Newspaper Page Text
THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 19. 2015 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 13A
A Georgia GDOT crew member clears a downed tree from Highway 53 in Pickens near the Dawson
County line. GDOT Area Engineer Sam Wheeler said the Pickens/Dawson line was where the worst
problems were with fallen trees and downed power lines.
Continued from Page 1A
Storm
Henderson Mountain Road were
“horrible.” And Sam Wheeler
with the Georgia DOT sent infor
mation that crews had worked to
address Highway 136 on Burnt
Mountain, but Mother Nature
had produced more than they
could handle.
“We are aggressively treating
the highway on Burnt Mountain,
but it's too cold to melt the ice
even with chemicals,” he said.
“Our plows just ride across the
top of the ice.”
Despite some of the horrible
conditions, almost no wrecks
were attributed to the ice. The
county reported two propane
trucks had become stuck trying
to deliver to the Burnt Mountain
area and a television news van
had been towed after sliding on
the ice.
Kris Stancil, the public infor
mation officer for the sheriff of
fice, said it had been “mild” on
the roads.
EMA Director Bob Howard
attributed the mostly-incident
free day on the roads to “people
staying home.” He said the
county had come through the
storm better than he had ex
pected with most major road
ways clear by Tuesday morning.
Schools were cancelled Tues
day. Students had already been
out on Monday for a President’s
Day holiday.
Continued from Page 1A
Mayor
exemption is at 1685 Ray Moun
tain Road (with a Jasper mailing
address because of home deliv
ery) and is right next door to
Ray’s other house. This house is
not in the city.
Ray was not technically a res
ident of Nelson when he ran for
mayor there in 2013 due to the
homestead exemption on the
other house.
In an interview with Ray on
February 16 he said he did not
realize that the homestead ex
emption on his other property at
1685 Ray Mountain Road was
technically his legal address.
He told the Progress that he
would go to the tax office on
Tuesday (weather permitting),
February 17 and will change his
exemption address. The mayor
said that he had no intention of
breaking the law or being dis
honest and was sorry for the con
tusion.
Ray emphasized that it will be
fixed quickly.
Julianne Roberts, superin
tendent of elections, said she had
recently been made aware of the
address concerns. She noted that
Ray’s candidacy could have been
challenged when he was still a
candidate and the process to pre
vent him from running was much
simpler than anything to remove
him after being elected and
swom-in.
Now that he has been elected
and took the oath of office in
January 2014, it would take a
successful recall challenge to re
move him.
Continued from Page 1A
Fires
Pickens’ Emergency Manage
ment Agency Director Bob
Howard reminded residents that
under no condition is it legal to
bum man-made materials. He
also said vegetation must be
hand piled and must meet size re
quirements of the state.
“A lot of people don’t know
you can’t bum man-made items,”
he said. “And you can only bum
in daylight hours. People need to
get that permit or it’s illegal
burning.”
Howard said a special permit
is available for land clearing and
commercial burning.
Burn permits are available by
calling 1-877-652-2876 or at
www.gatrees.org.
You can also find outdoor
burning regulations and numer
ous safety tips there.
Continued from Page 1A
Mardi Gras
honored to represent Jasper,”
spoke a humbled King Short.
All of the proceeds from
Mardi Gras In The Mountains go
directly back into the four coun
ties, improving lives through
non-profits. Georgia Mountains
Hospice uses some of these
funds to help clients with last
wishes. The Knights of Colum
bus from Ellijay and Jasper help
people with funds for essentials
like rent and food and Jasper Ro
tary donates to local organiza
tions such as the Boys and Girls
Club and FERST Foundation
book program.
Continued from Pase 1A
AEMC
out the service area as well as
trees that had fallen on power
lines.
“We have trees fallen down in
the roads so we’re having to cut
our way through roadways to
survey damage,” Fields said.
“This icing has caused a lot of
damage.”
According to a press release
Tuesday morning, Amicalola
EMC had 10,161 customers
without power.
Calls began coming in to out
age hotlines around 4:00 p.m. on
Monday and have continued
steadily since that time, Fields
said in the press release.
In addition to the 90 linemen
and outside crew members em
ployed by Amicalola EMC, they
have brought in 21 additional
crews to assist with extensive re
pairs and tree removal. Crews
have been brought in from As-
plundh, Cobb EMC and Pike
Electric. This brings the total
number of line workers in the
area to almost 200 men.
According to Fields, in many
cases, power crews have been
forced to cut their way into areas
in order to begin work on
downed lines. Power has been
restored in some areas, she said,
only to have trees fall on power
lines and across roadways, caus
ing outages in other areas.
Fields said power restoration
would take up to 48 hours in
some places, due to the extent of
damages.
“We ask for your patience as
we continue to work to restore
power as soon as is safely possi
ble,” she said. “Please remember
to stay away from any downed
power lines and always assume
they are still energized.”
If you see a downed power
line, first call 911 to report it,
then call Amicalola EMC at 706-
253-0359 OR 706-276-0359 or
706-864-0359.
Continued from Page 1A
Improv
years.
Harris will then lead a series
of skits or games such as “old
fashioned charades” or conduct
ing scenes where all dialogue is
restricted to questions only.
Other bits of the improv schedule
will feature audience members
making funny noises and doing
some physical comedy.
Some of the skits only use
two to four audience members at
a time while others use several.
Harris said she will absolutely
not arm-twist or cajole anyone
into getting on stage and it’s up
to the participants on how racy
they want to be. But Tater Patch
leader Nan Nawrocki said the
evening is intended for adult
humor and Harris said she
prefers not using anyone under
18 on stage.
Improv (Improvisational the
atre) has become more widely
known in recent years through
the television show “Whose Line
is It Anyway?” It has also be
come associated as being de
voted strictly to comedy.
But Harris said improv origi
nated as a way to help actors de
velop characters and to help
anyone learn to think on their
feet.
“Everyday life is improv,” she
said. “You have to think quick
and what comes out is not always
correct” - which of course is
where the comedy comes from.
Besides entertaining an audi
ence, Harris said regular improv
work helps anyone who must re
spond quickly or present ideas on
the spur of the moment.
“We don’t have a script for
everyday life,” she said.
A Night of Laughs will be
February 21st at the Tater Patch
Theater, 95 Philadelphia Lane in
Jasper, Georgia. Admission is $5.
For more information taterpatch-
players.org.
Hair services for the whole family! Operated by a
grandmother/granddaughter team. Please come try us out
sometime. We are located at 737 South Main Street in Jasper
(across from Denson Heating and Air and Roland Tire).
Ball Ground Business and Community
Association - Philanthropy continues
DOLLARS
BODOOOO
Christy Zeigler, Executive Director of the Children’s Park of Georgia was presented a $1,000
donation by the Ball Ground Business and Community Association President Connie John.
A rock for the ages
Kenneth Dickerson with his wife Nita.
By Larry Cavender
When meeting Kenneth Dick
erson for the first time, his smile
and demeanor radiate patience, a
virtue that served him well dur
ing his long and storied career.
Dickerson was a high school dri
ver’s education instructor and
school bus driver in a career that
spanned nearly six decades.
He holds the Georgia state
record as the longest serving bus
driver with a record of 58 years
which broke the previous record
by three years. If that isn’t amaz
ing enough, during that time, he
missed only 34 days running his
route and none of those absences
were due to illness but were be
cause of “family situations.”
That equates to an absenteeism
rate of less than one third of one
percent.
A long time resident of Ball
Ground, having moved there
from his native Rabun County in
1953, Dickerson was employed
by the Cherokee County Board
of Education as both a driver’s
education teacher at Cherokee
High School as well as a bus
driver. His bus route included the
Cherokee County area of Nelson
and the nearby Fairview commu
nity where he picked up students
and transported them to Ball
Ground Elementary School be
fore taking on more students and
continuing his route to Cherokee
High School in Canton.
As a public school driver’s
education instructor, he is cred
ited with teaching thousands of
teenagers to drive, but Dickerson
didn’t stop there. He established
Dickerson’s Driving School sev
eral years ago where he contin
ued his driving instruction.
When he retired from his com
mercial enterprise about six
years ago, Dickerson turned the
driving school over to his son,
Greg, who, with his wife, sons
and their families, continues op
eration of the school. Mr. Dick
erson is proud that his driving
school has expanded and now
has offices in Canton, Wood-
stock, Kennesaw, Roswell and
Sandy Springs.
Before moving to Ball
Ground, while a student at Berea
College in Kentucky, he met
Nita, his wife of over 64 years.
He was working part time as a
folk dancing instructor during
the summers and Mrs. Dickerson
said, “I simply wanted to learn
how to folk dance.” The couple,
who had four children including
Scott, who is now deceased, as
well as the aforementioned Greg,
along with Robbie, and their
only daughter, Angela, will cele
brate their 65th wedding anniver
sary next December.
When asked to recall his most
memorable experience during
his career, he replied, “Loving
the kids!” He added that he al
ways tried to take care of the
children and make sure they
were safe. Remarkably, during
his long tenure as a bus driver, he
was involved in only four minor
accidents and Dickerson was
found to be not at fault in any of
them.
A great deal has changed
since Dickerson started driving a
school bus over 60 years ago. He
said, “In 1953, 90 percent of the
roads were unpaved, not even
gravelled.” He recalled some
times having to alter his route by
traveling through the Clayton
community to Canton because of
the flooding of Hickory Log
Creek. That particular creek
flooded often before the flooding
was brought under control in the
1970s. Dickerson said, “The
biggest change I saw in that 58
years was in the behavior of the
children. Children were much
more cooperative 40 to 50 years
ago.”
Retirement has not slowed
Dickerson down. He has turned
his attention to music, another of
his passions. The Dickersons be
came founding members of the
Cherokee County Chorale about
25 years ago, and in that time,
they have performed in well over
150 concerts including concerts
at Williamsburg, Va., and at the
Biltmore House in Asheville,
N.C. Like his dedication to his
teaching and bus driving, Dick
erson has never missed a per
formance since the inception of
the chorale.
Mr. Dickerson also led the
music at the Ball Ground First
Baptist Church for 16 years and
played piano when the regular
pianist was absent. He now at
tends the Canton First Baptist
Church where he sings in the
choir. The Dickersons also find
time to be active in the Ball
Ground Historical Society, the
Ball Ground Seniors Group and
Mrs. Dickerson is a member of
the Ball Ground Garden Club.
- JASPER, GA -
WOODBRIOCf
| SINCE 18801
Blue Plate Special** at dinner
The Woodbridge Inn
will offer some of our most popular dishes at
rolled-back prices all winter.
This week we are celebrating one of our most
popular menu items of all time:
Cla**die Chicken Parmesan
including a salad $12
Available Tuesday through Friday
4:30 p.m. until 7:00 p.m.
Don’t forget our blue plate special lunches including fried
chicken, fried fish and other great items. Meat and 2 sides $10
different selections everyday
44 Chambers Street • Jasper, GA 30143
706-253-8500