Newspaper Page Text
THURSDAY. JULY 1.2021 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 11A
Roman Festival Brass to perform
at July 4th celebration
Continued From 1A
Submitted by Don Robin
son, Jasper Lions Club Di
rector
The Roman Festival Brass
comes back to Jasper to per
form their “God and Coun
try” concert, which they do
every year in the Pickens
community. Their perform
ance will be held on Sunday
evening, July 4th, 6 p.m. at
Lee Newton Park.
Roman Festival Brass
plays numerous concerts
throughout the year including
seasonal Christmas and 4th
of July concerts as well as
thematic concerts. One of the
cornerstone concerts of the
Roman Festival Brass is the
God and Country concert se
ries celebrating the freedoms
of our country through patri
otic music.
This year, Roman Festival
Brass embarks on its 20th an
nual God and County concert
series. Roman Festival Brass
has also performed on the na
tional stage at The Great
American Brass Band Festi
val and competed in the
North American Brass Band
Association festival.
Located in scenic north-
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Marshals
school faculty, especially
since I just had one year
there.”
But she said contrary to
her initial assumptions, as
they watched her get sicker
and sicker, they supported
her more every day with their
words, actions, and prayers.
Stancil was one of those co
workers. She started praying
for healing for Buckingham.
However, God’s plan for
healing took Stancil by sur
prise. He put it on her heart
one day while in prayer that
she was the one to give her
friend a kidney. They turned
out to be a perfect match. As
a matter of fact, doctors said
the only way they could have
been a more perfect match
would be if they were twin
sisters.
On April 16, the transplant
went off without a hitch.
Stancil and Buckingham
make a strong point that they
do not want people to see this
as a story about them.
“I don’t want attention. I
did not do this to get praise. I
want the focus to be on the
miracle that God did,” Stan
cil said when she was asked
to be Grand Marshal.
Traci said, “I see this gift
as a duty now. I have a duty
to share God’s message with
everyone I meet. I shared it
with all the doctors, nurses,
technicians, and others on my
Continued From 1A
Fire
Roman Festival Brass in performance
you’s to all who showed up
to help. Major damage. Just
west Georgia, Roman Festi
val Brass is a local brass band
based on the instrumentation
of the popular British brass
band that has a rich heritage
in the United Kingdom. This
type of ensemble utilizes a
full section of comets, flugel-
hom, tenor horns, baritones,
trombones, euphoniums,
tubas, and percussion.
Though not common to the
United States, British brass
bands have a wealth of liter
ature written about them.
Roman Festival Brass is a
performing group of Roman
Festival, Inc., a nonprofit
medical team. Being Grand
Marshal is just another way
to get this message out there.
I prayed for something I
thought I wanted when God
already had all the details
worked out. He knew that I
needed to meet Allison so the
seed would get planted, and
that meant the doors getting
shut to a school and me leav
ing the school family I had
known for over two decades.
It was as if God was telling
me what road to take, but I
was always trying to bargain
with him. You know, I am
sure at some point in your life
you have been guilty of say
ing these words, ‘God if you
will just show me what is
ahead, I will do what you
want.’ He would just keep
saying, ‘Trust me.’ The mo
ment I started trusting in His
will He would reveal another
road to take and each turn I
took was another step that led
to literally saving my life. I
met Allison who trusted God
so much that she put her life
on the line to be obedient to
His command.
“Our story is one of the
hope we have in serving such
an awesome Lord who is still
in the business of miracles if
we just trust and follow. The
day after the surgery, the
team came in to tell me that
they had never seen a kidney
work so well and so quickly.
I just looked at them and
said, ‘I don’t know why you
are surprised. God closed a
[have] clothes they were
wearing. [Insurance process]
has been initiated, waiting to
hear next steps.. ..As always,
and every day, prayers
501(c)(3). The mission of
Roman Festival, Inc. is the
education and promotion of
British and American brass
music. Roman Festival Brass
has a very diverse member
ship. From physicians to ed
ucators, retired to graduating
seniors, the group brings to
gether 33 volunteer brass and
percussion musicians from
three states with a common
goal to promote this unique
genre of music. Our wealth
of excellent music educators
fosters this mission in an un
paralleled fashion.
needed.”
The fire is still under in
vestigation at this time.
The School Street full-sized basketball court has no fencing to retain basketballs, goals
of uneven height, a restraining wall in disrepair, and an ill-advised ground cover of gravel
between the wall and court which results in the court being continuously covered with
gravel.
school, put two perfect
strangers together, and or
chestrated a perfect kidney
match. This surgery was just
a small detail in His grand
plan.’”
Allison Stancil resides in
Jasper with her husband Kris
Stancil, the Pickens County
Commission chair. She has
one son, Evan, who will be
going to the University of
North Georgia this fall, and a
daughter, Megan, who is a
Junior Art Education major at
UNG. Allison is originally
from southwest Georgia and
moved to Pickens County
after getting married in 1997.
She taught in the Pickens
County School System for 22
years and is a member of
Revolution Church in Jasper.
Traci Buckingham lives in
Jasper with her husband Rod
ney. They have two children,
Jeff and Crystal. Crystal is a
graduate of University of
North Georgia and currently
is completing her Master of
Library and Information Sci
ence at Valdosta State Uni
versity. She lives in Jasper
and works at the Pickens
County Library, and Jeff is
residing in Michigan. Traci
worked with the Pickens
County School System for 30
years and retired in 2019.
She is a member of Pickens
Retired Educators, Beta Eta,
and the Jasper Lions Club.
She attends Woodstock Bap
tist Church Jasper.
Nelson
members David Hamby,
Nathan Hamby, and Martha
Tipton voted against moving
forward with the plans, while
Susan Johnston and James
Queen voted in support of the
park improvements.
The huge community in
terest was evident with the
overflow crowd of citizens
present for the session. Coun
cil chambers were packed,
with several people even sit
ting on the floor in the aisle.
Many others were standing in
the lobby peering through the
entryway at the proceedings.
After calling the meeting
to order, Mayor Green intro
duced Michael Kidd of Root
Design, the company respon
sible for the preliminary
plans for the Pickens Street
project. Kidd fielded ques
tions, including one posed by
council member David
Hamby about drainage and
runoff. Residents in atten
dance also questioned Kidd
about handicap access, the
height of fencing around the
basketball half-court, the sur
facing of the court, striping of
the court for pickleball, and
the possibility of installing
restroom facilities. In re
sponse to the restroom query,
Kidd said that given the
$144,000 budget for the proj
ect, restrooms were out of the
question because they would
cost a minimum of $100,000.
Many of the questions
were concerned with the fi
nancing of the project.
Mayor Green pointed out
that the city had $355,000
SPLOST dollars "back-
logged" and had plenty of
money to fund the Pickens
Street project and more.
David Martin, one of the res
idents crowded into the
lobby, called through the
doorway to the mayor sug
gesting she explain how
SPLOST money is used,
which might allay the fears of
many who thought the proj
ect would increase their prop
erty taxes.
It seemed the major con
cern of the Hamby/Tipton
camp was the maintenance of
another park, the City of Nel
son Park, located on School
Street. There are no plans at
present for repairs and im
provements for that park.
They are especially con
cerned about the condition of
the full-court basketball facil
ity located there. Council
member Nathan Hamby said
the School Street basketball
court was in such bad shape
that he feared all of the
$355,000 might be needed
for repairs there. David
Hamby said that he did not
want to fund the new park at
the expense of the children
who lived in the School
Street area.
"We need to maintain
what we have before we
build anything else,” he said.
Council member Susan John
son interjected, "We need to
maintain the Pickens Street
park, too."
Hamby responded that at
least the Pickens Street Park's
current half court "was us
able," but the full court at
School Street was not. That
court has no fencing to retain
basketballs, goals of uneven
height, a restraining wall in
disrepair, and an ill-advised
ground cover of gravel be
tween the wall and court
which results in the court
being continuously covered
with the gravel. The foil court
is located across Spring
Street from the City of Nel
son Park and Edmondson
Field and behind a retaining
wall and fence, beside a
building, and along a creek.
The court is barely visible
from the street, and one resi
dent told the council he was
n't even aware of that court.
At one point, Johnston
asked David Hamby why he
was so opposed to the Pick
ens Street Park, to which he
replied, "I'm not against it.
I'm for both parks."
Toward the end of the
work session, resident Ellen
Ahlberg suggested there
could be a compromise, say
ing that perhaps minimal re
pairs could be accomplished
on the School Street court to
make it usable. She recom
mended erecting some fenc
ing, repairing the goals to
equal heights, and replacing
the gravel with sand. Then,
she said, perhaps there would
be enough money for both
parks.
Feds sue Georgia over new election law
By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA - The Justice
Department sued the state of
Georgia Friday over passage
of an election reform law it
claims violates the 1965 Vot
ing Rights Act by intention
ally discriminating against
Black voters.
The Republican-con-
trolled General Assembly
passed the controversial leg
islation in March, voting
along party lines, and Gov.
Brian Kemp signed it into
law that same day.
“Recent changes in Geor
gia’s election laws were en
acted with the purpose of
denying or abridging the
right of Black Georgians to
vote on account of their race
or color,” Attorney General
Merrick Garland said during
a news conference.
Garland and Kristen
Clarke, the assistant attorney
general overseeing the de
partment’s Civil Rights Divi
sion, said the law was passed
in the aftermath of a record
voter turnout in last year’s
elections in Georgia, particu
larly among absentee voters.
“The provisions we are
challenging reduce access to
absentee voting at each step
of the process, pushing more
Black voters to in-person vot
ing, where they will be more
likely than white voters to en
counter long lines,” Clarke
said.
Senate Bill 202 replaces
the signature-match verifica
tion process for absentee bal
lots with an ID requirement.
It also restricts the location of
ballot drop boxes and pro
hibits non-poll workers from
handing out food and drinks
within 150 feet of voters
standing in line.
The law’s critics have ac
cused Republicans of passing
the law in an effort to blunt
the high voter turnout last
November that saw President
Joe Biden become the first
Democrat to carry Georgia
since Bill Clinton in 1992
and that propelled Democrats
Jon Ossoff and Raphael
Wamock to U.S. Senate
runoff wins in January.
“We are happy to have the
Biden administration join the
fight to defend the very fabric
of our democracy against
Georgia’s reckless, unconsti
tutional Republican-led voter
suppression laws,” said Nse
Ufot, CEO of The New Geor
gia Project Action Fund.
“These attacks are a direct
backlash and whitelash
against the progressive, mul
tiracial, multigenerational,
and multilingual coalition we
built in Georgia that flipped
the Peach State and secured a
victory for President Biden
and a Democratic Senate.”
“Brian Kemp and Georgia
Republicans’ discriminatory
anti-voting law violates
Georgians’ civil rights, plain
and simple,” added U.S. Rep.
Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta,
chair of the Democratic Party
of Georgia. “It makes it
harder for all Georgians to
vote, and disproportionately
harder for people of color and
low-income voters to cast a
ballot.”
Georgia Republican lead
ers came to the law’s defense,
calling the lawsuit a politi
cally motivated attempt
aimed at a legitimate effort to
restore election integrity in
Georgia.
“The Biden administra
tion continues to do the bid
ding of [2018 Democratic
gubernatorial nominee]
Stacey Abrams and spreads
more lies about Georgia’s
election law,” Secretary of
State Brad Raffensperger
said. “It is no surprise that
they would operationalize
their lies with the full force of
the federal government. I
look forward to meeting
them, and beating them, in
court.”
Kemp sounded equally
confident during a late after
noon news conference in Sa
vannah.
“Joe Biden, Stacey
Abrams and Merrick Garland
don’t scare me,” he said.
“When I was secretary of
state, I sued the Obama Jus
tice Department twice and
won. I look forward to mak
ing it three for three.”
Clarke also criticized the
General Assembly for rush
ing the bill through the leg
islative process. She
complained that the three-
page bill that passed the
Georgia Senate ballooned
within days to more than 90
pages when it went over to
the state House of Represen
tatives.
Garland said the Justice
Department also is examin
ing election laws other Re
publican-led states have
passed in the wake of last
year’s elections.
He urged Congress to re
verse a 2013 U.S. Supreme
Court decision that invali
dated a provision in the Vot
ing Rights Act requiring
states with a history of racial
discrimination in voting to
“preclear” any election law
changes with the Civil Rights
Division.
Michael Kidd of Root De
sign, the company responsi
ble for the preliminary plans
for the Pickens Street proj
ect, fielded questions about
drainage and run-off, hand
icap access, the height of
fencing around the basket
ball half-court, the surfac
ing of the court, striping of
the court for pickleball, and
the possibility of installing
restroom facilities, among
others.
Being only a work ses
sion, the issues were not re
solved, but there was a sense
that some resolution might be
achieved at future council
meetings. The work session
lasted well beyond the allot
ted 30 minutes for the meet
ing and when adjourned, the
many attendees filed out of
the chambers and lobby leav
ing behind only the mayor,
council, media, and about a
half dozen interested resi
dents for the following spe
cial called meeting.
The council found some
unanimity in that meeting,
for after several minutes of
discussion over some line
items and amendments, the
council voted without oppo
sition to approve both the fis
cal year 2022 budget and
amendments to the fiscal year
2021 budget.
Continued From 1A
CFO
accounting positions as a di
visional accounting manager
for Highwoods Properties-
REIT (Tampa) and as a gen
eral ledger accountant for
Coca-Cola Enterprises and
for Tampa General Hospital.
In her role as finance di
rector, Bunch will oversee
the ongoing maintenance of
accurate and complete finan
cial records for the county in
accordance with all statutory
mandates and generally ac
cepted accounting principles.
One of the primary goals
of the county under Bunch’s
leadership is to attain several
national awards and certifica
tions that are given to local
governments by the Govern
ment Finance Officers Asso
ciation for achieving
excellence in financial re
porting related to the trans
parency, completeness and
user-friendliness of audit and
budget reports.
Commission Chair Kris
Stancil said, “The Board of
Commissioners was very ex
cited to make an offer to
Bunch after meeting with her
multiple times and seeing
how focused she is on trans
parency and service.” Stancil
continued, “I believe that she
will be an incredible addition
to our team and will help en
sure that we are incredible
stewards of the public’s
monies. We know that she
will provide excellent cus
tomer service and meaning
ful and timely financial
information to the public,
county departments, and the
Board of Commissioners.”
Bunch and her husband
have been married for 15
years and live in Ellijay. They
have two children and two
grandchildren.