Newspaper Page Text
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
