About Pickens County progress. (Jasper, Ga.) 1899-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 19, 2019)
Thursday, September 19, 2019 Volume 132 Number 22 Jasper, Georgia Local News Published Weekly Weekend filled with events Visitors to Jasper this weekend will see plenty of activity in and around our downtown as several com munity service groups will host fun-filled events to raise money for worthwhile causes. Beginning at 7 p.m. Fri day night in Dragon Sta dium, the home football game will kick off against Chamblee at 7:30 p.m. Prior to the game, starting at 7 p.m., this year’s PHS Court will be presented. Also Fri day night, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) will host the Red Shoe Gala from 7-10 p.m. at Chatta hoochee Tech to raise money for foster children in Fannin, Gilmer and Pickens counties. The event will fea ture door prizes and a silent auction. Saturday, September 21st will see a host of activities around town. A special event to honor our veterans will be held at Lee Newton Park. Beginning at 9 a.m. there will be a Freedom Ride (mo torcycles) leaving from the park followed by the Free dom Walk starting at noon. At 2 p.m. there will be a Jeep-themed Freedom Wheels ride leaving from the park. [This veterans trib ute will see activity on Fri day with school classes there.] See ad, Page 12B. Taste of Jasper United Methodist Church will be held at the church on Satur- See Weekend on 2A Share your story: Researchers looking for local histories Do you have a story that’s worth being remembered? Anyone with interesting or unique knowledge of local history is encouraged to visit the Georgia Marble Festival during the first weekend in October to talk with researchers from Kennesaw State University’s Department of Museums, Archives & Rare Books. Researchers hope to meet with people to hear stories of Pickens County through the years so it may be recorded and detailed as part of a series of exhibitions in coordination with the local historical society. Members of the Department of Museums, Archives & Rare Books (MARB) will be onsite at the Georgia Marble Festival on Saturday, Oct. 5th from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 6th from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. to document stories from Pickens View of workers in marble quarry, Tate, Georgia, County’s history. According to Kate Daly, special Georgia Marble Company Records, 1910-2014. projects and outreach curator of MARB, the Courtesy Kennesaw State University Archives. department is about g ee Histories on 2A By Christie Pool, Staff writer, christie@pickensprogress.com Milestones scores mixed bag for local schools By Angela Reinhardt Staff writer areinhardt@pickensprogress.com In July, the Georgia De partment of Education re leased Milestones results for the 2018-2019 school year. Pickens students improved system-wide in some sub jects, but are still below the state average in some areas for the number of students considered to be prepared for the next grade level. Georgia students began taking the Milestones stan dardized tests during the 2014-2015 school year. Milestones scores include End of Grade (EOG) scores for grades 3-8 and high school End of Course (EOC) scores. When student re sults are assessed, the scores are used to determine if the student is in one of four lev els: 1 - Beginner; 2 - Devel oping; 3 - Proficient; and 4 - Distinguished. Students with Proficient scores demonstrate they have the knowledge and skills neces sary for their grade, as spec ified in Georgia’s standards. These students, as well as the more advanced Distin guished Learners, are con sidered prepared for the next grade level or course and are on track for college and ca reer readiness. Jill Liberatore, Chief Ac countability Officer for Pick ens County Schools, discussed the school sys tem’s Milestones results for the 2018-2019 school year. These tests were taken at the end of last school year and scores released this summer. According to Liberatore, the system saw improvements in the Milestones End of Grade assessments as well as the End of Course (Grade levels 9-11) assessments. “We were pleased with the growth we saw, but also know that we still have work 50% 46% • Language Arts • Math This graph represents the yearly average percentage of local students that earned a score of 3 or 4 for all grade levels in Language Arts and Math. to do to raise the learning levels across the district,” she said. Liberatore said overall they did not have an area that was necessarily stronger than another, but they saw gains in Math and English Language Arts scores in var ious grade levels. “All of our teachers are working hard to help their students,” she said. “While we saw gains in multiple See Milestones on 2A Inside: KPB prepares to mark 30th anniversary Page 6A Sports columnist looks ahead to Dawgs vs. Notre Dame Page 1B Obituaries - 7 A • Bessie Goldey • Jerry Doss • Julious Beck • Mary Adams • Mary Alice Goodwin • Robert Reece • Rose Carnevale • William Kocour • Zelda Dominy Index 35 years and still going strong at Hinton Milling HINTON MILLING 706-692-3626 Richie Hancock, who grew up in the small community of Hinton in west Pick ens, has been the face of Hinton Milling for 35 years. Hancock has also been assistant fire chief at the Hinton Volunteer Fire Station for over 20 years. His wife is Paula and his daughter is Erin, who is studying at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. By Angela Reinhardt Staff writer areinhardt@pickensprogress.com After three-and-a-half decades in business, Hinton Milling has solidified itself as a Pickens County landmark. The unassuming store in the heart of Hinton has been and continues to be a staple for farmers, gar deners, livestock and pet own ers. Over the years it has adapted to changing customer needs, but maintains an old- fashioned, nostalgic feel central to the charm of the tiny west- Pickens community. As much as the store itself is a landmark, general manager Richie Hancock, who was born and raised in Hinton, has been the face of Hinton Milling all this time. Hancock recently spoke with the Progress about the store’s history, how things have changed, and new devel opments coming down the road. The Beginning Even though Hancock has been the face synonymous with Hinton Milling, Rick Baxter opened the business on January 1, 1985 and remains the owner to this day, even though he re tired 25 years ago and now lives in South Carolina. Hancock ex plained that in the 80s Baxter left his job at AT&T and moved to Pickens from Powder Springs to purchase the build ings. “Everybody told him a feed store wouldn’t work up here,” Hancock said. “Where he lived was a subdivision in Powder Springs, but he owned one end of it and just loved fooling with horses and cows in his pasture.” When Hinton Milling first opened Baxter built a machine shop out back, which Hancock said was his backup plan in case See 35 Years on 3A Obituaries 7A Editorial 4A Letters to the editor . ,5A Church 4-5B Kids 6B People 3B Classifieds 10-11B Legals 7-9B Follow Us Online 6DU YouQH§ Contact Us 94 North Main Street Jasper, Ga. 30143 706-253-2457 www.pickensprogress.com Open for business during these hours: Mon-Thurs, 9-5, and Fri, 9-4:30
