Newspaper Page Text
Mountain
Man
ready to
rock big
beard
business
Damon Howell / Photo Illustration
James Thomason, creator of
Mountain Man Beard products, says
growth in his company rivals his
whiskers.
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
“Only in America can you have a
guy who cuts grass and grows a big
beard because he is unhappy with cor
porate life and wants to be a rebel and
now he is about to travel all over the
country with a motorcycle company
that is crazy as
all get out and
I’m a
preacher,” thus
said Jasper’s
James Thoma
son describing
the skyrocket
rise of Moun
tain Man Beard
Products in a
recent inter
view.
Here’s how
that story hap
pened.
James
Thomason is a
Pickens native
who several
years ago was a
clean-cut, well
dressed type.
Then he lost a
job at a corpo
rate place. “To
be defiant
against soci
ety,” he grew
his first beard
and let it keep
growing for a
year and half
without a razor
touching his foot-long whiskers. And
with his own landscaping company,
7:13 Services, he has no corporate boss
telling him to shave.
But then in a moment of weakness
his family talked him into shaving.
“Man it was like the Biblical story
of Samson losing his power and confi-
See Beard , Page 17A
Mountain Man
products feature
different scents.
A demonstration
of beard oil applica
tion.
Jasper man is proof that the spirit of Christmas is ageless
Lany Cavender / Photo
Russell Davis, with his wife Jeanee, standing before his enormous holiday lights display. The 77-year-old Davis
has been decorating his yard in this manner for 15 years.
By Larry Cavender
Contributing writer
It has often been said, "Christmas
is for children," but an elderly Jasper
man is living proof that the true spirit
of Christmas is ageless and is more
than just Santa Claus, stocking
stuffers, and gaily wrapped packages.
Perhaps, the best response to the
question, "What is the true spirit of
Christmas?" was answered in the an
imated holiday classic, A Charlie
Brown Christmas, when Linus steps
into the spotlight, drops his blanket,
secure in the reassuring words of the
Gospel of St. Luke, and says, "Fear
not, for behold I bring you tidings of
great joy which shall be to all people,
for unto you is born this day in the
See Christmas Spirit, Page 17A
New Year's
celebration
returns to
Main Street
Page 12A
Daughter of
accidental
gunshot
victim
recounts
incident
Page 16A
Dollar
General at
Grandview
denied
rezoning
Page 2A
Bringing
socks to
seniors
Page 7A
Emergency crews handle two gunshot wounds
in parking lots during same week
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
For the second time during a sin
gle week, emergency crews re
sponded to a gunshot wound in a
public parking lot on December 16.
In the second incident, a Pickens
man shot himself in the abdomen
with a handgun in the parking lot at
Piedmont Mountainside Wednes
day, about 6 p.m.
Jasper Police Detective Matt
Dawkins attributed the self-in
flicted wound to a combination of
medical issues, medication depend
ency issues and some elements of
an attempted suicide.
“One thing just led to another,”
Dawkins said.
Reports indicated that the man
had been in the hospital emergency
room before the self-inflicted shot.
Dawkins said he couldn’t dis
cuss any of the medical issues. The
man left the hospital and shot him
self beside his vehicle in the park
ing lot.
“Then he walked back in and
asked for help,” Dawkins said.
See Wounds, Page 17A
Brand new solution proposed to cut crashes
at intersection of Hwy. 515 and Antioch Church Road
Damon Howell / Photo
The intersection of Highway 515 and Antioch Church Road. Under a GDOT proposal, a concrete island would prevent drivers from crossing
the four lane. They; would be forced to takes rights only off Antioch Church, and then make a U-turn a short distance away.
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
The Georgia Department of
Transportation has identified the in
tersection of Antioch Church Road
and Highway 515 as more danger
ous than most, and the state agency
wants to make changes they say
will reduce crashes at the heavily-
used intersection.
GDOT Communications Officer
Mohamed Arafa, who was in atten
dance at a Tuesday, Dec. 15 open
house regarding the project, said
the north Pickens intersection cur
rently sees about 9,000 vehicles per
day, with 20-year projections ex
pected to double that number.
Graham Waldrop, GDOT Dis
trict Traffic Operations Engineer,
pulled crash data from the past 10
See J-Turn, Page 17A
ORITQ • Barbara Larson • Fred Williams • James Edmondson
VJDI I O . Charles Higgins • Gerald Wilson • Larry Anglin
PAGE 16A • Clara Cochran • Harold Keener • Lewis Shelnutt
• Lois Kelly
The Progress office will be closed
Thursday, Dec. 24 and Friday,
Dec. 25 for Christmas, and will
reopen the following Monday.
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