Thursday, August 11, 2022 | Volume 135 Number 17 | Jasper, Georgia | 20 pages, 2 sections | Published Weekly | $1.00
Court to hear petition to unseal ballots
Community
By Max Caylor
Progress Contributor
Members of the Pickens County
Board of Elections in their August
meeting decided to wait until the
current private litigation against
them is final before they file their
own petition for hand tabulation of
the May 24th Primary Elections.
In a prepared statement, board
chair Joe Walker said, “Once the
Mora suit is final, we will assess the
need for the filing of that petition.
We will keep you updated in the
meantime should there be any
changes.”
The core of the discussion centers
around Pickens GOP Chair Chris
Mora’s private suit against the board
to have the Superior Court unseal the
May 24th Primary Election ballots
for a hand tabulation in the secretary
of state and governor races. The
board of elections voted on July 19th
to ask the county attorney to file
somewhat the same petition on their
behalf responding to public com
ment at their meetings.
More drama was added to the sit
uation when all local judges recused
themselves from hearing the Mora
petition in Pickens Superior Court.
Chief Judge SeeElection on11A
Photo/Max Caylor
Some of the 45 citizens who attended the Board of Elections meeting express
their patriotism by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.
Pandemic sparks
idea for G. Chandler
candle business
Owner Denise Godfrey
with one of her cut wine
bottles upcycled into a soy
wood wick candle, one of
her most popular wholesale
products.
By Alex Goble
Staff Writer
agoble@pickensprogress.com
“When it comes to can
dles there is a science to it.
There’s a lot of science to
it,” Denise Godfrey ex
plained at the candle shop
she co-owns and runs with
her husband on Old
Philadelphia Road.
The shop is named G.
Chandler Candles. Godfrey
is their last name - that’s the
G. And just like a cobbler in
the old days was a shoe
maker, a chandler in the
olden times was someone
who made and sold candles.
The name literally stands
for Godfrey the candle-
maker.
Godfrey was career law
enforcement before spend
ing time working for the
Golf Club of Georgia, a job
that fell through during
Covid. After that, one thing
led to another and the cou
ple’s enjoyment of candles
became something more.
“We were actually on va
cation for my husband’s
birthday in ’20 and while we
were in Florida we thought,
‘Let’s do it.’ We literally ap
plied for the business license
online while on vacation,”
Godfrey said.
Learning how to make
and sell candles was an ex
ercise in self-education. “I
was literally sitting and
watching videos and learn
ing by trial and error,” God
frey laughed. “I’ve caught
things on fire a couple
times.”
She started doing mar
kets, traveling to Gumming
to do Hickory Village Mar
ket, hitting winery markets,
and doing Jasper’s farmers
market. “That’s the home
base,” she said.
Then they got into cut
ting bottles. Cutting wine
bottles. They had found their
niche as a wholesale candle
manufacturer, specializing
in upcycled bottles, with
what they describe as a
“showroom” at the new lo
cation.
“We had a gentleman that
See Spark on 11A
Tax Assessors in midst of busy August;
2021 values appear right on, says state
By Alex Goble
Staff Writer
agoble@pickensprogress.com
The Pickens County Board of Assessors
started off a busy August with two meetings
held on August 2 and August 8.
In the Aug. 8 meeting the 2021 Sales
Ratio Study from the Georgia Department of
Audits and Accounts was presented after its
release on Aug. 4, with the Pickens County
Assessors Office performing well according
to the numbers.
At its most basic, the study compares a
county’s appraised values to its actual sales
values. This comparison produces a ratio, re
ferred to as a level of assessment.
A ratio range of 36 to 44 is what assessors
offices are expected to meet. If the ratio is
too low it means that things are selling for
more than what the office has them valued
at. Anything too high means things are sell
ing for less than what they have them valued
at. The Georgia Department of Audits and
Accounts considers 40 to be the correct ratio.
See Tax Values on 11A
American hero honored
with annual motorcycle ride
A Rolling Thunder honor guard
consoles Sgt. David Collins' mother,
Lynn Napoli, at a memorial ride held
in her son's honor.
Napoli is holding the plate from a
ceremonial Missing Man Table at
Rocco’s Pub where the event was held.
Missing Man Tables honor military
men and women who did not return
from sendee. Sgt. Collins of Jasper was
killed on April 9, 2006 in Iraq while
serving with the Army. He was 24 at
the time of his death.
See more photos and complete story
on Page 8B.
Good Vibes Series
+
Do-gooding as a hobby
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
Matthew Chastain is one of those rare
people who can renew your faith in human
ity five seconds into a conversation. He’s
genuine, friendly, inspiring, and someone
whose driving force in life is as selfless as
you can get - to give back and to make a dif
ference in the world.
He’s the epitome of good vibes.
Chastain, who works as front-of-the-
house manager at The Old Mulehouse
restaurant, is using his place of employment
as a platform for all the do-gooding he
wants to do. He’s already got a few success
ful projects underway, and has even bigger
plans for the future.
“This is a place that gives me the oppor
tunity to pursue my dreams of being able to
help where ever I can,” he said. “They en
courage me and it just blows my mind. I
want to make an impact in our community,
and I want people to know that I care and
that we care. It’s hard to do that by myself,
See Good Vibes on 11A
MULEHOU
Matthew Chastain’s love of hiking led to his first char
ity project through the restaurant where he works as front-
of the-house manager.
Big Canoe’s
POA receives
Green Ribbon
From Keep
Pickens
Beautiful
Page 10A
Foothills IGA
employee bags
podium spot at
grocery games
Page 6A
Sports
Dragons host
pre-season
game Friday
Page 1B
Obituaries - 8A
• Bobby Milam
• Edd Christopher
• Eddie Reynolds
• Jeff Corbin
• Hoyal Fendley
• Russell Pendley
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