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PAGE 8A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. April 6. 2023
Amicalola EMC awards $133,000 to area students and
announces 2023 Washington Youth Tour winners
Amicalola EMC scholarship winners with AEMC board of directors, President & CEO Todd Payne and Stacey Fields.
Amicalola EMC is pleased
to announce that 128 high
school seniors from across the
cooperative’s service area
were each awarded a $1,000
scholarship at the annual
youth awards banquet held on
March 28 at Chattahoochee
Technical College. Scholar
ships were awarded based
upon grade point average,
SAT/ACT scores and financial
need.
In addition, four students
were named as 2023 delegates
on the Washington Youth
Tour, an all-expense-paid
leadership experience spon
sored by Georgia’s electric
membership cooperatives, in
cluding Amicalola EMC.
Olivia Claire Shull (Gilmer
High), Warren Read Fernan
dez (Pickens High), Mac
Allen Blackwell (Cherokee
High) and Heather Bradford
Fernandez (Pickens High)
were carefully selected
through an application process
that included an essay, a letter
of recommendation and a face
to face interview with the Am
icalola EMC selection com
mittee.
In addition to the trip, they
will each receive a $750
scholarship. Three runners up
with each receive a $500
scholarship.
Since 1965, the tour has
helped promising student
leaders to become exceptional
young adults. According to
Todd Payne, CEO, Amicalola
EMC, the Youth Tour was es
tablished to inspire the next
generation of leaders.
This year’s tour, which
takes place June 15-22, offers
opportunities for students to
meet policymakers, tour his
toric monuments and partici
pate in leadership experiences,
all while making new friends
from across the state and the
nation.
“Preparing the next gener
ation of leaders is crucial to
ensuring our community, state
and nation will be in good
hands,” says Mr. Payne. “We
see the tour as a way to kindle
the spark of leadership in high
schoolers by showing them
they belong among those will
ing to step up in service to oth
ers.”
Delegates will join with
over 100 other Georgia high
school students who have
been selected by their local
Atlanta on June 15 to kick off
the tour.
When the group arrives in
D.C., participants tour historic
locations like Mount Vernon,
explore museums and monu
ments and meet with their
home. Georgia’s tour dele
gates will convene with more
than 1,800 youth representing
electric cooperatives across
the nation and exchange views
concerning local and national
issues.
EMCs to form the Georgia elected officials to discuss the
delegation. They will gather in issues that are important back
Washington Youth Tour winners: (l to r) Stacey Fields, Director of Public Rela
tions, 2023 Washington Youth Tour winners Olivia Claire Shull (Gilmer High), Warren
Read Fernandez (Pickens High), Mac Allen Blackwell (Cherokee High) and Heather
Bradford Fernandez (Pickens High) with Todd Payne, President <6 CEO.
Increase Garden Success with Sustainable Gardening
Obituaries
Eleanor a Battles
Eleanora C. Battles, 86, of
Waleska, Georgia passed
away on March 18th, 2023.
No services are scheduled
at this time. Care and Trust
was placed with In Their
Honor of Jasper: 481 Noah
Drive, Jasper, GA 30143.
Cynthia Bemiller
Cynthia A. Bemiller, 71,
of Jasper, Georgia passed
away on March 21st, 2023.
No services are scheduled
at this time. Care and Trust
was placed with In Their
Honor of Jasper: 481 Noah
Drive, Jasper, GA 30143.
Aaron Richards
Aaron Richards, 63, of
Jasper, Georgia passed away
on March 23 rd, 2023.
No services are scheduled
at this time. Care and trust
was placed with In Their
Honor of Jasper Funerals and
Cremations: 481 Noah Drive,
Jasper, Georgia 30143. 706-
253-5060
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Tynowlcd^e will forever govern
ignorance: TAml a people who mean
to be their own (governors, must arm
themselves with the power which
know ledge gives." - 'James (fVIadison
By Dee Boggus
Pickens Master Gardener
This year our Pickens
County Master Gardeners
adopted the theme of “Sus
tainable Gardening.” Garden
ing sustainably means
supporting a successful land
scape as well as building pos
itive environmental impacts.
The concept combines gen
tler gardening practices with
resource conservation. There
are many aspects to sustain
able gardening but today I
am going to recommend two
plants that meet sustainable
gardening standards and fin
ish with gardening tips.
Anyone who knows me
knows that I am crazy about
herbaceous perennials.
Herbaceous perennials are
non-woody plants that live in
the garden for multiple years.
The two plants I am rec
ommending today are short
lived perennials or biennials
(which only live two years
with blooms appearing the
second year) but both will
readily reseed in your garden,
thereby establishing a longer
presence.
Sweet Williams (Dianthus
barbatus) is an herbaceous bi
ennial or short-lived peren
nial in the carnation family.
Not a native to North Amer
ica, gardeners adopted it due
to its beautiful, long bloom
ing flowers in late spring. Its
fringed flowers are borne as
dense clusters in variations of
white, red, pink, and purple.
Their spicy clove scent at
tracts bees, butterflies, and
hummingbirds. It grows 12 to
24 inches high in part to full
sun. Sweet Williams will
grow in rich garden soil as
long as the ground is not wa
terlogged.
The sweet-smelling wall
flower (Erysimum cheiri) is
also a plant that will not tol
erate too much water. It
blooms in the spring in
groups of four petalled flow
ers with colors of yellow, or
ange, red, blue, and purple.
This plant is a host plant for
several species of butterflies
and moths and is pollinated
by bees, flies, butterflies, and
beetles. Wallflowers will
grow in unimproved soil, es
pecially if the soil is gritty, in
part to full sun. The plant also
makes an excellent choice for
pots due to low water re
quirements.
Lastly, I offer three garden
tips today that are connected
with one simple idea: less is
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best. Chemical sprays are
often necessary tools for gar
deners (especially those con
nected to agricultural
businesses) but be aware that
unintended consequences
may follow their use.
Rather than using herbicide
sprays to kill those evil
weeds, try pulling them by
hand. Doing so will result in
less injury to your environ
ment and is often a more ef
fective control.
Pesticide sprays are effec
tive insect eradication meth
ods but remember that they
will kill indiscriminately.
Beneficial insects adjacent to
a pesticide application area
will also be damaged. Learn
to be more tolerant of minor
insect damage on your plants
and make efforts to distin
guish “good” bugs from
“bad.”
Finally, plant diseases can
range from devastating to
simply cosmetic (like leaf
spots or leaf galls) with no
treatment required. Consult
with local experts (Justin Fel-
lenbaum our local Extension
Agent would be a good place
to start) and find out which
category your disease might
fall into before applying
chemicals.
Pickens Master Gardeners
are offering gardening oppor
tunities free to the public this
year! Our first event is at the
Pickens County Extension
Office on 68 D.B. Carrol
Street in Jasper, GA on April
15th from 1:00 to 3:00 PM
and is called “Spring For
ward - How to Create a Sus
tainable Garden”. The second
is our 2023 4-H and MG Sus
tainable Plant Sale on May 6,
2023 from 8:00 PM to noon
at the Veterans Memorial
Park, off 599 Veterans Me
morial Blvd. in Jasper, GA.
You can purchase acclima
tized, sustainable, and polli
nator friendly plants grown
by a Master Gardener. Come
by, ask some questions, and
learn about sustainable gar
dening.
Do not miss the 2023
& Master
(Gardener
’ le Garden
Date: May 6, 2023
Time: 8:00 am to noon
Place: Veterans Memorial Park, 599 Veterans
Memorial Blvd. Jasper, GA
3rd Annual
BE A HERO
BRUNCH
April 29,2023
BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS
OF NORTH GEORGIA
Tickets:
$50 per person
$350 per table
8 seats per table
Check-in starts at 9:30, begins @11 am
Chattahoochee Technical College
100 Campus Dr.
Jasper, GA30143
• Comedian Kenn Kington
• Delicious Food
• Silent Auction
• Supporting Kids in
Pickens and Gilmer Counties
Sponsored by:
To reserve yours seats or table, visit
www.bgcng.org/events or call (706) 253-2582