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THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 4. 2021 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 5A
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From the Progress files
Turning Back
The Pages
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From Feb. 1, 1996
Friends of Library elect officers
At its January meeting, the Friends
of the Pickens Library Board of
Trustees elected a new slate of officers
for 1996. Doug Brooks will continue
his chairmanship of the organization
while new board member Sharon
Rasco will serve as vice-chairperson. William Davenport
was elected secretary and Frank Eubanks and William
Chapman will serve as treasurer and assistant treasurer, re
spectively.
Friends of the Pickens Library was formed in 1990 to cre
ate public awareness of library services and its current and
future needs. The group also works to stimulate financial
support for the library, sponsor and encourage volunteer
service for the library and host cultural and related pro
grams for the community.
There have been 14 programs for the public since the
group’s inception as well as several book sales and “activ
ity” days. The group has donated several thousand dollars
for books and equipment to the library with the most recent
contributions being $5,000 for books and $5,000 for land
scaping at the new library.
In addition to the officers listed above, current members
of the Board of Trustees are: Judy Boggus, Jim Burchill,
Sara Fowler, Jane Gardner, John Kiser, Christie Mullinax,
Betty Stenger, Nancy VanSant, Janet Vardaman and Betty
Videon.
Ledford achieves Eagle Scout
Local Boy Scout David Ledford was recognized for his
achievement of Eagle Scout at a Court of Honor and recep
tion Sunday, Jan. 14 at Jasper United Methodist Church.
David’s former Scoutmaster, Tony Blalock, presented the
recognition.
David expressed appreciation to his present and prior
Scout leaders and the members of local Troop 836 who as
sisted with his Eagle Scout project and with whom he has
enjoyed Scouting for the past 10 years as both a Cub Scout
and a Boy Scout.
David’s Eagle Scout project was the installation of four
pieces of exercise equipment around the walking trail in
the Jasper City Park. He expressed his thanks to Mayor
John Weaver and Bank of North Georgia, Crescent Bank,
Jasper Banking Company and Pickens County Bank for
funding his project.
David is to be commended for achieving Eagle Scout, as
fewer than two percent of all Boy Scouts reach that goal.
The Jasper United Methodist Church and Men’s Fellowship
is the sponsoring organization of Troop 836.
Local church to receive national award
First Baptist Church of Jasper has been selected to re
ceive a national award to be presented by the Home Mis
sion Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. This
church has been named “Resort Ministry Church of the
Year” for 1995. This is the first time in the history of the
award that it has gone to a church not located in a resort
area. Jasper First Baptist was selected to receive this award
in recognition of the ministry work done on summer Youth
Mission Trips over the past 20 years, with almost all of this
mission work being done in resort settings in coordination
with Home Mission Board resort missionaries. One of these
missionaries, Bill Black of Gatlinburg, TN, nominated
Jasper First Baptist for this award.
SO
From Feb. 4, 1971
YEARS
Sock Hop Friday night
There will be a Sock Hop held in
the PHS Gym this Friday night fol
lowing the Pickens-East Fannin ball
game. The dance will last until mid
night with music furnished by the
“New Brew.” Blues—Acid—Rock. The Sock Hop will be
sponsored by the cheerleaders and admission will be 750.
Telephone expansion
Expansion of telephone cables in the Jasper, Pickens
County area was announced today by General Telephone.
This project is to start this month and will be completed by
July of this year. The new and added cables will be placed
mainly along Highway 5 South and Highway 108 and into
the Grandview Lake and Bent Tree subdivision area.
W.A. Pahl, district manager said that over 72,000 sheath
feet of cable will be added to improve and expand local
service. “The additional cable will make it possible for the
company to meet more customer requests for private, two
and four-party lines,” Pahl said.
Cost of the current cable project will be over $136,000.
Jasper has enjoyed steady growth over the years, as re
flected in the number of telephones now served, this figure
being 2,020 compared to 1,308 in 1966.
From Jan. 31, 1946
YEARS
7<
y 'S Simmons gets highest war dept,
award
Ben Hill Simmons, native of Jasper
has been cited by the United States
Army for “exceptional civilian serv
ices,” the highest award given by
Uncle Sam’s fighting arm. He is the first Georgian ever so
honored, according to Congressman Ramspeck, and it has
been given only 323 times in the history of the War Depart
ment. The citation signed by Secretary Robert P. Patterson,
reads:
“For exceptional service in guiding and assisting the staff
of the Inspector General on problems of material signifi
cance to the entire Army. His initiative and keen foresight
in carrying on investigative activities resulted in the im
provement of the services to the enlisted and officer per
sonnel of all branchs of the Army.”
Mr. Simmons, who received his early education at Jasper,
has served in various capacities in the War Department for
42 years. He is now executive special assistant to the In
spector General.
Mr. Simmons is the son of the late Jack Simmons and
Mrs. Ella Forester Simmons. A brother, Mr. H.C. Simmons,
lives in Atlanta and his sister, Miss Addie Simmons is a
Jasper resident. — Atlanta Journal.
Mr. Simmons’ mother still resides in Jasper, and his old
home friends are proud of the award he has received be
cause they feel like he has earned it by long and faithful
service. He is on of our native sons that the town is inclined
to boast about.
Legislation introduced in General
Assembly to authorize “casino resorts”
By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA - Georgia law
makers again are considering
whether to legalize casino
gambling in the Peach State.
A constitutional amend
ment introduced in the Geor
gia House of Representatives
Tuesday calls for a statewide
referendum to authorize a
limited number of “casino re
sorts” across the state.
A portion of the proceeds
would go toward the HOPE
Scholarship and other tuition
and grant programs at both
public and private colleges
and universities as well as
Technical College System of
Georgia campuses. The
money also would help cover
the casinos’ operating ex
penses and fund programs for
prevention and treatment of
addictive gambling.
The legislation is spon
sored by several longtime
supporters of legalizing casi
nos, including Republican
state Reps. Ron Stephens of
Savannah, and Alan Powell
of Hartwell, and Democratic
Rep. Calvin Smyre of
Columbus.
Stephens argued Georgia
voters should have the right
to decide whether to legalize
casino gambling, which has
drawn strong public support
in numerous polls.
“Georgians support the
economic opportunities pre
sented by casino resorts, es
pecially jobs and revenue that
they would bring to local
communities,” he said.
Legalizing casino gam
bling has long enjoyed the
backing of the private sector.
Officials at Atlanta Motor
Speedway floated a plan last
year to build a $1 billion
casino resort adjacent to the
racetrack in Hampton.
But interest in casinos
goes far beyond the metro re
gion. The developers who
built The Battery, a mixed-
use development that in
cludes the Atlanta Braves’
Truist Park in Cobb County,
have released renderings of
proposed casino resorts on
the Chattahoochee River near
Columbus, on Lake Hartwell
in Lavonia and in Midway
south of Savannah.
“While it may seem that
metro Atlanta would be an
obvious location, rural Geor
gia may very well have better
locations,” said Rick Lackey,
founder of Atlanta-based
City Commercial Real Es
tate, which recently an
nounced it has more than
5,000 acres of potential
casino resort sites under leas
ing agreements.
“Generally, successful
destination resorts with casi
nos draw customers that can
easily travel by car and are
within 2-to-5-hour drive
times of major population
centers,” Lackey said.
Passing casino legislation
will be a heavy lift for Geor
gia lawmakers. Constitu
tional amendments require
two-thirds majorities in the
state House and Senate, a
hurdle that has been impossi
ble to clear in past sessions
amid opposition to legalized
gambling mounted by reli
gious conservatives.
The casino legislation is
the second legalized gam
bling proposal to hit the Gen
eral Assembly during the
early days of the 2021 leg
islative session. Stephens in
troduced a bill earlier this
month that would legalize
online sports betting in Geor
gia.
Family Matters
Challenges for blended families with children
By Mary Migliaro
Parent Mentor
Most families today have
shifted from the original bio
logically bonded mother, fa
ther and child. We are now a
nation in which the majority
of families are divorced.
When one or more of those
parents remarry, a stepfamily
or blended family is created.
According to the US Bu
reau of Census, 1300 new
stepfamilies are forming
every day. Over 50% of US
families are remarried or re
coupled. 50% of the 60 mil
lion children under the age of
13 are currently living with
one biological parent and that
parent's current partner.
As one might imagine,
this creates many challenges
for all those involved in the
blended family. Perhaps the
most significant is the effect
this familial change has on
the children involved. Since
most dissolution of families
is due to divorce, the impact
that has on the children is
paramount in making that
transition.
Judith Wallerstein is a
psychologist and author of
The Unexpected Legacy of
Divorce: A 25 Year Land
mark Study, which followed
93 now-adult children for
about 25 years on the affects
from their parent's divorce.
The study showed that only
45 percent of children "do
well" after divorce while
41% are doing poorly, wor
ried, underachieving, and
often angry. Often children
blame themselves for their
parents’ breakup and spend
years hoping they will get
back together.
Many parents are unable
to separate their needs from
the children's needs and often
share too much of their per
sonal life with their children,
placing the children in a pre
carious emotional state, vul
nerable to grandiosity or to
depression within what is left
of their families. They often
feel uncomfortable with the
new parent and their rides as
well as the sibling rivalry
with their stepbrothers and
stepsisters.
The good news, according
to the study: The children of
divorce tend to do well if
mothers and fathers, regard
less of remarriage, resumed
parenting roles, putting dif
ferences aside, and allowed
the children continuing rela
tionships with both parents.
It is important for all the
adults in these blended fami
lies to get on the same page
when it comes to parenting of
the children. They should
make sure that they never
speak poorly of their exes.
Children love both of their
parents regardless of the state
of their marriage. Doing so
makes children even more
uncomfortable in the new
blended family feeling they
must tip-toe around their re
lationship with the non-cus-
todial parent.
Parents should realize that
children experience a great
deal of loss after divorce and
that includes the relationships
they had with extended fam
ily such as grandparents and
aunts and uncles. Whenever
possible, try to keep those re
lationships intact.
Children will adjust better
to the blended family if they
have access to both biologi
cal parents. It is important
that all parents are involved
and work toward a parenting
collaboration. Let the kids
know that you and your ex
spouse will continue to love
them and be there for them
throughout their lives. Tell
the kids that your new spouse
will not be a ‘replacement’
mom or dad, but another per
son to love and support them.
From biological family
through divorce to a new
blended family, children face
many challenges as do their
parents. Communication will
be the key to making that
transition work better for
everyone. There is no hand
book but there are many
good resources to help in this
area.
A couple of them are:
www.focusonthefamily.com
and www.goodtherapy.org.
Check your local area for
support groups of parents in
similar situations as well.
There is also an excellent
resource for children called
Rainbows for Children. This
resource was created to help
children and teens grieve and
grow after loss such as di
vorce. You can find more in
formation at
www.rainbows.org.
[Mary Migliaro, M.Ed. is an
educator and Parent Mentor.
She may be contacted at
maiymigliaro@aol.com.]
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