Newspaper Page Text
Forsyth County's graduating seniors, page 8, section B
1 ’ "orsyth County News
VOLUME >• MBER 44
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Staff photo Mike Webber
Globe Trottin’
Harold "Bobo" Hubbard of the Harlem Globetrotters signs autographs for For
syth residents Saturday at the new Chick-fil-A restaurant in the Lanier Crossing
shopping center.
Habitat for Humanity
forming in Forsyth
By Brad Hundt
Staff Writer
Lower income families may soon
get some helping hands in getting suit
able housing.
A collection of local churches have
banded together to try to form a
branch of Habitat for Humanity in
Forsyth County.
Habitat for Humanity is a nation
wide group that builds housing for low
income families. The construction of
the homes is carried out entirely by
Habitat volunteers. The home is then
sold to a' designated family with a no
interest loan.
The money the family pays back is
then applied toward the construction
of another home. The family would
also have to lend their hands in the
construction of other homes built by
Habitat for Humanity.
“A few of the churches in the area
were inspired to do it,” said the Rev.
Sam Candler of the Episcopal Church
of the Holy Spirit in Cumming.
“There’s a broad base of Christians
here that can work on a project like
this.”
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Candler also sited “a need for low
income housing in the county,” as be
ing a primary motivating force for the
group.
Seventeen local residents showed
up at a meeting Tuesday at the Epis
copal Church to discuss organizing a
local Habitat chapter, Candler said.
The backers of the proposed group
are planning another meeting June 5
at the Forsyth County Courthouse
jury assembly room. Candler said
they hope to have a Habitat for Hu
manity chapter off the ground in For
syth by the spring of 1991, “but it’s
ham to tell,” he said;- ——- -
“There are pockets of interest out
there,” Candler said.
The group’s initial steps toward be
coming a full-fledged chapter involve
the formation of a steering committee
to organize the Forsyth branch. Then
they would receive their charter after
receiving around $3,000 to $5,000 bom
local donations to start the group,
Candler said. A Board of Directors
would also be established.
Additionally committees would be
Please see HABITAT, page 2A
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Daisies in Bloom
Drives couldn't help noticing the daisies blooming along Dahlonega Highway near Ga. 400 lasi week, one of the notable signs of impending arrival.
WEDNESDAY MAY 30, 1990-CUMMING, GA. 30130—36 PAGES 4 SECTIONS
Drug commission results:
County’s serious drug problem
lies within age group of 12-30
By Kristin Jeffries
Staff Wrltw
The Cumming-Forsyth County Sub
stance Abuse Council recently com
pleted its study on the dangerous
specter of drugs and alcohol in For
syth County.
It has boiled a year’s work down to
two pages of recommendations for the
Board of Commissioners.
“We did identify a serious drug
problem in the county,” said the com
mission’s chairman, Charlotte Cze
kala. “I believe that if the county
commissioners will implement the se
ries of recommendations we suggest
ed it will help the county.”
The council’s sub-committees
looked for problems specifically in the
community, schools, workplaces and
in those moving through the local pe
Lake authorities arrest six
for ‘boating under the influence’
By Brad Hundt
Staff Writer
The Memorial Day weekend, of
course, marked the beginning of the
boating season on Lake Lanier.
What many boaters might not have
known as they cruised over the lake’s
waters is that popping open a nice,
cold one could cost them up to SI,OOO
or a year in jail.
Those are the maximum punish
ments for BUl’s - or boating under the
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Staff photo Brad Hundt
Forsyth County resident Lamar Sneed looks over the
exterior off the Blackburn Tavern. Local historians have
called for the restoration of the nearly 200 year-old tav
ern where two presidents stayed.
Hiring a full-time, mas
ter’s level counselor spe
cializing in substance
abuse, mental health and
family counseling is the
council’s main recommen
dation for the county. An
assistant to provide office
support was also included
in the list.
nal system.
They fount the most serious sub
stance abuse problems in the broad
influence.
Holiday weekends in the summer
are times when BUl’s rise sharply,
according to Corporal Rick Godfrey,
the Lake Lanier Boat Safety Officer
for the Georgia Dept, of Natural Re
sources. As of Monday afternoon,
there had been six arrests on Lake La
nier for BUI over the holiday week
end, Godfrey said.
“The lake is different from the
roads,” Godfrey said. “There are no
lanes. So most of our alcohol situa
age group of 12 to 30. It was also clear
there was no readily available re
source to help adolescents in the area.
Hiring a full-time, master’s level
counselor specializing in substance
abuse, mental health and family
counseling is the council’s main rec
ommendation for the county. An as
sistant to provide office support was
also included in the list.
The new counselor would especially
work closely with the court system be
cause that seems the best way to
reach the people with serious prob
lems, explained Czekala.
The judicial sub-committee esti
mated that in fiscal year 2001 there
would be 47,798 Georgia prisoners in
need of substance abuse treatment. In
a sample of Forsyth County proba
tioners, 65 percent had committed a
drug-related crime and 54 percent
tions are determined by safety checks
and registration checks.”
Officers from the DNR determine
whether the person operating a boat is
drunk through the same methods used
by police for drunk driving offenses -
namely, “breathalyzer” tests to mea
sure the alcohol content in the blood,
and “divided attention” tests like re
citing the alphabet or counting from 1
to 10.
An eye test, which gauges involun
tary jerking motions of the eye com
Angry historians watch
Blackburn Tavern decay
By Brad Hundt
Staff Wrltw
Blackburn’s Tavern on Old Federal Road in northeast Forsyth Coun
ty was once a main stop on the highway running through the Cherokee
Indian nation nearly 200 years ago.
Two U.S. Presidents - Andrew Jackson and James Monroe - are said
to have stayed there. And the most popular legend surrounding the site
is that Chief James Vann, a ferocious Cherokee leader, was killed in the
tavern, although historians have disagreed on that tale.
The tavern still sits in what is called Frogtown, surrounded now by
chin-high grass and an imposing wire fence. Since closing around the
turn of the century, the status of Blackburn’s Tavern hasn’t changed
much - except for its advancing decay. What was once a fabled road
side watering hole is now another faltering roadside eyesore that at
tracts crickets rather than presidents.
The state of the tavern has touched off a dispute between the owner of
the farm land the two-story building sits on and a local historian who
said the owner is allowing the tavern “to sit and rot.”
William Mills, the owner of the farm land the tavern sits on said he’s
aware of the tavern’s decay and promises to restore it. He doesn’t
know, however, when any work will be done.
“I’ll fix it to where it’ll be in good shape,” Mills said. “I don’t know
when.”
Please see TAVERN, page 2A
had a history of abuse.
The council also asked the County
Commission be receptive to funding
requests from the Juvenile Court to
purchase drug testing equipment and
to help to fund the Cumming Proba
tion Office’s testing program.
“We will follow it up and continue
with the programs just like we always
intended to,” Commission Chairman
Michael Bennett said of the
recommendations.
“I think we need to get an estimate
of the cost of each segment,” he said.
Adding new employees is an ongoing
cost.
The substance abuse council was
given a 1990 budget of $50,000 for con
tracted services and a state grant of
Please see DRUGS, page 2A
mon when someone is drunk, is also
administered, Godfrey said.
Since drunken boaters are caught
through safety or registration checks,
Godfrey said he was “sure” that
many of those drinking and boating
escape from the department’s net.
The punishments given for a BUI
are similiar to those given for a DUI,
Godfrey said. However, nothing hap
pens to the driver’s license of a BUI
Please see BOAT BUST, page 2A
Staff photo Brad Hundt
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