Newspaper Page Text
VOL. 135 NO. 27 42 PACES 4 SECTIONS PLUS INSERTS A PUBLICATION OF MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. JEFFERSON, JACKSON COUNTY GEORGIA 30549 75« COPY
•43rd annual kids'
Christmas section inside
this edition
Op/Ed:
•'One solitary life'
page 4 A
Jefferson ends 2008 in the black
THE CITY of Jefferson offset that gain. u nf\f\0 A j'l, ExDGFISGS
THE CITY of Jefferson
ended 2008 in the black,
offset that gain.
Overall, Jefferson fared
Citv of Jefferson 2008 Audit
Expenses
General Government
$460,000
according to the town’s
recently completed audit.
better during 2008 than
did many other area gov-
Revenues
Police
Fire
$1.62 million
$407,200
The city’s General Fund
ernments. As with most
Property Taxes
$2.7 million
Public Works
$691,000
netted $763,700 on the
formerly fast-growing
Sales Taxes
$1.04 million
Recreation
$233,400
year, pushing the town’s
communities, Jefferson
Franchise Taxes
$1.08 million
Parks
$1.07 million
General Fund reserves to a
saw downturns in licens-
Service Charges
$740,000
Libraries
$189,400
little over $2 million.
es and permits and in ser-
Licenses & Permits
$343,200
Economic/Community Devi.
$378,300
In the city’s water and
vice charges during the
Business Taxes
$220,900
Other
$22,000
sewer fund, the town lost
year as construction took
Other
$583,000
TOTAL
$5.07 million
$61,300 on the year. While
a dive and impact fees
TOTAL
$6.7 million
NET Over Expenses
+$1.63 million
the city netted $195,500
in direct operating income
and expenses, interest
fell. Sales taxes and prop
erty taxes were also down
in 2008.
city corrected some
lingering problems dis-
Transfers Net
Add to Fund Balance
-$872,000
+$763,700
expense of over $585,000
Also in the audit, the
covered with the 2007 audit.
Fund Balance 2008
+$2.05 million
Sports:
•JHS go 4-0 against
region teams
page 1B
Features:
•Locals share their
stories of Christmas
page 1C
Other News:
•Public Safety
pages 6-7A
•Legals
pages 7-260.
•Church News
page4B
•Obituaries
page 5B
•School News
pages 6-7B
Q -R
A lot more coaching to do
Over 20 years in the sport, Thurmond still loves it
WRESTLING HALL OF FAME
Coach Doug Thurmond was recently inducted into the Georgia Chapter of the
National Wrestling Hall of Fame, one honor in a list of many. While he is pleased
with the accolade, he says “you’re only as good as the people you surround your
self with.” Photo by Katie Huston
BY KATIE HUSTON
IT’S immediately apparent
that the Jefferson High School
wrestlers are fiercely driven to
succeed. With 17 state titles
under their belt since 2000, it’s
hard to argue with success.
Even though the team’s
practices are closed to the pub
lic, if granted entrance, one
would be hard-pressed not to
notice the heat was blaring
as the young wrestlers sprint
around the practice area. They
are sweat-drenched and many
with agonized expressions,
when from the middle of the
mat, the voice of head coach
Doug Thurmond can be heard
encouraging his team.
“How many guys in the hall
way do you see that would do
this?” he asks. “None. You put
yourself in a different class.”
It’s hard to pinpoint what
exactly might motivate these
young men to practice as
excruciatingly as they do, but
Thurmond might rank high on
many of their lists.
“If kids are going to run
through a wall for you, they’ve
got to know they can trust
you,” he said. “They’ve got
to know that you love them;
they’ve got to know that you
care about that and that you’re
going to be there for them.”
Thurmond’s dedication to
his wrestlers doesn’t only pay
off on the mat with winning
seasons. He’s the recipient of
many awards including the
repeated Coach of the Year
Awards for Georgia from the
National Wrestling Coaches
Association and Southeastern
Coach of the Year Awards.
Most recently, Thurmond
experienced what he called
his most humble accolade -
his induction into the Georgia
Chapter of the National
Wrestling Hall of Fame.
“As a coach, it’s one of
the pinnacle things,” he said.
“There are things that you
think probably wouldn’t hap
pen to you and if it happened
to you, you’d probably be old
and gray and walking on a
cane.”
He isn’t old and gray and
still has a lot more coaching to
do, but Thurmond doesn’t take
all the credit.
“It’s a nice gesture,” he said.
“But you’re only as good as
the people you surround your
self with.”
With wrestling, trust is
something he thinks is at the
core of the sport he loves, and
with coaching, he wants his
wrestlers to trust him.
“They’re going to do a lot
for you and I think that’s why
wrestling teaches so much to
them,” Thurmond said. “We
have a good family unit with
our wrestling team.”
Family is something
Thurmond knows all about.
He and wife Jackie of 25 years
have four boys, Cam, Cason,
Tanner and Tyson. The old
est, Cam, who now attends
North Georgia College and
State University, grabbed a
state title while wrestling at
JHS. Cason, who returned this
year as a Dragon wrestler, also
has a state title. The youngest
two are also wrestlers in the
Jefferson USA program.
“(Wrestling) was something
that I knew if ever I had chil
dren - or boys -1 would want
them to do it,” Thurmond said.
“It was something that was
a wonderful character teacher
for kids.”
He said that if his kids didn’t
wrestle, he would be affected,
but only because they would
be missing out on something
crucial.
“I would probably be sorely
disappointed if they didn’t
wrestle,” he said. “Just because
of what I feel it teaches.”
Since he views wrestling
as a teaching opportunity,
Thurmond tries to keep it
mostly positive on the mat.
“If (the team) loses, you
know they didn’t mean to
lose,” he said. “The only time
we really get after them is
if we’re disappointed in them
in something that has shown
in their character where they
didn’t hold up their end of
being a good student or a good
young person.”
At practices, the wrestlers
work hard and are pushed
daily.
continued on page 3A
BOC approves funds for lights at Hoschton Park
BYANGELA GARY
THE NEW recreation fields in West
Jackson will soon have lights following
action by the Jackson County Board of
Commission Monday night.
The BOC agreed to allocate $274,908
in special purpose local option sales tax
revenue for recreation to fund the project.
Recreation director Rick Sanders spoke
on the request and said it will make the
ball fields and walking trails at the com
plex more accessible.
“We will be able to offer more,” Sanders
said. “The accessibility will improve with
these lights.”
Commissioner Bruce Yates said: “This
is a great opportunity to provide a place
for many of our citizens to use instead of
having to travel across the county.”
The new park will be located next to
West Jackson Primary School on Ga.
Hwy. 53 and is expected to open in sum
mer 2010. The City of Hoschton and
the Jackson County Board of Education
donated land to the county to revamp a
decades-old park in the area.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business Monday night, the
BOC approved:
•a request from John Tolbert to be
allowed to move a 16-foot mobile home
to his property on the Commerce Road to
replace two older mobile homes.
•renewal of the 11 alcohol licenses in
the county for 2010.
•allocating $100,000 to the chamber of
commerce. This was previously approved
as part of the fiscal year 2010 budget.
•an amendment to the alcohol ordi
nance to allow the licensing of wine and
malt beverages for wholesale warehouse
distribution and to allow a licensed alco
holic beverage caterer for distilled spirts,
wine and malt beverages.
•an agreement with Jackson Electric
Membership Corporation to allow the
installation of cable on its pole lines for
the Zion Church Road project.
•a request from Michael Vaughn to
build a garage exceeding the 1,000 square
feet structure allowed on residential prop
erty.
•a revision to the policy allowing the
exchange of excess right-of-way and other
property required for road projects.
continued on page 3A
Jefferson UMC
rezoning on
Mon. agenda
ZONING changes that
would allow a long-time
church to expand and for a
senior residential community
to locate in
Jefferson
will be on
the agen
da for the
■ Council also to
consider request
for senior citizen
community
voting meeting of the Jefferson
City Council on Monday at 6
p.m. at the civic center.
Jefferson UMC is asking
to rezone 3.7 acres at Colley
Street and Storey Street to O-I
(office institutional) with con
struction of a family life cen
ter and 225 additional parking
spaces among the plans.
At an earlier meeting, Tim
Comelison represented the
church and presented plans for
the project. He said the 3.7
acres would be combined with
two adjacent parcels that are
already zoned O-I. He added
that the church membership
doesn’t have a family life cen
ter that is large enough and that
more parking is needed. Other
phases of the project call for
two additional buildings to be
constructed — a new sanctuary
and an education building.
At the earlier meeting, attor
ney Rob Huestis spoke in
opposition to the request on
behalf of Chuck and Kathy
DuBose.
In other business Monday
night, a rezoning request that
would allow the development
of a “independent senior liv
ing community” on Y.Z Sailors
Road will be voted on. Elora
Stargel asked to annex and
rezone 20 acres on Y.Z. Sailors
Road from A-2 to R-3 for the
40-unit development.
New Year’s Day
program ahead
THE 83rd annual Jackson
County New Year’s Day
Program will be held at 9 a.m.
Friday, Jan. 1, in the audito
rium of the Jackson County
Administrative Building.
The first such New Year’s
Day Program was held in 1927,
with Judge W.W. Dickson pre
siding.
Pastor Luis Ortiz of the
Hoschton United Methodist
Church will be the featured
speaker. Mary Burley will
sing “God Bless America.”
Magistrate Court Judge Billy
Chandler will introduce coun
ty officials and guests. Tax
Commissioner Don Elrod will
introduce the speaker. TeenPact,
a Jackson County organization
dedicated to preparing students
for business and political lead
ership, will again host the event
and provide coffee and dough
nuts.
All are invited to attend.