Newspaper Page Text
Sales tax money split gets tentative approval
You get to vote on the sales tax renewal in March. The whole story, Page 8
WtREGRAS& SbHtMEH
Wednesday, December 20, 2023
ASHBURN,GA, 31714
VOL 109-No. 51 *750
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Food bank
closed
The Shepherd’s Pantry
food bank will be closed
Thursday. Only emergency
food assistance will be avail
able.
Blood drive
American Legion Post 98
is hosting a Blood Drive Fri
day, Dec. 22 from 12 p.m. - 5
p.m. in the Roses parking lot.
Donors will receive a $20
eGift card, OneBlood Blan
ket, and a Wellness Checkup.
Appointments are encour
aged, please visit
oneblood.org/donate-now and
use sponsor code 72098. ID is
required.
Meetings
County Commission, last
and 1st Tuesday of the month.
Ashburn Council, 1st
Thursday of the month.
Sycamore Council, 2nd
Thursday of the month.
School Board, 1st and 2nd
Monday of the month.
All meetings are at 6 p.m.
Teddy bears
The Kiwanis Club is col
lecting teddy bears for public
safety to give to children. The
bears are to help frightened
kids. New bears may be
dropped off at The Wiregrass.
Stray dogs
HOMETOWN NEWS SINCE 1902
The greatest news
by Luke
In those days Caesar Au
gustus issued a decree
that a census should be
taken of the entire Roman
world.
(This was the first census that
took place while Quirinius was
governor of Syria.) And everyone
went to their own town to register.
So Joseph also went up from the
town of Nazareth in Galilee to
Judea, to Bethlehem the town of
David, because he belonged to the
house and line of David.
He went there to register with
Mary, who was pledged to be mar
ried to him and was expecting a
child. While they were there, the
time came for the baby to be born,
and she gave birth to her firstborn,
a son. She wrapped him in cloths
and placed him in a manger, be
cause there was no guest room
available for them.
And there were shepherds living
out in the fields nearby, keeping
watch over their flocks at night.
An angel of the Lord appeared to
them, and the glory of the Lord
shone around them, and they were
terrified.
But the angel said to them, “Do
not be afraid. I bring you good
news that will cause great joy for all
the people. Today in the town of
David a Savior has been born to
you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.
This will be a sign to you: You will
find a baby wrapped in cloths and
lying in a manger.”
Suddenly a great company of the
heavenly host appeared with the
angel, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest
heaven, and on earth peace to those
on whom his favor rests.”
When the angels had left them
and gone into heaven, the shep
herds said to one another, “Let’s go
to Bethlehem and see this thing that
has happened, which the Lord has
told us about.”
So they hurried off and found
Mary and Joseph, and the baby,
who was lying in the manger.
When they had seen him, they
spread the word concerning what
had been told them about this child,
and all who heard it were amazed at
what the shepherds said to them.
But Mary treasured up all these
things and pondered them in her
heart.
The shepherds returned, glorify
ing and praising God for all the
things they had heard and seen,
which were just as they had been
told.
Royal in new Hall of Fame
Robby Royal, a
national and state
barbeque cham
pion, is an inaugu
ral member of the
Georgia Barbecue
Hall of Fame,
www.gabbqhof.org.
Mr. Royal
posted this reaction
to his facebook
page upon learning
of the decision.
"WOW, The Geor
gia BBQ Hall Of
Fame! I'm very
emotional and ex
tremely humbled at
this moment, after
getting this email a
few minutes ago. Thank you to my
family! I know that our entire fam
ily has had to bend, change plans,
and eat a ton of bbq because of the
love I have for competitive bbq. I
love my family and appreciate
y'all's love and sup
port since I started
Q in 2002. I am ex
tremely humbled to
have been chosen as
one of the first six to
be put in the Geor
gia BBQ Hall of
Fame. I am truly
blessed. So many
more people to
thank, I don’t even
know where to start.
Mr. Royal won
this year's state
BBQ championship
at the Big Pig Jig in
Vienna, easing past
BBQ legend Myron
Mixon.
A few years ago, he won a na
tional championship. He was also
featured on several Pitmasters TV
show episodes. He teaches how to
cook professional-level BBQ and
runs a YouTube cooking channel.
Robby Royal
BIG DONATIONS
Ryan Bennet with EDF Renewables and Cindy Shaw with representing
CASA. Photo Melanie Hughes
$11K donations to 2 groups
EDF Renewables, a
solar power company plan
ning a huge solar farm in
the Rebecca area, donated
$10,000 to the Court Ap
pointed Special Advocate
(CASA) program and
$1000 to the Shepherd’s
Pantry Food bank.
“EDF Renewables is ex
cited to establish a presence
in Turner County and we’re
delighted for the opportu
nity to support such impact
ful organizations in the
community”, said Ryan
Bennett, Director Develop
ment.
CASA is a program that
pairs adult volunteers with
children who are the vicitim
of neglect or abuse. CASA
representatives report to the
various courts where the
child’s needs are being con
sidered.
“We are very grateful for
the support. We are excited
about the new business in
Turner County. Their sup
port will help us serve mroe
children in Turner County.
It is incredible,” said Kris-
ton Morrison, CASA exec
utive director.
Another $1,000 was do
nated to the Shepherd’s
Pantry Food bank through
the Manantial de Vida
church. The church handles
the books for the food bank.
“We appreciate EDF so
much,” said Food Bank Di
rector Diane Saylor. “This
money will help feed a lot
of people in Turner County.
All the money will buy
food.”
SWAT serves no-knock search warrant
A helicopter hovering over the
west side of Ashburn and a
SWAT team in town last week
were a response to a burglary at
South Georgia Oil around 2 a.m.
Wednesday, Dec. 13.
Sheriff Andy Hester said a group of peo
ple broke into the business and stole 19
handguns. The business is 1 of several fed
erally licensed gun dealers in Turner
County.
"We got some information for a search
warrant for a house on W. Washington. We
arrested some individuals. Some were ju
veniles and some were not," he said. Juve
nile names are not published in arrest
reports.
The Cordele SWAT Team, which has
members from several different depart
ments across the region, served the no
knock search warrant because guns were
involved. In the search officers recovered
several of the stolen guns.
The helicopter was the Cordele Life
Flight. Some members of the helicopter
crew are also on the SWAT team. The chop
per was here to (See SWAX Page 2)
Ashburn residents are re
minded that pets must have a
collar and current rabies tag.
Animals without tags will be
collected by Animal Control.
A copy of the City's animal
ordinance is available at City
Hall and the Police Depart
ment. Animal control number
is 567-0313.
Separate debris
If you pile leaves and
limbs at curbside, please sep
arate limbs from the leaves
and pine straw. The City's
street vac can pick up the
leaves and straw.
Obituaries
Janice Jeanette Hall Little,
83, Ashburn
William “Billy”
Reinhardt, 89, Sycamore
Complete obituary
information Page 5
REACH scholars sign on the dotted line
Five Turner County
Middle School 8th
graders signed an
agreement that will land
them $10,000 for col
lege, if they follow
through on the agree
ment.
REACH stands for Realiz
ing Educational Achievement
Can Happen. It is awarded to
8th grade students in counties
across Georgia.
Some colleges in Georgia
match, double or even triple
the scholarship for REACH
students upon graduation.
Turner County Middle School REACH Scholars Kaydn Andrews, Robin McGriff,
Terrance Roberts, Jr. Keira Strepp and Nensi Patel. See more pictures on The Wire-
grass Farmer Facebook page and see video of the ceremony on The Wiregrass
Farmer YouTube Page.
Sycamore wants 10%
The Sycamore City
Council wants 10% of
the SPLOST (see story
Page 8) and at least
one Councilman is will
ing to see it go away if
the City does not get
that much.
Councilman Jim
Galt-Brown said he is
willing to let the tax go
if Sycamore does not
get 10% of the pro
ceeds. The County says
Sycamore’s agreement
is not needed but if the
Council does not agree,
Sycamore gets nothing if vot
ers approve the tax.
“My constituents in this City
may suffer the depredation of a
thief. I will not put a knife in
that thief’s hand,” he said.
Councilman Alan Coker
noted the proposal bumped
Sycamore up 2% from the pre
vious 5%. The Sycamore
Council meeting was before
the Friday joint meeting in
which Sycamore was offered
8%.
“7% is better than
5%. If they are control
ling the money, accept
the 7%. Are you going
to try to fight for 100%
and lose it ah?” Mr.
Coker asked.
“Yes,” Mr. Galt-
Brown replied. He said
Sycamore represents
about 10% of the County’s
total population. “I refuse to
accept that” 7% as offered.
“Fll take 7%, that is 2%
more than what we’ve got
now,” Mr. Coker said.
(See SPLIT Page 2)
Galt-Brown
8 66670 00023
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Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes an impression. -Haim Ginott
We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children. - Jimmy Carter
