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PAGE 2A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. JUNE 10. 2021
Shooting the Breeze with Lawton Baggs
By Jennifer Paire
Contributing Writer
ignment STORE
moom
Library’s
Bingo for
Books June 21
Join the Pickens County
Library at the Pavilion at
Roper Park for Bingo for
Books. Attendees are advised
to wear protective face cov
ering and follow social dis
tancing guidelines.
To sign up for this event,
call 706-692-5411 or visit
calendarwiz.com/ sequoy-
ahreglib
were feeding more than 250
people and cooking more
than 500 pounds of meat.
What is your most reward
ing endeavor?
It’s my relationship with
my family. I still prepare
meals for my family on Sun
days and they still come.
When you have a 1-year-old
great grandson to play with
it’s a great day. The things
I’m laughing about and do
with the great-grandkids I did
with the grandkids, too.
What brings you joy? Has
that changed over the
years?
Consuming other people’s
creative expressions through
music, literature, art, etcetera.
Has it changed? Not a whole
lot. I still like the Grand Ole
Opry the same as I did in the
1940s, 1950s and all the way
up.
What is something most
people don’t know about
you?
I write poetry about my
family.
How do you relax?
Most of the time it would
be reading history or histori
cal novels. I’m reading Dan
Brown’s ‘‘Origin,” (part of
the Robert Langdon series). I
like detective stories and I
picked up “A is for Alibi,”
(the alphabet series by Sue
Grafton). And, I like old west
stuff. The last book I bought
from the Literary Guild Book
Club is called “Stampede:
Gold Fever and Disaster in
the Klondike.”
What would you like to see
happen going forward with
historic preservation in
Pickens?
We need to encourage
people to become involved
with historical preservation
groups. Certain buildings in
the marble valley need to be
preserved. Currently most of
the old buildings in Tate are
on the National Register of
Historic Places, but that
doesn’t mean they are being
preserved. You need a com
mittee to identify those. We
need to use available technol
ogy to preserve pictures of
these and I would like to see
them put into a history.
Burnette wins Coloring Contest
Ava Burnette, 7, is the winner of the weekly Progress col
oring contest. Ava colored the picture from the June 3rd
edition, and won a free ice cream from Lollidrops, on Main
Street. Anyone interested in entering the contest can flip
over to page 9A for this week’s coloring sheet.
Community Bank Refer-A-Friend program
yields gas cards for lucky winners
There will be tours of the
Botanical Garden and special
gardening presentations on
gourds, daylilies, and succu
lents. Ashley Frasca with
WSB radio will be speaking.
She is host of “Green and
Growing with Ashley
Frasca” every Saturday
After a 50-year career in
education - more than half
spent in Pickens and Chero
kee county schools - Lawton
Baggs is a local celebrity
who encounters former stu
dents and colleagues every
where he goes. Admired for
his work as teacher and prin
cipal, his fans might be sur
prised to know he helped
establish career exploration
programs that continue to
benefit high school students
today.
Baggs’ teaching life com
menced in his hometown of
Blackshear, Ga. in 1954, two
days after he turned 20 and
while earning “emergency
certification” in response to
the need for teachers. Subse
quently Baggs taught in
Lumpkin, Forsyth, Pickens
and Cherokee counties be
fore retiring from the Chero
kee County School District in
2004.
A Pickens resident since
the 1970-1971 school year,
Baggs is a founding member
of the Tater Patch Players and
has participated in the Lions
Club and the Pickens Com
munity Service Club. He and
granddaughter Alexa Baggs
chartered a Leo Club at Pick
ens County Middle School in
2006, introducing the youth
organization of Lions Club
International to the school.
A history lover, Baggs
worked with the Marble Val
ley Friends to restore the Old
Tate Gymnasium. He is a
member of the Pickens
County Retired Educators
Association and was married
to Maxine M. Baggs (de
ceased), a retired teacher, for
56 years. Their family in
cludes two sons, five grand
children, five
Lawton Baggs was a founding member
of the Tater Patch Players and participated
for years. "I let someone convince me to
produce the Sound of Music one year, but
mostly it was bit parts for me." Of his rea
sons for decades of community involvement
he said, "It's my friendships in the commu
nity; I want them to do well. "
After a half-century of teaching Lawton
Baggs had many accomplishments to cele
brate and received recognition from teach-
and students alike. When he
ers
transitioned from full-time to part-time
teaching in 1999 the vocational, technical
and career professionals at Cherokee High
School gave him this award.
great-grandchildren and one
great-great-grandchild.
What are the historic
events that have affected
you personally?
The change from electing
school superintendents af
fected me greatly, only be
cause I think it deprives the
population of the county a
voice in its school adminis
tration. National warfare af
fected my schools because
some students were drafted
or didn’t come home, specif
ically with the battles in the
Middle East and Korea. And,
the great expansion of tech
nology I could have lived
without, but the school sys
tems could not have.
Could you elaborate on
your wartime experiences?
I saw relatives being
drafted in World War II,
which was actually more vol
untary than being drafted,
and not coming home. As a
teacher, it’s heartrending to
see people you know sent off
to war and sometimes not
coming back. Can you tell I
have a soft spot for kids?
Anything that hurts them
damages me.
As a retired educator do
you see any parallels in ed
ucation during this pan
demic and your own
teaching experience?
The only parallel I can see
is educators as a whole have
always found a way to teach
the kids
taught.
who want to be
Ball Ground Garden Club Festival
and Plant Sale June 12th
Please join us for a day of
fun at the Ball Ground Festi
val and Plant Sale on June 12
from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There
will be over 30 varieties of
plants, vendors (pizza, barbe
cue, crafts), bake sale, raffle
baskets, tools for gardening,
non-profit groups, and more.
morning from 6-9 a.m. Mas
ter Gardeners will be avail
able to answer questions.
The location is 215 Valley
Street, Ball Ground, Georgia.
We are a proud member of
the Garden Club of Georgia
and the National Garden
Club.
What do you see as the
biggest challenge in the
Pickens County community
today?
The Board of Education
and the school system com
ing together.
The regulars at the Quick
Burger said to be sure and
ask you about your bar-
beque. What are they talk
ing about?
In 1975 we had a bar-
beque for the Sunday school
class I was teaching in Tate
and we had about 40 people.
The next week I kept hearing,
“How come I didn’t get in
vited?” My neighbor and
church friend Ed Stephens
(deceased) became involved
the next year and we invited
friends, family and the com
munity as well as former
teachers and former military
acquaintances. Anyone who
would fit in our yard. We did
that annually and by 2019 we
Community Bank of Pick- Refer-A-Friend program for
ens County has offered the several years with different
prizes to be won. Our 1st
quarter prize for 2021 was
two $100 gas cards.
It’s simple to enter, if
you’re a current account
holder and you refer a friend
and they open an account you
are both entered to win. It’s
that easy.
Congratulations to our
2021 1st quarter winners, Ed
ward Brewer who was re
ferred by Wanda Clark.
Community Bank of Pick
ens County is locally owned
and operated. We are com
mitted to making a difference
in our community daily.
Community Bank of Pickens
County was founded in Octo
ber 2000 and we have 2 full
service locations at 15
Sammy McGhee Blvd. and
65 Cove Road in Jasper.
www.cbopc.com (706) 253-
9600 MEMBER FDIC
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Classes begin August 16
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ChattahoocheeTech.edu I 770-528-4545
A Unit of the Technical College System of Georgia. Equal Opportunity Institution.
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