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COPYRIGHT-THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2013 • VOLUME 126 NUMBER 24 • JASPER, GEORGIA • 750
Congress’ failure
to pass Farm Bill
to leave Food
Stamp recipients
without benefits
Page 8A
JES holds
mock trial
over Fourth
Amendment
rights
Page 4A
Bad company
and former
owners can
leave a
stench in a
teen’s vehicle
Page 2A
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Record-breaking crowd at Marble Festival
Damon Howell / Photo
The house was packedfor the Saturday evening performance by the Lonesome River Band. GrassBackardz and Thomas Fountain also performed on Saturday, as well
as contestants who entered the Georgia State Bluegrass Championship on both Saturday and Sunday. Flatline took home $1,000for best bluegrass band.
Attendance up 50%
since 2007, says
director
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@pickensprogressonline.com
According to Pickens County Cham
ber of Commerce Executive Director
Denise Duncan, this year’s Georgia
Marble Festival was the best to-date
with record-breaking crowds exceeding
10,000.
“This was definitely one of the best,”
Duncan said. “In my seven years organ
izing it this was probably the least
chaotic and I’ve had people tell me the
best organized. It went very smoothly
and we had much more attendance.”
Duncan said this year’s Saturday at
tendance was nearly as much as last
year’s attendance for the entire week
end. Last year the Marble Festival drew
7,985 people in total, with this past Sat
urday’s crowd totaling 7,710.
“And that’s not including vendors
and volunteers,” she said.
Gross profits, she said, were up 11
percent over last year.
Duncan credits good weather and
dedicated volunteers who “helped get
the word out.”
“We also heard from vendors that
they did well,” she said. “We had a lot
of new vendors this year and I saw a lot
of people walking out with things they
had purchased. And this year we let our
sponsors have booths on the grounds
and that provided a benefit for them.”
Duncan reported a large crowd for
Saturday entertainment at the main stage
at Lee Newton Park, where a perform
ance from the Lonesome River Band
capped off day one of the Georgia State
Bluegrass Championship. She also re
ported steady attendance at the kid’s
stage in the parking lot, which was ex
panded to both Saturday and Sunday
this year and “one of the largest parades
we’ve had.”
Pickens SAT scores beat state
average, fall below national numbers
By Eileen Steinhauer
Progress contributor
Recently released statewide SAT scores
show Pickens County students, on average,
scored higher than the Georgia state average
and they earned higher SAT scores in 2013
than in 2012.
According to the Georgia Department of
Education, in the spring of 2013 Georgia
students from across the state earned an av
erage SAT score of 1452 out of a possible
2400. Pickens County students earned a
1475 average SAT score, which was 23
points higher than the state average. The
local test-takers also beat last year’s average
for Pickens County by 22 points.
The College Board says kids generally
need at least a 1550 to do well and finish col
lege.
Pickens County is part of the North Geor
gia Regional Education Service Agencies
(RESA). Additional schools in this system
include Cherokee County, Dalton City,
Gilmer County, Murray County, and Whit
field County.
When compared to the region, Pickens
County students had a higher SAT average
than all of these systems except Cherokee
County, which had an average of 1567.
Cherokee County tied with Fulton County
for the second highest SAT average in the
state.
The Forsyth County school system led
the state with an average score of 1580.
The national SAT average reported in
2013 was 1498. The Georgia state average
fell below this mark with a 1452. However,
75 percent of Georgia’s senior class partici
pated in the SAT. Nationally, only 43 per
cent of seniors take the SAT.
Traditionally, average SAT scores are
lower when participation rates are higher.
Georgia has the ninth highest participation
rate in the nation.
“Members of the Pickens County Board
of Education and system employees are ex
tremely pleased with our students’ recent
score on the SAT,” said Pickens County
Schools Superintendent Dr. Lula Mae Perry.
“Congratulations are extended to students,
staff, administrators, and parents on a job
well done. As superintendent, I am both ex
cited and pleased with the increase in scores
on this year’s SAT test administration.”
The SAT is an exam, run by the College
Board, that tests students in reading, writing,
and math skills. Each of the three sections
of the test is scored from 200 to 800 points
with a maxi- See SAT, Page 21A
Big cele-BEAR-ity creates downtown attraction
Damon Howell / Photo
BearWatch 2013 - While mostly napping as he perched in this South Main Street tree last week, this bear became a big Jasper sensation,
drawing people and their cameras into town throughout the day. After DNR agents nudged him along with rubber bullets, the urban-
dwelling bear came down and headed for the hills.
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogressonline.com
The biggest cele-BEAR-ity last week in
Jasper was the 250-300 pound bruin that
wandered into downtown and picked the
wrong tree to climb Wednesday night.
The bear was first sighted Wednesday,
Oct. 2 about 9 p.m. by Jasper fire crews
while they were washing the streets for the
Marble Festival. It ran up from the direction
of Rite-Aid and climbed a tree at the Old
Roper Hospital site (now a small natural
area on the comer of downtown Jasper).
By Thursday afternoon, BearWatch was
in full swing with the big critter remaining
perched high in an oak tree drawing a steady
stream of would-be nature photographers
and the curious.
People with gee Bear, Page 21A
Victim of sexual
assault recovering
Father “puzzled”
over lack of arrests
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogressonline.com
A 13-year-old special edu
cation student who said he was
sexually assaulted in a Pickens
Middle School bathroom is re
covering and would like to go
back to school, said the vic
tim’s father in an interview Fri
day.
The father, who contacted
the Progress, said that he
wanted to clear up some things
that he has heard were reported
or discussed on Facebook. The
man said he hadn’t read any of
the accounts, nor does he use
the internet or Facebook, but
friends have kept him updated.
The father said his son func
tions at around the 4-year-old
level, according to tests, and
may not fully understand what
happened to him. The father
said he hopes that as his mental
condition improves this will be
something that is forgotten in
the future.
He said his son is physically
recovering well but remains
scared to sleep alone in a room
with a window. The son’s in
juries required surgery and
stitches.
While still bothered by the
attack, the father said his son
misses his friends and doesn’t
understand why he can’t return
to the campus.
“He thinks he did some
thing wrong and that is why he
can’t go to school to see his
friends,” the father relayed Fri
day. The son will be given
counseling on the incident.
The son was described by
his father as a very large child,
(almost 200 pounds, size 13
shoes) but sweet-natured and
didn’t have the personality
where he would have fought
back against an assault.
The father said he has no
See Victim, Page 21A
Moonshine Mania
Classic drink making a comeback
By Christie Pool
Staff writer
christie@pickensprogressonline.com
Moonshine - the once taboo spirit found in cabins deep in
the Appalachian mountains far away from the long arm of the
law - is now making its way into mainstream drinking thanks
to specialty restaurants and
legal distilleries right here in
Georgia.
Recently the Progress
was invited to a trendy
Buckhead restaurant whose
niche is moonshine drinks
and craft burgers. When we
sat down for the media din
ner at Stillhouse Moonshine
& Burger Bar, my husband
looked around the restaurant
and said, “This is a southern
man’s dream: burgers, moon
shine and big-screen TVs.”
Once kept in Mason jars
and transported in souped-up
See Drink, Page 21A
The clear-as-water whiskey
usurps gin, vodka in many mixed
drinks.
Obituaries - Page 16A
Uncharine Stanfield
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