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PAGE 8A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. APRIL 14. 2022
Nelson Council discusses trail Personal recollections of unique history
resurfacing, kid park projects
from Yellow Creek s past presented
By Alex Goble
Staff Writer
agoble@pickensprogress.com
The Nelson City Council
had a productive and timely
meeting on April 11.
The meeting started with
some quick departmental re
ports and news on an upcom
ing SPL0ST meeting.
Mayor Green stressed that
Nelson has no stores and dol
lars are mostly spent else
where, so they will ask for
more funding with that in
mind.
A long discussion fol
lowed on trail resurfacing
and bids for it, with useful
discourse between several
members. The decision to go
ahead and get bids now was
unanimous after discussions
of grant applications time
lines versus the more imme
diate use of current SPLOST
funds, which would show the
city is using SPLOST dollars
the way they are intended be
fore the upcoming meeting.
Problems with the city’s
website were also discussed.
The city was promised an
easy link to sanitation and to
taxes, which was not deliv
ered, and will now pursue a
refund with confidence be
cause no contract was
signed. A new website will
be planned as soon as possi
ble.
The meeting wrapped up
with a broadband resolution,
continued discussion on leas
ing property for the ordered
sanitation truck, and the kid
die park. Council members
were exited for the park’s
possibilities and the idea of
placing a slide directly on
the park’s slope. “There’s
enough space to do some
thing pretty nice,” said
Mayor Green.
The council will have a
work session on April 19 to
iron out details on some of
these issues.
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By Larry Cavender
Contributing Writer
History is best told by
those who have lived it, and
such was the case when the
Ball Ground Historical Soci
ety recently heard the recol
lections of Jim Lawson, a
native and lifelong resident
of the Yellow Creek commu
nity.
A near-century of Yellow
Creek's history was re
counted by Lawson through
his own personal memories
and experiences at a meeting
held on Tuesday, March
22nd. Because of health con
cerns, the ninety-six-year-old
Lawson addressed the local
historians via a pre-recorded
interview conducted at the
residence of his son, David,
just two days prior to the
meeting.
Lawson recalled from his
youth the special memories
of the store his grandfather,
Si Lawson, began operating
in 1914. Later, his uncle A1
Lawson kept the store open
until the mid-twentieth cen
tury and the actual store
building was still standing
just ten years ago when it
was destroyed by fire.
According to Jim Law-
son, wagons loaded with
freshly picked cotton often
stopped by the store as they
headed to the gin. He re
membered how he spent
much of his own youth pick
ing cotton in the fields. He
laughingly added, "I should
have been going to school in
stead." When he did attend
school, he first went to the
two-classroom Mica Ele
mentary and later the one-
room Yellow Creek school.
He remembered having to
walk several miles to the
schools.
He owned his own busi
ness and operated it for sev
eral decades with his late
wife, Bernice. Lawson's
Nursery specialized in fruit
trees and shipped the trees to
customers in all fifty states
and several foreign coun
tries. In the video interview,
Lawson explained in detail
the technique for grafting
fruit saplings onto root stock.
He then mentioned that he
had several well-known cus
tomers, including the late,
long-time Atlanta Journal
and Constitution columnist,
Celestine Sibley.
He was asked if he had
any knowledge of the
Franklin Gold Mine, to
which he answered, "Not
much," and smiling, he
noted, "That was a little be
fore my time." However, he
had extensive knowledge of
another nearby mining oper
ation, the mica mines. He ex
plained in depth how the
mica was extracted and pre
pared, and also described its
many various forms and
uses. The small neighboring
community of Mica was
named for the mines located
there.
His residence lay directly
in the path of the Yellow
Creek tornado of 1974, so he
was asked about his recollec
tions of that deadly storm. "I
don't remember much, 'cause
I was so scared," Lawson
joked, but then began to de
scribe that deadly April 4th
evening in great detail. He
recalled hearing the tornado
warnings on WCHK Radio
in Canton and how he and
his family took shelter from
the cyclone.
As an eyewitness to the
approaching tornado, he said
that it was a multi-funnel
storm as it neared Yellow
Creek and how, as it tra
versed the area, the funnels
melded together into one
larger funnel and its path
widened as it skipped along
and moved northeast to
strike the Juno community.
He remembered many of
the storm's victims and spoke
of them personally. He re
counted the loss of life of his
friends and neighbors and
the destruction of many
structures including the Yel
low Creek Baptist Church,
which although totally de
stroyed, amid the nibble after
the storm passed through, the
pulpit remained with an open
Bible on it.
Lawson said he and his
family remained glued to the
radio throughout the night
listening to reports and warn
ings of another approaching
system with even more
threats of tornadoes. Fortu
nately, further severe
weather never materialized.
There were many other
topics concerning Yellow
Creek on which he talked.
Throughout the entire pre
recorded interview, those in
attendance listened atten
tively, enthralled by Law
son's stories. The crowd of
more than three dozen often
laughed aloud at Lawson's
quips. Those who know Jim
Lawson are aware of his un
common wit and sense of
humor.
After the video presenta
tion, BGHS President Patsy
Jordan opened the floor for
the sharing of other Yellow
Creek stories by those pres
ent. Many told of their own
personal experiences in sur
viving the tornado of '74,
with one Yellow Creek Bap
tist Church member attesting
to the truth of the open Bible
story, saying the church, to
this day, has that same Bible
on display opened to the
same page where it was
turned that fateful evening.
Max Stancil, who grew
up in the Yellow Creek/Mica
area, added more detail to the
mica mines story by recount
ing a massive explosion
there around 1945. Having
come home from school, he
learned of the explosion soon
Jim Lawson is pictured here with Patsy Jordan, the pres
ident of the Ball Ground Historical Society. Lawson, who
is a native and lifelong resident of Yellow Creek, shared his
memories of the community which included cotton picking,
mica mining, apple trees, and the '74 tornado among many
other topics.
after it had happened and
went to the scene where he
discovered a miner who was
severely injured and later
died. The mica operations
soon closed after the explo
sion.
At the April meeting,
there will be more stories
from the same area as the
Widow Franklin and her gold
mine will be the exclusive
topic. Annabel Ballew, who
has been doing extensive re
search for many years on the
Franklin-Creighton Gold
Mine, will be making the
presentation.
The Tuesday, April 26th
meeting will be held at 7:00
pm in the council chambers
of the Ball Ground City Hall.
To attend the meeting, mem
bership in the Ball Ground
Historical Society is not re
quired, and as always, the
public is cordially invited.
Talking Rock
Council
Meeting
Thursday
April 14
7 p.m.
Town Hall
Work session
5:30 p.m.prior
to meeting
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Tuesday, April 26, 2022
Hors d'oeuvres at 5:30 PM
Program Begins at 6:30 PM
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706.253.7569
Join remotely via Livestream at 7PM!