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PAGE 2B PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 11.2021
Report from the Capitol
By State Representative Rick Jasperse
It was good to see a few
folks from our community at
the Capitol this week. It has
been so quiet under the Gold
Dome since groups of kids
and interested parties are not
here. I miss the visitors from
all over Georgia. The build
ing isn’t closed at all; just
with Covid and all, folks are
not coming. But that hasn’t
stopped folks from emailing
or calling, which is fine. I
was answering email on Sat
urday night catching up.
The most important com
mittee to be meeting right
now besides our Appropria
tions Budget Committee is
the Speaker’s Special Com
mittee on Election In
tegrity.
These 14 people have a lot
on them, and the committee
is bipartisan, if you were
wondering. They are listen
ing to us give them our ideas,
as we are listening to you
giving us ideas. The good
thing for all of us, is these
meetings are online and you
can watch them. If you are
interested in getting on the
notification list for when
these meetings are, email or
call me, and I will get you on
the list.
Some of the ideas are that
all of Georgia’s 159 County
Board of Elections need uni
formity in the way elections
are operated, monitored, and
secured, and authority given
to the State Election Board to
suspend and replace, as
needed, to ensure accuracy
and integrity to the election
process. Fulton, DeKalb, and
Gwinnett counties should op
erate the same as Pickens,
Gordon, and Murray coun
ties.
Absentee ballots should
be checked for accuracy, in
cluding proper identification
and proof of residency. All
facets of elections should be
spelled out and enforced
through statute, so as to pro
hibit legal challenges deter
mined by the judicial system.
Constitutional laws, as writ
ten, should be adhered to and
enforced. Drop boxes elimi
nated or manned as they are
in Florida. Defining poll
watchers’ rights and respon
sibilities and others.
Right now, there are 30+
different bills that they are
working with and evaluating
and getting input from all of
us on.
It’s the time of the year
when special interest groups
get their email machines
rolling, because they don’t
like a bill or do like a bill. I
will have to tell you these
mass emails have little im
pact. A personal email/let-
ter/call from you on your
opinion has plenty of im
pact. It doesn’t have to be
long to make a point, say
what do you like, or don’t
like, and suggestions if you
have any; be sure to identify
yourself as my constituent, so
that I will focus on you.
Local legislation is com
ing through. Cities and coun
ties have a lot of power given
to them by the legislature. We
regularly name roads, and
change rules for boards, city
charters, and local authori
ties.
Recently-elected Pickens
County Commission Chair
man Kris Stancil asked me
to review the current laws
regarding the boards he ap
points. Due to the volume of
work that our legislative
council is under right now, I
picked a few: Airport Author
ity, Library, and Elections
boards. I should hear back
from them any day, as I asked
a few weeks ago for their
opinion.
What I will do then, if
changes are needed, is to no
tify the commissioner and
create local legislation to do
what our legal counsel rec
ommends to keep everything
right. Remember that in the
past few years, we redrew
local school board district
lines to keep representation
equal and legal.
Those are the quick high
lights, as I am limited in
space. If you want details, I
can provide them to you; you
just have to ask. As important
bills come up for debate,
please call on me to fill in the
blanks that are not reported. I
like doing that a lot. Either
call my Capitol office 404-
656-7153 or email me at
rick.jasperse@house.ga.gov,
and we will do our best to an
swer your questions or con
cerns.
Prevent Child Abuse
leader injured in
crash near hospital
Books&Writers
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
is a book that you will not soon forget
TC- . Aku Co,
I fcrv a "ffc... 4hr.it,
The Boy, the Mole, the
Fox and the Horse is being
compared to classics like the
original Winnie the Pooh
and works by Dr. Seuss.
By David R. Altman
“It’s a small graphic novel
about images and conversa
tion.”
That’s how British illus
trator Charlie Mackesy de
scribes his remarkable book
entitled The Boy, the Mole,
the Fox and the Horse.
Mackesy’s description
does not do justice to his
book. Not by a long shot.
Not only was it the Barnes
and Noble Book of the Year,
it was number one in its cat
egory on the New York Times
bestseller list.
If you have read this un
forgettable book, you will
know what I mean when I tell
you it nearly defies descrip
tion—and you can’t really
categorize it (which obvi
ously was why it was put in
the “Advice, How-To & Mis
cellaneous” category by the
Times).
You could call it a chil
dren’s book, because of the
simplicity of both the lan
guage and the images (they
are mostly black and white
sketches, with a few in
color). You could also call it
a young adult book, as the
questions the young boy asks
are ones that every young
person will seek to answer.
Perhaps most of all, you
could call this a book with
very adult themes, among
them loneliness, friendship,
love and, perhaps most of all,
kindness.
You will learn things from
this book that you already
knew, but given the darkness
that has gripped so much of
lives in the last year, you will
learn them again. The story
line is simple—the images
and dialogue powerful.
The story begins with a
young boy named Charlie,
who meets a mole, a fox and
a horse along an unusual
journey.
After Charlie and the ani
mals come together, the boy
asks “What do we do when
our heart’s hurt?”
The horse replies, “We
wrap them with friendship,
shared tears and time, till
they wake hopeful and happy
again.”
Earlier, the mole asked the
boy, “Is your glass half
empty or half full?”
The boy answered “I think
I’m grateful to have a glass.”
The images in this book
are mesmerizing. They are
drawn by Mackesy, a 59-
year-old British artist
equipped with both the gift of
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language and of thought.
Some might read this and
think of it as a book about
leadership. I once gave
copies of Dr. Seuss’s book
Oh the Places You’ll Go to
my colleagues. If you haven’t
read that one, you should. It’s
a child’s book with very adult
themes.
There was another book,
back in the early 90s, called
The 7 Habits of Highly Effec
tive People by Dr. Steven
Covey. It was sort of a way to
talk about how relationships
can drive not just success, but
happiness. The one I remem
ber the most is “...seek first
to understand, then to be un
derstood.”
Covey, an educator and
businessman who passed
away in 2012, not only
coached about everything
from parenting to leadership,
he knew how kindness and
friendship contributed to suc
cess and happiness. These are
themes that are consistent in
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox,
and the Horse (I know it’s a
long title, but once you read
it you will feel guilty if you
try abbreviating it by just its
initials TBTMTFATH).
You may also see similar
ities between this book and
two other classics, the unfor
gettable tale of The Velveteen
Rabbit and the lasting lessons
in The Polar Express.
One critic even compared
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox
and the Horse to A. A.
Milne’s 1926 collection Win
nie the Pooh (Winnie was
named after a teddy bear
owned by the author’s son,
Christopher Robin Milne).
The common-sense wisdom
of Pooh and his loving
friendships are very much
like those formed by Charlie
and his animals.
Mackesy, who dropped
out of college and was later
hired as an illustrator at Ox
ford University Press, now
exhibits his drawings around
the world and is involved in
a number of charitable ef
forts. His work is displayed
in women’s safe houses as
well as in hospitals and pris
ons. He also was a major
contributor to “The Unity Se
ries,” a set of lithographs
honoring Nelson Mandela in
2006.
Like Seuss and Covey,
Mackesy has contributed a
book (a work of art, actually)
that will remain in the con
sciousness of anyone who
reads it.
I found myself returning
again and again to re-read the
dialogue and stare at the
drawings that bring this book
to life.
The book is not inexpen
sive, with hard copies going
from $17.99 to nearly $30,
depending on which edition
you buy and where you buy
it.
But it is not the cost of the
book that you will remem
ber—it is the profound sim
plicity of the story, reminding
us about those things in life
which, regardless of our age,
should be most important to
us.
When young Charlie asks
the horse “Do you have any
other advice,” The horse
replies “Always remember
you matter, you’re important
and you are loved and you
bring to this world things no
one else can.”
If you want to give a last
ing gift to a child—or to any
one that you love—this is the
one.
[David R. Altman writes
about Books & Writers for
the Progress. He is a former
Jasper resident and Georgia
Author of the Year nominee.
He is a member of the Na
tional Book Critics Circle
and the American Academy
of Poets.
He can be reached at alt-
mandavidr@gmail.com.]
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
Margy Lohman, 78, was
air lifted to Kennestone Hos
pital with injuries after a trac
tor trailer collided with her
vehicle in front of Piedmont
Mountainside Hospital.
Update: Lohman had re
covered enough to be home
to accept her 2021 Citizens of
the Year Award from the
Chamber of Commerce Mon
day afternoon.
According to the Georgia
State Patrol, Lohman, well
known for her work with Pre
vent Child Abuse Pickens,
was on Bill Hasty Boulevard
attempting to make a left him
onto Highway 515 when a
tractor trailer traveling south
bound on the highway failed
to stop at a red light. The
tractor trailer, driven by
Theodore Seegars of North
Carolina, struck Lohman’s
2014 Ford Escape.
The incident occurred at
approximately 4 p.m. on
Tuesday, Jan. 2.
The crash report states
that after impact, Lohman’s
vehicle left the roadway and
came to a final rest on the
west shoulder of Highway
515. The tractor-trailer trav
elled over 370 feet across the
northbound lanes of the high
way and left the east edge of
the road. The truck then
crashed down an embank
ment, hitting several small
trees, and came to a final rest
against a tree.
A witness told officers the
tractor trailer was travelling
in the left lane at a high rate
of speed, according to the
GSP report.
Look what
America
NOTICED!
• School district budgets
• Property auctions
• Public hearings
• Local tax changes
• Adoptions
Find out about these
and much more in your local newspaper!
Participate in Democracy.
Read your Public Notices.
Attention Veterans!
We are your American Legion!
We are dedicated to:
♦ Veterans
• Emergency assistance for homeless Veterans.
• Coordinating with Home Depot for Veteran related projects.
• Benefits counseling so that Veterans get what they earned.
• Fellowship for Veterans-We have served our country so we understand
what you are feeling.
• Monthly meetings, weekly lunches, participation in community events
throughout the year.
❖ Community
• College scholarships for Pickens County Veterans.
• Scholarships for two high school students each year.
• Youth Sports Sponsorship for 5 teams and 50 baseball players.
• Sponsorship of Scouting at the Senior and Cub levels.
♦ Patriotism
• Dedicated to the preservation of our country, its symbols
and its values.
• Participation in community events and presentation of our flag.
• Instructing in flag etiquette and proper disposal of worn flags.
♦ Remembering the Cost of Freedom
• You know the cost because you helped to pay the bill.
• All gave some. Some gave all.
We know a thing or two, because we have seen a thing or two.
Mill//
Contact your
American Legion Post:
i? American Legion Post 149
P.O. Box 477
Jasper, GA 30143
706-253-1715 alpost149@gmail.com
www.americanlegion149.com
Donations are tax deductible.