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THURSDAY. DECEMBER 17. 2020 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 7A
Farmers Market says goodbye for 2020
Nate Biser / Photo
This past Saturday brought the 21st season of the Jasper Farmers Market at Lee Newton Park to a close. D e -
spite the many obstacles and challenges of2020, it was a great year! Thank You so much to everyone who had a hand
in making it happen. See you in April.
November 2020
Submitted by Pickens PIO
Tucker Green
In November crews com
pleted another very produc
tive paving season. The
Pickens Board of Commis
sioners have made resurfac
ing roadways a top priority
and it is evident with the tens
of miles paved annually.
In 2020, subcontractor
crews resurfaced nearly 30
roads totaling over 12 miles.
Roads resurfaced included:
Whispering Waters Dr.,
Whispering Court, Whisper
ing Pebbles Trail, Quiet
Water Court, Mill Creek Dr.,
Mill Pond Court, Hobson
Court, Daisy Lane, Hobson
Drive, Deer Run, Doe Ridge
Lane, Ginger Drive, Lance
Road, McClain Mountain
Road, Emerald Creek Drive,
Emerald Creek Court, Green
Valley Farm Road, Refuge
Hill Road, Whitley Road
South, Hensley Way, Hub
bard Road, Afton Road,
Poole Road, Lankford Drive,
Thrasher Road, Dean Mill
Road, Samaritan Way, and
Caring Way.
The Pickens Report
Submitted by Pickens County Government
Several roads were paved in Pickens County this year. See full list of roads resurfaced
below.
Additionally, Pickens
Public Works tar and grav
eled roughly five miles of
road across the county.
During the month of No
vember, the Water Depart
ment installed eight new
meters. The Department of
Planning and Development
issued 48 new building per
mits. The Pickens Animal
Shelter brought in 44 new an
imals, and 39 went out
through various forms of
adoption. Animal Control re
sponded to nine cases.
The 911 Operations Cen
ter received 1,739 total calls,
693 were medical responses
or fire related.
The Pickens County
Recreation Department’s
basketball season is under
way and will continue in the
new year. The Pickens
County government depart
ments continue to stay busy
working for the citizens of
Pickens County.
The Pickens County
Board of Commissioners
continue to do a great job of
leading these efforts. As
work progresses, and projects
continue, I will do my best to
keep you informed of these
developments.
On behalf of Pickens
County Government, have a
Merry Christmas and a
Happy New Year!
Until the next time, stay
safe, and shop local!
Beta Eta virtually learns
about Pickens County
Virtual Academy and
distance learning
On November 19 The
Beta Eta Chapter of women
educators held its annual
Thanksgiving meeting vir
tually online.
Vice President Lisa Bar
nett, 2nd grade instructor
for the Virtual Academy, in
formed the membership of
the ongoing work by the
Pickens County Virtual
Academy. Member Hilary
Tatum explained the dis
tance learning format being
used by the county for stu
dents when in-person learn
ing is cancelled.
Beta Eta contributes an
nually to Schools for
Africa, an international
project which provides for
the education of girls in de
veloping African nations.
Treasurer Nancy Teague
updated the membership on
its ongoing support.
After a short business
session, each of the mem
bers enjoyed a virtual shar
ing together of some
Thanksgiving goodies and
refreshments.
Despite the distance, a
good time was had visiting
together through Google
Meet.
Beta Eta is the local
chapter of Delta Kappa
Gamma, an international
honor society for key
women educators.
Hilary Tatum explained
the Distance Learning op
tion when in person learn
ing is cancelled.
Treasurer Nancy
Teague updated the group
on the Beta Eta contribu
tions to the schools for
Africa.
Vice President Lisa
Barnett, the 2nd grade in
structor for the Virtual
Academy.
Community Bank
refer-a-friend winners
Paula Wright, Sheila Bunch (CBOPC) and Kelley
Hightower.
Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine rolling out
across Georgia this week
By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
Atlanta - Georgia health
care workers and nursing
home residents will start re
ceiving immunizations
against COVID-19 this week
as the state Department of
Public Health gets its first
shipments of a vaccine pro
duced by Pfizer.
“Hopefully, this is the be
ginning of the end of this
pandemic,” Christy Norman,
vice president of pharmacy
services at Emory Health
care, said Monday during a
news briefing.
The Atlanta-based Centers
for Disease Control during
the weekend issued an emer
gency use authorization for
the Pfizer vaccine, the first to
emerge from the U.S.
pipeline targeting coron-
avirus. A second vaccine pro
duced by Moderna is
expected to receive federal
approval for distribution this
week.
“This is really exciting for
us,” said Dr. Marybeth Sex
ton, an assistant professor of
medicine and epidemiologist
at Emory. “We’re going to
have access to a vaccine that
looks in initial clinical stud
ies to be highly effective.”
Approval of vaccines to
combat COVID-19 is being
sped through what usually is
a lengthy process by the
Trump administration’s Op
eration Warp Speed because
of the pressing nature of the
pandemic, as cases of
COVID-19 diagnoses, hospi
talizations and deaths con
tinue surging across the
country.
As of Sunday, 476,044
had been diagnosed with
coronavirus, and 9,205 had
died from the virus.
But Sexton said the rush
to get the vaccines into
American arms did not com
promise safety. The technol
ogy behind the vaccines was
thoroughly tested in clinical
trials before the pandemic
began, she said.
“The researchers were
able to use lessons learned,”
she said.
Sexton said Americans
should not be concerned
about the side effects accom
panying the vaccines, includ
ing soreness in the arm,
fatigue or a slight fever.
“These are not serious,
life-threatening or danger
ous,” she said.
Sexton said health-care
workers will be in the first
group to get the shots be
cause of concerns that the
surge in coronavirus hospital
izations is straining the
health-care workforce.
“Even if they have a mild
case [of COVID-19], they’re
out of work 10 days,” she
said. “We’ve got a real con
cern for staff to take care of
patients.”
Sexton said the prioritiz
ing of health-care workers for
vaccinations includes not just
doctors and nurses but custo
dians, transporters and other
hospital workers.
“All of these people are
considered health-care work
ers and are prioritized,” she
said.
The other group getting
top priority to receive the
vaccines - residents of nurs
ing homes and other elderly-
care facilities - will be served
through a partnership the
CDC has set up with CVS
and Walgreens.
Sexton said the next group
to receive vaccinations after
health-care workers and resi
dents of elderly-care facilities
probably will be essential
workers who must leave their
homes despite the pandemic,
such as grocery store em
ployees and delivery truck
drivers.
Another group that will
receive high priority are sen
iors and Georgians suffering
from chronic illnesses that
leave them vulnerable to the
virus, she said.
While many Americans
have expressed reservations
about getting the shots out of
safety concerns, Sexton said
the number of willing partic
ipants is going up, probably
due to the impact of the surge
in cases.
Medical experts have said
achieving “herd immunity”
against COVID-19 - the
threshold for making further
spread of the virus unlikely -
is getting 60% to 70% of the
U.S. population vaccinated.
Community Bank of
Pickens County has offered
the Refer-A-Friend program
for several years with differ
ent prizes to be won. Our
third quarter prize for 2020
was two $100 gas cards.
It’s simple to enter, if
you’re a current account
holder and you refer a friend
and they open an account
you are both entered to win.
It’s that easy.
Congratulations to our
2020 third quarter winners,
Paula Wright who was re
ferred by Kelley Hightower.
Community Bank of
Pickens County is locally
owned and operated. We are
committed to making a dif
ference in our community
daily. Community Bank of
Pickens County was
founded in October 2000
and we have 2 full service
locations at 15 Sammy
McGhee Blvd. and 65 Cove
Road in Jasper.
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