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Thursday, September 26, 2019
Volume 132 Number 23
Jasper, Georgia
Local News Published Weekly
City water
supply
holding up
to drought
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
With weeks of dry condi
tions already in the books
and more dry weather fore
casted, Jasper Water Super
intendent David Hall said
their supply is okay right
now, with plenty of reserves,
“but if things continue to be
dry we may have to take
some action,” he said.
Hall elaborated that he
foresees the city being fine
well into 2020 with a linger
ing drought.
But what causes concern
is if weather history repeats
itself with conditions that
were experienced in 2006-
2007. Hall explained where
droughts really create fear
among water managers is
when you have a very dry
fall and winter and then miss
spring rains, that next sum
mer will require more dras
tic measures like watering
bans.
“It has been so wet for so
long, it has got us set here at
the beginning of this short
term drought. But if it is still
dry after the first of next
year, you may see some type
of restrictions,” he said.
The city pulls its water
from Long Swamp Creek,
which is lower than usual.
These low levels are caused
naturally by the lack of re
cent rain.
However, the lack of
flow now also comes from
the completion of major
work on Grandview Lake’s
dam upstream. While dam
work was underway, the
lake was constantly being
drained into the creek. With
the drains removed, the lake
is refilling, so less water is
going on downstream.
“Long Swamp Creek al
ready has a tendency to not
do well in droughts, and
from what it looks like the
lake lacks about 20 feet be
fore it’s full,” Hall said.
“They aren’t discharging
into Long Swamp any
more.”
Demand for water is up
20 percent, which further ex
acerbates the issue. Hall said
the city will have to take
from its emergency reserves
in the mines off Cove Road
when their pumps in Long
Swamp Creek start to pull
air. The city doesn’t have to
pull from the mines every
year, “like last year for ex
ample it was so wet we were
praying for it to stop rain
ing.”
Hall continued, “the good
thing is the mines are full
right now. That’s about 300
million gallons of water we
can use if we need it - but
this is a short-term drought.
See Water on 11A
Top education officials
visit Hill City school
Max Caylor / Photo
U.S. Asst. Secretary of Elementary and Secondary Education Frank Brogan became a teacher again when he
sat and talked with Hill City students. He was comfortable relating to the students and they had no problem talking
with him about school, lessons and teachers. Sitting next to Brogan is State School Superintendent Richard Woods.
By Max Caylor
Progress contributor
Hill City Elementary School, Pick
ens County and the state of Georgia
welcomed U.S. Assistant Secretary of
Elementary and Secondary Education
Frank Brogan to campus last week to
see their innovative agriculture pro
gram. Everyone experienced true
Southern hospitality as lemonade,
pecan pie and peach ice cream were
served in a reception to welcome the
58 visitors.
“It is good to get out of Washington
and see what is taking place in educa
tion around the country,” said Brogan.
His trip is part of the Education De
partment’s Back-to-School-Tour and
the Atlanta leg brought him here as
well as to the Atlanta Youth Academy,
Hill City and Dawsonville’s Next
Generation Clubhouse.
Brogan, appointed by President
Donald Trump, was the first of his
family to earn a college degree and
most recently served as the chancellor
of the Pennsylvania State System of
Higher Education. He was previously
chancellor of the State University Sys
tem of Florida and president of
Florida Atlantic University. He was
elected to serve as the 15th lieutenant
governor of Florida and served eight
years in statewide office. Also, he has
served as Florida’s Commissioner of
Education.
The assistant secretary came to Hill
City because they are one of only 25
elementary schools in the state that
offer agriculture courses for young
students and have the only state certi
fied elementary agriculture teacher.
“Our new program is an opportu
nity for students to have a path of agri
culture to college and be career ready
and become producers for the rest of
their lives,” said Hill City Principal
Jennifer Halko. The agriculture pro
gram has its own bam, greenhouse,
animal area and sizeable garden.
Brogan commended the local pro
gram.
“Hill City is more special than you
know and we had to come and see el
ementary agriculture education in a
hands on way. We need schools that
are not afraid of change and will ex
plore pathways to flower the possibil-
See Visit on 11A
The great marble strike of 1962
By Larry Cavender
Progress contributor
In just a few days, Pickens County
will celebrate the long and storied his
tory of its marble legacy with the 39th
annual Marble Festival. To commem
orate this year's festival, The Pickens
County Progress will publish a two-
part series documenting an event that
occurred 57 years ago that is a sad and
tragic chapter in our community's
proud marble legacy.
Part One - The Background
Without a doubt, marble is the
bedrock of Pickens County. A rich
vein of crystalline marble runs like a
spine through the center of the county
just beneath the earth's surface, and
ever since the Irish stone mason
Henry Fitzsimmons first spied out
croppings of the stone in 1830 marble
has been the backbone of the Pickens
economy. The foundation of the entire
community was built upon marble.
Either directly or indirectly, marble
has tied the community and its citi
zens together for nearly two centuries,
and especially since Colonel Sam Tate
founded Georgia Marble Company in
1884. However, like an earthquake
shakes, shatters, and divides the
bedrock, an event in the late summer
and fall of 1962 left Pickens County
shaken, friendships shattered, and the
community divided.
The Pickens County Progress re
ported on the front page of its August
30th, 1962 issue that the Journeymen
Stonecutters Union, representing
nearly 700 Georgia Marble Company
See Strike on 2A
In this photo reprinted from the front page of the August 30th, 1962
Pickens County Progress, members of the local Journeymen Stonecutters
Union are seen picketing outside the Calcium Products Division Plant in
Marble Hill. Almost 700 marble workers went on strike at midnight on Au
gust 23rd of that year.
Keep Pickens Beautiful celebrates loth birthday
Reducing, Reusing & Recycling for three decades
2019 Keep Pickens Beautiful Board of Directors: (Back L-R) Bart
Connelly, Adopt-A-Road chair; Stan Barnett, director; Robert Kenyon;
Robert Morgan, vice president; (Front L-R) Joan Britton, secretary/trea
surer; Mary Ann Rentz, president; Vered Kleinberger, director; Joe Lev-
erette. Not pictured Levi Rentz and Susan Anderson.
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
This weekend Keep Pickens
Beautiful has invited the community
out to celebrate their 30-year an
niversary and three decades of re
ducing solid waste, promoting
recycling and conservation, and
beautifying the community.
The local non-profit, an affiliate
of Keep America Beautiful and
member of Keep Georgia Beautiful,
has implemented and continues to
manage a number of programs and
initiatives that promote their mis
sion, from Adopt-A-Road to Bring
One for the Chipper and GREEN
Thumb/GREEN Ribbon awards, to
The Great American Cleanup & Tire
Amnesty program, flag recycling,
and shredder trucks. They also pro
vide recycling bins for public events,
have poster competitions and educa
tional programs in schools, and en
gage in beautification projects in the
community, including murals, plant
ings, and other installations.
KPB was instrumental in starting
the recycling center on Camp Road,
and also instrumental in reducing
solid waste in the community after
the state mandated municipalities re
duce their waste by 25 percent.
“We have had a great bunch of
people over the years,” said KPB
Office Manager Carol Opdenhoff,
who has been with the organization
for 20 of the 30 years. She recalls
when their meetings were held at the
Pickens Chamber of Commerce, but
for a long time the organization has
called the little green building on
South Main Street home.
KPB was See KPB on 11A
Inside:
'JjdOAOLCL
MARBLE
FESTIVAL
October 5 & 6
j Jasper, <
www.GeorgiaMarbleFestival.com
Marble
Festival
special
section in
this paper
PHS Court
Page 12B
Yard sales are
in full swing
this fall Page 11B
Obituaries - 12A
• Barbara Brown
• Brian Pike
• John Reece
• Kathleen Love
• Quinton Beasley
• Patsy Jordan
• Bill Dodson
Index
Obituaries 12A
Editorial 4A
Letters to the editor . ,5A
Church 5-6B
Kids 3B
People 4B
Classifieds 10-11B
Legals 6-9B
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