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THIS ISSUE
Copyright C 1999 Forsyth County News
Midway Elementary’s
PTA‘Highlight the
Famiiy’night.
PageßA
7th-grade basketball
tournament
results.
Page IB
LAKI LANIER LEVELS
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New Forsyth County
industry signs
partnership pact.
PagelQA
INDEX
Abby 7A
Business. IGA
Classifieds —SB
Deaths 2A
Events 5A
Horoscope.. 7A
Legate SB
Opinion 14A
Schools—..—••• 12A
Sports IB
COMING
FRIDAY
Entertainment Extra
Soap Opera Updates, Critics
Comer, Jill Jackson's Hollywood,
Country Musk
all in Friday's edition.
For a cal
8 ajn. - 5:50 p.m. Wednesday,
Thursday and Friday, and 9 am. • 1
‘ p.m. on Sunday-(775M7412C.
Forsyth Counted’ • ’S
J Your "Hometown Paper" Since 19 !IJ^»F^ GE ° RGIA
Ao; - WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 3 1999
Chamber marks 45th year with awards
By Jim Riley
Staff Writer
The 44th annual meeting of the
Cumming/Forsyth County Chamber of
Commerce was a rousing success Saturday
night, with 414 people present.
Outgoing Chairman of the Board Mary
Helen McGruder welcomed incoming
Chairman Donna Wade and presented spe
cial awards given each year by the
Chamber.
McGruder also thanked former Chamber
president Pat Topping, who resigned in
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Photo/Tom Brooks
Working together to promote the area brought Corporate Member of the Year honors to
Forsyth County Board of Commissioners, accepted by Chairman Bill Jenkins, from Mary Helen
McGruder, and the City of Cumming, accepted by Mayor Ford Gravitt, from Harris Blackwood.
Library survey on the way
By Lisa Renzi
News Intern
The Forsyth County Library
mailed out 2,500 surveys Monday to
determine residents’ satisfaction with
existing services.
The library, in conjunction with
Gainesville marketing firm J&R
Kern, has been taking steps to deter
mine users’ opinions of the system,
and the survey means that library
users and non-users alike will be able
to add their input.
“We have basically three things
we are attempting to detertnine,” stat
ed Jon McDaniel, director of the
Forsyth County Library. “The main
goal is to determine our long-range
planning and direction.”
The survey asks a range of ques
tions about patrons' satisfaction with
existing services, reasons for not
using the library for those who do
not utilize its services, and future ser
vices that could be offered with prop-
Man dies when
tree falls on him
By Colby Jones
Staff Writer
An old pine tree snapped Saturday, striking and killing
an active 80-year-old Forsyth County man in his backyard.
Relatives found the body of Wilbur Herbert Anders
Monday morning outside his home at 7045 Collins Point
Road.
“He had on his gloves and coveralls. It looked like he
was outside in the yard working when it happened,” said
deputy coroner Mike Castleberry, who pronounced Anders
dead at 11:30 a.m. He always got his Sunday paper first
thing in the morning and it was still in his driveway,
Castleberry added.
Anders spent nearly every day doing volunteer work at
The Place, a non-profit organization that helps distribute
food and clothing to needy families throughout the county.
Director Dolores Mitchell said Anders began working at
the center a year ago. He would drive the service truck,
helping to pick up food from local grocery stores and col
lect donations. The retired tool salesman also would repair
the trade when it broke down.
He wore a hearing aid and had heart trouble. One time,
he switched his medicine and fell asleep on the job
“He scared us to death and we were so worried ... but
he was fine,” Dolores said.
See TREE, Page 2A
early January. “Pat did a good job during
the two years he was here and we wish him
well as he returns to Macon,” she said.
Ken Shugart, who came up with the con
cept of the Ambassadors program for
Chamber volunteers in 1992, presented the
Ambassador of the Year award to Ken Welty.
“Ambassadors play a vital role in the
success of this Chamber as they attend rib
bon cuttings, man the registration desks at
various events and help the staff keep in
touch with our membership,” McGruder
said.
er funding.
The Library Board -approved sur
vey will hit mail boxes around the
county this week, and McDaniel
hopes to present the results to the
Library Board by its March meeting.
The completed surveys then will be
further separated into two follow-up
focus groups to further detail library
users from non-users, with the results
to be presented again, possibly by the
May board meeting.
According to McDaniel, the
return expected is about 20 percent,
and the survey was formulated by
J&R Kern to be scientifically simple,
accurate and random to ensure reli
able information. “There are always
surprises in surveys, which is the
whole reason we started this project”
said McDaniel.
The results of the survey will be
used to produce the best services
possible to library patrons and to find
out how to increase future service
value.
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. . ' . Photo/Tom Brooks
Teddy Bear Tea Party
Rebecca Bronson’s Vickery Creek Elementary kindergarten class celebrated Bear Week with its second
annual Teddy Bear Tea Party held last week. Students Chelsea Reid, Hannah Alexander, Alex Rinna, and
Michael Waggamon toasted the event with a cup of tea. The tea was a celebration of what the students
have learned from these “cuddly creatures" which joined them for the dress-up affair. <•
Eddie Conder was presented the
Member of the Year award by Cindy
Wheeler, last year’s recipient of the honor.
“This past year, one member has turned his
chamber commitment into almost an addi
tional full-time job,” McGruder said.
The Business of the Year award went to
Norman’s Landing, represented by Bill
Norman and Wayne Hibbs. Last year’s win
ners, Steve and Carol Low of Window
Creations, made the presentation.
“From last year’s annual meeting, to busi
ness after-hours to pingpong tournaments,
Commission chair awaits
information to weigh in on
transportation initiative
By Jim Riley
Staff Writer
Last week, Gov. Roy Barnes introduced a
bill in the Georgia Senate to create a Regional
Transportation Authority.
The proposed organization will be a plan
ning agency that will have authority over
counties that currently don’t meet federal air
quality standards. Forsyth County is one of the
affected counties.
As the proposal stands now, a 15-member
board of appointees will have veto power over
organizations such as the Geoigia Department
of Transportation (DOT), the Atlanta Regional
Commission (ARC) and local commissions.
Barnes’ press secretary Gary Horlacher
Photo/Tom Brooks
Outgoing Board Chairman Mary Helen McGruder presented a
commemorative of Poole’s Mill Bridge Park, to Leon Boling, the
winner of the first ever Charles F. Welch Citizenship Award.
this business has truly been a vital part of our
county, and we are all fortunate that they
chose Peachtree Parkway as the location for
Norman’s Landing,” McGruder said.
The Corporate Member of the Year
award was presented jointly to the
Cumming Mayor and City Council and the
Forsyth County Board of Commissioners.
Harris Blackwood of Prestige Cable, last
year’s winner of the corporate award, made
the presentation.
See CHAMBER, Page 6A
said the authority’s main purpose will be the
development of a plan for “smart growth,” and
to encourage agencies to develop transporta
tion plans that deal with air-quality issues over
the upcoming five years. “We want to encour
age people.to work together,” he said.
While the group will encourage the use of
alternative modes of transportation such as rail
and buses, more traditional means will not be
discouraged. “This doesn't mean that we will
stop building roads,” he said. Barnes has
voiced his support of the northern arc of the
outer perimeter in the past. The traffic study
on that proposed roadway is scheduled to be
released in June.
See TRANSPORTATION, Page 2A