Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2023
THE JACKSON HERALD
PAGE 5A
Bill Lott stands next to a rare Franklinia tree on
his front porch.
West Jackson man
owns rare tree
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews. com
Bill Lott said there are some “unusual things here
and there” around his Hwy. 53 property on the far
western edge of Jackson County. One of them is on
his front porch.
Lott, who lives on the last house in the county before
the Hall County line, owns a Franklinia tree, a species
extinct in the wild since the 19th century.
The species has survived from seeds originally col
lected by botanist William Bartram on the Altamaha
River and subsequently extracted from trees over the
past 200 years. Experts believe the tree possibly went
extinct because cotton released a type of fungus that
gave the tree root rot.
“You can’t plant that (tree),” Lott said from his porch
in late August. “I have to keep that one in a pot or carry
it up to the mountains where they didn’t grow cotton.”
The 69-year-old Lott was gifted the rare Franklinia
by a professor with the University of Georgia, where
Lott worked for the forestry school for 38 years.
That’s not the only gem around Lott’s house.
A short trip on Lott’s all-terrain vehicle reveals an
other rarity, a Torreya tree, which sits on the federal
endangered list. Lott planted the tree 10 years ago.
“With (the Franklinia) and the Torreya, I have the
two rarest trees in the whole state of Georgia right
here,” said Lott, who has lived his entire life at the
Hwy. 53 location.
Lott said the Atlanta Botanical Gardens is interest
ed in visiting the property to study the species, which
only grows in one county in Georgia — Decatur Coun
ty — and two counties in Florida. The tree is flour
ishing on Lott’s property, which is part of family land
situated between Hwy. 53 and Hwy. 211 as part of the
“Goldmine woods” which once drew people from as
far away from Arkansas to pan for gold out of a creek.
As for the Franklinia growing on his front porch,
Lott said if it grows too tall for a room, he’ll see about
relocating it to a retired agriculture teacher’s proper
ty in Hiawassee, where cotton was never grown and
wouldn’t pose a threat to the tree. Or he could send it
to Clemson University where work is being done en
sure a place where the disease wouldn’t affect it.
Lott said it’s important to him to preserve these
species, making note of a Sweet Birch also growing
behind the house that came from the north Georgia
mountains.
“I keep stuff going,” Lott said.
Bill Lott, who lives on the far western edge of
Jackson County, stands next to a Torreya tree
on his property. The tree, which Lott planted 10
years ago, is on the federal endangered list.
Atlanta Rehabilitation opens
new location in Jefferson
Atlanta Rehabilitation Atlanta Rehab is a lo-
and Performance Center cally owned private prac-
has opened its newest lo- tice and now the largest
cation at 960 Lee Street, such practice in the Atlan-
Suite 205, in Jefferson. ta area.
Nancy Panoz and former Gov. Joe Frank Harris, third and second from right, cut ribbon at the opening of
Chateau Elan’s Inn and Conference Center in 1993. Panoz represented her husband, Don, the founder of
Chateau Elan. Also pictured are Byron Chapman, Jim Fry, Terry Harwood and Randy Owens.
Looking back: Week of Sept. 13
Take a look back at the headlines from this week over the
past 50 years:
50 YEARS AGO
SEPTEMBER 12,1973
•Commerce tax rate: 16 mills — It was taxes and money at
the September meeting of the Commerce City Council. The
tax rate for Commerce residents for 1973 was set at 16 mills.
•Efforts begun for school walks — Steps to get sidewalks
around the Jefferson schools were launched in 1973.
•Baseball to be played at CHS — Baseball was to be
played at Commerce High School in 1973. Under the terms
of the vote by the Commerce school board, the sport would
be played as long as the board felt it would be a successful
endeavor. They were set to approve or disapprove the contin
uance of the sport from year to year.
40 YEARS AGO
SEPTEMBER 14,1983
•Airport runways may be extended — There was a strong
possibility that the runway at the Jackson County airport
would be extended by another 1,000 feet, it was announced in
1983 by the Jackson County Airport authority.
•Mattie Lou O’Kelley Day set Oct. 8 in Maysville — Mays-
ville leaders agreed unanimously to declare Oct. 8 as Mattie
Lou O’Kelley Day in Maysville. O’Kelley, local renowned
folk artist, was set to be welcomed home and presented the
proclamation at the opening ceremonies of the 17th annual
Maysville Autumn Leaf Festival in 1983.
30 YEARS AGO
SEPTEMBER 15,1993
•County BOE seeks to shore up support for Commerce
merger — The Jackson County Board of Education was set
to meet again in 1993 in an ongoing effort to shore up support
for a “yes” vote in the upcoming Commerce merger balloting.
•Commerce to vote on merger — The Commerce referen
dum on merging its school system with Jackson County was
set to be held in September 1983, as scheduled. Judge Penn
McWhorter ruled to let the balloting proceed although he de
clined to rule on the validity of the transition contract between
the Jackson County Board of Education and Commerce City
Council. He said he could not do so because the contract was
not yet in effect.
•Arcade again enters talks for private landfill—After sev
eral weeks of relative peace in Arcade politics, the landfill
issue was again on the table and threatened to renew heated
debate at future council meetings.
20 YEARS AGO
SEPTEMBER 17, 2003
•BOC moves to ‘study’ water authority — In a move that
may set the stage for another takeover attempt by the Jackson
County Board of Commissioners to dominate the county wa
ter and sewerage authority, the BOC voted in 2003 to hire a
consultant to do a “needs assessment study” of the authority.
•I. W. Davis Detention Center slated for closing — The I.W.
Davis Detention Center was one of 12 facilities across the
state slated to be shut down in 2004 if the legislature approved
the closings.
•County digest up 9% — The Jackson County tax digest
grew by 9% in 2003, up to $1.39 billion from $1.27 billion
in 2002.
•Lanier Tech to open Commerce campus — Local officials
were to help Lanier Tech celebrate the opening of its Com
merce campus in 2003.
10 YEARS AGO
SEPTEMBER 11,2013
•JCSS to take $1.9 million hit in digest drop — For the fifth
year in a row, the Jackson County School System was being
slammed by a shrinking property tax digest in 2013. The sys
tem’s digest was projected to drop by 7.1 percent in 2013,
costing the system $1.9 million in revenue. The system’s re
cently adopted budget had projected the digest would remain
flat.
•Toyota to expand again in Jefferson — Toyota announced
plans to again expand its Jefferson operations. Plans called
for a $190 million expansion that will create 120 new jobs at
the facility.
•JCSS opens doors to out-of-district — The Jackson Coun
ty Board of Education changed its policy regarding out-of-
district students attending the system’s schools by removing a
total ban that had been in place for the previous decade.
5 YEARS AGO
SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
• BOE calls bond vote for March 19th—The Jackson Coun
ty Board of Education voted in 2018 to proceed with calling
Edie Thompson (L) and Donna Smith (R) pose
proudly in the smart new Jefferson High School
band uniforms in 1973. The uniforms had jackets
with varying shades of red and pants with varying
shades of blue. The total cost for the 71 uniforms
was some $6,500 — about $2,000 of which was yet
to be raised, noted band director Ben McClure. A
chicken barbecue was set for later in the month as
a money-raising event for the band.
On September 11, 2003, Jefferson Elementary
School celebrated Patriot’s Day with flags, banners,
patriotic songs and the wearing of red, white and
blue. Pictured are several students and teachers
who helped celebrate the day: (front, L-R) Court
ney Harkins, Hanna Chapman, Maritza Munoz,
Kyle Mudry, Jennifer Shumake, (back, L-R) Allison
Wheaton, Mary Williamson and Susi Hayes.
for a $50 million bond referendum vote early next year to help
fund a new high school in the Braselton-Hoschton area.
• EC3 grant application filed this week — The second
time’s the charm. That was the hope of a group of local
education and business leaders who are leading the ef
fort to create a college and career academy in Jackson
County. The group was filing its second state grant ap
plication this week seeking $3 million as start-up funds
for the project.
1 YEAR AGO
SEPTEMBER 14, 2022
• County to construct new westside elementary school
— A new elementary school is slated to open in the fall
of 2024 following action by the Jackson County Board
of Education Sept. 12, 2022. The school system is accel
erating plans for a new elementary school on the west
side of the county due to a large amount of growth in
the area.
• Hoschton council approves property tax — For the
first time in roughly four decades, the City of Hoschton
will levy a property tax. The Hoschton City Council vot
ed 3-1 on Sept. 8, 2022, to impose a 3.5 millage rate on
city property owners.
• Jefferson schools to improve security access — The
Jefferson City School System was planning a series of
security updates to its facilities.
The Jefferson 7th
and 8th grade Baby
Dragons shared their
opening date in 1973
with Vince Dooley’s
Bulldogs.
