Newspaper Page Text
THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 5. 2015 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 15A
Marine Corps League Det. #1280 Commandant Jacob Clark, American Legion Post #149 Com
mander Ron Wheeler and Wayne Poore (Marine Corps League and the American Legion) survey what
they hope will be the site of a Veterans Memorial Park. The site is at the corner of Lee Newton Park,
close to the Pickens County Senior Center.
Continued from Page 1A
Heron
place her in a patrol car. “I’ve
dealt with many herons and I’ve
never had one that would let you
pick them up like that.”
Lewis commended the
deputies for their handling of the
bird. “The deputies did every
thing right,” he said.
The Georgia Wildlife Reha
bilitation Sanctuary where the
heron is recovering has a 90 per
cent release rate. They currently
house 20 animals including bears
and mountain lions.
The sanctuary is open six
days a week, Sunday - Friday
and offers tours. They are a
501c3 organization that relies on
donations.
The video of deputies catch
ing the heron can be viewed on
YouTube at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=PZAr29gZu60&feature=you
tu.be. Or look for a link at the
Pickens Sheriff Office or Pickens
Progress facebook pages.
Continued from Page 1A
Weaver
Weaver, will be filling the shoes
of Mr. Jeff Downing who was
chosen for the same honor in
2014. Mr. Downing carried out
his duty with honor making mul
tiple public appearances
throughout the year as the Citi
zen of the Year and was recently
named the 2015 USA Interna
tional Retailer of the Year!
Mrs. Weaver was in atten
dance at the Winter Ball and
hosted a table representing the
Appalachian Judicial Circuit.
Mrs. Weaver’s husband George
and daughter Jenny were also in
attendance. Mrs. Weaver was
surprised when she was joined
by family members and close
friends wanting to celebrate the
distinguished honor. Among
these family members were her
daughters, son, sons-in-law,
granddaughters and grandsons.
Mrs. Weaver was at a loss for
words when she came to the
podium to accept her award and
express her appreciation to a
packed house of family, commu
nity and business leaders.
Brenda Weaver has served on
many local organizations, many
of them from their start, and is
currently active on over 10
boards and/or advisory commit
tees. To name a few, Appalachian
Children Center, Good Samari
tan Health and Wellness Center,
Hope House, Appalachian Chil
dren’s Emergency Shelter, Joy
House, Georgia Mountain Hos
pice, Kids Kottage, Rotary Club
of Jasper, Jasper Lions Club, Op
timist Club, CLCP and the list
goes on and on. All the while,
serving as Chief Superior Court
Judge of the Appalachian Judi
cial Circuit and the Presiding
Judge in the Appalachian Judi
cial Adult Drug Court and Vet
eran’s Court.
Brenda Weaver does not stop
at the local level, Brenda or
Judge Weaver’s Appalachian Ju
dicial Circuit Family Law Infor
mation Center, which provides
assistance to low incomes indi
viduals serves as a model to
other rural judicial circuits in
Georgia. She serves as president
elect of Superior Court Judges
becoming president in May
2015, chairperson of Judicial
Council’s Accountability Courts
Committee, member of the Uni
form Rules Committee and the
Pattern Charge C ommittee of the
Council for Superior Court
Judges. She was appointed by
the Supreme Court to serve as a
member of the Superior Court
Clerks’ Cooperative Authority
Board of Directors, the Judicial
Qualifications Commission and
the Accountability Courts Fund
ing Committee. Just recently she
agreed to serve as a member of
the Georgia Supportive Housing
Board of Directors.
Weaver joins an elite group of
local citizens who have a portrait
painted in their honor. Pisconeri
Studio in Jasper will provide the
portrait of Mrs. Weaver which
will be officially unveiled at an
upcoming Chamber breakfast.
The portrait will then be on dis
play at the Chamber of Com
merce building.
The Chamber would like to
thank ETC Communications for
their sponsorship of the Citizen
of the Year process.
Continued from Page 1A
Vet Park
The meeting was called to
foster better communication be
tween jlocal veterans groups, es
pecially as it relates to organizing
and hosting ceremonies for Me
morial Day, Veterans Day and
the Fourth of July - events these
organizations want to grow and
improve by working together.
There was also talk of ongoing
plans for a Veterans Memorial
Park and a new spring music fes
tival in Jasper called the Blue-
grass Charity Event, a fundraiser
put on by the American Legion
to help veterans, active military
and multiple community agen
cies. (See article on page 9A)
“Just the fact that we are all
meeting, sitting at this table,
helps,” said Gary Hammond,
there to represent the Marine
Corps League Detachment
#1280. “If we can move forward
with this atmosphere and a spirit
of cooperation we can improve
these events and get more sup
port for them.”
As a result of newly forged
commimication, the Jasper Lions
Club will hand over organization
of the Veterans Day parade to the
American Legion.
“But we still need the Lions to
carry the load with the Fourth of
July,” Hammond said. “It’s a
huge event, like an 800-pound
gorilla, and the Lions do a great
job. But we’re all here to support
one another now in whatever vet
erans event is going on, and you
can feel that happening.”
As part of efforts to improve
Continued from Page 1A
Fundraisers
at the intersection of Highway 53
and Main Street as characteristic
of the problem. “We’ve got a
safety issue here,” he said. “They
were standing out in the middle
of [Hwy] 53 on the centerline. I
don’t like to stand out there with
a gun and a badge and full uni
form. If we allow these people to
go out there on [Hwy] 53 or
Cove Road and someone, God
forbid, hit a kid or adult could we
be liable as a city?”
Lovell said he has fielded
complaints from at least one cit
izen about a fundraiser on Cove
Road and Burnt Mountain Road.
Councilmember Anne Sneve
pointed to distracted drivers that
make these fundraisers even
more dangerous.
Lovell said the city has been
“dodging bullets” with their prior
street fundraising policies. Be
fore last year the city basically
operated by way of verbal
arrangements with fundraising
groups, when Jasper Mayor John
Weaver initiated a formal permit-
Continued from Page 1A
Wayside
and family, were thrilled to have
been chosen for this award.
Wayside Animal Hospital was
formed in 1978. Dr. Lewis and
his wife Kristen purchased the
business in August of 2009 with
six employees. When Wayside
Animal Hospital was named
Small Business of the Month,
making them eligible for the
Small Business of the year, staff
had doubled in size to 12 em
ployees. Dr. Lewis has expanded
the business by 80% since his
purchase in 2009.
Dr. Lewis is no stranger to
growth in business as he was the
previous owner of Appalachian
Animal Hospital and won the
100 Fastest Growing Bulldog
Businesses twice, standing
alongside CEO’s from busi
nesses like AFLAC and Build a
Bear Workshop. This was the
first year that Wayside was eligi
ble and they finished just outside
of the top 100.
Dr. Lewis has been an active
member of the Pickens County
Chamber of Commerce since
February 15, 2011, attending the
monthly breakfast meetings.
After Hour events and participat
ing in yearly events such as the
Auto Give Away. Practice Man
ager Lori Edmondson is a 2013
Leadership Pickens graduate and
Bobbie Jo Cash is in Leadership
Pickens, Class of 2015.
Wayside Animal Hospital
veteran-related affairs here Ma
rine Coips League and American
Legion member Wayne Poore
has drafted a design for a pro
posed Veterans Memorial Park
that would include a reflection
pool and five engraved marble
markers representing each
branch of the military. Poore and
other members of the Marine
Corps, American Legion and
DAV are taking steps to get the
project off the ground but they
are asking the community for
ting process to let city officials
know which groups were out and
where they were raising money.
But according to the city at
torney Bill Pickett and the city’s
insurance representative Joe
Walker, the permitting process
makes the city even more vulner
able. Mayor Weaver told council
that in terms of mitigating law
suits Jasper would be better off
not knowing which groups were
raising money on street comers.
“This is a serious liability
issue,” Walker said. He recom
mended the city require the
groups to carry liability insur
ance and provide proof of insur
ance as part of the application
process.
Walker said groups can ac
quire this insurance for a nomi
nal annual premium.
Lovell told council the cities
of Blue Ridge and Holly Springs
have put restrictions on these
types of fundraisers. He said
while there is no insurance pol
icy in Blue Ridge, leaders make
groups “jump through hoops.”
“You have to go through
council and the city manager,” he
said. “It’s a timely process to get
approval. Their [police chief]
works to stay active in the com
munity with its primary focus on
children. The business actively
participates in the high school
Youth Apprenticeship Program
(YAP) and have had the program
scholarship winner for the last 2
years. They participate in Career
Day at Pickens High School,
offer programs where animals
are taken to school classrooms to
explain different aspects of pet
ownership and dealing with local
wildlife tailoring the talk to kids
as young as pre-school all the
way to the high school level.
Support is given on a regular
basis to numerous non-profit or
ganizations, both financial as
well as service. Currently, Way-
side Animal Hospital donates ap
proximately 20 hours each
month with the local shelter and
other rescue groups. Many of
their employees are active in
Breast Cancer Awareness and
raise money to help them walk in
the Susan G. Komen 60-mile
Breast Cancer Walk.
Please join us in congratulat
ing Dr. Thomas “Lyn” Lewis and
all the staff of Wayside Animal
Hospital on this great honor! We
are proud to have them as a
member of our Chamber and the
Pickens County Community.
help.
Ron Wheeler with American
Legion Post #149 said they need
someone “to light the fuse and
get this thing off the ground,” he
said. “We’ve got the plans drawn
up, but we are looking for help
with financing, organization ef
forts, professional assistance,
materials and other support.”
According to Poore and
Wheeler, Jasper Mayor John
Weaver has agreed to donate a
portion of Lee Newton Park for
said this alleviated the problem.
It had gotten out of control. They
had ball teams on every comer.”
Lovell requested council sus
pend the their current ordinance
to reduce the city’s liability until
new permitting requirements can
be hammered out.
“We’re going to take a hit on
this from these groups,” Weaver
said, “but this will give us the
month of February to look at it
before spring fundraisers. We’ve
got to come up with a policy to
substitute this.”
The mayor said no permits
will be issued until the new ordi
nance is adopted. He directed
Chief Lovell to have his officers
tell groups they see collecting
money on the street to “cease and
desist.”
the monument.
“He said he would provide the
comer of the park near the senior
center and help with grading and
leveling,” Poore said in a later
telephone interview. “We’ve also
got an architect who is donating
time, but the problem we’re run
ning into is getting the marble
and materials. Once we see how
much that is going to cost and get
an estimate for the engraving we
can move forward.”
Poore said after cost estimates
Other news from Jasper council:
•Economic development di
rector Gerry Nechvatal reported
stronger retail activity in the city.
He said there is a potential buyer
for the large building at the cor
ner of Highway 53 and Church
Streets (formerly occupied by
NAPA), which he expects will
create increased foot traffic on
Main Street.
•Progress on the Port Royal
water park resort is still moving
slowly, according to the eco
nomic development director.
“Time will tell,” he said. “The
ball is squarely in [the develop
ers’] court.”
•The city has plans to solicit
bids to replace street and accent
are in, the Marine Corps League
and the American Legion will so
licit donations from the commu
nity.
“You go through Ellijay and
Blue Ridge and they have both
got nice Veterans memorial
parks,” he said. “I think we need
to have a place for our veterans
to be honored, too. The commu
nity has always supported the
military groups and I hope they
will support this as well.”
Among other details dis
cussed that day leaders touched
on the white crosses that bear
names of fallen Pickens County
soldiers, which are placed in
Jasper for Memorial Day. As it
stands the crosses can now only
be put up the Friday before the
federal holiday.
“You drive through towns like
Dahlonega and they have them
up two weeks before,” Lions
Club president Darlene Handy.
“It’s touching to see that and I’d
like to see it here.”
Hammond proposed placing
two sets of crosses, one on the
north and one of the southbound
sides of Highway 515, to make a
stronger impact to residents and
passing motorists.
“That would show that we are
a veteran -friendly county to peo
ple driving in and out,” Ham
mond said.
Representatives from these
organizations planned to report
back to their respective groups
and meet regularly in the future.
Contact Wayne Poore for
more information about the Vet
erans Memorial Park at 706-692-
2836.
lights on Main Street with LED
lights. In a presentation from city
employee Jerry Blackwell, there
will be significant upfront costs
but the city could save 75 percent
of current monthly costs to run
the lights. Poole told council it
would take the city 15 months to
recoup costs of installing LED
lights.
Councilmember Jim Looney,
who has implemented similar up
grades at Chattahoochee Tech
campuses, called the move a “no
brainer.” “We’re going to save
money on this,” he said.
•Council voted to give the city
attorney the same access to city-
funded health insurance as other
employees. The city’s current at
torney is Bill Pickett.
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