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PAGE 12A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. MAY 6. 2021
Continued From 1A
The 2021 STAR finalists and their teachers are:
Brooke Bell
Angela Quarles
Amberley Clark
Sara Harbin
Rose Finney
.Wil Nix
Michayla Pickett
Robbie Cheatham
Michelle Pickett
Kathy Daymude
Carmel Serban
.Ted Estes
Colton Smith
Christi Hobgood
Heather Vincent
Leslie Zuidema
Cassidy Wiman
Suzette Hermann
STAR
region honors. Region win
ners contend for the honor of
being named State PAGE
STAR Student. STAR Teach
ers continue with their STAR
Students at every level of the
program.
Mrs. Westbrook said, “I’m
not sure I can fully put into
words what an exceptional
young man Brett is. How do
you describe someone who
excels in so many different
areas? Without question,
Brett is one of the most intel
ligent students I’ve ever
taught. I don’t know many
students who tndy get ex
cited about learning the way
Brett does. He has an insa
tiable desire just to know
how the world works. Every
day I had him in class and
every time I have seen him
since, he has a smile and a
friendly word to share. There
is so much more I could say
about Brett, he is tndy a spe
cial young man with many
gifts and talents and one stu
dent that will always have a
special place in my memo
ries.”
When Brett was asked
why he selected Mrs. West
brook as his STAR Teacher,
Brett said, “During my soph
omore year I was in a rough
place mentally and AP Biol
ogy was my favorite class.
Despite being a difficult aca
demic class, it was the one
that I had the best time in and
a large part of that was be
cause of Mrs. Westbrook.
Before entering that class, I
strongly disliked biology, but
I was able to become gen
uinely interested in the con
tent during the class because
of Mrs. Westbrook’s teaching
style. She has been extremely
supportive of me during my
high school years and I want
to recognize her for that.”
Brett has been involved in
several activities at PHS in
cluding Technology Student
Association (TSA) where he
was treasurer in 2019 - 2020
school year and president this
year. He is a member of Beta
Club, Academic Team, The
atre and Mu Alpha Theta. He
is a Boy Scout and has ob
tained the rank of Eagle
Scout. Brett participated in
Youth Leadership Pickens
and is a member of the Jasper
United Methodist Church
Youth Choir.
Upon graduation, Brett
plans to attend Georgia Insti
tute of Technology where he
will major in engineering and
minor in German. His long
term plans are to obtain a
master’s degree in robotics at
ETH Zurich in Switzerland.
He wants to enter Rescue Ro
botics, a field dedicated to
building machines to assist in
disaster relief scenarios like
earthquakes, floods and wild
fires.
The Optimist Club and
PHS recently recognized
Menard and Westbrook at the
STAR Recognition Night at
PHS. Prior to the recognition
of the STAR students and
teachers, PHS hosted the
STARS and their families
and guests to a meal at the
school.
Senator Chuck Payne
spoke to the STAR students
and teachers after Mrs. West
brook and Mr. Menard spoke
to the group. Tucker Green,
Optimist Club member, coor
dinated Senator Payne as the
events guest speaker and in
troduced Senator Payne to
the audience.
In addition to the STAR
Student and Teacher, the Op
timist Club also recognized
an additional nine STAR Stu
dent and Teacher finalists.
Each student and teacher
were presented framed cer
tificates from the Optimist
Club and the STARS were
also presented with scholar
ship checks.
The Optimist Club and the
Pickens County Progress will
have responses to question
naires from all the STAR Stu
dents and Teachers in a future
edition.
The Optimists would like
to extend thanks to the fol
lowing for making the night
a special time for the 2021
STAR Students and Teachers.
PHS Principal Chris Wallace
and the counseling depart
ment for arranging the event.
To Patsy Schmidt for the cal
ligraphy of the certificates.
Mrs. Schmidt has been pro
viding this service since the
inception of the program and
the Optimist Club is appre
ciative of her support over
the years. The Optimists
would also like to thank Kyle
photo/ Kyle Frantz
Photography
At the STAR banquet
held at PHS (l-r) Dave
Slade, president, Optimist
Club of Jasper; Senator
Chuck Payne, guest
speaker; Chris Wallace,
PHS principal; Brett
Menard, 2021 STAR Stu
dent; Christine Westbrook,
2021 STAR Teacher; Tucker
Green, school board mem
ber and Optimist member;
Reeder Burch, STAR pro
gram chairman.
Frantz Photography for tak
ing photos for the program
and to Gene Berry, Optimist
Club member for taking pho
tos the night of the banquet.
The club would also like to
thank Royston LLC for print
ing the programs.
Board of Commissioners
Work Session
Thursday, May 6, 2021 @10 a.m.
CONFERENCE ROOM - STE. 168
Items for Discussion:
1. Department Updates
2. Roper Park Master Plan
3. Federal Highway Administration -
Recognition of “Children at Play” Signs
4. General Discussion
5. Adjourn
Board of Commissioners
Called Meeting
Thursday, May 6, 2021
Immediately Following the BOC Work Session
at 10:00 a.m.
CONFERENCE ROOM - STE. 168
The Pickens County Board of Commissioners will
have a Called Meeting for the purpose described
below immediately following the BOC Work Ses
sion at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, May 6, 2021 in
Suite 168 of the Administrative Office Building lo
cated at 1266 East Church Street.
AGENDA:
I. Call to Order
II. GDOT - Funding Assistance for Repairing a
Slide on Twin Mountain Lakes Road
III. Approve Bids for Fiscal Year 2021 TAN
IV. Rezone:
RZ-190054
Miles, Hansford, & Tallant LLC on behalf of
RLF Talking Rock LLC
Big Ridge Road, Talking Rock
AG to RR
Map/Parcel # 014-022
278.48 Acres
V. Executive Session
VI. Approval of Executive Session
Minutes
VII. Adjourn
£5-53
£or<£
£or<£
Piedmont Healthcare acquires
four more Georgia hospitals
By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA - Atlanta-based
Piedmont Healthcare has
signed an agreement to buy
four Georgia hospitals from
HCA Healthcare Inc. for
about $950 million, the two
companies announced Mon
day.
Pending regulatory ap
proval, Piedmont will acquire
Eastside Medical Center in
Snellville; Coliseum Medical
Centers and Coliseum North-
side, both in Macon; and
Cartersville Medical Center
in Cartersville. The compa
nies are targeting July 31 for
a closing date.
“This is an exciting oppor
tunity for Piedmont,” said
Kevin Brown, president and
CEO of Piedmont Health
care. “HCA Healthcare has
instilled a high standard of
care into these facilities, and
we are proud that they have
trusted Piedmont to continue
this legacy.”
The four HCA Healthcare
hospitals were not able to
fully benefit from a broader
HCA presence in their com
munities, Nashville-based
HCA stated in a news release.
“Given Piedmont Health
care’s history of serving the
region’s health care needs,
the affiliation will better po
sition the hospitals to con
tinue providing excellent care
to their patients,” the release
stated.
“At the same time, the
transaction provides strategic
value to HCA Healthcare by
increasing financial flexibil
ity in investments in ongoing
and future initiatives in core
markets.”
Eastside Medical Center
is a 310-bed two-campus sys
tem of care. The North Cam
pus has 229 beds supporting
acute care services, including
a 46-bed emergency depart
ment.
The south Campus offers
a 61-bed inpatient psychiatric
center, 20-bed inpatient reha
bilitation facility, and an 11-
bed emergency department.
Coliseum Health System
includes two acute care hos
pitals: Coliseum Medical
Centers with 310 beds and
Coliseum Northside with 103
beds. In addition, Coliseum
operates an ambulatory sur
gery center in Macon with
three operating rooms.
Cartersville Medical Cen
ter is a 119-bed acute care
hospital that includes a 43-
bed emergency department
with a level III trauma center.
Ball Ground Garden Club hosts
Installation of officers - Sharon Wilson, Katie VanHiel, Jean Ray and Deborah Bailey.
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289 Highland Crossing • East Ellijay, GA 30540
Across from Walmart
Anonymous
Does someone in your
family have a drug/ alcohol/
behavioral problem? Can you
see what this is doing to you?
Families Anonymous offers
free help. Weekly meetings
on Wednesdays at King of
Kings Lutheran Church, 45
Appalachian Circle, Talking
Rock (1 mile north of Jasper
Walmart) from 11:30 a.m. -
12:45 p.m. Bring a lunch. For
more information call 706-
276-1850 (after 5 p.m.) or
mkc@etcmail.com
The Ball Ground Garden
Club hosted a Garden Tea for
the Garden Club Council of
Cherokee County on April 23
at the Ball Ground Botanical
Garden. Honored guests were
Barbara Bourque, immediate
past president of the Garden
Club of Georgia; Susan
Stephens, Laurel district di
rector; Cherie Martin of ETC
TV and Vickie Holyfield,
president of the Ball Ground
Historical Society. There
were approximately 60 in at
tendance to celebrate Garden
Week in Georgia.
Susan Stephens installed
the newly elected officers of
the Council of Cherokee
County. They were President
Katie VanHiel, Vice Presi
dent Sharon Wilson, Treas
urer Deborah Bailey; and
Secretary Jean Ray. It was a
beautiful spring day. There
Vivian Murphy and Sue Urbaitis enjoying the tea.
were exquisite tablescapes, a
hat (bonnet) contest, raffle
baskets and delicious finger
foods.
The Ball Ground Botani
cal Garden is beautiful in the
springtime as many plants
are in bloom. There is a but
terfly garden, a bog garden,
an herb garden, an heirloom
garden, a Japanese garden, a
cottage garden, and much
more. Stop by and take a
stroll through the garden at
215 Valley Street, Ball
Ground.
Garden Tea, installs new officers
Families