About Lake Oconee news. (Greensboro, GA) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 8, 2017)
Friday, September 8, 2017 Lake Oconee News Page B5 LAKE COUNTRY McCranie joins B&G Clubs of North Central Ga. Boys & Girls Clubs of North Central Georgia, Inc., (BGCNCG) recently announced its corporate board has selected Will McCranie as the organiza tion’s manager of resource development. McCranie joins the BGCNCG team as an individual with immense dedication to helping orga nizations grow for the bet terment of the community. President and CEO, Bob Mackey says, “We welcome Mr. Will McCranie to our team. He is a key compo nent of creating a world- class organization that will make a difference in our North Central Georgia communities. His expertise in cultivated funding and donor relationships will be an asset in continuing our successful programming here at the Boys & Girls Clubs of North Central Georgia.” Prior to his role with BGCNCG, McCranie spent an extensive career with the Boy Scouts of America, serving in several leadership capacities. McCranie holds an impressive success record with increasing membership and donor fundraising efforts. While serving at his previous position in North ern California, he was able to increase funding by 600 percent, while also increas ing membership giving by 25 percent. During his time with the Boy Scouts of America, McCranie was awarded many accolades, including Chiefs Growth Award and Journey to Excellence Gold District for two consecutive years. As a Georgia native and graduate of the University of Georgia, he is thrilled to return home. “To be home and able to use my talents to help culitvate donor funding and growth for our clubs is an absolute joy,” McCranie said. “I’m looking forward to meeting those who have given to our cause and meeting new individuals who have yet to hear about the wonderful things we’re doing for the youth of North Central Georgia.” Serving over 500 youth from Walton, Morgan, Greene, Putnam and New ton counties, BGCNCG’s vision is to provide a world-class club experi ence that assures success is within reach of every young person who participates. The result has all members graduating from high school with plans for their futures, demonstrating good char acter and citizenship and living healthy lifestyles. For more information or to donate please go to: www. bgcncg.com. If you’d like to get involved, call 770-267- 8034. For donor/fundrais ing inquiries, contact Will McCranie at 770-267-8034 or email him wmccranie@ bgcncg.com. Will McCranie LAKE COUNTRY Journeyman Farmer certification signup ends Sept. 12 This fall local UGA Extension offices will be working together to offer the Jour neyman Farmer Certification program. This program is designed for beginning vegetable and small fruit producers with less than 10 years of experience who would like to learn more in order to improve their commercial operations. It is also intended for those who are planning to start a small fruit or vegeta ble operation and simply want to know more about what it involves. This course involves a three-phase pro cess that covers: 1) small business plan ning, 2) vegetable and small fruit produc tion and 3) the opportunity to apply for an internship/ mentorship with an estab lished producer. If you would like to know more details about the Journeyman Farmer Course or how to register, please contact the Greene County Extension Office at 706- 453-2083 or register online https://t.uga. edu/3re. LAKE COUNTRY Helms College granted re-accreditation, to expand to Lake Oconee Helms College, a non profit post-secondary career college operated by Good will Industries of Middle Georgia and the CSRA, has been granted continued accreditation by the Accred iting Council for Continuing Education and Training (ACCET), a national accred iting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Earlier this year, peer evaluators from other col leges and ACCET staff conducted an extensive review of the Augusta and Macon campuses of Helms College, which offers cer tificate, diploma and asso ciate degree programs in culinary arts and hospi tality and health services. ACCET notified the college in August of the decision to grant three-year reaccredi tation status, which ensures Helms College students will continue to have access to GI Bill and Pell grants and other Title IV federal finan cial aid funding. “It’s the goal of our faculty and staff at Helms College to give every student a per sonalized, transformative educational experience so that they graduate with the skills and resources to access gainful career oppor tunities, along with the con fidence to become leaders in their field,” said Dr. H. Paul Bao, Helms College Pro vost and vice president of academic affairs. “ACCET’s reaccreditation validates the success of our students and readies us for exciting growth over the next few Houston Continued from B1 secondary routes. We drove as far as we could until, splash, all of a sudden we were in water.” Having reached the out skirts of the destruction around Monday morning, the brothers were met by police who were asking cars to turn around, but letting through trucks with boats who had travelled to help the victims. “They let us by but told us we were on our own. They said ‘God Bless You’ and waved us by. It was serious then and very unnerving. We were determined to be as safe as we could while still trying to help, but we did have a few close calls.” “When the dam was let out, the water rose quickly,” Ledford said. “It wasn’t like a tidal wave, but the water was rushing through. The faster it got, the more you knew was coming. It was nerve-wracking. There was a lot of nervousness and anx iety the whole time we were there. We felt an urgency to get to these people before they were swept away.” Because the brothers had brought jet skis with them, the pair was assigned to scout areas of flooding to look for T-shirts in the win dows, the sign that there were occupants inside. “The problem was that the rescuers weren’t taking down the shirts, so there were some people being left behind because the police thought they’d already checked the homes,” Led ford said. “What you all saw on the news...that was child’s play compared to what we saw. The destruc tion was so much more than what was reported.” Ledford said the water was so high, he and his brother had to duck under power lines to navigate beyond them. “The water was still rising, so we had to be careful we didn’t go places we’d be unable to return from.” He and Shawn went back through the neighbor hoods after the rescue teams evacuated, making sure all the occupants who wanted to leave, could. Many of the houses still had electricity, and Ledford recalls seeing car alarms going off under the water. Still, there were some homeowners who remained voluntarily. One couple was very grateful the Georgia Ledfords came to town. As Rusty and Shawn helped the couple and their Pug dog onto the jet skis, the pug leapt into the water and promptly sank. “He sank like a bowling ball,” Rusty recalled. “I dove for him and felt his leash and dragged him back up.” In general, Rusty reported that the flood victims were not panicked, as one would imagine. “They all had blank looks ontheirfaces. They were just happy to be alive, I think.” Also happy to be alive were the husband and wife left clinging to a tree after their kayak capsized while attempting to escape their flooding home. “We saw them in the tree and went back to notify the rescuers with the boats to come and get them. We anchored our jet skis to trees down current from them to catch the victims if they fell into the water instead of the boat. If they’d have fallen in, they’d have been lost.” The takeaway? The Led ford brothers are glad to be home - warm, dry and with their families. “It was frustrating. We wanted to help more,” he says emphatically. “The real heroes there were the Cajun Navy. They brought over 2,000 people and split up into groups across the state. They rescued over 7,000 people,” Rusty said. “They were amazing.” The Ledford brothers are pretty amazing, too. The Greater Augusta Arts Council and The City of Augusta Present A R rs THE HEART OF AUGUSTA FESTIVAL In the Heart of Historic Downtown Augusta, Georgia SEPTEMBER 15-17,2017 Sunday: Otis Redding III, Greg Hester, Keith Jenkins Authors Alley in the JB White Building A Snapdragon, Stink Bamboo, Silvertown, Bethany and the Southside Boys, Deejay Andrew Serrano Five Stages with non-stop performances 24 International Cuisine Booths Large Interactive Family Area with Craft Activities Over 130 Juried Fine Arts and Crafts Booths Advance Weekend Badges $7 badges online! $12 at Gate Kids 10 & Under FREE. Hotel Specials online! www.ArtslnTheHeart.com rethink grocery." )//i y , /<* / VISITAUGUSTA.COM years. Goodwill launched its distinctive Helms academic initiatives in Macon in 2007 and expanded to Augusta in 2012. Licensed by the Geor gia Nonpublic Postsecond ary Education Commission (GNPEC), Helms College combines high-demand academic credentials and holistic student support services with experiential learning opportunities at Goodwill-owned business enterprises, including Edgar’s restaurants and full service catering and confer ence venues in Macon and Augusta. Goodwill’s 2020 Strategic Plan anticipates expanding Helms College program offerings in Macon and Augusta, adding new satel lite campuses in Aiken and Lake Oconee plus partner ing with other autonomous Goodwill organizations in the U.S. to establish additional branches of the only College affiliated with a Goodwill organization. For more information on academic programs, admis sions and financial aid opportunities, visit www. helms.edu; call toll free at 1-844-GO HELMS (1-844- 464-3567); or contact Vicki Mills, Director of Marketing and Commu nications, at 478-471- 4842 or vmills@goodwill- works.org. HILL OUT! \jVt\ataret penefis of »ce k’fti NTRODUCI GEORGIA’S LAK COUNTR ALTH & FUN GAZIN All Local Content! Reserve your space now! Call Vicki Parker Office: 706-454-1290 Email: Vicki@msgr.com
