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PAGE 18A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. MARCH 16. 2017
A tribute to Simonds at the site of the Salem Church
Road wreck. The football is inscribed with the words
“Rest Easy Brother. ”
Photo / Rudy Perez
Hundreds of mourners filled the Pickens High stadium Sunday to pay their re
spects to Jordan Simonds who died in a tragic car accident Saturday afternoon,
March 11.
Continued from 1A
Simonds
speed, failure to maintain
proper lane and driver error
as causes of the accident.
Simonds held a Georgia
learner’s license, Nichols
said.
Tributes to Jordan
PHS Athletic Director
Chris Parker said Jordan was
an exemplary defensive line
man for the school’s varsity
football team.
“We had him for two
years at the high school. He
was a good boy, a good
young man,” Parker said.
“Everybody liked him. He
was a pleasure to be around.”
Parker said Simonds was
“a promising athlete.”
Friends of Jordan also
had high praise for the young
man, saying he was a “very
likeable guy who made
everybody’s day better.”
“He is the type of person
everybody wanted to know,”
said Rudy Perez, a friend of
Jordan’s and a junior at PHS.
“His affection toward every
body made everybody feel
better. His smile got every
body. It’s hard to believe
someone so young with so
much life is gone like that.
He was so close to so many
people.”
Perez and Simonds played
football together and spent
time weight training, often
going over to each other’s
homes after practice.
“He pushed me and I
pushed him (in the weight
room),” Perez said. “For him
it was about getting better in
weight training and in foot
ball. He was a hard worker.”
Perez said Simonds was
the “type of person you
would strive to be.”
Another friend, Josie
Saint, met Simonds several
years ago and the two be
came close friends.
“He was always a good
friend of mine. He would al
ways be there to talk to. He
was someone you could have
a deep conversation with,”
she said.
Saint said Simonds “al
ways knew what life was
about” and he was the type of
person you “couldn’t stay
apart from because he was
like some sunshine in your
day.”
Saint said Simonds loved
weight training and was al
ways excited when he hit a
new max weight.
“He was amazing. He was
very beautiful. He really had
the most gorgeous blue eyes
ever. He knew how to touch
everyone’s heart. He con
nected with everyone.”
A Go Fund Me Memorial
account has been set up for
Jordan, who was bom on No
vember 11, 2000 to Will and
Jessica Simonds. Jordan has
two brothers, Tyjai Howell
and Jayden Simonds, both of
Jasper.
To donate to the fund,
whose goal is $15,000, go to
www. gofundme. com/j ordan-
simonds-memorial-fund.
The Pickens Sheriff Face-
book stated, Community
Bank of Pickens County has
a memorial fund opened in
the name of Jordan Simonds.
This is to assist the family
with funeral expenses. Any
one interested in making a
donation can visit one of their
two locations and have it go
to the Jordan Simonds Me
morial Fund.
A separate account should
be active in the name of Jed
Groover to assist with med
ical expenses that his family
has incurred as he is still in
the Intensive Care Unit of
Kennestone Hospital.
Continued from 1A
Trailer
any money in the stalled proj
ect, but it is disappointing the
relocation didn’t work out.
Thomason said having
that much interior space
would have been a great asset
at the airport, but only if the
move could have been done
at the lowest bid.
Earlier this year, the au
thority took bids for moving
and set up of the trailer at the
airport with two bids above
$75,000 and one bid at
$16,000-$20,000. Thomason
said below $20,000 it made
sense, but at $75,000 or
more, other options were fi
nancially more practical.
Both Thomason and Jones
said the low bidder, Shan
non’s Mobile Home Moving
and Grading, had begun the
work and should have fin
ished it. But after removing
the external roof, porches and
stairs, they appear to have
quit and the project stalled
with one layer of roof gone,
allowing rain to damage the
interior.
Jones said the trailer had
originally been slated for
demolition and money paid
to the contractor for remov
ing the roof, stairs and
porches would have had to be
done regardless of where the
trailer winds up.
“We were originally plan
ning to haul it to the dump
[before the airport authority
expressed interest],” Jones
said in a phone interview
Tuesday. “So we are not out
anything. There will be no
use to have it hauled to the
airport if we are going to
have to deal with mold or
other issues.”
If it is determined that the
trailer is no longer worth
moving, the county will still
face a substantial chore in
demolition and cleaning the
site in the center of the park.
But Jones noted demoli
tion and clean-up was the
original plan so they are ba
sically back to where they
started.
In other business:
• Chair Don Boggus pre
sented some financial calcu
lations of the proposed
T-hangar project, which has
long been in the works. Ac
cording to Boggus’ figures,
used with conservative esti
mates of revenue from rental
fees by plane owners, taxes,
increased fuel sales, plus
grants, the T-hangar build
ings should generate enough
to pay for themselves in eight
or nine years.
The authority gave Bog
gus and member Jerry Ed
wards approval to begin
talking with banks about
loans for the construction of
the hangars.
• The airport will undergo
an inspection, as required
every two years by the state
DOT, later this month. Air
port Manager Randy Thoma
son said he does not
anticipate any issues. Last
time the only problem was a
few trees that had to be cut.
Eberly said they need to
“jump right on anything so it
won’t be an impediment
later.”
• Thomason reported that
the new night beacon has
been installed and is working
as expected.
Damon Howell / Photo
The water damage to
the floor and ceiling was
evident on a tour Tuesday.
the many components we
must consider when selecting
a new superintendent. We
look forward to interviewing
candidates”
Bell also said he was sur
prised respondents did not
rank being local higher on the
spectrum of superintendent
traits. “History of successful
employment with the Pickens
County School System”
ranked as one of the lowest of
the attributes in the survey. A
common complaint from res
idents and school system em
ployees over the past few
years, which was plagued
with a high turnover rate of
top leadership at schools, is
that the superintendent at the
time was hired from outside
the district instead of promot
ing from within.
“When you talk to people
they say they want local, but
the results don’t show that as
being as high of importance
with either the community or
employees,” Bell said. “I was
surprised by that.”
The press release states
Continued from 1A
Supt.
to the desirability of the posi
tion and to the strong level of
community and staff support
that exists for the school sys
tem.”
In previous comments to
the board, Dr. Addis said the
Pickens system is highly de
sirable because it has a “pos
itive reputation.”
Back in February the
school board asked the com
munity to participate in a sur
vey that asked questions
about what qualifications,
skills and personality traits
were most important in a su
perintendent.
Board Chair Daniel Bell
said he was pleasantly sur
prised by the number of re
spondents, which included
471 community members
and 201 employees from the
school system.
Of community respon
dents, 54.99 percent were ei
ther parents, guardian or
relative of a student; 4.88
percent were students; 10.62
percent were employees or a
relative of an employee; 4.67
percent have business inter
ests in or near Pickens; and
24.84 percent said they were
concerned citizens/residents
of Pickens and the surround
ing area.
Of those who responded
from the school system,
67.16 percent were teachers;
23.88 percent were support
staff; and 8.96 percent were
administrators.
According to the press re
lease, community members
and employees ranked hon
esty, high ethical and moral
character, strong work ethic,
willingness to make tough
decisions, and willingness to
listen to parents, students,
and staff as the top five most
important qualities.
“The board greatly appre
ciates the response from par
ents, staff, and community
members - it’s important to
hear everyone’s voice,” said
Bell. “The results are one of
that the school board, with
assistance from Dr. Addis, is
now reviewing the applica
tions, receiving reference in
formation, considering
survey responses, and de
signing the interview
process. In the coming
weeks, the board will con
duct first-round interviews
and hope to name the next
superintendent by mid-to-late
April.
A link to the survey results
is on the district website at
www.pickenscoun-
tyschools.ga.
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