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THURSDAY. MARCH 3. 2022 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 7A J \ From the Progress files Turning Back The Pages V. / From March 6, 1997 Chamber names new director The Pickens County Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce the unanimous appointment of Mahria Smith as executive director. Smith brings years of public relations and administrative experience to this posi tion as she has served as administrative assistant at the Jasper United Methodist Church since 1989. She served as legislative aide to State Representative Garland Pinholster and has extensive background in graphic arts and publica tions. Smith’s community activities include service with the Pickens County Library Board, selection as Lioness of the Year, involvement with the Friendship Force and Re tinitis Pigmentosa Foundation. Smith designed the Cham ber’s seal as well as the seal for the city of Ball Ground. City council annexes Hwy. 53 property During its regular monthly meeting, the Jasper City Council added to the city by annexing two pieces of prop erty on Hwy. 53 near the 515 intersection. In two separate motions, the council voted unanimously to include property on both sides of McDonald’s on Hwy. 53 into the city. The first piece of property, between McDonalds and Bryant’s store, is owned by the Deland Corporation and plans are in the works to build a Pizza Hut on the site, said Jim Smith, the city’s grant administrator. The second area of property belongs to Regions Bank and includes approximately two acres. The council, after lengthy discussion, voted to give Regions a tax abatement on the property until it is devel oped. SO From March 2, 1972 YEARS aao Georgia is No. 1 Tree Farm state The elating Tree Farm state in the nation is Georgia. In fact, statistics just released by the American Forest Insti tute show that Georgia has a million- acre edge on the No. 2 state. George D. Walker, Cooperative Extension Service forester who cited the figures explained that on January 1, Georgia had 3,191 certified tree farms with a total acreage of 7,906,669. In second place was Florida, with 6,818,191 acres. Ala bama with 6,748,479 acres was third. 4-H news At the last county council meeting, two new ideas were introduced by council members. First, Pres. Bill Brooks gave a demonstration on 4-H aerospace, a new project in which 4-H’ers are eligible to work on at the county level. This project involves working with model rocketry, cover ing construction, launch and the technology involved. Champion speller The winner of the Pickens County Spelling Bee was Gin ger Caylor. Ginger is a fifth grader at Jasper Elementary School and represented Pickens County at the District Spelling Bee in Jefferson City on March 1. Her parents, John and Cathy Caylor, and her sister Julie said, “We are very proud of Ginger and all of her accomplishments.” YEARS /— - . . From March 6, 1947 / C 9 J.H. Dilbeck appointed to high Ma- m sonic position At the last annual communication of the Grand Lodge of Georgia F.&A.M., a resolution was adopted creating the office of assistant custo dian in each Congressional District of the state. As a result Hon. Chesley W. Monk of Sylvester, Grand Master, last week appointed J.H. Dilbeck of Jasper to this post for the ninth district. He received his commis sion as a member of the Board of Custodians of the Grand Lodge Monday. His duties will be to assist the district sub ordinate lodges in the uniform work; and White cards to members showing proficiency in the work adopted by the Grand Lodge, and to conduct official schools of instruction, one of which begins in the Masonic Temple here Friday night, March 7th, and continuing each Friday night until further notice. Weather The Atlanta station of the United States Weather Bureau says that while no one day in February set a record low, it averaged the coldest month of any February since 1879. At the government station in Jasper there were five days on which the thermometer dropped to 11 above, and several others on which it registered in the teens. March came in like the proverbial lion. Saturday was cold, but Sunday was colder, with snow and high wind that blew the snow away about as fast as it fell. Where it drifted to is a mystery we cannot explain. H&R BLOCK Online and in person. Help is here. BEHIND THE CARWASH, 675 NOAH DR JASPER 706-692-3178 Ch&r\rDinAjk. Cherronda R. Tax Pro Casual Classics concert series to present Feiner Musicke March 7th Tenor Dr. Mel Foster and harpist Ellen Heinicke Foster Dr. Mel Foster, Tenor Ellen Heinicke Foster, Harp Feiner Musicke is fea tured as the next concert, March 7 of the Casual Clas sics Concert Series. The 7 p.m. concert is at Fellowship Presbyterian Church, 389 Bent Tree Drive, Jasper GA 30143. Performing are tenor Dr. Mel Foster, associate pro fessor of voice at Morehouse College, and harpist Ellen Heinicke Foster, second harp for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Feiner Musicke blends the power, grace and passion of the performers to create a unique and unforget table musical experience. There will be an opportunity to mingle with the artists over coffee provided by Red Bean Coffee before the concert, and during intermission. Works on the program in clude music by Debussy, F aure, Milliken, Quilter, Willis, and Burleigh. The works by Sandra Milliken and Dr. Sharon Willis are premiere performances for Feiner Musicke. Feiner Musicke is a hus band and wife duo commit ted to the performance, publication and recording of music for voice and harp. Be cause the repertoire is lim ited, Ellen Heinicke Foster has transcribed many pieces originally written for voice and piano. Several of these transcriptions can be heard on their first recording, Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal. They have also published three volumes of transcrip tions of songs by Claude De bussy and Gabriel Faure. The Duo has performed through out America for festivals and conferences and on numer ous recital series. Tenor Mel Foster is an As sociate Professor of Voice and Associate Provost for Academic Success at More house College. He earned the Bachelor of Music degree at the Eastman School of Music where he studied with John Maloy, and his Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the Uni versity of California Santa Barbara where he was under the tutelage of Elizabeth Mannion. More recently, he has benefitted from mentor ing by Victor Roman. A native of Charlotte, NC, Dr. Foster believes his expe rience at the Brevard Music Festival as a teenager heavily influenced his decision to commit his life to singing. Since then, he has had the op portunity to be engaged in opera, oratorio, and recital performances throughout the United States and Europe. He is interested in the vital role that the arts play in sustaining culture. Endeavoring to create more roles for African-Amer ican operatic tenors, he has premiered more than ten roles and solos for the Ameri- color Opera Alliance, for which he is now the artistic director. With the Atlanta Opera, he performed the role of Nelson in their historic 2008 Euro pean tour of George Gersh win’s Porgy and Bess. Ellen Heinicke Foster is currently second Harp for the Atlanta Symphony Orches tra. Since 2014, she has been the Adjunct Professor of Harp at Southern Adventist University. She has a Bache lor of Music, Cum Laude, in Harp and Music Education from The Eastman School of Music. After teaching K-6 Music in Lawrence, Kansas public schools, she continued her harp studies, receiving a Master of Music in Harp Per formance from University of British Columbia and an Artist Diploma from Yale University. Her teachers in clude Nancy Allen, Rita Costanzi and Eileen Malone. While a graduate student, Mrs. Foster won the Con certo Competition at Univer sity of British Columbia and was Runner-Up in the Con certo Competition during a summer at the Aspen Music Festival. She has performed throughout America, Canada and Europe as a soloist, ac companist and orchestra member. She has performed with the Vancouver Sym phony, New Haven Sym phony, Connecticut Opera, Santa Barbara Symphony, Santa Barbara Opera, Atlanta Symphony, Atlanta Ballet, Atlanta Opera, Atlanta Boy Choir and the Georgia Boy Choir, as well numerous or chestras and choruses in the Southeast. As an educator, she has been a teacher and mentor for the Urban Youth Harp En semble, taught at The Carver Schools and is the Director of the North Atlanta Harp En semble. Mrs. Foster has been an active member of the American Harp Society and has served 3 terms as Presi dent for the Georgia Chapter. She can be heard on record ings with the Atlanta Sym phony, Macon Symphony, Atlanta Boy Choir, and Geor gia Boy Choir. There is no charge for ad mission, although contribu tions are gratefully received; donations from the series’ pa trons cover the expenses of these concerts. Following protocols established at the church, all those attending are strongly encouraged to wear masks while inside the facility and during the con cert. Casual Classics was es tablished in 2007 by Suzanne Shull, then a resident of Bent Tree and member of Fellow ship Presbyterian Church. Over the years, the series has featured many soloists and ensembles associated with the Atlanta Symphony Or chestra, faculty at Kennesaw State University, and emerg ing artists. With Suzanne’s move to Atlanta, Calvert Johnson stepped up to be the new Concert Manager, be ginning with the 2018-19 season. Members of the Board of Directors include Kelly Lohman, Lin Pollard, Marc Unger, Richard White, and Suzanne Shull as past di rector. Future concerts this season include the Emrah Kotan Jazz Ensemble, May 2, and the Atlanta Symphony Woodwind Quintet, June 6, 2022. For additional informa tion, contact Calvert Johnson at 404-373-0748 or calvertj ohnson@gmail. com. Crime. Luck and Redemption The Life and Times of Wallace Hughes, Jr. By Chris Feldt Contributing Writer Pickens County has a his tory replete with convicts who escaped local authori ties. This particular story took place near Sharptop Church (on Grandview Road) and as events unfolded moved to the Connahaynee Lodge grounds within Tate Mountain Estates before the convict escaped our county. On September 2, 1937 a group of convicts were on a work detail near Sharptop Church, when one of con victs, a man convicted of murder, escaped from the group and ran up an embank ment. A flurry of bullets were re leased and the man stumbled. When the deputies ran to where the man fell, they were surprised at the lack of blood in the area. Wallace Hughes was not wounded, nor did he stay around for any length of time. Aposse of 50 men with bloodhounds searched in vain for a week without find ing him. Hughes had made his way to Burnt Mountain to the quarters of some servants of the Connahaynee Lodge. Re ports differ as to whether or not Wallace acquired any clothes from the servants. Regardless, for the fourth time in Wallace’s illustrious criminal career, he had es caped. After escaping north Georgia Wallace made his way to California, New York and Chicago before returning to Atlanta. Wallace’s criminal career began in 1932, when, at the age of 17, he killed two men while holding up a restaurant in Atlanta. He fled the restau rant being chased by police. Gunshots were exchanged as Wallace made his way across several rooftops of buildings in downtown Atlanta before finally being captured atop the Georgia Power Company building. He was arrested and sent to trial. After taking his own defense, the presiding judge sentenced Wallace to death by electric chair. Wallace Hughes, Jr. was bom in Fulton County, Geor gia in 1915. He lived with his mother and father, and two older sisters. During the trial, he testified that his father Wallace Hughes, Sr. had in troduced alcohol to him as a child and had eventually de serted the family. He claimed that the effects of his childhood had led him to a life of crime. A year later, feeling pity on the youthful Wallace, Governor Eugene Talmadge had commuted his death sen tence within seven hours of his execution. Yet Wallace decided that prison life was still not for him and decided to escape. In 1936, Hughes fled from a prisoner camp in Soperton, Georgia. This was his third escape. Fast forward to January of 1938. After having been on the lam for three months, Wallace was recaptured by Atlanta police. The police had noticed a stolen car outside of a house on Beryl Avenue and searched the car. After secur ing two pistols, they raided the house. Hughes and three other criminals were arrested. Upon being arrested, Hughes was subsequently identified in a lineup for having robbed someone else between his es cape and capture. Wallace was sent to a prison farm at Reidsville, Georgia for a few years. However, in the spring of 1942, he and seven other prisoners, orchestrated an es cape. Three of the eight con victs were shot. Five of the eight were captured immedi ately. Wallace was neither shot nor captured right away. Later that summer, be was captured using the alias Buddy Hughes and charged with transporting a stolen au tomobile. Miraculously and surpris- A photo in the July 9, 1932 Atlanta Constitution from the trial of Wallace Hughes, Jr. ingly, Wallace was allowed out of prison after having his life sentence commuted on November 11, 1956 and by 1958 he was living in Rome, Georgia, married and had taken up employment as an office machine repairman. Wallace outlived his wife and became a regular attendee of the Second Avenue Baptist Church of Rome. He passed away peacefully at the age of 64 in 1978. Wallace lived most of his life as an outlaw, with blatant disregard for the property, life or rights of others. And yet, time and time again, he consistently escaped justice, breaking free repeatedly and amazing luck, avoiding gun fire in every case. In my research, I could not find record of his pardon from prison. After his death sentence was commuted to life without parole, barring a pardon, he should have never been released. Regardless, his last decades were spent in mar riage, work and church as a contributing member of soci ety. He found redemption. YOUTH 22IR COMPACT 9MNI!!! Crickett 22IR 16” Barrel Single Shot 9RUGER EC9S 9mm 3.12" Barrel 7+1 Capacity $159115 $259.95 J L t _