Newspaper Page Text
She Sutler Jtrralh
“Your Newspaper Since 1876”
(Publication Number US PS 534-720)
143rd YEAR, NO, 23 THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2020 1 SECTION, 8 PAGES 50 CENTS PER COPY
Community And Civil Rights
Leader Charlie A. Hicks Dies At 91
Charlie Andrew Hicks, Sr.
was bora on Sept. 20, 1928, in
Reynolds, GA, to Viola
Newsome Williams Hicks and
Rev. Elijah “E.J." Hicks, and
began a lifetime ofleadership
in Reynolds, Taylor County, the
State of Georgia, and the na
tion. He was primarily reared
by his maternal grandmother,
Ella Smith Lucas, and hus
band, Paul Willie Lucas, and
his older brother and business
associate, Taylor M. Williams,
Sr, He died Monday, June 1,
2020, at the age of 91,
Mr. Hicks graduated from
Reynolds Industrial High
School in 1945 and entered
Fort Valley State College, In
1949, Mr. Hicks graduated with
a Vocational Agricultural De
gree and was employed as a
teacher at Butler High School,
lie also served as the school's
Assistant Principal for 12
years. In 1960. he earned a
Master’s Degree in Administra
tion from the Tuskegee Insti
tute and completed additional
studies at the University of
Georgia and the University of
Tennessee, He served as prin
cipal of Eureka Elementary
and High School, which was
renamed R.L. McDougald El
ementary and High School un
der his administration.
He was the founder of Hicks
and Sons Mortuary, Inc., which
began in Reynolds and grew to
Roberta, Macon, and Fort Val
ley, He was the general agent
for Charlie A. Hicks Insurance
Agency and also co-founded the
United Membership Burial So
ciety, Inc. in the early 60s.
He served his county in the
U.S. Army Reserves and was
tw ice elected as Delegate to the
National Democratic Conven
tion in 1984 and 1988.
Mr. Hicks was the first Black
Reynolds City Council member,
serving as long as the City
Charter allowed. He was also
the first Black member on the
Taylor County Board of Educa
tion, serving as the first Black
chairman.
As an educator, Mr Hicks was
elected Vice-President and
President-Elect of the Georgia
Teachers & Education Associa
tion, serving as its last Presi
dent from 1968-1970. In 1970,
he became the first Black State
Field Representative for the
newly merged Georgia Associa
tion of Educators.
In 1972.be was the first Black
elected to the National Educa
tion Field Services Association
of the National Education As
sociation.
Mr. Hicks served as Director
of the Taylor County Certified
Literate Community for many
years and was inducted into the
Fort Valley State College Hall
of Fame.
In the early 50s, he joined
Saint Phillip African Method
ist Episcopal Church in Butler,
where he served as Secretary,
Steward, and Trustee Board
Chairman.
On Sept. 3, 1954, he married
the former Evelyn Elaine
Walton, and they had three
children, Cassandra G.
(Tbmmy R.) Hicks-Wils on, Rev.
Charlie A, (Sandra M.J Hicks,
RD, and Rev. Clarence E,
(Brenda Gj Hicks. He is also
survived by nine grandchildren
and several great grandchil
dren.
This is a “short list” of Mr.
Hicks’ numerous accomplish
ments. Mr. Hicks' leadership
will forever be remembered in
Taylor County and across the
nation.
(See full obituary on page 3.)
LOCAL ELECTION RESULTS
Peacock & Nelson Retain
Commission Seats; Mclnvale,
Brown, & Summers Win BOE Races
Polls closed at 7 p.m. on Tues
day. June 9th, and just before
press time, around 1:45 a.m.
on June 10th, around 99.9% of
the votes had been counted in
the local primaries. State
wide, numerous problems
were being reported, including
long lines due to safety precau
tions because of COVID-19,
voting machine failure, and ex
tension of poll closings, due to
confusion at some polls across
the state. In addition, a
record-setting increase in ab
sentee ballots delayed count
ing, and statewide results
were not in by press time.
But, locally, results are in, for
the most part, that is. Accord
ing Taylor County Chief Voter
Registrar and Election Super
intendent Mindy Bass, results
are based on approximately
99.9^ of the votes. The count
is complete enough to call the
local races, and complete and
final results will be published
in next week s edition.
For the District 4 seat on the
Taylor County Board of Com
missioners, Incumhent W,
Robert Peacock will retain his
seat. He received 236 votes,
while his opponent, Keith
Poole, received 170 votes. This
contest was on the Republican
ballot.
Also on the Republican bal
lot, Incumbent Randy Nelson
earned 196 votes to retain the
District 5 seat on the Taylor
County Board of Commission
ers, over Danny Peed, who re
ceived 179 votes.
In the Republican District 3
seat on the Taylor County
Board of Education race, In
cumbent Greg Brt>WH defeated
Reynolds City Council Accepts USDA
Grant/Loan For Water Project
By VALORI MOORE
Editor
In a special called meeting on
May 26th, the Reynolds Mayor
and City Council agreed to ac
cept the terms and conditions
of a $4,681,000 USDA grant/
loan for the city's water over
haul project. USDA represen
tatives Tizra Dozier, Jack
Stanek, and Hope Williams
joined the meeting via telecon
ference.
The project includes installa
tion of 21,000 linear feet of 6”
w ater main, 15,000 linear feet
of 8” water main, 8,000 linear
feet of 10” water main, the
transfer of existing services to
new mains and backflow pre
vention devices, new radio read
meters, a 500 gpm well, a
200,000 gallon elevated storage
tank, water plant and chemi-
NATIONAL GARDEN WEEK
June 7-13,2020
Sponsored by
National Garden Clubs, Inc.
'p/nnsLi
IN CL u-
The Butler Garden Club encourages you to
enjoy the fresh air and keep calm by gardening.
cal feeding building, and an
update of the electrical wiring,
piping and control system of
the existing w ell house.
Total funding for the project
is $4,681,000. This includes a
USDA loan in the amount of
$1,747,000, a USDA initial
grant of $28,000, and a USDA
grant of $2,906,000.
The loan ($1,747,000) must be
repaid over a 40-year period,
and will be secured by a Water
and Sewer System Revenue
Bond.
To meet the terms, the system
must generate $278,376 annu
ally
According to the minutes,
Councilman Danny Perkins
questioned the debt service and
the short-lived reserve account,
which is a deposit of $22,318
annually for repairs and/or re
placement of major system as
sets.
Mr. Stanek replied that USDA
had done its due diligence and
was able to verify that the City
would be able to meet those
terms.
Following more discussion.
Council worn an Libby Bond
made a motion to adopt the
loan resolution. Councilman
Erie Barker seconded the mo
tion.
Councilman Perkins asked if
adoption of the resolution
meant the City accepted the
loan. Mr. Stanek said it is ac
cepting the terms of the loan/
grant, but the City may stop
the process at any time. Mr.
Perkins voiced concerns about
the amount of money the City
will have to come up with an
nually, Mr. Stanek explained
that the debt reserve is to be at
10% of the loan payment for 10
years.
Public Works Director Scott
Jones explained the urgency of
this project. Mr. Perkins noted
that his main concern is rais
ing water rates. Council-
woman Libby Bond replied that
if the loan/grant was not ac
cepted, rates would be much
higher, due to fines the City
w ould be charged for the asbes
tos in the water.
Mayor Butch lYirner called for
a vote. Mayor Tbrner, Coun
cilman Barker, and Council-
women Bond and Tiffany Coker
voted in favor of accepting the
loan/grant. Councilman
Perkins voted no. Councilmen
Chris Mason and Walker
Moore were absent from the
meeting. The vote passed.
& 3= *
At the regular May meeting,
held May 18th, the Council
agreed to purchase one police
vehicle and a brush truck (not
to exceed $35,000) using funds
from the Solar PILOT (Pay
ments In Lieu Of Taxes) fund.
An additional Ford Explorer
will be purchased for the police
department and paid with 2017
SPLOST (Special Purpose Lo
cal Option Sales Tax) funds.
This will be financed through
GMA for four years.
To account for increased rev
enue from donations, etc,, the
2020 budget was amended.
Also, it was noted that GMA
suggests cities reduce expenses
by 10 percent.
Taylor County Family Con-
Nick Pandolfi. Brown earned
189 votes, while Pandolfi gath
ered 148 votes.
C. Wayne Mclnvale, II will re
place longtime School Board
member Sandy Harris to serve
District 4. Mclnvale received
222 votes, while Russell
Pounds gathered 185 votes.
This race was on the Republi
can ballot.
Wes Summers won the Tay
lor County Board of Education
District 5 seat, to replace long
time member Billy Patterson.
Summers grabbed 203 votes to
Cindy Barrow Hancock’s 167
votes. This was also a Repub
lican race.
To complete the Taylor
County Board of Commission
ers, on the Democratic ballot,
Incumbent Cicero Latimore
received 280 votes in District
1; Incumbent Tamcka Harris
earned 224 votes in District 2;
and Milton Harris received 77
votes in District 3, to replace
Jerry Weldon, who did not
seek reelection.
Winners will appear uncon
tested on the ballot in the No
vember General Election.
On the Democratic Ballot, In
cumbent Mary Bentley was
unopposed for the District 2
seat on the Taylor County
Board of Education, She
earned 221 votes and will face
Republican William Mitchell
Harris in the November Gen
eral Election, Harris was also
uncontested and received 132
votes in the primary.
Incumbent Glenda Latimore
faced no opposition in the
Democratic primary for the
District 1 seat on the Taylor
County Board of Education
and received 284 votes. She
will also appear unopposed on
the ballot in November.
For Clerk of Superior Court,
on the Democratic ballot, in
cumbent Lisa D. McDonald
was uncontested and earned
720 votes, and on the Republi
can ballot, Teresa Winsor had
no opposition and grabbed 958
votes. This race will be deter
mined in the November Gen
eral Election.
On the Republican ballot, in
cumbent Jeff Watson was un
opposed for Sheriff of Taylor
County and received 1,252
votes, and Incumhent Gary
Lowe was uncontested for
Coronor, with 1,252 votes
Both will appear uncontested
on the November ballot.
On the Democratic ballot, In
cumbent Dianne Renfroe faced
no opposition for Judge of the
Probate Court and earned 720
votes, and Incumbent Shirley
Graham had no competition
for Tax Commissioner and re
ceived 698 votes. They will
each appear on the General
Election ballot, unopposed, in
November.
Mother Adella McCrary
Dies At Age 106
>See Reynolds Council on p. 8
Mother Adella McCrary, 106of Butler died Thursday
morningMay 21, 2020, after a long life of serving and lov
ing the Taylor County community. Mother McCrary was
born June 9, 1913, to George and Minnie Stem Grier Bell
in Taylor County. She served faithfully at Antioch Baptist
Church as an Usher, a Deaconess, and was Mother of the
Church. On May 29, 1936, she married Deacon Robert
McCrary, Sr., and they were blessed with six wonderful kids,
Minnie M. Mont fort, Maiy F Glover; Ethel Bell, Robert
McCrary, Jr., the late Betty R. Gray, and the late Willie
McCraiy. She is survived by 36 grandchildren, 70 great
grandchildren, 82 great, great grandchildren, and five
great, great, great grandchildren. Mother McCrary was
no stranger to anyone. She loved spending time with fam
ily and friends, traveling, attending all surrounding
churches, fishing, gardening, and singing. She would have
celebrated her 107th birthday on June 9th. Happy Birth
day, Mother McCrary l (See complete obituary on page 3.)