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THURSDAY. MAY 20. 2021 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 5A
Letters totfo Editor
Community. Responds.
Graduation
To the Editor:
Growth is bad for 90% of
the people.
It’s time to say goodbye to
Pickens County. No, we
aren’t leaving, it’s being
taken away from us.
I have seen this when I
lived in north Dekalb, north
Fulton and east Cobb coun
ties. I saw it when I worked
in Woodstock. Growth is
only good for about 10 per
cent of the population. The
rest of us will deal with more
traffic, crowded schools and
higher taxes, drugs in schools
etc. The traffic plans for
Church Street have been
around for 20 years. There is
no plan for Highway 515
traffic.
I have seen on the news
that people out West are
looking to move to the
Southeast. They have had it
with the fires and 120 degree
temperatures. People in cities
want to move here too. They
don’t want to be confined to
their apartments and condos
and during the pandemic
they’ve learned they can
work from home.
What can be done? Let
local officials know you
don’t want that kind of
county. “Smart growth” and
planned growth were told to
the citizens in those other
counties. Don’t believe that
your taxes won’t go up. New
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schools will have to be built.
Residences do not pay
enough tax to offset the cost
of new schools and services
from the county.
Property owners may
have a right to develop on
their land, but the county
does not have to run water
lines to it. Water lines are like
pouring gasoline on the fire
of growth.
Now we see that Pickens
is the 14th fastest growth in
home values. If you are not
selling your home all that
means is higher property
taxes.
Bill Slaugenhop
To the Editor:
I would like to thank our
city leadership team for their
recent efforts in updating and
modernizing the zoning ordi
nances that make our city so
pleasant and desirable. It was
a huge undertaking and
sorely needed.
However, I wonder if
there are guidelines in place
concerning business respon
sibilities for signage? Jasper
has a high-profile eyesore
that apparently is being ig
nored.
The huge sign I refer to is
the tall, steel sign at the cor
ner of Burnt Mountain Road
and Pioneer Road - across
from city hall. Certainly,
Cherokee Closeout, Family
Dollar and the other tenants
of the affected shopping cen
ter cannot be pleased with
their rusting and ugly sig
nage. The “Rust Belt” of the
mid-west has an excellent ex
ample in downtown Jasper.
My request of the city
leadership, if they are serious
about the presentation of our
city to residents and visitors
alike, is they address this ob
vious neglect in maintenance
and make every attempt to
assist the owners of this sig
nage in correcting this public
embarrassment.
Steven B. Daniel
Letters Welcomed — “Letters to the Editor” is an
important public forum in the community and the
Progress welcomes and encourages these letters.
Letters addressing issues will be accepted but not
those expressing a personal grievance directed to
ward another individual. Letters OVER 400
WORDS in length will not be considered for
publication. All letters must have a full name with
address, e-mail and phone number given where
the author can be reached to verify information.
The contact information is never published.Email
news@pickensprogress.com. Call 706-253-
2457 to discuss this further.
North Georgia Christian
Academy announces
Class of 2021
Caroline Carver Emma Sebastiani
Valedictorian Salutatorian
Evan Stancil
Aaron Sebastiani
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
This year's PHS gradua
tion will be Friday evening,
not Saturday morning when
it has been held for years.
But some former PHS grads
will remember that many
moons ago the school held
night graduations. We asked
our Facebook followers
their thoughts on day vs.
evening ceremonies, and to
give some standout memo
ries of their own PHS grad
uation.
Julie Fountain - I’ve
been to both. The ones at
night seem so much better.
My class of ‘98 graduated
in the middle school gym
using flashlights and can
dles because the power was
out. Such an awesome
memory, but I wish we had
more pictures.
Tyler Alan Weaver - We
asked to have it at night
when I was in school and
we were told they had it in
the morning because people
always showed up to the
night graduation drunk—
students and parents.
Chris Childers - Car
driving by blowing the
hom. James Thompson with
the comeback of come
backs. Removing some
one’s chair during the
ceremony. Being threatened
by the Board of Education
that they would “stop the
ceremony, if we weren’t
quiet.” Threats didn’t work.
Class of‘87 forever.
Mandy Hill Mull - It
was so hot 2016 [in the]
daytime my dad had a heart
attack so night time will be
cooler.
Valarie Childers Reece
- PHS class [of] 1993 was at
night when I graduated. So
much better than two years
ago when my daughter
graduated on Saturday
morning. Too hot and too
many people getting sick
from the heat.
1999; first graduating class
at the new high school.
Huge lightening storm hit
just as the class got on the
field. Everyone ran into the
gym. The graduation went
on with the graduates hav
ing green streaks down their
faces from the tassels.
Candace Burden - Wish
ours would’ve been at night.
Lord how mercy that field
was hot. I was a sweaty
mess when I walked across
that field to grab that rolled
up paper.
Stacy McLaughlin Rid
dle - I graduated in 2000
and we were the first class
to graduate on the field at
the new school. And it was
in the evening. Not hot at
all. Night graduations
should be the way to go.
Ginger Mcguire - We
had to sit with the sun in our
face to watch ours graduate,
right at 12 noon. Totally
ridiculous. Couldn’t see a
thing going on at the field.
Caren Crane Tollner -
Class of 1977 graduated
outdoors. Much cooler in
the evening.
Emily Gibson - My sen
ior year me along with the
other class officers held pe
titions, and even met with
the principals and superin
tendent at the time. They
didn’t want us to have it on
Friday night for 2018 so we
had a morning graduation.
So glad that classes are fi
nally getting to have it.
Suzy Westmoreland
Campbell - Night time. Too
hot in the morning.
Vicki Holcomb Teems -
I would have preferred
night if my son would have
got to have a ceremony last
year.
Jr Watkins - Class of
‘73 was a Wednesday night
graduation. The last day of
school was on Thursday
that year for everyone else.
Sherry Martin - Of Kim Gutkin Mercure -
course there are pros and I thought I was going to
cons to both. It does get re- pass out from heat exposure
ally hot for the day ones, but at my oldest’s graduation,
the night ones limit the Having it at night sounds
number of family members great, or early evening so
that can get there in time be- the sun would be behind us.
cause of work. Either way, I’m excited my
second kid will be a senior
Glenda Johnston Cagle next year.
- Our daughter graduated in
Matthew Wade
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Open House
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