Newspaper Page Text
O
o
THE
ACKSON
H Wednesday, November 23, 2022
ERALD
VOL. 148 NO. 24
20 PACES 2 SECTIONS PLUS INSERTS
Merged in 2017 with
The Commerce News
A PUBLICATION OF MainStreet Newspapers, Inc.
JEFFERSON, JACKSON COUNTY GEORGIA S0549 $1.00 COPY
Christmas events
Celebrate Christmas in Jackson County
Tis the season. Thanksgiving is
coining up this Thursday, Nov. 24, and
Christmas is right around the comer.
Braselton celebrated the holiday season
this past Saturday (Nov. 19). Other area
cities are planning a number of Christ
mas events over the coming weeks.
Details include:
ARCADE
Santa and Mrs. Claus will be at Ar
cade City Hall on Saturday, Dec. 10,
from 6-8 p.m.
This event is free and open to the pub
lic. There will be Christmas music and
more festive goodies.
See updates on the Arcade City Hall
Facebook page.
COMMERCE
Commerce plans its annual holiday
event. Commerce by Candlelight, on
Saturday, Dec. 3, from 3-6 p.m. The
event features pop-up shops, sleigh
rides, a visit with Santa, music, vendors,
hot chocolate and the lighting of the tree.
“Come downtown and shop our retail
and as an added bonus we will have pop
up shops to help with your Christmas
shopping,” city leaders said. "There will
be fun in tire park and Santa will be there
too! We end the day with the lighting of
the city tree and special guests will be
there with their musical tunes too! ‘Tis
the Season.”
Also on Saturday, Dec. 3, Four Sea
sons Garden Club will host Donuts with
Santa at the Commerce Civic Center at
10 am
The City of Commerce annual Christ
mas parade will be held on Sunday, Dec.
4, at 3 p.m. in downtown Commerce.
This year's theme is "Twas the Night Be
fore Christmas.
For updates and more infonna-
tion, visit the Commerce Main Street
Facebook page.
JEFFERSON
Jefferson plans a number of Christ
mas celebrations in December.
On Friday, Dec. 2, from 5-9 p.m.,
shop in downtown by candlelight. There
will be pop-up vendors, music and a
downtown light tunnel and other photo
spots.
The city's “Through the eyes of chil
dren” Christmas event will be held on
Saturday, Dec. 3, beginning at 10 a.m.
The annual parade starts at 11 a.m. There
will be stories and music on the square,
train rides for tire children and photos
with Santa at the Crawford W. Long
Museum.
The city will host a radio show, "Yes
Virginia, There is a Santa Claus” on
Dec. 2 at 7:30 p.m. and on Dec. 3-4 at
2:30 p.m. Tickets are $5. The event will
be held at the Jefferson Civic Center.
On Friday, Dec. 16, from 1-6 p.m., the
city will host a pop-up farmers market in
the CWL Museum parking lot.
For more information, visit cityofjef-
fersonga.com, the Main Street Jefferson
Facebook page, or call 706-367-5754.
HOSCHTON
The City of Hoschton's second-an
nual Jingle Mingle will feature a San-
See Christmas, page 2A
Jefferson
Former Jefferson
councilman C.D.
Kidd III passes away
Former Jefferson City Councilman
C.D. Kidd, HI, passed away on Nov.
20 at age 81.
Arrange
ments are
pending and
will be an
nounced lat
er by Jack-
son-McWhort-
er-Funeral
Home in Ath-
C.D. Kidd III
ens.
According to a social media post
from the City of Jefferson’s Facebook
See Kidd, page 2A
TOP TEACHERS
Meet three district Teachers of the Year
Rebecca Heard, East
Jackson Middle School,
is the Jackson County
School System’s TOTY.
Tommy Palmer, a math teacher at Com
merce High School, is the district’s
TOTY.
Photo submitted
Lane Thomas celebrates with
her family after being named
both the Jefferson Academy
and system-level TOTY.
Elections
Early voting for Senate
runoff opens Nov. 28
Early voting opens on Monday, Nov. 28, for the U.S. Senate
runoff election.
Incumbent Democrat Raphael Wamock faces Republican
Herschel Walker in that race. Statewide, Wamock received 1.94
million votes in the Nov. 8 election. Walker garnered 1.9 mil
lion while the Libertarian candidate, Chase Oliver, got around
81,000 votes. Neither Wamock nor Walker were able to get 50%
of the vote, forcing a runoff for the Senate seat.
Jackson County residents heavily favored Walker in the elec
tion. Walker got around 76.9% of the vote in Jackson County,
compared to Wamock at 20.5%.
Early voting will be held on Monday, Nov. 28, through Fri-
See Election, page 2A
New jobs
Heard has
enthusiam
for teaching
Enthusiasm could be the
defining word for East Jack-
son Middle School teacher
Rebecca Heard.
Heard was recently recog
nized as the Teacher of the
Year for the Jackson County
School System, being hon
ored for her work as the band
teacher at EJMS and as the
assistant marching band di
rector for East Jackson Com
prehensive High School.
Heard grew up in a family
of educators and music. Her
mom was the band director
at schools in her native Heard
County while her father
worked in IT with education.
At several different points
during her formative school
years, Heard's mom was her
See Heard, page 2A
MAILING LABEL
Palmer hopes to
make positive impact
on his students’lives
By Alex Buffington
alex@mainstreetnews.com
Teaching math is more than just lesson plans
and homework to Commerce High School teach
er Tommy Palmer. To him, it’s a way to connect
with his students and hopefully make a difference
in their lives.
Palmer is the 2022-23 Teacher of the Year for
Commerce High School and the Commerce City
School System.
Teaching is a second career for Palmer, who
was raised in nearby Nicholson.
He first studied computer science at Gainesville
College, but later transferred to Southern Poly
technic University to pursue a degree and career
in electrical engineering. Palmer was working at
as plant manager at a plastics company and was
sometimes putting in 100 hours a week. He and
his wife, Jenny, who also teaches at CHS, had two
young children at the time and Palmer was miss
ing out on seeing them grow up.
“I left being an engineer so I could spend more
time with my family,” he said. “My position as
a plant manager required 13-to-15-hour days, 7
days a week, and it didn't allow me the family
time that I wanted. I had to decide whether I was
going to raise my kids or let someone else, and
that was the easiest decision I've made. Yes, I miss
parts of working in engineering, but the rewards of
being a teacher, far exceed the engineering world.
Education has also provided me the opportunity
to be on the same schedule as my kids and wife.”
Palmer began his teaching career in 2006 at
See Palmer, page 2A
Thomas
found calling
in special
education
By Hannah Barron
hannah@mainstreetnews. com
Lane Thomas has found her calling
in special education. Thomas, a 5th
grade special education teacher at Jef
ferson Academy, was recently named
the system-level Teacher of the Year for
Jefferson City Schools.
“I am very honored to be named the
TOTY for Jefferson City Schools be
cause I teach alongside extraordinary
educators who all deserve this title,” she
said. “The Jefferson City School sys
tem is a learning environment in which
students are always placed first and
where the support from our community
is unmatched.”
“The leadership at Jefferson Acade
my creates a culture of family in which
all teachers are encouraged to work to
gether and support one another in order
to meet the needs of all students,” she
added. “I feel very blessed to be a Drag
on and extremely proud to represent
Jefferson as the TOTY.”
This is her fourth year teaching spe
cial education at JA, where she supports
students in language arts and science.
Her undergraduate degree is in el
ementary education, but she began
her career working with students with
See Thomas, page 2A
Millwork manufacturer
coming to Jackson Co.
Steves & Sons, Inc., will
invest over $100 million and
create 170 jobs over the next
three years as it builds a new,
state-of-the-art facility in Jack-
son County. The company
is a high volume and fami
ly-owned millwork manufac
turer.
This is the company’s sec
ond expansion announcement
in Georgia in the last year.
“Again and again, compa
nies choose to expand here in
the No. 1 state for business be
cause they have access to the
well-trained workforce, raw
materials, and infrastructure
they need to grow and thrive,”
said Governor Brian Kemp.
“We're proud that Steves &
Sons is the latest job creator
to grow their operations in
Georgia, and we look for
ward to seeing the partnership
between this family-owned
company and Jackson County
thrive.”
Based in San Antonio, Tex
as, for six generations, Steves
& Sons offers a variety of in
terior and exterior door styles
See Jobs, page 2A
County government
Jackson County has record
year of revenues in 2021
By Mike Buffington
mike@mainstreetnews. com
The Jackson County gov
ernment had a record year in
2021 with a little over $90
million in revenues, accord
ing to the annual audit.
Some of those funds
flowed-through to other
governments, but most of it
was overseen by the Jack-
son County Board of Com
missioners and its affiliated
agencies.
As in the past, public
safety spending made up
the largest single expense
in the county at $29.6 mil
lion. around one-third of the
county’s total spending.
Other highlights in the au
dit for 2021 were:
• The county had the few-
See Audit, page 2A
ram
piggly wiggly
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