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THURSDAY. OCTOBER 7. 2021 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 13A
Continued From 1A
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The county offices in
those three buildings lost
service Wednesday at 8 a.m.
initially thought to be due to
phone line issues, but by
mid-day they realized the
problem stemmed from their
internal network.
The county uses IP phones
which Stancil said are less
expensive and generally
thought more efficient, but
this outage shows the prob
lems with the later technol
ogy-
The county technology
provider, Eclipse, is conduct
ing an assessment now to see
what could have been done
differently and “more impor
tantly to make sure it doesn’t
happen again,” said Stancil.
There was no reason to
believe any type of hacking
or malware was involved.
In very simple terms, a
server that controls addresses
on the network failed and
then other machines began
trying to take over that cru
cial duty and it spiraled out of
control, also affecting a fire
wall which further compli
cated everything. Stancil said
simply replacing the server,
which had been scheduled
for replacement next year
anyway, didn’t solve the
problem and it took engi
neers going through devices
in the different buildings to
correct the problem.
The county contracts with
Eclipse for their technology
support and Stancil felt their
service and this response was
satisfactory. He said this was
a problem where it just kept
getting bigger and as more
machines were affected it
took time to solve.
Stancil said they recog
nize this was a major incon
venience for people trying to
reach county offices, espe
cially as tax bills are coming
due, and it appeared to callers
that employees weren’t an
swering phones or respond
ing to messages. There was
no indication to callers that
the phones were down.
All phone messages and
e-mails should still be in the
system; it didn’t appear any
were lost.
By the time this paper
reaches readers, county em
ployees should have had time
to respond to all the backed
up messages, Stancil said. If
anyone has not gotten a reply
from a message left they
should please call again as
it’s always possibly some
were lost, he said.
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The Pickens County
Board of Commissioners
have scheduled FY 2022
Budget meetings with Elected
Officials - Judicial Officers
Tuesday, October 19, 2021
Tax Assessor
8:30 a.m.
Tax Commissioner
9:00 a.m.
Sheriff
9:30 a.m.
District Attorney
10:00 a.m.
Airport
10:30 a.m.
Probate Court
11:00 a.m.
Economic Development
11: 30 a.m.
Break & Overage
Library
1:30 p.m.
County Extension
2:00 p.m.
Coroner
2:30 p.m.
Public Defender
3:00 p.m.
Magistrate Court
3:30 p.m.
Clerk of Court
3:30 p.m.
Elections
4:00 p.m.
Superior & Juvenile
4:30 p.m,
Courts/Grants
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Pickens Progress
94 N Main, Jasper
Continued From 1A
Mask
“I’ll never forget that night. I
had to decide what to do and
how to tell people.”
Wallace called the super
intendent, but waited to tell
coaches and other adminis
trators.
“I was afraid it was going
to get to the team during the
game,” he said. “I kind of
hung back at the game, but
could see the word start to get
out among the students, and
see them get upset. At half
time I pulled the coach aside
and notified him, then he no
tified the team after the
game. That was really, really
tough.”
Chris Parker, head coach
at the time who has since
written 10 Lessons in Coach
ing, included his recollec
tions of that night in his
book.
“All I could think about
was how hard this would be
on our players,” Parker
wrote. “We decided we
would tell them after the
game. I do not remember one
thing from that second half
other than we won the game.
The other coaches did not
know but I am sure they
thought something was
wrong with me as I was not
acting like myself... I have
many times had to really
think hard about what to say
after a tough loss, as these
times can be critical to pro
gram development, but I had
never been prepared for the
message I was about to de
liver. I did the best I could to
tell them their friend was no
longer with us and we would
need to come together again,
as a team, to honor Shawn
and his memory.”
Parker told the Progress
about the sizable impact
Mask and his death had in
school, and on him person
ally.
"Shawn was a great young
man and brought joy to
everyone around him,” he
said. “He had a profound im
pact on me, our football
team, and PHS. We lost
Shawn and Jordan Simonds
in 2017. These two young
men being lost so early in life
changed me forever. We
loved them and tried to honor
them every time we took the
field.”
The high school honored
Mask’s memory in a number
of ways. His football locker
remained sealed until last
year, when the last class of
students who attended school
with him graduated; a seat
with a gown and rose was set
up during the graduating cer
emony he would have at
tended. Coker said the base
ball team also kept a shadow
box on display with his jersey
until the end of the year.
“This kind of thing hits a
school hard,” Wallace said.
“It’s not something you deal
with regularly, and it really
shakes the kids, even the
ones who didn’t know him.
When that student you sat
next to on Friday isn’t there,
and isn’t going to come back,
it makes kids maybe think
about mortality when they
don’t usually. It bands a
school together, unified us,
because we were all grieving
for the loss and for his friends
and family.”
Mask’s grandfather Rick
recalled the funeral proces
sion, which was several miles
long. Families and friends
spilled out of the sanctuary at
Sosebee’s Funeral Home.
Coker’s eyes welled up as
she spoke about one of his
friends, musician Erin Kirby,
who wrote a song about
Shawn’s death - “Why’d You
Have to Go? (Shawn Song).”
“I heard that song and it
just melted my heart,” she
said. “People just loved him
so much.”
Shawn Mask’s grandmother Chris Coker wears a shirt
with a photo collage of her grandson. She is holding a shad-
owbox that displays his footballjersey. Mask was a standout
athlete, also excelling in baseball.
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PICKENS COMMUNITY THRIFT STORE
PRESENTS....
Bewitching lour
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Thursday, Oct. 21
5-8 p.m. at thrift store