Newspaper Page Text
The Taylor County News, May 7, 2020, Page 4.
SGTC Remote Summer Semester Registration Underway
Jacob Allen Choppa
To Graduate From
The Citadel
Jacob Allen Choppa will graduate from The Citadel, Mili
tary College of South Carolina on May 9 } 2020, with a de
gree in Biology. He is also the recipient of the Major Gen
eral Robert Fredrick Leadership Award, given to one ROTC
Cadet per year Following “virtual” graduation, and fol
lowing in the footsteps of'his father and brother; Jake will
be commissioned as a lieutenant in the United States Army-
After the completion of his initial training, he will join the
101st Airborne (Air Assault) Division. Jake is the son of
COL (Ret) and Mrs, Robert Choppa and the grandson of
Air hie and Elsie Allen of Butler.
(F
College Chatter
Adam Riley has met all re
quirements for graduation
from Abraham Baldwin Agri
cultural College in lift on, GA,
and will graduate with a Bach
elor of Science in Agribusiness
on May 7th.
Adam is the son of Bill and
JoArmc Riley of Butler,
South Georgia Technical
College (SGTC) President Du
John Watford announced that
the college s remote summer
registration is currently un
derway and that the on-line
application fee and placement
test requirements have been
waived for admission during
the Coronavirus outbreak.
SGTC also provides the use
of textbooks at no cost to stu
dents. Classes start May
27th,
‘This is an awesome oppor
tunity for individuals to en
roll in college classes," said
South Georgia Tech President
John Watford. “Summer se
mester is only eight weeks
long. South Georgia Technical
College provides students the
use of text books at no cost,
and the application fee and
placement exam requirement
have been waived. There has
never been a better time to
enroll. Many students will be
eligible for the HOPE Grant,
HOPE Scholarship, or Fed
eral Financial aid and will be
able to attend at no personal
cost. What are you waiting
for?”
Nearly 450 courses will he
offered online or in a distance
learning option for the eight-
week summer semester,
which begins May 27th.
South Georgia Technical Col
lege is also offering 18 general
core courses, including En
glish, Literature, College Al
gebra, Economics, Art and
Music Appreciation, Political
Science, and History classes.
The college offers a number
of online services, including
academic counseling and tu
toring that will help students
navigate summer semester.
The financial aid application
can he completed online, but
assistance is only an email or
phone call away for students
with questions. Online video
presentations are available
for students who need assis
tance transition Lug to online
joiners Corner..
by Neil joiner, joinerscorner.com
Burning Wet Leaves
tti
>»
Fm old enough to know better but I did it anyway. I spent most of the last Saturday in
March trying to bum a pile of wet leaves. They looked dry on top, but sometimes I forget
that what we see is not always what we get. Beneath the surface is what's most impor
tant.
My long day of spreading layers of leaves to keep the fire going reminded me of an old
television ad. It ran on Macon's WJV1AZ Channel 13 during my 1950s childhood, 1 couldn't
find the advertisement using a Google search, so I may not be telling this exactly right.
Fm not giving my usual guarantee of at least 50 percent accuracy.
Two middle aged local men were feat ured touting a brand of bacon, which Fm guessing
was packaged in Central Georgia. According to one of the fellows this exceptional bacon
wouldn’t burn. The other man, however, kept forgetting that unique characteristic. The
first gentleman feigned frustration towards his rather hapless friend. “He’ll never learn!"
he said, while shaking his head. Just afterward, or maybe it was just before, he’d add
with excitement, “Southern Maid No-burn Bacon - ft will not burn.”
We have a big yard with a lot of trees. Jane normally mows over the leaves with mulch
ing blades, but her mower was in Russ Bowden’s Infirmary this past leaf season. It
needed some major work, so I came up with a brilliant idea of blowing the leaves into
piles. To make loading easier, I made a leaf sled. There’s no patent pending. You are
welcome to follow the detailed instructions below and build your own.
I took a 12 by 16 blue polyethylene tarpaulin and ran a small cord through the grom
mets all the way around. We raked the leaves onto the tarp, draped the cord over the
bumper hitch on my truck, then drug it 100 yards to our brush pile. I flipped it over to
unload, then returned to our yard and repeated that process until the truck ran low on
gas.
If 1 can pause here for a moment on a sidebar to the story, Fd like to say Fm not totally
convinced tarpaulin is spelled correctly. Fve always pronounced it tar-po-le-on, four syl
lables with an accent on po. Fm relying on Spell Check but hoping it's wrong. Tarpoleon
may not be a real word, but in my opinion it should be. Say it aloud a few times and I
think you’ll agree it sounds better.
Those leaves covered an area bigger than downtown Findley and were several feet
deep. They had been soaked by winter rains which set a record on Coley Crossing. The
top three inches of that pile burned like wildfire. It went, “faster than a Seville second,"
as Marian Bowen would say. But the bottom three feet or so wouldn't cooperate.
I should have looked beneath the surface before I struck the match, but the dry top and
delightful weather was too tempting. It was a beautiful spring day with a perfect breeze,
enough wind to scatter the smoke without floating tiny cinders to parts unknown.
It was around nine a.m. when I called for my burn permit. I expected to be through
before lunch, or at least well before sundown as required by regulation. The flames died
out before the deadline, but the leaves were still smoldering Sunday morning.
Our former next-door neighbor, the late Mrs. Lorena Morgan, worked in her yard al
most daily. She piled leaves and limbs into a wheelbarrow and burned them every few
days. The smoke finally got to her though. She walked to the ambulance that took her
to the hospital where she soon died at 102.
While burning those leaves, I was reminded of Miss Lorena. She was a sweet, soft-
spoken lady who loved taking care of her flowers and grounds. If heaven offers a neigh
borhood channel, I hope she was watching me. I know what she’d be thinking but would
be too kind to state. “He'll never learn.”
I say that because I believe this is the second time Fve made the same mistake. The
slow burning of wet leaves
seemed oddly familiar. As
the great Yogi Berra would
have said, “It's like deja vu
all over again.”
Hopefully I won’t soon for
get a lesson I sometimes ig
nore. The top layer of any
thing seldom tells the whole
story. But if we look be
neath the surface, well find
what's most important.
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learning.
“As we navigate these uncer
tain and unprecedented
times, we want to do every
thing we can to help individu
als pursue higher education
without barriers," explained
Dr. Watford. “A lot of things
may be uncertain right now,
but one thing is certain. Once
this coronavirus outbreak is
over or under control, our
area is going to need a quali
fied, trained workforce more
than ever. That makes sum
mer semester the perfect op
portunity to look at a career
option that is going to be in
high demand. Many of our
graduates have worked and
are continuing to work during
this pandemic because their
skills are essential to keep
our community and country
running smoothly.”
Students who are interested
or would like more informa
tion about how to apply to
South Georgia Technical Col
lege can visit the college
website at www.southga
tech.edu and discover the
over 200 great associate de
gree, diploma, or technical
certificate of Credit programs
available, For more informa
tion about applying online
visit: https://www.southga
tech.edu/admissions/how-to-
apply/. For additional ques
tions, email sgtc411(dsouthga
tech.edu.
SGTC Admissions Director
Whitney Crisp and SGTC Ad
missions Assistant Jasmine
Mercer walk students
through the on-line admis
sions process in a video. Once
a student applies on-line,
they will receive an email
from Admissions Director
Whitney Crisp, An accep
tance letter or email will fol
low.
The suspension of the place
ment exam, ACCUPLACER,
still provides SGTC and
TCSG colleges the ability to
use other placement methods
already in place to allow an
applicant to continue the en
rollment process. The college
will evaluate program readi
ness in a number of different
ways to ensure student suc
cess.
The suspension of the re
quirements for official high
school or high school equiva
lency transcripts for admis
sion to TCSG colleges allows
applicants who wish to begin
this summer or fall semester,
the ability to continue their
admission process. In the in
terim, students may submit
unofficial transcripts until
the college resumes normal
business operations. The stu
dents will then have the abil
ity to submit official docu
ments to the college without
Shown above is South Georgia Technical College President Dr, Watlord
with a representative stack of college textbooks that are provided for
students to use at no cost at SGTC when they enroll for summer se
mester. Classes start May 27th and only last eight weeks. It is a great
time to look at expanding or exploring new career options,
affecting their current enroll- under Quick links, Flight
ment.
Current students can con
tact their instructors to enroll
for summer semester, A list
of courses offered for summer
semester is located on the
SGTC website:
www.southgatech.edu
plan or:
https://
www.southgatech.edu/wp-
conlent/uploads/2020/05/
Co u r se-S ch ed u le- for-
Summer-2020-5-2020-
revised.pdf
Re-Elect
Greg Brown
raylor County Board of
Education
District 3
TAYLOR COUNTY TIRE SHOP
253 Thomaston Hwy. * Butler, GA
(next to Ms. Julia's Restaurant) ^
(478) 862-2530
Owned & Operated by Jimmy Williamson
Wi SILL AIL TIRIS-Wheel Barrow,
Trailer Tractor Trailer, Ag Tires, and
All Major Brands for Cars and Trucks!
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★ ★★★★★ Please Elect ★★★★★★
CuuLf, feaWbui —
Hancock
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
School Board Dist. 5
Political Advertisement Paid for and Approved by Cindy Barrow Hancock for School Board, District 5
Keep,
W. Robert Peacock
o
w«j
m
rt*
H
Republican Candidate for Commissioner
District 4
I am running for re-election to District 4 County f|*\
Commission on the Republican Ballot* The new election -
day is June 9th, Applications for an absentee ballot are
being sent out to all eligible voters by the Secretary of
State. If you don’t receive an application, call the
Registrar’s office in Butler. As you all know, we are
under a Shelter in Place order from the Governor, so I am
&h not able to visit each and every one. Please feel free to call
Vll me at (706) 741-4358 for any of your concerns. vvl ^j