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PAGE 2B PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. JANUARY 8. 2015
Isaiah Williams wins
Dixie National Youth Wrestling Tournament
Isaiah Williams brings home
top honors from the Dixie Na
tional Youth Wrestling Tourna
ment at the Georgia world
Congress Center in Atlanta on
December 29. He is the son of
Chris and Kristen Williams of
Blue Ridge and Daryl and
Leanne Cain of Jasper. He is also
the grandson of Larry and Beu
lah Williams of Blue Ridge and
Troy and Wanda Carver of
Jasper.
Isaiah joined over 1,000 youth
wrestlers from over 40 different
states for this competition. Isaiah
finished 1st in 8-u 130 lb. class,
1st in the 8-u HWT class and 3rd
in the 10-u 120 lb. class. Isaiah
finished the day with 5 wins and
2 losses. For his efforts he earned
America Crown series All Amer
ican status. In addition Isaiah
was named the most valuable
wrestler for the 8-u division out
of 102 wrestlers in his division.
Isaiah is a 3rd grader at Jasper
Elementary School and is a
member of the Dragon Junior
Wrestling Club in Jasper. He
would like to thank all of his
family and friends for their sup
port.
Get out in January for best views of
Migrating Sandhill Cranes
New Eco-Cruises offered aboard the River Gorge Explorer
*v
v
1
The annual Sandhill Crane
migration has been called one of
the greatest spectacles of nature
in the Southeast. Each winter, be
tween 15,000 and 20,000 of these
graceful birds converge upon the
Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge just
north of Chattanooga on their
journey from the upper Midwest
to Florida. “The cranes begin ar
riving in late October, but their
numbers peak in early January,”
said Kevin Calhoon, the Ten
nessee Aquarium’s assistant cu
rator of forests. “You’ll
frequently hear their unique calls
long before you see them flying
overhead in a ‘V’ formation.”
Calhoon and other Aquarium
experts will lead Sandhill Crane
viewing cruises aboard the River
Gorge Explorer during the peak
of their migration on January 9,
10 and 11 and 16, 17, 18 and 19.
During each two-hour excur
sion, passengers will enjoy excel
lent viewing from inside the
climate-controlled cabin as well
as outside on the stem viewing
deck or topside observation plat
form. “The Hiwassee Refuge is
special in winter because of the
sheer number of cranes that can
be seen easily from the river,”
said Calhoon. “There’s also just
the right ingredients to draw
many other bird species to the
area.”
Calhoon serves as statistician
of the bird records for Southeast
Tennessee and says this critical
stopover point for Sandhill
Cranes is also perfect habitat for
resident and transient Bald Ea
gles, numerous waterfowl
species including Snow and
White-fronted Geese. Birders
have also recorded occasional
sightings of Ross’s Geese, White
Pelicans and even a few Whoop
ing Cranes. “We will also see
wintering Dunlin, Least Sand
pipers and Wilson’s Snipe on the
mudflats with the Sandhill
Cranes,” said Calhoon. “This va
riety of bird species and close up
views from the water is why pho
tographers and wildlife viewers
love coming to the refuge every
winter.”
The captains plan on making
the most of each cruise, getting
to Hiwassee Island efficiently so
there’s more time to enjoy the
scenery. “We’ll have enough
time to pause and make sure
everyone gets a good view when
ever we see something special
while circumnavigating the is
land,” said Captain Pete Hose-
mann. “I’ve been leading these
trips on other boats for years, but
I’m really looking forward to
taking folks out aboard the Ex
plorer.”
Passengers will also have an
experienced Aquarium naturalist
aboard for each expedition to
help bring the area’s rich history
to life. Archaeologists recognize
the island as one of the most sig
nificant Mississippian cultural
sites in the region as well as
being an important Cherokee
heritage site. “I’m really excited
about using our video system to
show our guests about what life
was like along this stretch of
river during the past 1,000
years,” said Aquarium naturalist
John Dever. “We’re really going
to pack a lot into each cruise to
help everyone appreciate the
thriving communities that once
existed here.”
Registration is $30 for Ten
nessee Aquarium members, $38
for non-members. Groups of 15
or more receive special pricing of
$35 per person.
Tickets for these special
cruises may be purchased online
at: http://www.tnaqua.org/plan-
your-visit/river-gorge-explorer/
sandhill-crane-cruises
Cruises will depart from the
Sale Creek Marina which is lo
cated at 3900 Lee Pike near
Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee. For a
Google Map and directions, go
to :http ://bit.ly/1 ByJ 1 sW
Office space for rent in downtown Jasper
Two offices have become available in the Edge Building upstairs from
the Pickens County Progress. There is one smaller office for $200 per
month and a larger one for $300 (includes power and water.)
706-253-2457
Racing Views
Racing and the name Edwards
Gordon Monroe Jones (I) of Dalton holds a model of his
Ford race car painted by master sign painter Ronnie Ed
wards (c) of Canton as former Late Model driver Bobby
Turner of Canton observes.
The model of the Jones race car even has red clay painted
on it as if it had just finished a race.
(All photos by Larry Sams)
Auto license tags are a specialty item from the brushes of
Edwards showing his ability to pin stripe.
By Jumper Cable Man
As a racer, crew member, car
owner or fan, when you hear the
name Edwards mentioned in
connection with racing I’ll bet
you think of NASCAR Cup
driver Carl Edwards. Right?
Most Cup drivers are famous
enough for us to think of them
first when we put their last name
and racing together.
And Carl Edwards made sure
that most of us in racing knew
who he was or at least something
about him even before he
reached the top of the racing
marketing pile. Carl is a self-pro
moter and has made it a point to
get his name in front of as many
people who have anything to do
with racing as he possibly could.
Dirt track racing in his home
town area of Columbia, Mo.,
was not the full-time occupation
that Carl wanted, so he went to
work handing out business cards
that read “Carl Edwards, race car
driver.” He followed this up by
purchasing ads in the racing
trade newspapers which said
“Put me in your race car this
weekend. Have helmet, will
travel.”
In 2003, Jack Roush noticed
him and put him in a NASCAR
Craftsman Truck and from there
he moved up the ranks to Cup
driver. His first win came at At
lanta Motor Speedway on March
19 where he won the Aaron’s
312, his first Busch Series win,
and the next day at the track took
the win in the Golden Corral 500
his first Cup Series win.
The next Edwards in racing is
one known more to Sprint Car
folks. Lanny Edwards started
racing in 1956 driving Stock
cars. First it was a flat-head Ford
and then a Hudson. His dad built
the cars and he built them light
which gave Lanny the edge he
needed to win.
Lanny moved from driver to
promoter in 1962 when he pro
moted his first race. It was a suc
cess and he followed it up by
purchasing the Lawton Speed
way in Lawton, Ok., with a part
ner. Then in 1964 they bought
the Wichita Falls Speedway. In
1969 he bought out his partner
and sold Wichita Falls Speedway
but this was just the beginning
for Lanny.
In 1972 he purchased the
Devil’s Bowl in Mesquite, Tx.,
outside Dallas. In 1978 he
owned Battleground Speedway
in Houston, Ennis Speedway,
Amarillo Speedway, Lawton
Speedway and the Devil’s Bowl.
By the mid 1980s Lanny had
sold Amarillo and Battleground
but was now promoting races at
Daytona Beach, FL, and 1-70
Speedway in Missouri and sev
eral other tracks and he still
owned Lawton and Devil’s
Bowl.
In March of 1978 he pro
moted the first World of Outlaws
Sprint Car race at Devil’s Bowl.
After that the next big step was
the creation of the Chili Bowl in
Tulsa, Ok., with his pal Emmett
Hahn in 1987. The biggest
Midget race car event in the
country this one will happen for
the 29th time on January 13-17.
Lanny has been inducted into
the National Sprint Car Hall of
Fame, the Texas Motorsports
Hall of Fame, Racing Promotion
Monthly National Promoter of
the Year award in 2002 and hon
ored as Regional Promoter of the
Year 10 times.
The third Edwards involved
with racing is one much closer
home to us than the others. This
one is Ronnie Edwards of Can
ton. Known to many as the “Big
R” in Big R Signs, Ronnie has
been painting race cars, racing
signs and racing memorabilia for
as long as most of us can imag
ine. Over the years he has
painted almost all of the famous
race cars and most of the not-so-
famous race cars in the North
Georgia area.
The signs directing you into
to the race tracks and the track
signage its self many times was
painted by Ronnie and his Big R
Signs. If you have seen Ronnie’s
work you know that he can make
the sign look new and polished
or old and weathered. Over the
years many of us could not dif
ferentiate between a sign that
was actually old and weathered
and one where the paint wasn’t
dry that he had just painted.
Several years ago I was in a
race shop and the owner/driver
of the race car had just finished
his new ride. Sitting in the shop
the car was in two colors but
without any numbers or any
other type of lettering on it. The
car was ready to be raced and I
asked this owner/driver if he
would be racing it on Saturday
night. His answer, “If I can find
Ronnie and get him up here to
paint it I will be but if not I’ll
have to wait until he can paint
it.” There was never any thought
on the part of this driver to get
someone else to paint it or to use
the easy way of using decals. He
would wait until Ronnie Ed
wards could paint his car.
Pin striping is an art form that
first appeared on my radar screen
back in the 1950s. The hot rod
ders from California introduced
it to us in the car magazines of
that era. Local hot rodders where
I lived (Asheville, N.C.) found
people to pin strip their cars but
none of these ever came close to
what I had known from the mag
azines. But one look at the pin
stripping applied by Ronnie and
you knew that this fellow could
hold his own with the best of the
best.
Be it a race car, a car license
tag, a sign or a Christmas orna
ment, Ronnie can still put a paint
job on it that will have everyone
either saying “Who painted
that?” or “Ronnie Edwards has
the paint cans and brushes out
again!”
This weekend the big race is
at Talladega Short Trace in East-
aboga, Al., with the running of
the Ice Bowl. Following that on
the next weekend will be the
Chili Bowl in Tulsa, Ok.
Send us your comments,
questions, answers or corrections
to P.O. Box 1522, Woodstock,
Ga. 30188-1522, or to our e-mail
at Jcableman@aol.com
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