Newspaper Page Text
Continued From 1A
THURSDAY. NOVEMBER 5. 2020 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 11A
Don Russell
watched via livestream on the
church’s Facebook and
YouTube channels.
Showing Russell’s wide
spread impact, at least three
prominent buildings/facilities
are named in his honor: The
Thrift Store building, the
Boys & Girls Club Teen Cen
ter, and the Piedmont Moun
tainside Chest Pain Center.
Russell showed time and
time again that he took his
bold visions and saw that
they came to completion, all
for the benefit of the poor in
the community. He remarked
in an interview for the 20th
anniversary of the Thrift
Store that they gave away
more in merchandise to the
needy than they sold, saying,
“that is not a loss, but a com
munity’s gain.”
A member of the Boys
and Girls Club board of di
rectors, Dan Huth said this of
Russell, “I marveled at how
this unassuming man could
accomplish such extraordi
nary feats. Don did it all,
from founding a successful
men's fellowship prayer
breakfast to raising the
money to build and run the
massive Community Thrift
Store which has currently
given over $6,000,000 in
cash grants to Pickens
County charities.
“So. How did he do it?
By never doubting his vision.
Never doubting that God
would provide. And by being
the kind of man who brought
out the best in every person
he counted on. If he counted
on you, you did not want to
disappoint Don Russell,”
Huth said.
Don Kent Russell was
bom on August 31, 1939 in
Troy, Tenn. to Shadrach
Jones Russell and Hazel Au
gusta McLemore Russell. He
had two siblings, Billy Joe
Russell, born August 23rd,
1941 and Gale Read Russell,
bom January 23, 1936, both
now deceased.
In autobiographical notes
Russell prepared several
years ago, he wrote, “My fa
ther spoke little but was a
good example.” Don was
bom at home and grew up in
a home without indoor
plumbing. His father ran a
service station, working six
days a week while closing on
Sundays, and for a period
worked at the Oak Ridge nu
clear facility with the U.S.
military efforts to develop the
atomic bomb during World
War II.
The family later moved to
Clinton, Tenn. and Don wrote
that, “Our new home was like
others we had rented: four
rooms, no halls, no closets,
no plumbing and an outhouse
out back. We had a large
farm behind our house with
the Clinch River as a bound
ary for my brother to explore.
We spent many hours with
our BB guns rambling
through the countryside.”
Don wrote that in 8th
grade, “I learned to love
reading. We had no books in
our home except the Bible. I
found an old copy of Robin
son Crusoe and read it many
times. I also found that I
could check out books from
the library and read daily.
Books opened my eyes to a
different world from the one
I knew. Perhaps it started me
dreaming a little of how life
could be. I continue to enjoy
reading.”
Russell attended Clinton
High School which became
the first forced integrated
school in the south. A picture
showing Don and his brother
at this time hangs in a mu
seum in Clinton detailing this
period.
At 19 he joined the Army.
“I entered the Army in Janu
ary 1959 and was released in
March 1962. I was extended
for two months because of
the Berlin Crisis. I stayed out
for 88 days and did not know
what I wanted to do so I reen
listed in June 1962 and spent
three more years in the Army.
I was released in June 1965
and had no idea what I
wanted to do but I did not
consider staying in longer.”
During his time in the
service, Russell was sta
tioned in Japan and later in
Paris as part of a special
NATO assignment. In his
notes, Russell wrote, he
“spent many days rambling
in Paris and enjoying the
sights and people. I carried a
book with me and read a lot
sitting in the parks watching
the people go by.”
Russell moved to Atlanta
after being released and
found work first collecting
past due accounts for a fi
nance company.
He later moved to work in
finance at Fort McPherson
from December 5, 1966 until
he retired on September 30,
1995.
He and Mary Adella
Dampier Russell were mar
ried on March 9, 1968. They
met while she was in the
Army at Ft. McPherson, Ga.
and he was working there as
an Army civilian. Mary
worked as a Christian educa
tor and a partner in many of
the non-profit foundations.
She is also an accomplished
artist.
During this time, the fam
ily recalled that Russell al
ways bought used cars for
himself, but made sure his
wife had new cars. The first
new car he ever bought for
himself was a small Chevy
pickup, necessary for work
starting the Thrift Store.
The couple moved to Bent
Tree in 1997.
In 2000, Russell wrote in
notes about the founding of
the teen center, that it became
apparent that the county
needed something for the
kids here and he first worked
to establish an afterschool
program at one of the middle
schools.
This led to the formation
of the group forming the
Boys & Girls Club a few
years later. Don stated in his
notes, “The Boys & Girls
Clubs said that we were too
small a community to have a
standalone club and we
would have to come under a
larger club. We visited
Cartersville and Gainesville
to request that we come
under them. Neither was ac
ceptable and I [said] that we
were opening a club; it could
be Boys & Girls Clubs of
America or Girls & Boys
Clubs of Pickens County.
The president of the Boys &
Girls Clubs agreed that we
could open as a standalone
club provided we also took
Gilmer and Fannin counties.”
It started with one middle
school at a building in Roper
Park in 2005 and quickly ex
panded as they hired a direc
tor and eventually built the
permanent club building in
Roper Park.
Russell was recognized
for his hard work, by being
named to the Georgia Boys
& Girls Clubs Hall of Fame
and later awarded the Na
tional Bronze Medallion,
which is for board members
who have provided excep
tionally devoted and exem
plary service to a Boys &
Girls Club.
Russell also overcome
many obstacles and doubts
on the way to successfully
operating the Thrift Store for
two decades. Preparing for
the 20th anniversary, he said
during an interview, “ If you
believe in yourself, get ex
cited about your work and
pray, God will do it.” And
that organization with their
yearly grants certainly did
succeed. Most every group
working to help others in this
community has received
these grants and support, all
from Russell’s vision.
Russell’s list of local accom
plishments include:
Founder & Chairman -
Pickens Co. Community Re
source Association, Inc.
Founder & President -
Community Thrift Store
Co - Founder - Commu
nity Emergency Shelter
Founder & Treasurer -
North Georgia Men’s Chris
tian Fellowship
Former President - Pick
ens Co. Family Connections
Founder - Prison Ministry
After-Care
Former Board Member -
The Joy House
Former Executive Direc
tor - Keep Pickens Beautiful
Former Chairman - Com
munity/Social Development
Task Force of the Pickens
Co. Economic Development
Commission
Former Member - Geor
gia Mountains Hospice Advi
sory Board
Former Board Member -
Good Samaritan Health &
Wellness Center
Founder & Board Mem
ber - Boys & Girls Clubs of
North Georgia - Inducted
into the Georgia Boys &
Girls Club Hall of Fame
2013
Founder & Former Direc
tor - Community Resource
Center
Former Board Member -
Timothy House
Former Board Member -
Ruth House.
Continued From 1A
Changes
Proctor later said it was a
“mild attempt at starting to
guide downtown and dis
courage lesser building mate
rials” in the future.
Rebecca Keefer of Clark,
Patterson & Lee gave an
overview of some of the pro
posed changes, and noted
that a full presentation of the
proposal and public hearing
will be held at the Jasper
Planning & Zoning Commis
sion on Nov. 24. A second
reading of the ordinance/sec-
ond public hearing/possible
adoption will be held at
Jasper Council Meeting on
Monday, Dec. 7.
In general, there are more
sign and building restrictions
in Jasper’s central business
district than in the city as a
whole in the proposal. These
proposals would not immedi
ately require existing build
ings/signs be brought into
compliance.
In terms of signs, for ex
ample, the “short answer is
that existing signage would
be grandfathered [in] of sorts
insomuch as we will not be
making existing one come
into compliance with new
immediately,” said city man
ager Douglas in a later inter
view. “If there are substantial
changes thereafter then they
may lose grandfathering and
have to comply with new
standards.”
General building design
standards “would be pretty
minimal,” the firm represen
tative told council, to include
material requirements such as
prohibition of metal on exte
riors except for accent or
roofing material, but “some
thing a little more substantial
for the downtown design
standards. There are more
prohibited building materials
and more substantial fenes
tration requirements,” she
said. Fenestration has to do
with the arrangement and
proportion of windows and
doors in a building.
More notable changes in
clude those to design ele
ments in the downtown area,
where prohibited exterior
building materials would in
clude stucco, synthetic brick
or stone, concrete masonry
units (CMU), comigated
metal, and vinyl. Design
standards for the rest of the
city would allow brick, glass,
stucco, wood, stone, textured
concrete masonry, cementi
tious fiberboard, or EFIS, but
not metal for future construc
tion.
In terms of signs, “We
made two different sign stan
dards,” Keefer said, “one for
the central business district to
really heighten the character
there and make it a little bit
of a different place, and one
for the rest of the commercial
districts in the city.”
Among many sign
changes, new pole signs
would be prohibited and a
permit would be required be
fore panels could be changed
on existing pole signs. New
roof signs would be prohib
ited, so “through attrition as
businesses change new busi
nesses would not be able to
put back roof signs.” There
are also new standards for il
luminated and ground signs.
The only signs permitted
in the central business district
would be “external illumina
tion with the exception of the
period neon signs that are re
ally coming into appeal right
now to highlight the central
business district as that spe
cial district,” Keefer said.
It is clarified in the sign
ordinance proposal “that if
you’ve got...something that
was legal at one point and is
not anymore then there is
clear path as to how that sign
can continue to exist, and
revocation provisions if
somebody has done some
thing in violation of the ordi
nance there is a clear process
for that,” Keefer said.
There are also several pro
posed changes to the zoning
ordinance that would add a
Senior Housing and Cottage
Home designation, make big
changes to the current
Planned Unit Development
(PUD) special district, and
add a Runway Protection
Zone and Environmental
Conservation overlay.
There would also be
changes to the rezoning
process, including mayor and
council becoming the decid
ing body for variance re
quests.
The first public hearing
and full presentation on the
proposal will be held at the
Jasper Planning & Zoning
Commission on Tuesday,
Nov. 24. You can view the
entire proposed draft of both
the zoning ordinance and
sign ordinance at the city’s
website at www.jasper-ga.us.
Reverse Christmas
parade a go
Jasper Council unani
mously endorsed the Jasper
Merchant’s Association’s
“reverse Christmas parade,”
which will take place on Ste
gall Drive and have cars
drive through stationary
floats along that road. These
changes were made because
of the ongoing pandemic and
JMA’s attempt to hold a pa
rade while maintaining social
distancing and other safety
protocols.
The parade will be held
from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sat
urday, Dec. 5.
Stegall Drive will be
closed that day, with the pa
rade to run from Mark Whit
field Street to Mary Street.
Festivities will include light
ing of the Christmas tree,
which will be streamed live,
as well as a looped reading of
“‘Twas The Night Before
Christmas,” a band near the
Christmas tree, and possibly
aDJ.
If you want to have a float
in the parade you can find an
application at www.jasper-
jma.com. Volunteers are also
needed.
Gateway developers request
to have fees reduced
Michael Ledford, princi
pal of MLF Gateway Devel
opment LLC, which owns
the Gateway at Grandview
development on Highway
515 near Highway 108, re
quested Cost of Construction
city fees be reduced because
of a misunderstanding and
“perfect storm” of issues the
large project has encoun
tered.
Ledford told council he
purchased the property/pro
ject from former developers
in 2018 as it was “headed
south.” After many setbacks,
they are now under construc
tion in phase II, which in
cludes 103 single-family
homes for the 55-and-up
community. Curb and gutter
and amenities have already
been built, and he anticipates
house construction to begin
immediately, with several
lots already pre-sold. Phase I
construction will begin at a
later date.
But the city manager ex
plained that at some point
Ledford was told by previous
owners there would be no
Cost of Construction fees that
would be paid to the city.
Sharptop Ridge home a total loss but family dog saved
By Christie Pool
Staff Writer
christie@pickensprogress.com
Jasper firemen battled an
evening home fire on Sun
day, November 1st, working
against wind that hampered
their efforts. While the home
was a “total loss,” according
to Jasper’s Assistant Fire
Chief Von Headrick, crews
did manage to save the fam
ily’s small dog.
Firefighters were called
out to a home fire at 171
Sharptop Ridge Road, Jasper
around 6:30 p.m. Sunday
where a fire had started in the
attic, according to Headrick.
“It was a total loss be
cause it burned the roof off of
it,” Headrick said.
The assistant fire chief
said firefighting efforts were
hampered because of winds
at the time that blew the fire
from one area of the ceiling
to another.
“We were able to salvage
most of the family’s personal
belongings and stuff out of
the home and we were able to
locate the little dog and gave
it some oxygen to get it feel
ing a little better.”
Joshua and Kimberly
Turner own the home.
The fire is still under in
vestigation but Headrick said
the family had a fire burning
in the wood heater and left to
go get food. “When they
came back they found fire in
the ceiling of the attic of the
house,” he said. “It was real
windy where that house is on
that ridge but nobody got hurt
and that’s a good thing.”
Firemen extinguished the
flames and Headrick said,
“all went well except for the
wind which hampered us a
little bit.”
Headrick said power
crews working in the area
saw the fire and cut off power
to the home even before fire
men arrived at the scene.
Jasper fire crews were as
sisted by the Pickens County
fire department.
Photo courtesy Jasper Fire Department
Ledford further explained
that they were told about “a
conglomerate of other devel
opers up and down 515”
which all contributed to a
$750,000 sewer extension.
“We were told, without
having direct communication
with the city, that this was
part in parcel of an impact fee
that we would be owning so
we wouldn’t have impact
fees with the city moving for
ward.”
Ledford said they found
out a few months ago they
would, in fact, be responsible
for a $3,500 cost of construc
tion fee for each home. Led
ford said they had not
planned for that additional
$360,000 cost, and would not
make the request to council
unless it was “extenuating
circumstances.”
City manager Douglas
said the city supports the
project and wants to see it
move forward. There was
some brief discussion about
possible ways to mitigate
some costs or incentivize the
project - but Douglas said
city staff could not waive
those fees outright. Several
members of council said they
would need significantly
more information and re
search before making a deci
sion, and tabled the request
until their next meeting.
In other news from the meet
ing:
•Mayor Lawrence recog
nized Pickens House Rep.
Rick Jasperse for being a
Champion of Georgia’s
Cities.
•Parish Lowrie was sworn
in to serve on Jasper’s Down
town Development Author
ity.
•Council approved Rein
hardt University’s Shamrock
Stroll for March 13. The 0.5k
run down Main Street in
Jasper funds scholarships for
students from Pickens
County. This year, they will
partner with Pendley Creek
Brewing Co. as part of the
event.
•Zachary Waters of
Zachary Waters Auctions,
which recently held an auc
tion of over 100 surplus items
from the city, presented the
mayor with a check for over
$130,000 made from those
sales.
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