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COPYRIGHT-THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2013 • VOLUME 126 NUMBER 27 • JASPER, GEORGIA • 750
Plan to attend
Tate Day this
Saturday
Page 6A
Winners of
I the scarecrow
contest
announced
Page 11A
Ball Ground
Spook-tack-
ular Horse
Show raises
bar in fun
competition
Page 15A
‘Bizarre brawl’
leads to
stabbing
and arrests
Page 14A
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Nelson and
Talking Rock
city elections
T uesday
Late mayor Pete
Cagle s name will
remain on ballot
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogressonline.com
Voters in Talking Rock and
Nelson will go to the polls Tues
day to elect council members for
their towns. There are no races or
referendums in the other areas of
the county.
Next Tuesday, polls will be
open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. at
the city halls in Nelson and Talk
ing Rock. Early voting will con
tinue for the rest of this week at
the Pioneer Road election office.
As of Monday only six people
had voted early - all in the Nel
son contest.
The election in Talking Rock
is interesting for many reasons.
The name of Peter Cagle, a
well-liked mayor who died fol
lowing a stroke after early voting
began, will remain on the ballot
in a race that was originally be
tween him and city clerk Carol
Opdenhoff.
Elections Supervisor Julianne
Roberts said there is no way to
remove the name of any candi
date once ballots are set at the
state level.
Last November in two races
in America, dead candidates
won. Roberts said it’s easy to see
people voting for a deceased in
cumbent as a memorial or be
cause they are not in favor of an
opponent. But should Cagle win,
another election would have to
be called and paid for by the city
of Talking Rock, said Roberts.
Roberts said it could wind up
See Elections, Page 21A
Residents of the Crystal Creek neighborhood took pumpkin carving to a whole new level at their third annual community event. These
pumpkins will be ready to roll for Halloween this Thursday, Oct. 31. Read more about the pumpkin carving event on page 10A. Trick-or-
Treat times for city, county and downtown businesses are listed on page 23A.
From persimmons to woolly worms
Folklore tells us about winter weather to come
Foreshadowing winter? Jessica Childers cut open 50persimmon
seeds and the kernels were all shaped as spoons or knives which,
according to lore, means we ’re in for a cold, snowy winter.
By Christie Pool
Staff writer
Christie@pickensprogressonline.com
Long before the days of
Doppler radar and high tech
weather forecasting software,
people relied on signs from na
ture to forecast the winter
weather. Professionals may say
there’s no stock behind old folk
lore, but don’t try telling that to
some locals and followers of the
almanac.
From persimmon seeds with
spoon-shaped kernels to woolly
worms with more black bands
than brown, many would say
there is more than one way to
predict winter weather.
Jessica Childers and her hus
band looked everywhere for
local persimmon trees to find out
whether it’s going to be colder
than usual this winter. They
found two trees with the seeds
and say they now believe we’ll
have a cold, snowy winter be
cause of what they found inside.
“We cut open 50 persimmon
seeds and every one we opened
was a spoon or a knife and that
means its going to be cold,”
Childers said.
The shape of the kernels are
said to indicate the type of winter
weather to come. If the kernel is
spoon-shaped, lots of heavy, wet
snow will fall. If it is fork
shaped, you can expect powdery,
light snow and a mild winter. A
knife-shaped kernel means we
should expect to be “cut” by icy,
cutting winds, according to al-
manac.com.
While Childers is gathering
her warm clothes in preparation
for the cold winter she feels is on
the way, others say there are
more predictions for cold days
ahead, including that of the a
Worms. Folklore tells us that the
Woolly Bear caterpillar has 13
brown and black segments that
correspond to the 13 weeks of
winter. The lighter brown a seg
ment is, the milder that week of
winter will be. The darker black
a segment is, the colder and
snowier the corresponding week
will be.
The size and location of
Woolly Worms can also tell you
about the winter, according to
Ruth Poole, a staple at the local
farmers’ market.
“If Woolly Worms are coming
in the house you know it’s going
to be cold,” Poole said. “Of
See Folklore, Page 21A
Pickens millage
rate second lowest
of surrounding
counties
BOE gets 71 cents, county 29 cents
of each property tax dollar
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@pickensprogressonline.com
When compared to seven surrounding counties Pickens has the
second lowest total millage rate for 2013, with general government
collecting 6.65 mills and the school system collecting 16.1 mills.
“We have some people who come in and complain that our
taxes are so much higher than everywhere else, but when you look
at it relative to surrounding counties we are not high,” said Pickens
County Public Information Officer Norman Pope.
For 2013, millage rates for surrounding counties are: Cherokee
with a total millage rate of 29.947 (county - 9.947; school -
19.850); Dawson at 25.543 mills (coimty - 8.138; school - 17.246);
Fannin at 19.21 (county - 5.16, school - 13.9); Gilmer at 25.594
(county - 8.144; school - 17.3); Gordon at 29.356 (county - 9.8;
school 19.406); Lumpkin at 26.292 (county - 9.602; school 16.54);
and Bartow at 27.58 (county - 9.68; school - 17.9).
Cherokee County to the south see Millage, Page 21A
Health Department offers free flu vaccines for students
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@pickensprogressonline.com
This month 338 elementary students took ad
vantage of free influenza vaccines offered at school
campuses, with the Pickens County Health Depart
ment gearing up to visit the middle and high school
campuses in the coming weeks.
“The forms are going home to the middle
schoolers (this) week, and depending on the partic
ipation and the availability of the vaccines we will
be going to the high school,” said Pickens County
Nurse Sandy Singleton.
Each year licensed public nurses from the health
department visit schools as part of the state pro
gram. Students can take the flu mist - a live vaccine
- or an injection if they do not qualify for the mist.
Qualification is based on health requirements.
Singleton said the department starts the rounds
with elementary schools because of better partici
pation on those campuses.
Obituaries - Page 18A
Alan May Mazie Hunt
Ervin Easterwood Willie Mae Weaver
Infant Penelope Hefner Ramona Roper
Joe Robinson
“I don’t know if it’s because elementary school
parents go through their children’s bags more often
and middle school parents may miss the forms we
send home because they tend not to,” Singleton
said, “but we just have more participation with el
ementary students.”
According to Singleton, 92 students were vac
cinated at Hill City Elementary; 109 at Jasper Ele
mentary; 45 at Tate Elementary and 92 at Harmony
Elementary.
Singleton said the health department will bill
Medicaid, Medicare and some other insurances for
the vaccine, “but if a child has an insurance we
don’t use or is not covered the state reimburses the
cost,” she said.
Singleton said she doesn’t anticipate running out
of vaccines this year.
“Now, we don’t have enough for every student
in every school but we don’t have that need,” she
said. “But say we started at elementary and all the
students did get vaccinated, we would order addi
tional supply.”
Parents of students who would like the free vac
cine must sign their child up to have the mist or in
jection administered at the school campus the day
county health nurses are on site.
“They can’t come to the health department and
get it for free,” she said, “that’s how this program
works.”
If you miss the free See Flu, Page 21A
A student at Hill City Elementary’ receives a flu mist vaccine at the school campus. The public
health department will soon visit middle and high schools.
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