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The LeS County Ledger
Your Hometown Source Of Local News
Hometown Newspaper of James and Diane Willis
Volume XLIV- Number 39
Leesburg, Georgia - - June 15, 2022
Fifty Cents
Davenport Selected President of the Building Officials Association
Special to the Ledger
The Lee County Board
of Commissioners is
proud to announce that
our Chief Building Offi
cial, Joey Davenport, has
been selected President
of the Building Officials
Association of Georgia
for 2022.
Joey Davenport has
worked for Lee County
more than 20 years. In
November of 1998, Joey
began his career with Lee
County working in the
Planning & Engineering
Department as the Con
struction Site Inspector.
Within just a few years,
Joey was appointed as
Chief Building Official
for the Lee County Board
of Commissioners.
Joey went on to earn
multiple certifications
including ICC Plans
Examiner, ICC Resi
dential & Commercial
Inspector as well as Level
5 Professional Building
Official from the Build
ing Officials Association
of Georgia (BOAG). Joey
has served on the Board
of Directors of BOAG
for more than a decade
in various positions,
most recently serving a
second term as First Vice
President. Joey’s legacy
throughout the state is
well known and he is of
ten referred to as a source
of knowledge on building
codes requirements in
Georgia.
Joey currently serves
Lee County as Chief
Building Official and
Interim Director of
Juneteenth Proclamation Signed by Leesburg Mayor Billy Breeden.
Pictured with Mayor Breeden are Mrs. Trish H. Batten, Founder & CEO
of Recovery & Restoration House, Inc. and Apostle Malden Batten,
Pastor of The Church Of Leesburg.
Juneteenth In Lee County
Special to the Ledger
Juneteenth (short for
“June Nineteenth”) marks
the day when federal
troops arrived in Galves
ton, Texas in 1865 to take
control of the state and
ensure that all enslaved
people be freed. The
troops’ arrival came a full
two and a half years after
the signing of the Eman
cipation Proclamation.
Juneteenth honors the end
to slavery in the United
States and is considered
the longest-running Afri
can American holiday. On
June 17, 2021, it officially
became a federal holiday.
You are cordially invited
to join Mrs. Trish Haw
kins Batten, Founder &
CEO of Recovery and
Restoration House, Inc.
for 4 days of exciting
“JUNETEENTH” events
@ 896 Lovers Lane
Rd. Leesburg, Ga. The
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Smithville
City
Council
will meet
Monday,
June 20 at
6:00 p.m.
at the
Community
Building
events will kick off on
Thursday, “Storytelling
Time” June 16th at 7:00
P.M. with “The Stockade
Girls”. The Leesburg
Stockade was an event
in the civil rights move
ment in which a group
of African-American
teenage and pre-teen
girls were arrested for
protesting racial segrega
tion in Americus, Geor
gia, and were imprisoned
without charges for 45
days in poor conditions
in the Lee County Public
Works building, in Lees
burg, Georgia. The
building was then called
the Leesburg Stockade,
and gave its name to the
event. The young pris
oners became known as
the Stolen Girls. Mrs.
Emmarene Streeter and a
few of the Stockade girls
will be in person to tell
their story!
We will also have Mr.
Calvin James, a lifelong
resident and Pastor of Lee
County, the son of the
late, Mr. Agnew & Mrs.
Odethia James. He will
share with us how his par
ents and siblings’ home
was shot into endangering
their lives, why this hap
pened and by whom.
Their local church,
Shady Grove Baptist
Church, located on Hwy.
195 (Leslie Hwy. was
bombed/burned and
totally destroyed August
14, 1963. This was an
attempt to destroy the
heart, soul and mind of
the black community.
Our host, Trish Haw
kins Batten, a native of
Baker County, Newton,
Georgia will share how
she was one of the girls
along with Betty Wil
liams, who integrated
schools in Baker County
in the mid 60’s.
They along with many
others were harassed
because of their great
move. This was done to
intimidate and divide the
black community, but
they pressed on!
Friday night, June 17th,
is Movie Night AT 8:00
P.M.; we will have free
popcorn, drinks and
other snacks. So bring
the entire family and
your lawn chairs to be a
part of an eventful night
with a movie where Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
is depicting the movie
Selma, it is about the
1965 campaign by Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. to
protect the equal voting
right for African-Ameri
can citizens. So the main
theme of this movie is
that every citizen should
have a right to vote and
all citizens should have
equal voting rights.
Saturday, June 18th, is
“JUNETEENTH FESTI
VAL”, 10:00 A.M. - 2:00
P.M., where we will have
vending, music, games
and a free food truck
with bar-b-que and other
delicious foods and so
much more!
Sunday, June 19th, a
great “JUNETEENTH
FELLOWSHIP”, start
ing at 9:00 A.M. at The
Church Of Leesburg,
with the Pastor, Apostle
Malden Batten for a great
message!. Afterwards,
Recovery and Restoration
House, Inc. will host a
feast with a free tradition
al Juneteenth meal with
all the trimmings.
Planning, Zoning &
Engineering. In addition
to these duties, Joey
collaborates with other
departments to provide
assistance with building
concerns and oversite of
county building projects
as needed.
Joey oversees staff
within two departments
and has a long legacy of
mentoring employees to
become certified Build
ing Inspectors. Joey is
extremely knowledgeable
and is very much a team
player; always meeting
the needs of the county
and other departments.
Lee County is very fortu
nate to have Joey Dav
enport as he goes above
and beyond the role of
Building Official. Joey
contributes his success
to the continued support
from his wife Andrea
Joey Davenport
and three daughters Ivey,
Jamie, and Laura Lee.
Lee County High School
Salutatory Address
Special to the Ledger
by Kelly Kennedy
It has been said that
“the destination will not
bring you peace un
less you let the journey
teach you who you are.
On August 7, 2018, we
began our journey as
high school students at
the ninth-grade campus. I
can truthfully say that we
are all very different peo
ple today. We have grown
not only in our stature
and knowledge but also
in our humanity. Today,
we have reached what we
saw as a final destination
throughout our years of
education. Looking back,
freshman year was a time
for creating new friend
ships, setting goals, and
reinventing ourselves. I
remember this year fond
ly as a gentle introduction
to high school. We played
card games at the lunch
tables. We had food day
with Mr. Trivette. We
posted sticky notes on
the walls to lift others’
spirits. Finally setting the
middle school rivalries
aside, we became one
class by the end of our
freshman year. However,
this was not our final
destination.
Sophomore year was a
year of great change for
us all. This year tested
our newly formed friend
ships and our mental
strength by revealing to
us how little we truly
knew. To my fellow
classmates who took AP
Seminar, we may groan
and grimace at the word
“grit” after watching
“The Power of Pas
sion and Perseverance”
TedTalk, what felt like a
thousand times. We made
it through this stressful
year since we had grit,
and we are all better
writers now. For those of
you who are not famil
iar, Angela Duckworth
defines being “gritty”
as investing “day, after
week, after year in chal
lenging practice... to fall
down seven times and
to rise eight.” I would
like to thank Ms. Howell
for this valuable lesson,
showing us that deter
mination will bring us
closer to our goals rather
than mere talent or luck.
We have risen above our
weaknesses to get here
today. We are all about
to receive our diplomas,
so, we must have done
something right. Then,
sophomore year ended in
a way we could have nev
er imagined. COVID-19
placed our year on pause.
What we believed to be a
two-week break became a
nearly six-month sojourn.
Our teachers quickly
adapted, and we learned
how to live a virtual re
ality. We reached another
milestone after conquer
ing the obstacles this year
presented. Yet, this was
not our final destination.
We triumphantly
marched into our junior
year, though we had
to make some difficult
adjustments. Some of us
began the school year vir
tually, while many of us
attended classes in per
son. I am so grateful for
our teachers, who were
patient with us during
this uncertain time. You
all provided your stu
dents the best education
possible, whether they
were in your classroom
or at home. Teachers,
you are the reason we
are here today; you have
taught us both academic
and life lessons that have
allowed us to grow: you
are our backbone. Junior
year was challenging and
uplifting. For our class,
it was the year of SATs,
the year our beta club
was nationally recog
nized, and the year we
finally adjusted to high
school. We found places
of solace, whether in the
classroom, the library,
the theatre, the athletic
field, the counselor’s
office, or any place that
provided us with a sense
of comfort. Junior year
was yet another stepping
stone in our journey.
Still, this was not our
final destination.
Senior year was our
final year to strengthen
our connections, forgive
those who had hurt us,
and reach our long-held
goals. This year was a
frenzy of school spirit
with success in academ
ics, victory in athletics,
achievements in fine arts,
and much more. This
year, the days were long,
but the year was short.
We shared our last year
in Lee County with two
of my favorite people.
I am beyond fortunate
to have had both of the
Baltenbergers in their
final years at the high
school. You both hold
a special place in my
heart, and I am grateful
for the impact you have
each made on so many
students. To my friends
and family, I would not
Kelly Kennedy
be here today if it were
not for you. I treasure
our moments together,
and I am overwhelmed
with gratitude that I have
a community of support
when I am at my best and
even my worst.
Class of 2022, this is our
graduation, a time for us
all to celebrate. We have
reached this point that
once seemed a distant
dream, but this is not our
final destination. We are
going to college, enlisting
in the military, joining
the workforce, or taking
time to discover more
about ourselves. We can
now appreciate both the
successes and failures that
led us to where we are to
day, but we have so many
memories to create and
so many more changes to
make. As this first chapter
comes to a close, I want
to again remind you that
this is not our final des
tination. In the words of
Frank Sinatra, “the best is
yet to come.”
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