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Winter storage
Habersham Marina on Lake Lanier is putting the boats away for another
winter. These vessels have been winterized and raised into decks at the
dry dock. The lake is too cold now for swimming, fishing has been replaced
New location is possible for community center
By Kathey Pruitt
Staff writer
Sawnee Community Center propo
nents learned last week that the facility
they intend to build would be frequented
by nearly 50,000 persons each year, and
that has spurred the group to reconsider
the facility’s proposed location on Ga.
306.
The second phase of a feasibility study
by Governmental Management Asso
ciates projected that a community build
ing in Forsyth County would be booked
for 848 uses each year by local clubs and
organizations. That figure does not in
clude concerts and dance recitals, work
Markham honored as Teacher of the Year
By Laura McCullough
Managing Editor
There is something more to teach
ing first grade than reading, writing
and arithmetic.
Ask Ruth Markham. The pretty red
head must be like a mother to her 21
first-graders at Sawnee Elementary.
She will tenderly examine a skinned
knee from a minor playground acci
dent, will coax a little boy to wear his
new coat though he doesn’t like to, and
keep her eyes peered about lest any of
her little sheep should go astray.
But Forsyth County’s Teacher of
the Year wouldn’t have it any other
way.
“The children are very excited
about learning when they’re this
age,” said Markham, a classroom
veteran of 15 years. “They are enthu
siastic about everything. They get so
excited that it makes me excited.”
Markham was “shocked” when fel
low teachers at Sawnee made her
Teacher of the Year, then a system
wide committee selected her to repre
sent the county. Markham will be con
sidered at the district and state level
competitions later this year.
The little ones who make up Mark
ham’s class may not realize just yet
that they have a superstar for a teach
er That’s not important to Markham,
she just cares that her students grow
up to reach their fullest potential.
“At the first grade I think everyone
is going to grow up and turn out won
derful. I’ve always liked happy end
ings,” she adds with a smile.
< ‘i want to plant the seed that a good
education is extremely important; so
hopefully I’ve done something to help
their future.” - ,
Markham says students today have
so many more advantages that they
Bulldogs top North Gwinnett for third win of season IB
Forsyth County News "’H
shops or trade shows, according to the
study.
Anna Barker, president of the firm
conducting the feasibility study, present
ed the figures Tuesday morning at the
community center’s board meeting. The
results were met with enthusiasm.
“This just proves what we already
know there’s a great need for a com
munity center in the county,” said Ann
Hamilton, executive director of the non
profit Sawnee Community Center Inc.
“We just had to have the figures tabulat
ed by an outside agency to have an unbi
ased and professional final result.”
Thirty-two local organizations re
sponded to the survey, which was start
can’t help but to succeed. Computers
are used in the classrooms and teach
ers are better educated on how to
teach children to think and learn, in
stead of memorizing. “We’re using a
lot of learning centers and better ma
terials in the classroom,” she said.
Markham, a Dawson County na
tive, began her teaching career at
Sawnee 15 years ago, just after re
ceiving a degree from North Georgia
College. After five years in the class
room, she and husband, Jim, moved
to Arizona. There she taught in a
school near the Mexican border,
where she taught Spanish-speaking
first graders to read English. “That
was quite a challenge,” she said.
After three years in Florida the cou
ple moved back to Forsyth County,
and Markham has come full circle be
ing back at Sawnee for three years.
Jim teaches social studies and coach
es football and tennis at Lumpkin
County High School.
Markham said her greatest joy is in
teaching children to read and says
parents can be a great help in this
area. “I can tell a big difference in a
child’s reading (skills) if they have
reading practice at home,” she said.
“Reading is really complex. Just hav
ing a parent listen to a child read a
book helps.”
Parental involvement is a key fac
tor in the total education of a child,
and Markham said she has always
had a good group to work with. 'This
alone keeps her in the classroom, for
now.
She and Jim are returning to school
this summer to work on their six-year
degrees at the University of Georgia.
Markham can’t decide if she wants to
specialize in administration or class
room teaching.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1987—CUMMING, GA. 30130—88 PAGES SECTIONS
by hunting and those who enjoy skiing will have to do it on land with plenty
of snow and ice.
ed about two years ago, according to
Hamilton. Combined membership fig
ures showed that 49,449 people are ex
pected to take advantage of the commu
nity center building when it is
constructed.
The study also indicated that land on
Ga. 306 owned by the community center
group is not the best location for the fa
cility. Traffic on the curvy, two lane
road could become conjested if commu
nity center patrons all try to exit the
parking lot at one time, Hamilton said.
Also presenting a problem is the fact
that the property isn’t connected to coun
ty water or sewer facilities. Costs of a
community building constructed there
— * - HIB ...
Staff Photo Kathryn L. Babb
Ruth Markham helps her student, Jodi Jackanicz, draw a fish. Markham, a
first grade teacher at Sawnee Elementary, was named Forsyth County
Teacher of the Year for 1987-88. First graders are enthusiastic about
learning, and that keeps Markham excited about her job.
Staff Photo Kathryn L. Babb
would reflect that of obtaining water ser
vice, and installation of a septic tank
would take up a large portion of the
parking area, Hamilton added.
“It’s excellent land, very valuable,”
Hamilton said of the property Sawnee
Community Center Inc. officially paid
off last year. “But Anna Barker has
looked at the land very carefully, and by
her suggestion, we are considering
something else.”
No site plans have been drawn for the
community building, Hamilton said.
Center supporters have in mind the fea
tures they intend to build into the facili-
Please see CENTER, page 2A
Personnel
manager
is hired
Americas’ Knight
called ‘best man’
By Kathey Pruitt
Staff writer
Forsyth County employees will be working with a new
face and a new system after Nov. 2 when a personnel
director fills the position recently created by county
commissioners.
Jesse Knight, formerly personnel manager for the cen
tral Georgia city of Americus, submitted his resignation
in Americus Friday to accept the position in Forsyth
County. County commissioners selected Knight from a
field of about 16 applicants.
‘ ‘This has been his vocation for a number of years, and I
think also his degree area,” said Commissioner James
Harrington. “We had about three interviews with him. I
think we chose the best man for the job.”
Commissioners decided to created the position of per-
Please see DIRECTOR, page 2A
Mandated salaries
draw opposition
By Tom Mclaughlin
Staff writer
The Forsyth County Commission Monday authorized a
resolution opposing a proposed minimum salary for
peace officers across the state, confirming their belief
that strong personnel management on a county level pre
cludes the need for state mandated minimum salaries.
“With a personnel management program in place we
would certainly do away with any need for state mandat
ed salaries,” commissioner James Harrington said.
The commissioners hope to get the desired quality man
agement from Jesse Knight, who resigned his Americus,
Ga. personnel manager’s post Friday to come to Forsyth
County. According to Harrington, his job will be to work
on administrative functions with, but apart from, the
county’s four elected department heads, the sheriff, the
tax commissioner, the probate judge and the clerk of
court.
“One of his major functions will be to insure fairness in
dealing with all employees,” Harrington said.
The commissioner’s resolution is in response to a call
from the Association of County Commissioners of Geor
gia, who are trying to combat the lobbying efforts of the
state’s Peace Officer’s Association. The peace officers
want the state to impose a minimum salary of $995 a
Please see RESOLUTION, page 2A
Potts’ escape plan
may have included
lawyer as hostage
By Lindsey Kelly
Staff writer
Cumming attorney Martin Findley
was apparently convicted killer Jack
Potts’ intended hostage for his abort
ed escape attempt last month from
Forsyth County jail.
That development was revealed by
Findley Thursday during court pre
ceedings in Cobb County, where Potts
is facing a 1975 charge of kidnapping
Michael Priest, the Roswell man
Potts has been convicted of
murdering.
Findley is Potts’ court-appointed
attorney in Forsyth County where
Potts is facing court proceedings in
separate charges in connection with
the Priest case. Findley is assisting in
the Cobb County case at Potts’
request.
Findley confirmed Friday that he
told a Cobb County jury Thursday he
might be removed from the Cobb case
due to a “conflict of interest.” His
comments were quoted in the Friday
edition of the Atlanta Constitution.
The published report says the “con
flict” is due to remarks allegedly
made by Potts indicating his intent to
have taken his attorney hostage dur
ing a jailbreak attempt on Sept. 19
that resulted in a street shoot-out be
tween Potts and Forsyth County Sher
iff’s deputies. Potts received two su
perficial gun-shot wounds in that
incident before he was recaptured.
Findley, under a court order not to
discuss the case within the county,
confirmed the contents of the pub
lished report of his statements to the
Cobb County jury.
Potts did take a jail dentention offi
cer hostage during the escape, but
freed him unharmed a short time
later.
Potts was in Forsyth County jail at
that time to have access to his attor
ney during upcoming legal proceed
ings here. After the escape, he was
moved to the state prison facility in
Jackson.
Forsyth County Superior Court
Judge Frank Gault, the judge who is
sued the order for the Potts case not to
be discussed by local court officers,
said Friday that any comments made
in court about the case were not in
violation of his order.
Gault added that the release of in
formation from proceedings in other
venues will not cause him to lift the
order. “The order still stands,” he
said.
The Constitution story quotes Find
ley as saying that he believes Potts
did intend to kidnap him, but that
knowing of the prisoner’s plan does
not effect his willingness to represent
Potts in Cobb County.
“My personal belief is that he would
not have wanted to hurt me,” the
quote reads.
According to the Constitution, attor
ney Michael Mears, who is also in
volved in the Potts’ case, has indicat
ed he will file a motion in Cobb County
asking that Findley be relieved from
the case there. It is likely that Mears
will file a similar motion in Forsyth
County, though Mears was unavail-
Please see POTTS, page 2A
35 CENTS