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ATHENS GA 30602-0501
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Vol. 126 Issue No. 21 500 Peach County's Newspaper Jane 18,
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Legal Organ For Peach County , City of Fort Valley and City Of Byron
Peach Festival 201
The Bands On ... and On ... and On
By Victor Kuikosky
News Editor
Twenty-fifth anniversaries are
occasions for extra effort, for big¬
ger and better - and that’s what the
Georgia Peach Festival did this year
in its final week, set in Fort Valley.
The music was non-stop, start¬
ing with the Peach Idol first round
competition Monday night. Tuesday
night, the Austin Theater was again
the venue for the annual Spaghetti &
Jazz fundraiser sponsored by the Fort
Valley Arts Alliance. Campers from
Fort Valley State’s Fine Arts & Media
Experience teamed up with FAME
faculty for an evening that show¬
cased exceptional young talent. With
just two days preparation, the young
musicians were already practiced
enough to bring the house down.
Brothers Caleb and Stephen
Esmond, students of FAME facul¬
ty member Nancy Dyes, performed
their own composition, “Colorado
River.” Mollie Cate Tombs sang “I
Could Have Danced All Night” with
gentle accompaniment from musical
leader Randolph Lindsey, long-time
band leader at Peach County High
and still a fixture on the local musical
scene. PCHS student Chris Wade did
a solo trumpet feature. So imagine
what these students will be able to do
at the FAME Gala coming this Friday
night, starting at 5 p.m. at FVSU’s
HPE Complex. "
Wednesday night featured the
Peach Idol and Peach Dance Crew
contests, with winners performing
on Saturday. Thursday, the action
moved to Everett Square Park, where
the Neighbhorhood Association of
the same name brought back last
year’s Picnic in the Park favorites,
The John Stanley Band and its com¬
bination of Southern Rock classics
and band member originals. Friday
night brought homegrown talent out
of the woodwork with Karaoke at the
Bandstand.
Then came “The Big Day” and
this year’s innovation: music at three
different locations, the big stage at
the Courthouse, the Gazebo and The
Downtown Farmer’s Market. That
offered three times as many reasons
to come down and listen or get up and
put the moves on.
For gospel music lovers, the
Fanners Market featured the Early
Bird Gospel Showcase. Christian
Rock band Grafted by Grace took the
Main Stage, and then Sister Essie M.
Brooks brought simple old-time gos¬
pel to the Gazebo in the afternoon.
A highlight of this year’s Big
Day, to borrow from the song, was
“Dancin’ in the Streets,” as a diverse
assortment of visitors ignored the
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Georgia Peach Festival 201? "Grand Event" performer 'Missin Links'
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Smith Hillman , Doug Gordon and Iris Edwards - three styles, brought together by music.
heat and humidity and started mov
ing to the grooving. The beat of
Sister Essie’s gospel group was infec
tious enough that Normal and Larry
Williamson got up and twirled each
other around in some old-timey ball
room dancing. The couple came from
LaGrange, attracted by the music.
PRMC and Medical Center Announce Partnership
Peach Gives on Bond Market
By Victor Kuikosky
News Editor
Peach Regional Medical Center and
the Medical Center of Central Georgia
have announced a partnership that
would increase their cooperation and
lead to a better financing arrangement
for PRMC’s planned new hospital.
PRMC CEO Nancy Peed and Don
Faulk, President and CEO of Central
Georgia Health System/The Medical
Center of Central Georgia, announced
the partnership at a press conference
at PRMC last Thursday. CGHS is the
parent company of the Medical Center
and operates other health care facilities
in Middle Georgia.
In her opening remarks. Peed said
the intent of the partnership was to
improve the quality of health care in
Peach County and surrounding coun¬
ties and to enable PRMC to recruit
more doctors.
Faulk said the partnership would
strengthen a working relationship that
is about 20 years old, but he mostly
looked forward.
“Partnerships like this will be essen¬
tial to future health care,” he said. He
said closer coordination between the
two hospitals would create more effi¬
ciency but would also improve things
“where it counts, with care”
If there had been a prize for visitor
spirit on Saturday, it would have gone
to Doug and Linda Gordon and Smith
Hillman. The Savannah couple and
their friend responded to old-time beat
of the Powersville Opry and kept the
dancing going all the way through the
Missin’ Links show that night.
BY THE NUMBERS, FISCAL 2010
Medical Center of Central Georgia & Peach Regional
Medical Center
T~ MEDICAL CENTER PEACH REGIONAL
Gross Ravsnua $ 1.8 bitten I $223 mitLon
Na* Ravenua 2 $663.2 mAten $ 9.5 million
Expenses
Payroll j $344.8 miften $ 4.8 milon
All otter $298 m4ten $ 5.1 million
Profit/Loss ♦$38.4 mitten -$377,000
Outpotent Visits 359,528 11,815
inpohent Admissions 32,816 526
Bads Avoilobia per" 603 25
Emargartcy Room Visits j 56,650 15,565
. Outpatient Surgeries JA103 465
inpotien* Surgeries 10339 16
Employees_ 4,053 124
1 - 4® numbers rounded
2 - After Medicare/Medkoed shortfalls, insurance discounts, charity and bod debt
PRMC Chief of Staff Dr. Crystal
Brown said the hospital’s staff sup
ports the new partnership.
“We just want to see the best quality
health care we can offer,” she said.
Tom Green. Chairman of the Peach
County Hospital Authority told the
audience “not to lose sight of the
impact of keeping a major business
enterprise going.” He said PRMC is
among the top several employers in
The Powersville Opry took the stage
at the Gazebo for over an hour. A large
group of Opry regulars strummed,
picked and crooned its way through
a program of old-time Country and
„Bluegrass. It was a time for match
ing vests and cowboy hats and good
humor offered with a down home
the county, with an annual payroll of
almost $5 million,
Green also highlighted the sup
port of the Peach County Board of
Commissioners, which provides
$450JOOO a year in indigent care funds
and included $2 million in a prc vious
SPLOST to provide start-up money
for the planned new
“Their role has beat sitting back
and listening to us ask for money, and
twang. A racially and chronologically
diverse group of people listened and
cheered, and brought simultaneous
multiple dance styles to the floor, um,
cobblestones.
That afternoon at the Farmers
Market, the Mitchell Academy of
Music and Dance from Perry brought
a phalanx of electric pianos and drums
and several student vocalists to per¬
form a program of R&B and soul.
As the temperature started cooling
down, the heat rose from the main
stage at the Courthouse. Byron’s
own Golden Voice, “Big Daddy”
Paul Carrcker, poured his heart out
in a selection of classic pop and rock
sounds. But the show was about to
get even bigger. The featured act
for Saturday night was The Missin’
Links Showband with vocal trio The
Honeybees.
The Missin’ Links (the cut-off
‘g’ helps distinguish them from sev¬
eral other bands with similar names)
have been performing for 46 years,
with original members Dusty and
Rocky Malone still with the group.
To the familiar instrumentation of
guitars, bass, keyboards and drums,
the Missin’ Links add a horn line of
trumpets and saxophone. Different
combinations of instruments and sing¬
ers allow the band to offer a wide
ranging show of classic pop, rock,
beach music, soul/R&B and country,
all delivered with high energy and
high spirits.
And speaking of beach music,
the parking lot of the Peach County
Courthouse was covered for the occa¬
sion in sand, turning the place into a
temporary beach. It was just perfect
for kids to get dirty, and for beach
balls, hoola hoops and Frizbees. And
(lancing, there was plenty of dancing.
As with the previous Saturday’s
show, the night climaxed with 3D
Fireworks. The “3D” comes from
special glasses distributed free to
attendees that add extra splashes of
rainbow light to the fireworks.
We didn’t forget The World’s
Largest Peach Cobbler. Peach Festival
President Rich Bennett and a crew of
volunteers was there to serve it up. By
late afternoon, it was evident the hogs
would be disappointed, as there were
only a few dregs left.
The festival also included a vari¬
ety of contests, food and souvenirs,
and games for the kids. All in all, a
great 25th anniversary for the Georgia
Peach Festival.
usually the has been ‘yes. ♦*♦
answer
Green said. “Hopefully that will
continue.”
Another consequence of the new
partnership is the potential for a much
more favorable financing arrange¬
ment for the planned new hospital.
In response to a question. Faulk
said details have yet to be worked out,
but CGHS’s much greater resources
and financial stability would allow
the larger organization to get a lower
interest rate and easier access to credit
markets.
Construction of the new hospital
has been repeatedly delayed by prob¬
lems finding financing. Potential
deals with government agencies fell
through largely due to perceived risk.
PRMC’s large losses in previous years
and its large share of Medicare and
Medicaid patients made the prospects
for the planned new hospital appear
too risky. Two bond sales managed
by private investment companies fell
through due to a weak bond market
and the need for PRMC to pay high
interest rates.
Faulk said there would be no chang¬
es in the planned new hospital itself.
He said CHGS management had seen
the plans and “we were very
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