Newspaper Page Text
THURSDAY. APRIL 7. 2022 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 3A
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From the Progress files
Turning Back
The Pages
V.
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From April 3, 1997
Expanding manufacturing base lays
foundation for strong local economy
“Today, when you talk about
development in Pickens County,
you’ve got an exciting chat,” said
Charles Jenkins, director of the
Jasper/Pickens County Economic De
velopment Council. During the past couple of years, several
new industries have located facilities in Pickens County
and many existing industries are expanding their plants.
Jenkins gave the following highlights abouts some of the
local companies that are undergoing expansions: Georgia
Marble Company, the county’s oldest industry, continues
to grow and expand; J.M Huber Corp. has opened their
marble mining operation in Marble Hill and will soon begin
a multi-million dollar expansion of their plant facilities;
ERB Industries has purchased and completely renovated
the former Jasper Yam building - they moved their Fame
Fabrics division from a small rented building on N. Main
Street to the new facility and will be expanding their oper
ation here, increasing employment to about 150; UFI, the
upholstery material manufacturing plant in Jasper, now
under new ownership is continuing to grow and has a bright
future; Armstrong Glass purchased the plant formerly
owned by Pickens Footwear and made a major investment
in upgrading this facility and installing new equipment.
The stained glass manufacturer, which exports about 80
percent of its product that includes some 2,000 different
color-combinations of stained glass, made its first produc
tion ran in mid-March; Newmark Rug Company recently
purchased additional land adjacent to their plant and will
expand their operation; Master Bend, a small business that
does tooling for the automotive industry, has completed its
building in the county industrial park and is doing real well
at their new location; Quality Cryogenics, another small
manufacturer that makes stainless still high-pressure pipes,
is getting ready to begin an expansion program at their fa
cility that is also located in the industrial park; Beacon En
gineering has just moved to their new building at the
industrial park to house their expanded specialty manufac
turing; Moriah Signs needs more room for their growing
business and is moving to the building where Beacon En
gineering was formerly located on Hwy. 53W.; LCI’s Lex
ington Insulators Division in Jasper has been
manufacturing insulators (spark plug boots and nipples) in
Jasper for 45 years - they’ve completed a major expansion
of the plant and employ over 200 here [and looking at fur
ther expansion]; Alken-Ziegler located in a 76,000 square
foot building in Jasper one and half years ago after the Lee
Company and then another apparel manufacturer which
moved into the building closed their operations here - they
employ over 50 high-tech machinists.
60
From April 6, 1972
YEARS
New businesses open in Jasper
A new business for Jasper is a store
specializing in children’s clothes. This
new business, “Tots to Teens” will
open April 6 on N. Main St., next door
to Jasper Men’s Shop. The owner is
Mrs. Marilyn Williams Fleming, a native of Jasper. Last
Saturday, a new ceramics center opened in Jasper by the
owners Mr. and Mrs. Bob Payne. The center is located on
College Street near the library. Mr. and Mrs. Payne are both
natives of Pickens County.
Ill business in Pickens County area
The tally, Mr. Hurayt [regional vice president in the At
lanta office of Dun & Bradstreet, Inc.] explained is based
on a county of businesses listed in the January edition of
the D&B Reference Book. The current tally includes firms
[which have] a financial strength of over $50 million with
a “high” credit appraisal. Yet, 71 percent of the names rated
by D&B have an individual business worth of less that
$50,000, and 47 percent are worth less than $20,000.
From April 3, 1947
Hotel Archer burns on Sunday a.m.
Fire of unknown origin destroyed
the Hotel Archer between 2 and 3 o’
clock Sunday morning. There were
but few guests that night and none
were endangered. The owner, Mrs.
W.B. Archer, was awakened by the dense smoke, which
was coming from the basement, and the denseness of the
smoke prevented the saving of much of the equipment. The
water mains supplying that section of town had been bro
ken in two or more places the preceding day while the grad
ing of the new highway was going on, so that there was no
water available to fight the fire. A new hose bought by the
town had just come in, and an effort was made to stretch it
from Main Street down there, but it lacked a few feet reach
ing the scene. The loss is estimated at $45,000 with only a
small amount of insurance.
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Jasper Farmers Market already
in full bloom with 66 vendors
Louise Jones brought a beautiful tub full of bok choy to the market Saturday morning.
And Lamar had Big Boy and Better Boy tomato plants from his greenhouse to sell.
By Heather Giambra
The Jasper Farmers Mar
ket is off to a great start with
66 vendors. There were so
many tents, the lot was full
with just a few handicap
spots left. The second park
ing area by the Veteran’s Me
morial was full with
customers' cars. This FM sea
son really did spring forward.
The weather was coopera
tive except for a few windy
blasts. So vendors brought
out their weights to keep the
tents from flying away. Bet
ter safe than blown away.
Whether a vendor calls them
self a Classic, an Original, or
maybe even Retro, many
were definitely regulars. And
there were new faces, too,
with new items to sell. One
such newbie is Melissa
Thomas of 3 Lil Bears Gifts
and Sandi Meyer of an organ
ized quilt (yes, no capital let
ters here). Sandi had many
clever quilted items including
Best Friend Purses that come
with three little new friends
that can be safely stowed,
rolled, and carried wherever
the purse holder goes. It’s a
must see item along with the
casserole dish carrier that
comes with a matching hot
pad.
There were tomato and
pepper plants for the veggie
gardeners, plus some herbs.
Chef Tony sold out early of
whatever deliciousness he
baked. Duck eggs sold fast.
And the cutest of cute, baby
bunnies, were available for
new homes.
The Jasper Farmers Mar
ket is sponsored by the Pick
ens County Master
Gardeners. Your patronage is
greatly appreciated. If you're
looking for the market it is
located in the Park n Ride
parking lot at Lee Newton
Memorial Park just across
from the Veteran’s Memorial
Park.
Amicalola Garden Club reconvenes after hiatus
Retiring Amicalola Garden Club President Jane Griffeth
and Vice President Elise Andrews.
Submitted by Amicalola
Garden Club
On Tuesday, March 15,
2022 the Amicalola Garden
Club reconvened after a long
hiatus due to the COVID-19
vims. A celebration luncheon
commemorating 87 years and
honoring retiring President
Jane Griffeth and Vice Presi
dent Elise Andrews was held
at the Tate Community
Room.
After the special lunch
eon, President Jane Griffeth
was honored for 30 years as
president and Vice President
Elise Andrews was honored
for serving 17 years. Under
these two ladies’ leadership,
many successful projects
were completed that will
leave a lifelong legacy for
our community. Both ladies
were presented beautiful or
chid table arrangements and
Ms. Griffeth was presented a
lifetime membership into the
Garden Club of Georgia.
A slate of new officers
was nominated and voted on
by members of the club.
Nominating chairman, Ms.
Glenda Thompson, con
ducted the election and some
new officers were elected.
Mrs. Linda Allred will be the
new president, with Ms. Fran
Cathey serving as vice presi
dent. Mrs. Susan Armstrong
will remain as secretary,
along with Mrs. Anita Pool to
remain as treasurer and Ms.
Glenda Thompson to be as
sistant treasurer.
President Allred con
ducted a business meeting
starting with old business and
new business. The Blue Star
Memorial Marker was re
ceived and placed in the Tate
Cemetery. A Certificate of
Appreciation form the Na
tional Garden Club was pre
sented to the Club and
Pickens County Commis
sioner.
Fran Cathey presented a
horticulture tip on winter
seed sowing and Sue Weaver
provided information on the
native plant, “Oconee Bells.”
After a short prayer, the
meeting was adjourned.
Right plant, right place — happy gardener
Dee Boggus
Pickens Master Gardener
As an eternal plant collec
tor, I often discover herba
ceous perennials that I covet
for my garden landscape.
While I have been able to
grow many of them success
fully, others (sigh) have
eluded all horticultural en
deavors. Recently I revisited
the cultivation of some of
these plants (the idea being
that now, as an experienced
gardener, I should be able to
remedy past planting disas
ters). In a few cases, I was
able to figure out what went
wrong and grow that special
plant. Along the way, I also
discerned an unhappy truth:
there are some plants that
will never thrive in my yard
and all my yearning to make
it so will not change that fact.
In the past, there were simple
reasons why my horticultural
attempts did not succeed.
Sometimes the plant I intro
duced was installed in the
wrong zone of my garden. A
plant that needs full sun will
not thrive when installed in
areas that receive less than 6
uninterrupted hours of sun
and a full shade plant will
wilt, bum, and die in most
full sun environments. (Gar
deners have a little more lee
way when a plant is
identified as requiring part
sun or part shade as those
will usually tolerate a little of
both. I have learned to ob
serve areas of my garden at
various times during the day
to determine how much light
actually touches a prospec
tive planting spot.) Cold ten
der plants benefit from a
southern or southeast expo
sure up against a warm wall.
Plants that like wet “feet”
will not be happy in dry soil
and the reverse of this is also
true.
Another mistake that
caused plant catastrophe in
my garden was due to impa
tience. Being so eager to get
the plant in the ground, I did
not harden the plant. Garden
ers are aware of the necessity
of hardening off seedlings
but a plant that has lived its
entire existence in a green
house can also benefit from
this process. Expose your
new purchase to the chosen
planting site for an hour a
day, increasing the daily ex
posure to sun and wind for
about a week before planting.
And don’t forget to water it
when the soil in the pot feels
dry! The excitement of pur
chasing plants can also lead
to overbuying, resulting in
what is referred to as “drive
way death” (something I was
guilty of in my fledgling gar
dening days). Sadly, there
were too many plants to in
stall at once, so the pots were
unloaded by the driveway
and ignored until... well,
“dd” happens.
So, did I resolve that
pesky “just will not grow”
problem vis-a-vis my fa
vorite perennials? Sure, I just
found plants with a similar
impact that will grow in my
environment. Instead of Lily
of the Nile (Agapanthus
spp.), I grow society garlic
(Tulbaghia violacea), a
smaller plant that is an heir
loom in local gardens. And
annual larkspur (Delphinium
spp.) grows wonderfully in
our planting zone, unlike the
heat and clay soil sensitive
perennial delphinium.
If you would like to leam
more about heirloom and na
tive plants that grow aplenty
in our area, reserve a spot in
the Master Gardener’s up
coming Garden Embellish
ment Art class on April 30th
from 1 to 3 p.m. (We will be
hosting a “make and take”
original garden art class that
day and paint will be in play
so wear appropriate cloth
ing.) Cost is free, questions
are welcome, all supplies
provided, but seating is lim
ited. Call 706-253-5540 or
email ugel227@uga.edu Native Helenium growing
today to reserve your seat. in the author's garden.
'Pcc&e*i& (Zouattf Ittaaten, (faide*ten&
DATE: April 30, 2022
TIME: 1:00-3:00 p.m.
PLACE: UGA Extension
Office
502 Veterans Memorial
Blvd. Jasper, GA
(f>wate art- oniyittal /yandea ant 4tya ia t/tie ela4A ov&ile
cpuc learnt. otone alout heirdotwu and. native plants.
t4ye 16 on. olden, only pleaee - all euppliee pntwided
Call 706-253-8840 or email uge1227@uga.edu
to reserve a seat in the class.
This art class is free to the public with limited seating.
“1 UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
W EXTENSION