About Fayette County news. (Fayetteville, GA) 2009-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 22, 2023)
A6 Fayette County News Wednesday, February 22,2023 Tyrone DDA Discusses Return of First Friday Events THE TOWN OF TYRONE f£ PARKS & RECREATION EVENT CALENDAR 2023 V4 3/ SPRING MARKET APRIL 21 *FIRST FRIDAY MAY 5 *FIRST FRIDAY JUNE 2 *FIRST FRIDAY JULY 7 *FIRST FRIDAY AUGUST 4 *FIRST FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 1 FOUNDERS DAY OCTOBER 6 & 7 TRICK-OR-TREAT AROUND THE LAKE OCTOBER 27 TOWN TREE LIGHTING & MARKET NOVEMBER 26 *A DDA Event All events are at Shamrock Park Retail Package Stores Granted License Extension Sydney Spencer News Reporter sspencer@fayette-news.net TYRONE — For the first time in 2022, the Town of Tyrone held its own “First Friday” events. On the first Friday of every month, be ginning in summer, Ty rone’s Downtown Development Authority hosted fun, family-oriented events that brought music and food to life in the town. On Monday, Feb. 13, the DDA met again to discuss the possibility of reviving the events in 2023. The discussion was con tinued from previous DDA meetings and was held to fully establish the official schedule, but also the un derstanding of the budget, that will be responsible from the DDA, as well as the town of Tyrone’s recreation committee. While the Tyrone Parks and Recreation website has already listed dates for First Friday events, the specifics and ideas for festivities are still up in the proverbial air. The dates on the events cal endar are: May 5, June 2, July 7, Aug. 4, and Sept. 1. All events are scheduled to take place at Shamrock Park. Assistant Town Man ager Philip Trocquet led the conversation by redirecting members of the committee to the previous ideas that have been discussed, to garner an understanding of the schedule, ideas, and fi nancial undertakings be tween both the town’s recreation department and the DDA. Soon after over view of the topic, Trocquet passed the meeting to Ty rone Parks and Recreation Manager Lynda Owens. “We tried to break it down into themes, and Jeni has been working with us a little bit on that,” Owens said. “The first one would be a Motown concert. It would be all inclusive, and every one loves Motown. So, we really want to start this event with a huge bang.” Owens ensured the DDA that many of the ideas and groups that she lists for the schedule have not been contacted yet without the DDA’s “blessing.” Since the events and concerts may draw large groups, the facil ities and stages that are needed to accommodate the size may come with a hefty price tag. “We would need a stage that’s bigger than the one we have, because we have the one that we own that’s portable, and we have the one that AIB is generous enough to have us borrow (the trailer stage), but neither one is big enough,” Owens said. “So, we’re going to have to have a rental stage. A rental stage is a little over $1,000 for the size we need.” Owens continued to dis cuss the ideas for each First Friday, including a second “Funk Concert,” a country concert, and a movie night that would be themed around the film, “How To Train your Dragon,” and a full slate of family fun ideas that could be enjoyable for all members of the Tyrone community, including small giveaways for children. In the discussion of con certs, Owens repeated that the highlighted necessities of each would be the stage, treats for the children, and a stage canopy. For movie night, ho wever, the necessities are a little different and would re quire some input from the DDA in order to bring that idea to fruition. “We would need a screen, which is about $1,500. We need the actual movie, which is right at $500. It’s rented from SWANK and it’s a one-time thing. We are paying for the movie rights to show it, and the [technicians], they come and show it and they tie it down,” Owens said. “The grand total for the event is right around $13,000, but when you make an adjustment, Third Shift Band, which did not play last year, is going to reimburse Complete Hard ware $400,” he continued. “They are going to mail it di rectly to him, and I assume that he will make a check to the DDA for $400.” Owens expressed that the Town of Tyrone Parks and Recreation Department would like to work in con junction with the DDA to fi nalize the events and begin to organize each of the fes tivities to maximize time and opportunities, while also hoping to have them sponsor the events and pay for the stage itself. This would drop the grand total of each aspect of festivities by almost half. “We, as Tyrone Recrea tion for the Town of Tyrone, would like to do, in conjunc tion with you all, as a spon sor or however you want to do it, pay for the stage. So, that deducts almost $4,400 off the bill. So, that would bring the grand total to $7,956,” Owens said. The only question Owens posed to the DDA is whether they believed that facilities, such as portable toilets and “hand-wash sta tions," are necessary for the events. The use of these fa cilities is not in the financial breakdown and was not last year, but there were no complaints on this matter last year, according to Owens. The debate began among the DDA about how much a stage could cost for all the summer’s events, and the questions of whether the stage is nec essary for every event, while the stage is necessary for the concerts. DDA Chairman Billy Campbell highlighted the cost of the stage and whether the DDA was able to take on that financial ad dition. Trocquet asked whether the town could use the stage for two out of the four con certs while using a smaller stage for the other two con certs, which would cut the cost of the larger stage. Ideas were tossed back and forth among DDA members when it came to funding for the stage, be tween comparisons of the dimensions of the stage that was currently owned by the town and the new, larger stage. The debate concluded with Owens asking what the consensus was with the ap proval. Campbell asked if Owens would be able to book all the performers and come back with possible contracts and/or documen tation for approval. No official action was taken. Sydney Spencer News Reporter sspencer@fayette-news.net Local retail package stores have requested ap proval of time extensions on their licenses, and Fay etteville City Council voted unanimously to accommo date the requests during its Feb. 16 meeting. “We have four current package store licensees that are under construc tion or in the construction process to build a new building on their prop erty,” said Downtown and Economic Development Director Brian Wismer. “The ordinance requires applicants to open within 12 months of receiving their license. Obviously, with new construction, some things can take longer, but the four that are nearing expiration are in various phases of devel opment, but they are ac tively pursuing their proj ects.” Wismer went on to ex plain why the owners would need the extension and how granting the ex tension would keep them in good standing with the city’s ordinances. “Most of them have their permits, final devel opment plan review, and are scheduled for comple tion by the end of the cal endar year. Obviously, we’ve seen things can happen towards the end,” he said. “Staff would rec ommend, for the four that are nearing expiration, that you would grant these four a 12-month extension. Hopefully, they don’t need the full 12, but that will at least allow them to keep their licenses for 2023 with good standing.” Council approved the 12-month extensions. Genesis Preparatory Academy Hosting Black History Living Museum, Welcomes Community Involvement FAYETTEVILLE - Gen esis Preparatory Academy will host a Black History Month program entitled, “The Living Museum: The Black Family Pursuit of Excellence” on Feb. 28, from 6-8 p.m. at Triumph Station, located at 300 City Center Drive in Fayetteville. “We welcome the com munity to join us in celebrat ing and honoring young students who have impacted the world and will be change agents in their community! The museum will be reflecting on the village philosophy and focusing on the community spirit that has taught past, Safest City, Continued from Front the crimes to highlight and rate the safest and least safe small cities and towns. In Peachtree City, the cost of crime decreased to $116 crime cost per capita, making it the safest town in Georgia by Crossroads Today qualifications. Peachtree City Mayor Kim Learnard says she is proud of this distinction and thanks the public safety officials and officers who continue to make the city safe for its residents and community leaders. "We are pleased to re ceive this distinction. In Peachtree City, we have a strong culture of support Fayetteville, Continued from Front some of the issues by doing minor things in the different areas until we could come with a permanent solution.” Hindman then ex plained how the project re ceived its first bids and which one would help most with the success of the proj ect. present, and future historical figures. Come for a night to focus on the family to be in spired to cultivate change,” commented officials. GPA invites the com munity to attend this event is are looking for vendors, speakers, and performers. GPA is also looking for and accepting local sponsorships for this event as officials plan to make it “bigger and better than ever before.” Interested parties can contact the school at 678-519- 3776 or email info@genesis- consultinggroupllc.com. for our public safety em ployees. We also continue to invest in the tools our po lice, firefighters, and EMTs need to keep our com munity safe,” Learnard said. While Peachtree City is named the safest city in Georgia, it is not the only Georgia city or town added to the national list. Ad ditional Georgia municipal ities listed include Milton, Johns Creek, Canton, Ken- nesaw, Woodstock, Dun- woody, Alpharetta, Smyrna, Dalton, Roswell, Marietta, Rome, Brookhaven, Law- renceville, Gainesville, Statesboro, Warner Robins, Newnan, Valdosta, Cham- blee, Douglasville, La- Grange, and Albany. “We did go out to bid and received two formal bids on Dec. 20 of last year. The low bidder in that proj ect is Crawford Grading; they do a lot of work for us in the city. The bid, which was the low bid, was $986,341. Falcon Engineer ing is the engineer on this project and did send a rec ommendation letter,” said Hindman. STAR Student, Continued from Front From McIntosh High School, the STAR Student is Om Swapnil Malavde, and the STAR Teacher is Barbara Baker, who teaches advanced band I and II, advanced jazz band, and mastery band I and II. For St. Mary’s Academy, the STAR Stu dent is Victor Bui, and the STAR Teacher is Ryan Schilling, who teaches physics 11 and AP physics (C) 12. From Sandy Creek High School, the STAR Student BHM, Continued from Front people of color from years ago, from lynching, from the Civil Rights move ment to voting rights and things that we are still re sisting today. “We’re moving for ward and we have won derful things that are currently in progress that our Fayette County/Fay etteville NAACP is sup porting and hosting. We’re coming together as a community to build strength and to just sup port our fellow Fayette County citizens each day as we grow stronger and learn more from each other in our community,” Copeland explained. The event featured presentations from Ken neth Bryant and Alice Jones, members of the NAACP. Keynote Speaker Johnnie “Jet” Jones, one of the first African Ameri can pilots for United Air lines, spoke to attendees about his pilot career, “good trouble,” and how to react to racism. Performances in cluded Kathryn Weaver, who gave a live recital of Langston Hughes’ The is Alexander Miroslavov Minev. The STAR Teacher is Amy Maddox, who teaches accelerated geome try/algebra II and accel erated pre-calculus. From Whitewater High School, the STAR Student is Thomas Hoang. The STAR Teacher is Shelley Kozlowski, who teaches gifted biology and scientific research I. The PAGE Student Teacher Achievement Rec ognition (STAR) program is not a new program, with it now entering its 65th year of recognizing the ac complishments of students Negro Mother. DEMI’s Dance Studio brought in children of all ages, danc ing to cultural music. The musical guest of the night was The Black Legacy Project, which performed the group’s renditions of Amazing Grace and We Shall Overcome. When asked how the community will benefit from the event, Copeland noted how selfless the speakers were for taking time to share their stories. “This event supports the community because and teachers that the Pro fessional Association of Georgia Educators (PAGE) have selected. To receive the 2023 STAR rec ognition, graduating high school seniors must have the highest score in a single test date on the SAT and be in the top 10 percent or top 10 students of their class, based on grade point aver age. The program begins each year in participating high schools throughout Georgia when the STAR student is named and chooses a STAR teacher to share in this recognition. we had a lot of history makers that we were able to hear their stories,” Copeland said. “Our key note speaker was Mr. Johnnie “Jet” Jones, who was one of the first pilots for United Airlines and was a pilot for the United States Air Force. “The support for the NAACP, that aren't just supporting things they’re interested in but also things that would help globally, help us be more diverse as a community and strengthen our ties The students and their teachers are honored by their schools and receive special recognition in their communities from one of the more than 170 state wide civic organizations and businesses that serve as local sponsors of the STAR program. Students then compete for school system titles, add then the winners compete for region honors. Region winners compete for the honor of being named State PAGE STAR Student. STAR teachers continue on with their STAR students at every level of the program. with each other as a com munity,” Copeland con cluded. Copeland says she hopes guests were able to take away history, rec ognize what is currently taking place in the com munity, and realize how the community can pro gress together once issues are identified. She and staff ex pressed plans to have more events highlighting African Americans and people of color within the community. Kenneth Bryant, Mayor Ed Johnson, and Alice Jones Sydney Spencer/Fayette News
