Newspaper Page Text
2013 Senior
Photos
Inside,
Pa£es 11-14
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Thursday, May 23,2013
2 Sections, 20 Pages
These two running enthusiasts show sportsmanship at its finest. Trace Hodges,
age 8, son of Troy and Julie Hodges of Musella had a time of 8:35 in the one
mile fun run Saturday. He gives Ellie Mincey, age 7, daughter of David and
Tracie Mincey of Macon a high five as she crosses the finish line with a time of
9:22.
Emmett Merritt Inducted Into Hall Of Fame
Emmett Merrit was the
2013 inductee into the Craw
ford County Potters’ Hall of
Fame Thursday night. Em
mett was a third generation
Crawford County potter, the
grandson of William Riley
Merritt and son of Elbert
Jackson Merritt. Emmett
was also an offspring of
three separate potter fami
lies. His grandmother was
Nancy Becham Merritt,
sister of the well known
potter Washington Becham.
Emmett’s mother was Annie
Averett Merritt, another well
known potter family.
Emmett was bom in
Crawford County July 23,
1877 and married first to
Mattie Gordon, Aug 2,
1896. They had two daugh
ters, Claudie and Mamie,
who survived infancy and
several other children that
did not. There are seven
small unmarked graves next
to Mattie in Dixon United
Methodist Church cemetery.
Mattie died June 13, 1903.
Emmett was both a farmer
and potter. He began pui'-
chasing land in 1904 with 34
acres in Crawford County
Land Lot 100 of the third
land district. He continued
buying the remaining acre
age of land lot 100 and that
is where his home was. He
went on to purchase lots
See MERRITT, Page 9
Several members of Emmett Merritt’s relatives were in attendance at the Hall
of Fame Induction ceremony Thursday night. The poster was painted by Nancy
Jones. Her husband, Russell, provided background information on Merritt.
Budget Woes Plague BOE
Special Meeting To Discuss Cuts Set
Budget woes causing
cuts will be discussed at a
June 4, 2013 meeting of the
Crawford County Board
of Education. The meeting
will begin at 7 p.m. Cuts are
expected by the Georgia De
partment of Education which
will greatly impact Crawford
County.
The loss of revenue and
where cuts can possibly
be made will be items of
discussion. Superintendent
John Douglas is expected to
address board members and
disclose information con
cerning the expected cuts.
The public will be informed
shortly thereafter.
Statewide all boards of
education are suffering cuts
in various areas, some in
specific areas.
Chair of the Crawford
County Development Au
thority, Brenda Carroll was
invited to speak to the board
at last week’s meeting. The
board went into a closed
executive session to discuss
a new project. Once again in
open session, nothing was
disclosed.
At the meeting the board
approved a five-year facil
ity plan which will include
upgrades to heating and air
at Crawford County High
School. All other infrastruc
ture has received approval
for necessary upgrades as
well. The five-year plan
facility improvements runs
from July 2, 1013 to June
30, 2017. The plan was ap
proved unanimously by the
board.
TSA (Technical Students
Association) placed first in
a statewide TSA Confer
ence Competition and will
travel to National Confer
ence Competition in Or
lando, Florida. The trip was
approved unanimously by
the board. Students will be
chaperoned and are directed
by David Shepard.
Board training was dis
cussed for all members. A
training will be held May
28, 6:30 p.m. and continue
until 9:30 p.m. Topics in
clude the new changes con
cerning open meeting laws,
transferring grades and the
Conservation Use Valuation
Assessment (CUVA) and
Forestry Land Protection Act
(FLPA).
Volunteer Work Prevalent For New Board Member
A long list of volunteer work graces the
pages of the resume of Troy S. Cook, recent
appointee to the Crawford County Develop
ment Authority Board. Bom to Gary and
Jenelle Cook in Athens, Georgia, Cook is no
stranger to Crawford County having lived
here from 1987-1995 before moving to Lex
ington, Georgia in 1994.
He returned to Crawford County in 2011
and is ready to volunteer his time to help
better the community.
Cook is married to the love of his life,
Barbara Argo Cook and together they have
three children, two daughters and one son,
who is currently serving in the United States
Navy. He was employed by Southwire Com
pany until the company had to downsize and
is now working as the office manager for a
local automotive shop.
Cook’s resume shows a long list of vol
unteer work. He has served with both the
Masonic Lodge in Lexington, GA, where
he served as a master and secretary and the
lodge in Roberta, GA. He is also a mem
ber of the Scottish Rite in Atlanta, GA and
served as president and secretary of the
Athens-Piedmont Scottish Rite Association.
He organized many community fundraisers
for all the groups for which he has been a
proud member.
“I believe my experience will allow me to
bring a fresh new perspective to the Devel-
Troy Cook
opment Authority Board. As for any new
ideas for the board I’d like to hold off any
comment until I have the opportunity to see
what is currently being done. I would like
to thank the Board of Commissioners for
appointing me to this position and I look
forward to serving Crawford County.”
Four generations of runners participated in Saturday’s road race. Claire Mat
tox, who is 78, her son, Eric Simpson, grandson, Ezra Simpson and great-
grandson Joshua Flanders, were all participants in the race.
