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Thursday, March 17, 2022 | Volume 134 Number 48 | Jasper, Georgia | 20 pages, 2 sections | Published Weekly | $1.00
New faces hitting the campaign trail
Crowded race vying for west commission seat
Two of three
School Board
races uncontested
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@piekensprogress.com
Upcoming district com
mission and board of educa
tion races have attracted a
wide swath of newcomers to
the local political scene, with
a colorful and crowded race
shaping up for the west dis
trict commission seat.
Wild Wild West
in District 1?
Five GOP candidates
have qualified for the Dis
trict 1 commission race
(west). They will vie for the
seat currently held by Jerry
Barnes, who announced he
will not seek reelection. This
is the highest number of can
didates a district commission
race has seen since the
county transitioned from a
sole commission govern
ment to a three-person
board.
The District 1 commis
sion race will see a few vocal
and colorful characters, as
well as some newcomers to
politics, which could lead to
one of the more dynamic
races in recent history.
District 1 candidates in
clude David Shouse, who
ran for Pickens Commission
Chair against Kris Stancil
and who has garnered a rep
utation as a firebrand candi
date, as well as Brian
Cleghom, who serves on the
Pickens County Recreation
Board and is known locally
as a vocal and colorful per
sonality. The race also in
cludes former Pickens
Election Board Chair Josh
Tippens, who recently re
signed from that position so
he could seek office of com
missioner, as well as new
comers Ricky L. Tucker,
Pickens County’s first blind
candidate, and Robert Wat
son.
Two qualify for District 2
The District 2 commis
sion race (east) will see Dave
Garner, a local television
personality, face off against
Josh Tatum, both newcomers
to politics. Like the District
1 race, there will be no in
cumbent as former District 2
commissioner Becky Den
ney resigned from the position
last year.
One contested seat in three
BOE races
In the three Board of Educa
tion races, there are no incum
bents seeking office. Current
school board members Tucker
Green, Steve Smith, and Aaron
Holland did not qualify to seek
reelection.
In the District 2 BOE race
Steve Lowe will run against
Suzanne Neville Fowler. Lowe
created waves after forming the
County
and city
miss out
on grants
By Alex Goble
Staff Writer
agoble@piekensprogress.com
Some $422 million in
water and sewer grants
were awarded to cities and
counties across Georgia at
the end of February, with
both Pickens County and
Jasper overlooked.
The money is part of
the $4.8 billion in federal
relief money put aside for
Georgia and was awarded
by the state’s Water and
Sewer Infrastructure
Committee.
Both Pickens County
and the City of Jasper ap
plied with a large pool of
applicants.
Overall, there were 116
recipients. The full list of
applicants is not available,
but with 159 counties, 535
municipalities, and a large
number of authorities in
Georgia, 116 grants will
not appease the majority
of places.
According to Kim
See Grants on 11A
Shamrock Stroll in the cold
Dan Pool / Photo
Despite freezing temperatures Saturday some 50 people showed up donning their green costumes for the annual
Shamrock Stroll. The .5K walk down Jasper’s Main Street benefits Pickens County students attending Reinhardt Uni
versity. See more photos from the stroll on Page 5A.
Around 50 people braved a bitterly
cold, windy day Saturday to participate
in the annual Shamrock Stroll hosted
by Reinhardt University in downtown
Jasper.
With over 200 people signed up for
the .5K stroll, Dale Morrissey, senior
director of community engagement for
Reinhardt, said considering the brutal
weather she was pleased with the
turnout. Proceeds will go to assist 27
Pickens County students who attend
Reinhardt University.
“We had a good crowd even with
the weather like it was,” Morrissey said
of the temperatures that hovered
around freezing when walkers took to
Main Street for the short walk. “We had
lots of good comments and everybody
said they really enjoyed it. That makes
you feel good when you know every
body had a good time.”
She said the really exciting part of
the day was when walkers passed
Pendley Creek Brewery and “every
body there was yelling and hollering
for us,” she said. “It was really excit
ing.”
Reinhardt President Dr. Mark
Roberts was on hand as was Pickens
County Citizen of the Year Lorrie
Shaw.
See Election on 11A
It’s “Lights, Camera, Action!”
at Ahlberg Academy in Nelson
Larry Cavender / Photo
During filming outside the Ball Ground Library, Oakley Maney closes her eyes while
anticipating the "clap " signaling the beginning of the filming for a scene. To the left of
Oakley is Wes Llewellyn of 4L Films who served as the director of the movie, “Ethan. ”
Students work
with veteran
filmmakers to
create short
movie
By Larry Cavender
Contributing Writer
"Learning reaches far be
yond the realm of the class
room or the simple lecture” -
This has long been the philos
ophy of the administration of
Ahlberg Academy, a private
Christian school located in
Nelson. The school often puts
that philosophy into practice
offering their students the op
portunity to participate in field
trips and special projects, and
at no other time was that more
evident than in the past few
weeks when the school part
nered with 4L Films.
Under Director Wes
Llewellyn, filming wrapped
up last week for the short film
“Ethan,” which according to
Amanda Llewellyn, a pro
ducer for the film company,
was a "student led" effort.
Students were not only actors,
but camera operators, sound
and lighting technicians,
boom operators, and more.
Amanda added that the proj
ect gave the students "a better
understanding of what it
takes" to produce and film a
movie.
Ahlberg students were in
volved in the very genesis of
the production by writing the
screenplay themselves. The
movie is a morality tale of
See Ahlberg on 11A
Women's History Month
Local Olympic
weightlifter shows
beauty in strength
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@piekensprogress.com
Christina Hampton looked so at home as she led
me through Southern Muscle Company, the gym in
Jasper where she trains. Hampton’s frame is small,
but it was impossible to overlook the strength in her
arms and legs as she pulled up two chairs to talk
about a big competition the previous weekend and
why she’s so drawn to Olympic weightlifting - a
sport historically associated with men.
“Women can do anything,” she said. “What was
really cool is there were more females at this com
petition than males. It just shows you that what
women think See Weightlifter on 11A
Photo provided by Christina Hampton
Olympic weightlifter Christina Hampton com
petes at the Arnold Classic in Ohio.
Suzanne Fowler
announces for
School Board
District2 Page 5A
Rick Tucker
announces for
Commission
Post 1 Page 8A
Obituaries - 6A
• Diane Roth
• Dewey Wigington
• Jerry Blackerby
• Jim Davidson
• Linda Cantrell
• Paul Stamey
Contact Us
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