Newspaper Page Text
Continued From 1A
THURSDAY. NOVEMBER 26. 2020 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 11A
Wigingtons
of allegedly illegally pur
chased items between 2017
and 2020. Items include an
Apple iWatch, household
items such as faucets, a chan
delier, a mattress, clothing,
kitchen and bathroom items,
toys, subscriptions to various
services such as HBO and
Kindle, and others.
Both Allen and Rosemary
Wigington were listed to
gether in two counts of Theft
by Taking in the Grand Jury’s
indictment. One of those
counts alleges they were un
lawfully in possession of less
than $1,500 that belonged to
a local attorney in January of
2020. The other alleges the
defendants purchased a Mi
crosoft Surface Pro from
Costco in November 2018
and reimbursed the cost from
the Pickens County Law Li
brary, which was a breach of
the former judge’s fiduciary
obligation to the law library.
According to court officials,
one count of Theft by Taking
is a misdemeanor, one is a
felony.
Sheriff’s deputies went to
interview Mrs. Wigington at
Pickens High School after
Grand Jury proceedings, and
after students were released
from school that Thursday,
Nov. 19. Following the inter
view, deputies took her to the
Pickens Adult Detention
Center. Mrs. Wigington was
arrested and booked-into the
jail. Visiting Judge Tambra
Colston set her bond at
$50,000. She has since
bonded out.
Continued From 1A
Scouts
highest rank in the Boy
Scouts of America, and it is
attained by less than 10 per
cent of all Scouts. Achieving
the rank of Eagle Scout vali
dates that the Scout has
demonstrated the core values
and traits necessary to be
come leaders who “make eth
ical and moral choices over
their lifetimes.”
The rank is so highly re
garded that Eagle Scouts are
sought after by colleges, em
ployers and the U.S. Armed
Forces
When asked why they
chose this project, Jake re
sponded by saying, “Because
of what it can provide for the
church, especially for our
youth. “
Jake added that the project
also taught the Scouts about
setting goals and seeing a
project to completion.
“Achieving goals will al
ways be hard but my Scout
ing experiences have always
prepared me to be better,” he
said. “Being better mentally
and being more mature than
others helps people achieve
the goals they strive for.
Scouting has taught me to
never give up and to always
finish what you started. To al
ways be the bigger and better
person than what others are.”
The project required sub
stantial design, planning, and
fundraising efforts before
construction could begin. Al
together, the project took one
year to complete and required
the Scouts to coordinate and
supervise a team of 30 volun
teers.
Peyton and Jake each in
vested over 240 hours of their
own time in the project and
were required to painstak
ingly document each phase
for a Board of Review which
determines whether projects
meet the stringent require
ments of the Boy Scouts of
America.
The construction phase of
the project presented grueling
challenges, including adverse
weather, coronavirus, and
funding. Before construction
could begin, Jake and Peyton
had to devise a plan to raise a
substantial amount of money
to acquire materials and had
to solicit volunteer labor
from the church community.
Despite the significant
hurdles, Peyton and Jake per
severed. When asked what
they learned from this expe
rience, they said they would
tell others to not give up.
Peyton said, “Eagle
Scouts know there is no easy
path to attaining the rank.
You have a long journey
ahead of you, with its ups and
downs. But if you do keep
going and persevere, you will
not regret it.”
Scott Curran, director of
religious education, com
mended the Scouts, saying
“Our parish family is ex
tremely grateful for this
beautiful space to hold youth
ministry activities. Peyton
Miss PHS Paige Klein and Mr. PHS Clay Shoffer.
and Jake took a complicated
design that was estimated by
contractors to cost over
$8,000 to complete, and
brought it to life through
leadership, fortitude, and
physical endurance. These
young men, alongside their
volunteer team, persevered
through many long, wet days
of hard labor to deliver a
treasure the youth and com
munity of Our Lady of the
Mountains will enjoy for
years to come.”
Continued From 1A
Nativity
was delivered to Jasper on
Tuesday, Nov. 24.
“When I kept seeing
everyone commenting that
there was not a Nativity on
the courthouse lawn for
Christmas 2019, and that
someone needed to do some
thing about it, I just waited at
first,” Renner said. “Then on
December 12, 2019 I posted
on Facebook that I was head
ing to Community Bank of
Pickens County to open an
account, ‘Jasper GA Nativ
ity,’ and that I was starting a
PayPal with the same name.
I included an image of a Na
tivity with a goal of raising
$5,000.”
Here’s a quick recap of the
Nativity’s history: The Pick
ens County government orig
inally had responsibility for
the set but eventually handed
it over to the Jasper Mer
chants’Association after they
requested to take charge. The
association attempted to
maintain the aging display,
which dated from the early
1970s, but it was in such bad
shape they put out a call for
help around 2014 to replace
it. A local veterans group,
T.A.P.S., stepped up and of
fered to loan their own set to
the community. The group
took care of installation and
upkeep for a few years, in
cluding construction of the
wooden stable, but they
eventually disbanded and the
county was left without a Na
tivity. The old set was in too
poor condition to be dis
played.
The fundraiser for a new
set started late last year and
Renner said she didn’t expect
it would be complete in time
for that Christmas. Commu
nity Bank of Pickens County
loaned a two-dimensional sil
houette Nativity to be dis
played for the remainder of
the 2019 holiday season.
By December 31, 2019,
Renner said $2,095 had been
raised. During the first three
months of 2020, just over
$550 was raised. Donations
slacked off until this October
when booth vendors who set
up at Rooster’s Market - Ren
ner’s business off Highway
515 - donated raffle baskets
for the fundraiser.
“At that time, a heavy so
cial media campaign
restarted as well,” Renner
said. “By November 17th,
the entire amount for the na
tivity had been raised, as well
as money being donated for
the three sets of solar lights
for the set. I simply cannot
thank everyone that finan
cially supported this
fundraiser. I would also like
to thank the Rooster’s Market
vendor family for their gen
erous donations for the raffle
baskets. I pray that the com
munity both appreciates and
enjoys this for many years to
come. I would also like to
thank William Latimer for
committing to storing the set
each year.”
Renner will leave the ac
count open for donations to
help pay for the content and
vandalism insurance yearly,
as well as the replacement of
the hay needed each year for
display.
The original price set was
$6,995, but the purchase
price ended up being $4,995
- no tax or shipping - be
cause it went on sale. The
Renner family has donated
the materials and construc
tion of the manger. The set
selected was based on dura
bility and longevity so it will
not need to be replaced for
many years, Renner said.
Community members
are welcome to join in the
Nativity set up process on
Saturday, Nov. 28, weather
permitting, at the Pickens
County Courthouse. The
Nativity will be set up at 2
p.m. A lighting ceremony,
prayers, and carols singing
will be at 5 p.m. The public
is invited to set up and for
the lighting ceremony.
Visit the
Old Jail
on Main
Truck accident snarls traffic on busy 372
The driver of this boom truck was "entrapped" with his leg caught under the large truck
according to Cherokee Battalion Chief Mark Orr. He was not freed until a rotator wrecker
from a local wrecker sendee could lift the truck off of him.
By Larry Cavender
Contributing Writer
Area commuters found
the going difficult on State
Route 372 and other nearby
roads following a truck acci
dent on the afternoon of
Wednesday, Nov. 18th. At 2
p.m., first responders from
the Cherokee County Fire
and Emergency Services re
sponded to a call in which a
crane truck had overturned at
the highway's intersection
with Conn's Creek Road.
One lane of Highway 372
was closed for several hours,
and later, when the truck was
being uprighted, both lanes
of the highway were shut
down.
Fire Battalion Chief Mark
Orr reported, "The 23-year-
old male driver was driving a
38-ton boom track when he
left the road and overturned.
The driver was entrappped
and was extricated by Chero
kee County firefighters with
assistance from Mauldin's
Wrecker Service who used
their rotator wrecker to lift
the large track off the driver's
leg."
The driver, who was not
identified but had a Ball
Ground address, was trans
ported to North Fulton Hos
pital with "non-life
threatening injuries."
Jay Barker, Public Infor
mation Officer for the Chero
kee County Sheriffs Office,
said, "The track was travel
ing south on Highway 372
and drove off the roadway to
avoid colliding with stopped
vehicles."
For several hours, traffic
was diverted from Conn's
Creek Road onto Yellow
Creek Road and other alter
nate routes before the truck
was finally uprighted and all
lanes opened shortly after 7
p.m. that evening. The cause
of the accident is still under
investigation.
Street
Saturday
10-2
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