About Lake Oconee news. (Greensboro, GA) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 24, 2017)
Friday, November 23, 2017 Lake Oconee News Page A5 Letters to the Editor Letters must be signed and include your full address and phone number for verification; only name and town are printed. Submissions may be edited for content and length. The deadline is 1 p.m. Monday. Send to news@lakeoconeenews.us Morgan Boys & Girls Club thanks community Thanksgiving 2017 OnbehalfoftheMadison- Morgan County Boys & Girls Club, we would like to extend our heartfelt thank you for the amazing support from our community during last week’s sixth annual Dancing With Madison’s Stars. It was not only a night to be wowed by the dancers’ practiced moves, but also an opportunity to support the young people in our commu nity who need us the most. We are thrilled our sold out audience came forward with record breaking numbers. Our Masters andMistress of Ceremonies, Bob Mackey, CEO North Central Georgia Boys & Girls Club; Karen Robertson, Executive Unit Director, Madison-Morgan Club and Chris Hilsman energized the audience from the introduction of our local club’s dance performance to the final announcement of the winners. Seeing Bob Mackey onthe floor reminds us that he was with us as program director when we first formed our club almost a decade ago. Josh Wade, our local Youth of the Year, made us realize just how important the club can be in the lives of so many of our young people ages 5-18 who might not have a safe place to go from the hours of 3:30 to 7 p.m. Josh, a Morgan County Senior and member of the varsity football team, spoke of the club’s positive impact since he joined at an early age. This aspiring physical therapist’s platform deals with the impacts of dating violence. This evening could not have been possible without dancers who practiced long hours, judges who enter tained us with their wit and gracious words and all those sponsors who generously gave of their resources to ensure an evening that would produce needed oper ational expenses for our club. Our dance teams raised a whopping $35,000 by hold ing fundraising events and contacting all their friends and relatives. Obviously, they were doing more than honing their dance steps. While there is not enough room to mention all, we would like to give aspecial shout outto our Presenting Partners, Old Hudson Plantation. Thank you all for your extreme generosity. Frequently, my co-chair Connie Bryans and I are asked, ‘What do you do with the money you raise - where does it go?” While a parent or guardian only has to pay $65 for the entire school year, in reality our costs for that child is $1,250 to cover expenses for quality pro gramming. These programs include academic support, leadership skills and wise decision making. Every day our trained and caring staff teaches our kids that their dreams are possible for a bright future. Under the direction ofMs. Karen Robertson, Drishaud Hall and the rest of our staff, our young people will have a busy holiday season as they give back to the community with a reverse Angel Tree seeking to help foster children, nursing homes and some caroling included. We want to give back to a community that is so generous to us! If you pledged your sup port for a student schol arship or would wish to do so, please call or email Will McCranie, Manager of Resource Development at 770-267-8034 ext 201 or wmcranie @bgcncg.com. In this season of Thanksgiving, we are thankful for you - our very special community. Connie Bryans and Nancy Vaughan Co-Chairs, Madison- Morgan County Boys & Girls Club Meadowcrest was a great success We wanted you to come, and come you did. On behalf of the Greene County Pilot Club, thankyou to all patrons who attended our Meadowcrest Arts and Craft Market Saturday atthe GreeneCounty High School. We know you came for several reasons, but a big part was to support our Pilot Club charitable efforts addressing brain disorders and safety, right here in Greene County. The Market was a success ful event, both financially and fun wise. Most of our vendors reported excellent sales, and our customers were pleased with the wide variety. Amazon may have a huge chunk of the market, but you made it clear that some of us still enjoy getting out and talking with the actual artists behind the crafts. Trucks Continued from A4 We could create a cell phone app that would allow selected drivers who pay an annual fee for codes needed to raise and lower the bridges in order to get in and out of town. I suggest we call it the Billy Goat’s Gruff Truck Access app and use a little picture of Oh,you wonderful people! The food served up at the Pilot Cafe was appreciated and enjoyed by many who hadbreakfastorlunch while shopping with friends, and the Schermer Pecans were a hot item, too. Santa was a big draw for the wee ones, some ofwhom were awed just to be in his presence. The Pilot 50/50 raffle was won by Ms. Bennie Mae Copelan, who was thrilled to leave with a fist full of cash. The ever-popular QUILT RAFFLE, presented by the Meadowcrest Ladies, was won by Ms. Gail Wilkes who refused to sell it for ANY price! The Greene County Pilot Club would like to say a HUGE THANK YOU to those who were especially supportive in advertising this event: McCommons a troll for the cell phone icon. (One member of the city council is already calculating how much money the city could earn this way, and one county commissioner is already trying to figure out a way for the county to get its hands on some of it.) I have saved my most interesting and radical idea for last. We could simply do away with paved roads altogether. If Madison really wants to Desk Top Publishing, (where you can still pur chase the great Schermer pecans) The Herald Journal Newspaper, The Lake Oconee News, The Morgan County Citizen, The Wilkes County News Reporter, The Union Recorder and The Oglethorpe Echo News. ABIGTHANKYOUgoes to Chip Lyness and DOCK 103.9 Radio, who not only announced Meadowcrest details on the air daily, but also came out to the High School and did a remote program on location. Speaking of the High School, we are so apprecia tive of our Greene County School System for the myriad ways in which they have supported us as well! Our Meadowcrest event could not have been the suc cess it was had it not been for all this magnificent support. preserve the past, lets dig up all this asphalt and return the city to the way it was in the lastyears of 19th century. Not only would truckers look for ways to avoid trips to Madison, the absence of paved roads would also keep greedy developers away from here too. Nextweek, we will discuss some ideas I have on howto enhance tourism in Lake Country. Selah. The Pilot Club is an overtly active, international, non profit service organization whose main focus is Brain Related Disorders. If you are interested in this type of service to our community, please contact President Reane Slocum at 706-453-6153or President- Elect Sherley Selman at 706-486-4128. BTW... Sherley has Shermer Pecans, if you need more for baking or gift giving. Last year marked the 25th anniversary that I have hosted Thanksgiving for family and friends. And, it’s a really big deal for me. There are people like my sister, Louise, or my dear friend, Barbara Dooley, who are effortless athosting and cooking. I stand in awe. Barbara is flawless in how quickly shecanputtogether supper or a Saturday after- the-game party. She tells delightful stories as she dashes around the kitchen, seemingly never thinking about the food she’s putting together. Louise will host a Sunday dinner for 20 people with cooked-from-scratch food that is abundant. I’m a good cook, and I like to do it, but entertaining a group of people is not as seamless and as easy for me as it for Barbara and Louise. Let’s just be honest here: Ittakes one full week ofnon- stop work and planning to host Thanksgiving Day supper for 25 to 30 people who will all bring a covered dish. So, I’m not cooking the entire dinner. But since I started this tradition - it began when Louise said, “Here’s what we’ll do: I’ll take Easter, you take Thanksgiving, and Mama will have Christmas”—I have used an entire week to get ready. I don’t spring clean. I “Thanksgiving clean.” I also put up Christmas trees, get the china and crystal ready, haul out extra chairs and tables and cook several things, including my famous Macaroni and Cheese and homemade Southern biscuits. By 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving night when everyone has left and I’m sweeping the kitchen, Ronda Rich Dixie Divas I’m worn out. But the house is clean, and there’s leftovers enough in the fridge to do through the weekend. On Friday, I pretty much do nothing all day long. Now, in the early days of this tradition, I worked two jobs, including a part-time retail job which meant I worked the busiest day of the retail season and usually had to be there by 7:30 a.m. Thank goodness, the Lord delivered me from that. Last year, though, the unexpected happened. It was two days before I started my one week prepa ration. I was on the ellipti cal, working out, when Tink walked in with one of those looks. “Oh no,” I groaned. “What now?” He took a sharp breath. One ofhis family - one of the dearest people ever in his life - was sick and needed several days of intense caregiving. I nodded with sympathy. I loved her, too. “You’re going?” “Well, really, it would be better if you did because there’s things you can do for her that I, uh, I...” I under stood. We booked my flight SEE RICH » A8 Read more online at www.lakeoconeenews.us CUSTOMER APPRECIATION shred i DAY l d\\ FREE FOR BANKSOUTH CUSTOMERS 2 BOX LIMIT R E QRJ ESTED Saturday, December 9, 2017 10:00 AM -12:00 PM BankSouth Lake Oconee Branch Parking Lot 6340 Lake Oconee Parkway \ Greensboro, Georgia 30642 (706) 453-2943 I www.banksouth.com ll>r\i Ln BankSouth Member FDIC
