed of Mass will
be projected onto a wall.
Volunteers trained as
Extraordinary Ministers of
the Eucharist or EMEs
will also help with com
munion.
Since it would be diffi
cult to coordinate taking
Special Needs Mass attend
ees to and from commu
nion in the main sanctuary,
the sacrament can be
brought directly to them
instead, Mancini said.
Per the church’s tradi
tion, communion specifi
cally will be offered to
individuals and their fami
lies who are practicing
Catholics.
He displayed a bevy of
toys and calming tools
gathered for attendees,
such as a hugging device
to help calm down chil
dren on the spectrum, sen
sory and floor rockers, a
crash pad and colored
seating and floor tiles.
“These are the types of
things that’ll keep a child
with a disability issue or
issues comfortable and
happy,” Mancini said.
He added that there’s
“something for every
body” and pointed out that
the devices are designed to
be not noisy and close to
the ground to prevent falls.
“This way the family
can attend Mass,” Mancini
said, looking around at the
collection of toys. “If the
child is busy, they’re less
apt to be disruptive.”
Scheduled volunteers
will help monitor attend
ees and make sure they
stay in the Life Teen area.
Mancini explained how
the church priest, Father
Brian Higgins’, shared in
his eagerness for the apos-
tolate’s mission.
“Father Higgins gave us
donations for all this stuff
from donations for his sis
ter... who passed away (in
2021) from cerebral palsy.
People donated money and
gifts to her.. .so he gave all
the money to our group to
do stuff like this,” Mancini
said, adding that the apos-
tolate’s special needs-
friendly toys and tools
“aren’t cheap.”
“He’d love for us to
become the hub in north
ern Georgia for activities
towards special needs
[families],” Mancini said
of his priest.
Just like the other
Special Needs Apostolate
programming, people of
all disability levels, ages
and denominations are
open to attend this particu
lar Mass, which has been a
longtime goal of the min
istry to start, he said.
“With watching efforts
develop over recent
months,” Mancini said,
“the cool part is that we’re
finally getting here.”
Gov. Kemp signs three military bills
ByT.A. DeFeo
The Center Square
Georgia Gov. Brian
Kemp signed three bills
that he said would provide
“support and resources for
the brave men and women
who have worn a uniform
for our country.”
House Bill 414 orders
the Department of
Veterans Service to create
a mental health support
program grant for veterans
and their families. Senate
Bill 21 revamps the
Georgia Veterans Service
Foundation, a move pro
ponents say will better
deliver resources to those
who need them.
House Bill 175 creates a
specialty license plate for
retired Georgia National
Guard and active-duty
reserve members. It also
exempts ad valorem taxes
for cars owned by dis
abled veterans in the state.
Ga. commissions
see mostly steady
unemployment
Most of Georgia’s
regional commissions
reported unchanged
unemployment rates in
March.
However, state officials
said three regional com
missions — the Georgia
Mountains, Heart of
Georgia and River Valley
Regional — reported
slight unemployment rate
rises.
“Although we continue
enjoying record-low
unemployment numbers
and jobs at an all-time
high, our team is laser-
focused on meeting future
demands,” Georgia Labor
Commissioner Bruce
Thompson said in an
announcement.
King Crossword
ACROSS
worker
8
Mel of many
1
Cuts off
40
Lean to one
voices
5
Cookout, brief
side
9
Hearing aids?
ly
41
Redacted
10
Inventor
8
Gridlock sound 45
Poker variety
Whitney
12
Jacob's broth
47
— Victor
11
Knee protector
er
49
Art Deco mas
19
1040 org.
13
Actress Lucy
ter
21
Many millennia
14
In — land
50
Carton sealer
23
Unemotional
15
Goatee's spot
51
Texas tea
24
Perched on
16
Here (Fr.)
52
Albacore, e.g.
25
Labels
17
Saharan
53
Cold War ini
26
Biting remark
18
Submit
tials
27
Pakistani lan
20
Give temporar
54
'60s war zone
guage
ily
55
Once around
28
New compa
22
Blue blood
the sun
nies
26
Tour vehicles
32
Uncharged
29
Toe count
DOWN
particle
30
Actress Hagen
1
Nobel ist
33
Full feeling
31
Sciences' part
Walesa
35
Crony
ner
2
Job-safety org.
36
Bankroll
32
Auction signal
3
Ache
38
Duck down
33
Urban haze
4
Ice cream par
39
Kingdom
34
Vitamin stat
lor orders
42
Loyal
35
Architect I.M.
5
Russian pan
43
Sicilian spouter
—
cakes
44
Beloved
36
Stinging
6
Pen name
45
R-V link
insects
7
Took part in a
46
Prof's helpers
37
Administrative
bee
48
Spy org.
1
2
3
4
1
5
6
7
1
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
■
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
■
41
42
43
44
45
46
1
47
48
1
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
© 2023 King Features Synd., Inc.
y
V
3
l/\l
V
N
9
s
s
n
V
N
n
i
3
1
o
3
d
V
i
3
1
y
3
v
0
9
9
n
1
s
a
3
i
1
a
9
■
1
1
1
i
1
V
y
0
n
V
3
y
n
a
s
d
s
V
1
3
d\
V
a
a
0
0
i/\i
s
a
0
N
r
S
i
y
V
V
1
n
N
3
1
3
s
n
a
i
V
y
0
O
i
s
i
y
V
a
N
3
■
N
i
a
N
V
H
a
1
y
v
'
0
'
N
1
H
0
V
1
V
n
1
3
n
V
S
3
d
3
3
9
D
a
9
s
d
O
i
^ Daws o n C o u nty N e ws
A Metro Market Media Publication
Established in 2015 by the merger of Dawson Community News and Dawson News and Advertiser
30 Shoal Creek Road i PUBLISHER | Stephanie Woody
Dawsonville, GA 30534
PHONE (706) 265-3384 EDITOR | Erica Jones
FAX (706) 265-3276
usps 018-876 | Updates online at DawsonNews rii
Display advertising
For Wednesday: Retail
and Classified deadlines
are 3 p.m. Friday
Classified liners
(help wanted, for sale, etc.)
For Wednesday: Deadline
is noon Monday
Advertising rates available upon
request.
To subscribe to the Dawson County News:
ONE YEAR | $79.99
TWO YEARS | $149.99
For our digital subscription offerings,
go to dawsonnews.com/subscribe
Published Wednesdays by the Dawson County News Co., 30 Shoal
Creek Road, Dawsonville, GA 30534. Second-class postage paid at
Dawsonville, Ga., and additional offices. Postmaster: Send address
changes to Dawson County News, P.O. Box 1600, Dawsonville,
GA 30534.
