Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. JANUARY 21.2021
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From the Progress files
Turning Back
The Pages
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YEARS
From Jan. 18, 1996
Winter ‘96 -ACT II
City equipment was busy early
last Friday morning clearing down
town streets after the second snowfall
of the winter blanketed Pickens
County. Snowfall amounts in the
county varied from less than an inch
to about four inches and in some areas fell on ice and snow
left from the winter storm that hit a week earlier. Roads had
cleared enough from the first snow for schools to open last
Thursday but the second
snowfall gave students another
day off Friday.
Weather
HI
LOW
RAIN
Tuesday
39
15
.00
Wednesday
41
26
.00
Thursday
37
29
.47*
Friday
33
26
.00
Saturday
46
29
.00
Sunday
62
39
.00
Monday
63
43
.00
* 3/4 inch snow
Davis to receive Ga. historical award
Wallace State College’s Family and Regional History
Program Director Robert S. Davis Jr. has been selected to
receive a Georgia history award. An awards presentation
of Georgia’s Doctor John Woodson Chapter of the National
Society of the Daughters of the American Colonists is
scheduled to honor Davis January 20 at the Buckhead Ritz-
Carlton Hotel.
Davis, 41, is thought to be the world’s only professor of
genealogy. He has authored more than 600 articles on
records, research, and archives, including 30 books. A num
ber of articles authorized by Davis have appeared in the
Pickens County Progress.
In 1986, Davis earned the National Genealogical Soci
ety’s Award of Merit. His latest work is the Marble Valley
Historical Society’s Pickens County Picture Book.
Davis has been instrumental in building several ge
nealogical and historical manuscript collections in Georgia.
He wrote the original draft of the 1980 Georgia Records
Act which extends legal protection to all of Georgia’s state
and local records.
In 1991, Davis worked for a month in Great Britain as
an agent for the R.J. Taylor Jr. Foundation in search of
Georgia’s colonial records. In 1994, Davis was appointed
by Gov. Jim Folsom to serve through 1997 on the Alabama
Historical Records Advisory Board.
Davis, a Pickens County native, holds a Master of Edu
cation degree from North Georgia College. He is complet
ing a Master of Arts degree this year from the University
of Alabama at Birmingham.
Davis recently became engaged to Nancy Murphee of
Oneata, AL. They plan to marry in June.
Wallace State College President Dr. James C. Bailey
plans for the school’s genealogy collection to be the na
tion’s next major research center. The collection frequently
attracts interest from across the United States.
Wallace State’s Family and Regional History Program
offers a genealogical collection featuring access through
computers and microfilm to more than two billion historical
records. The Wallace State collection, enhanced by Davis’
efforts the past five years, is open to the public and features
college courses in family history and genecological re
search. Computer genealogy and field trips are also offered
each quarter.
50
From Jan. 21, 1971
YEARS
6,455 car tags sold during 1970
If you can’t find a parking
space and wonder where all the cars
came from, the answer is that there are
a lot more cars in Pickens County than
most people realize.
Pickens County Tax Commis
sioner E.H. Blackwell reports that 6,455 automobile and
truck tags were sold in Pickens County during 1970. Pick
ens County has a population of 9,493, according to the
1970 Census. One thousand five hundred and six pick-up
truck tags were sold. The total amount was $64,638.80.
This does not include the tax on the vehicles.
The tax commissioner’s office handled 1,453 applica
tions for automobile titles in 1970. Mr. Blackwell stated
that 1971 automobile tags are moving at the usual pace.
Over [six hundred] 1971 tags had been sold in the first 15
days of January.
Posters by A.A.T.S. art students receive national recog
nition
Miss Cheryl Thomason, a Commercial Art student at the
Atlanta Area Technical School was among the five winning
students receiving cash awards for her poster in a contest
sponsored by the National Association of Women’s and
Children’s Apparel Salesmen. The theme related sales
man’s problems to ecological problems. The posters were
displayed at the NAWCAS Convention at San Diego, CA.
From Jan. 17, 1946
Roper Hospital will build two wings
Plans have been drawn and estimates
made for extensive improvements for
the Roper Hospital and efforts for im
mediate construction are being made.
The plans call for two 50 foot wings,
one to be built on each side at the rear
of the present building. This will give a total of 31 beds,
and will have an isolation ward. Also there will be improve
ments in the operating room, laboratory, maternity ward
and everything will be modem in detail.
The Roper Hospital was built about six years ago and
has been a great blessing to this section. Dr. C.J. Roper and
Dr. E.A. Roper are at the head of it and are two very capa
ble physicians and surgeons and the hospital rapidly made
a reputation that gained the confidence of the people of this
section of Georgia. Its work has been on par with the new
additions planned, promises to place Jasper on the map as
a hospital center for a wide territory.
Actual construction work will begin on the new addi
tions as soon as materials can be secured. Major C.J. Roper
and Capt. E.A. Roper, both having served overseas in
World War II, were recently discharged from the U.S.
Army.
Shooting the Breeze with Robin Dunn
Licensed Professional Counselor Robin Dunn with his
co-therapist Alvin.
Local counselor
talks mental
health during
a pandemic
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
Robin Dunn is a Licensed
Professional Counselor with
32 years of experience work
ing with children, teens and
adults. Robin has a private
practice on Cove Road in
Jasper where he works along
with his co-therapist Alvin
(his dog). Visit him online at
www. robinwdunnlpc. com.
How can people monitor
their own mental health
during the pandemic?
What is healthy and at
what point should people
seek professional care?
With both the pandemic
along with the current politi
cal climate and conflicts, it is
a very stressful time for al
most everyone. As far as the
pandemic, it is like an ongo
ing natural disaster. As far as
monitoring your own or your
children’s mental health, that
is the same as always. If you
or your child is experiencing
anxiety, depression (includ
ing suicidal thinking), sleep
disturbance, anger issues that
seem out of the ordinary, are
affecting your/their function
ing or relationships in a neg
ative way and not getting
better - then that would be
the time to seek a profes
sional consultation with your
doctor or a professional
counselor.
Are you seeing a new popu
lation of people exhibiting
mental health issues during
this pandemic who have
historically not sought pro
fessional help?
Surprisingly, I would have
to say not at this point at least
in my practice. I wouldn’t be
surprised after the pandemic
finally relents that studies
will show otherwise looking
at a wider cross-section of
healthcare providers and is
sues being treated. If people
have underlying issues with
stress, anxiety, depression,
self-esteem, communication
and the like, the stress from
the pandemic can push them
over the edge in needing to
seek treatment. While I am
really not seeing new issues,
my practice schedule is stay
ing full and I am getting more
calls from people who tell me
that everyone they call has a
full practice.
What issue seems to be
making people most anx
ious or worried? Getting
COVID-19 or having a
loved one get sick? Finan
cial hardships? Social isola
tion? Politics?
All of the above about
equally I would say. What
ever would have been the
case without the pandemic is
amplified currently.
Does a certain age group
seem to be more affected by
mental health issues associ
ated with the pandemic?
Or are you and your col
leagues seeing impact
across all age groups?
I am definitely seeing is
sues across all age groups.
What specific mental
health issues are you seeing
in children and teens? How
is the unusual school year,
with digital and virtual
learning, quarantines, less
structure and more time at
home, impacting them in
terms of not only mental
health but in terms of
things like motivation and
performance?
The challenge of adjusting
to digital learning is causing
a lot of headaches for chil
dren, teens and their parents.
Kids who are self-starters and
pretty good at motivating
themselves are adjusting
more easily. Kids who need
more support and structure
are struggling and sometimes
failing in subjects they never
would have before with the
support of in-person instruc
tion. There is a lot more pres
sure on kids to be more
independent in the way they
have to approach their own
education.
What issues are more com
mon among adults and the
elderly?
I am seeing more conflicts
with families disagreeing on
how to handle holidays or
other family events like birth
days and weddings. With the
elderly, definitely the effects
of isolation are impacting
many in that age group
greatly. For those who were
already good at occupying
themselves, they tend to be
coping better. For those who
typically depended on a
higher level of social interac
tion, the distancing measures,
while necessary, are causing
more distress.
Are you and your col
leagues seeing an increase
in depression and suicidal
thoughts/attempts?
At this point, I really have
not seen an increase. The
longer the pandemic and its
associated stresses goes on, I
would expect to see an in
crease however. That is why
it is important for everyone to
do their part in mitigating the
pandemic and also why those
steps are hard to maintain be
cause we don’t really get to
see any kind of immediate re
sults from actions like social
distancing and mask wearing.
Have you seen a marked in
crease in substance abuse
during this time?
That I have seen for sure.
I have seen multiple reports
indicating that liquor sales
have gone way up during the
pandemic, and it’s not hard to
understand why. It stands to
reason that other substance
use would be up too.
What are some tools people
can use to manage their
anxiety and/or stress dur
ing this time?
I would suggest try to
keep a balance with regards
to exposure to the news for
sure. You want to stay in
formed, but at the same time
you probably don’t want to
watch the same “bad news”
over and over. It’s important
to stay active with exercise
(just walking will do) and to
keep your mind active with
things that aren’t stressful or
negative like games, puzzles,
crafts and etc. Activities that
require you to apply yourself
will tend to be better than
passive activities like watch
ing TV or YouTube. It is also
good to find “safe” ways to
be social like getting together
outside at a distance or using
Zoom or Facetime to get to
gether electronically. It’s not
as good as in person usually,
but it’s way better than noth
ing.
Anxiety was already a
widespread problem before
the pandemic hit. What im
pact have you seen the pan
demic have on people who
already had anxiety issues?
How are they being
treated?
As I said earlier, I am not
really seeing new impacts. I
am seeing people who al
ready had anxiety issues
whose coping skills are get
ting stretched to the point
where they need to seek as
sistance to get things back
under control.
Are there any other issues
relating to mental health
and the pandemic you
would like to touch on?
Though unfortunately I
don’t think we are super
close to the end of the pan
demic, I do think the end is
coming. I think it is impor
tant for people to realize that
pandemics are a natural phe
nomenon that mankind un
fortunately has to cope with
from time to time - the last of
this magnitude was in 1918.
We have to support each
other to “weather the storm”
of this pandemic. The pan
demic is more like a longer
lasting Category 2 hurricane
that just sits over an area of
land and whips everyone
with wind and rain than say a
tornado that roars through
and then is gone. The Mod-
ema and Pfizer vaccines are
becoming available and from
my research appear to be
very safe and much more ef
fective than the typical flu
shot. As far as a time in his
tory to live in order to survive
this pandemic, we are living
in the best time with cutting
edge technology with the
mRNA vaccines. As a health
care provider, I was able to
take the first dose of the
Moderna vaccine last week
and can say that I had no side
effects. I will be taking the
second dose next month.
Some weeks after that, I am
hoping to have some level of
immunity. Hang in there
everybody. Things will get
better.
Do you know’ someone
who would be a good candi
date for us to “Shoot the
Breeze ’’ with? Email sugges
tions to areinhardt@picken-
sprogress.com.
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