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THURSDAY. SEPTEMBER 30. 2010 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 7A
Jasper Lions hold Orientation meeting
The Jasper Lions Club held its
semi-monthly meeting Sept. 23
with President Monroe Swilley
presiding. Meetings are held at
Dunn’s Restaurant - Hwy. 515 &
Hwy. 108 on the 2nd and 4th
Thursday of each month at 7
p.m.
Following the Pledge to the
Flag and the Invocation, a special
orientation session was held to
outline activities of Lions clubs.
Leslie Miller presented a special
video program featuring Lions
International 2nd Vice President
Wayne A. Madden. Lion Mad
den has been is a member of the
Auburn, In. Lions Club since
1984, has held many offices in
that club and received many
awards for his service to his
community.
In the video, Lion Madden
greeted those attending the meet
ing and reviewed some of the
history of the Jasper Lions since
it was chartered in 1939. The
club’s service to the community
includes building two parks for
recreation, providing a building
for the arts council, helping to
provide some funding for the
Good Samaritan Health and
Wellness Center and providing a
fully equipped eyecare center at
the Center.
Local service projects and
programs of the club now in
clude sponsorship of LEO clubs
at Pickens High School and Pick
ens County Middle School, coor
dinating and co-sponsoring the
annual Health Fair, sponsoring
the annual Independence Day
celebrations since 1949, chairing
the annual Fill-A-Stocking pro
gram that served 1,075 children
from 467 families in 2009, work
ing at the Pickens County Senior
Center and the CARES project
and sponsoring the annual Peace
Poster Contest in the schools.
The Lions Camp for the Blind in
Waycross, Guide Dogs for the
Vision Impaired and the Georgia
Lions Lighthouse Foundation,
Inc. are also groups the club is
associated with.
President Swilley welcomed
several guests to the meeting:
Jim and Jan Barclay, Hugh Reece
and Traci Buckingham. He read
a card from the Ball Ground
Lions Club thanking the club for
the donation of the 22 American
flags to be used in the flag pro
gram they are now starting in
Ball Ground. He thanked those
who participated in the Send-A-
Kid to Camp collections on Sept.
17-18.
Ed Stephens reported that
Wayne A. Madden
since July 1, he has delivered
1,079 eyeglasses and lenses, 2
hearing aids and 4 cell phones to
the Georgia Lions Lighthouse
Foundation in Decatur. They will
be recycled and sent to develop
ing countries.
Betty Ferrell announced that
Jasper Lions Club is to sponsor a
trip to Blue Ridge for members
of the Pickens County Senior
Center on Oct. 1. For many years
one of the community service ac
tivities of the club has been for
members to visit the Senior Cen
ter once a month, provide a cake
for those having a birthday dur-
Leslie Miller
ing the month and lead a fellow
ship time playing games such as
Bingo. Geneva Evans was one of
the Lions that helped Betty and
Ray Ferrell begin that ministry
and still assists when her health
permits. Betty Ferrell chairs the
Senior Center Committee and is
assisted by Lion Ray Ferrell.
Jasper Lions look forward to
continuing to carry out their
motto of “We Serve” in 2010-11
through its support of local, state
and International Lions Clubs
projects. As of March 31, Lions
Clubs International had
1,343,007 members in 45,740
clubs and 743 districts in 205
countries.
Northwest Georgia’s jobless rate
rises to 10.7 percent in August
The Georgia Department of
Labor (GDOL) reported that the
preliminary unadjusted unem
ployment rate in the Northwest
Georgia area increased to 10.7%
in August, up one-tenth of a per
centage point from a revised
10.6% in July. Meanwhile, the
number of unemployed workers
in the area increased to 42,783,
up 397 from 42,386.
The state’s seasonally ad
justed unemployment rate rose
slightly to 10% in August, up
one-tenth of a percentage point
from a revised 9.9% in July, pri
marily because of layoffs in retail
trade and construction. The rate
was also 10% in August 2009.
This is the 35th consecutive
month Georgia has exceeded the
national unemployment rate,
which is currently 9.6%. The job
less rate in the Northwest Geor
gia area in August 2009 was
11.1%.
Although the jobless rate rose,
the number of payroll jobs in
creased 17,800, or five-tenths of
a percentage point, from
3,802,500 in July to 3,820,300 in
August. Still, the number of jobs
remains less than in August 2009,
when there were 3,847,000 pay
roll jobs, seven-tenths of a per
centage point, or 26,700 more
than this year.
“Georgia’s job market is stag
nant and almost one-half of job
less Georgians have been out of
work for 27 weeks or longer.”
said State Labor Commissioner
Michael Thurmond. “Many em
ployers are reluctant to hire be
cause of the costs and risks
associated with bringing on new
employees. To help alleviate
their concerns, we have ex
panded our Georgia Work$
(GWS) training initiative. Now,
all jobless Georgians, not just un
employment insurance
claimants, will be eligible to re
ceive six weeks of on-the-job
training from Georgia employ
ers.”
GWS is designed to stimulate
job creation and hiring. Unem
ployed job seekers who register
with the GDOL may receive
training from participating em
ployers and up to $600 in
stipends to offset training related
expenses, such as transportation
and child care. Additional infor
mation is available at
www.dol.state.ga.us, any GDOL
career center or by calling 1-877-
WORKS09
Statewide, 70,264 laid-off
workers filed initial claims for
unemployment insurance (UI)
benefits in August, an increase of
2,175, or 3.2%, from 68,089 in
July. And, there was also an in
crease of 395 initial claims, or
six-tenths of a percentage point,
from 69,869 filed in August
2009. Most of the first-time
claims were filed in wholesale
and retail trade, manufacturing,
administrative and support serv
ices and construction.
Local area unemployment
rates are not seasonally adjusted.
Georgia labor market data are
available at www.dol.state. ga.us
At>ty
ASIAtf
C,UISIK£
Fine Chinese, Thai,
Japanese Restaurant
Sushi • Sake
Beer • Wine
744 Noah Dr.
Jasper, GA
Mountain Highland
Tel: 706-253-1155
Fax: 706-253-1105
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
Notice is hereby given of a hearing to be held at
6:00 PM, September 27, 2010 at Jasper City Hall
before the Planning Commission of the City of
Jasper, Georgia. The purpose of the hearing is to dis
cuss a request by John R. Pool to have parcel 042-
029 of 23.53 cumulative acres annexed in the City of
Jasper as Commercial-2. This property is located on
the east side of Hwy. 515 and the south side of
Mineral Springs Road. The recommendation of the
planning commission will be brought before the City
Council at 6:00 PM, October 11, 2010.
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