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Thursday, June 29, 2023 I Volume 136 Number 11 I Jasper, Georgia I 20 pages, 2 sections I Published Weekly I $1.00
Big 4th planned in Jasper
• New parade route
to be used
• Fourth schedule 6-7A
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
The Jasper Lion’s Club’s Fourth
of July celebration is less than a
week away, with a frill-slate of fes
tivities planned including the parade,
fair, live performances, fireworks
and more.
The parade will be held on Tues
day, July 4 and begin at 11 a.m.,
slightly earlier than the previous two
years. The parade route has also
changed this year, with the staging
area for floats/walkers/drivers in a
different location. People participat
ing in the parade will need to stage
on Stegall Street at the comer of
Mark Whitfield Street, between
Jasper Middle School and LC Tacos
& Margaritas.
There will not be a staging area at
Jasper United Methodist Church as
there has been in the past. The pa
rade will begin on North Main Street
near the wooden bridge, travel down
Main Street and end at Spring Street.
(See route map on page 10A).
“This is the first time the new
route is being used,” said Jasper Po
lice Chief Matt Dawkins. “We’re
doing it to create some consistency
and have uniformity with all pa
rades.”
Dawkins said the new route will
keep them from having to close off
North Main Street up to Revolution
Church, which causes traffic issues.
Stegall Drive also provides a more
logical area for floats to line up.
“Stegall Street is very wide when
there aren’t cars on it, which is a
good place to stage,” he said.
The new route, which was ap
proved by city council, will also re
duce the amount of manpower
needed from Jasper police.
Speaking specifically of the
Fourth of July parade, Dawkins said
it was moved back from the more re
cent 1 p.m. time because of the heat.
“It was so hot, this will be a big
improvement,” he said.
The new route does not apply to
the Veterans Day parade, which ends
at the Veterans Memorial Park.
Prizes will be awarded for first
and second place. This year’s theme
is “Hurray for the Red, White, and
Blue!” The parade application is
available at
www.pickensprogress.com. Organ
izers say it’s not too late to sign up,
and that applications can be taken
day-of for late comers.
After the parade, festivities shift
to Lee Newton Park where the
Peachtree Rides fair will be set up
and entertainment will take place
throughout the day.
Headlining band Cove Creek will
perform from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at
Lee Newton Park on the Fourth of
July (See the full day’s schedule in
cluding performance lineup on pages
6A & 7A).
Fireworks will be set off at 10:05
p.m. just after the raffle drawing at
10 p.m. Fireworks will be set off
near Lee Newton Park across High
way 53. Raffle tickets will be sold
every day at fair grounds. Raffle
prizes are $1,000 for first place and
$100 for second place. Tickets are $5
each.
BINGO will begin around 1 p.m.
The exact
location had See July 4th on 10A
Cameras &
patrols added
to Roper Park
following
vandalism
photo/ Rec. Dept. Facebook
No theft occurred - The vandal
was angry and took it out on the
concession stand, said rec. dept,
director.
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
Hope for the Hungry
Pickens
churches
give food to
those in need
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
Mike Usry, right, and David Dunbar load boxes of food into a
client’s vehicle at Trinity Church. The woman told volunteers “God
bless you ” before she drove away. The monthly free food drive is avail
able through a partnership with There’s Hope for the Hungry.
It was just after noon and a
woman and two small children
pulled into the parking lot of Trin
ity Church on Steve Tate Highway.
After the family stepped out of
their van, a volunteer knelt down
to greet the young boy and girl
then walked them to the building
where they would register.
This was the first day the
church hosted a free food drive for
those in need, which was made
possible through a partnership with
There’s Hope for the Hungry, a
non-profit that works with 46
churches in north Georgia.
Allen Tate, a member of Trin
ity’s benevolence committee, ex
plained the process for clients, who
came from Jasper, Ball Ground,
and Dawsonville that day.
“After they register inside, they
can see counselors who share the
gospel, which most people want to
do, then we load the food in their
vehicle and they’re on their way,”
he said.
The woman and children were
the 18th family to pick up free food
that Monday through the program,
which provides around 25 pounds
of non-perishable items per family
See Hope on 11A
The Pickens Recreation Depart
ment has expanded their security
camera system and is adding patrols
by employees after someone broke
into a concession stand at Roper
Park and vandalized it over the
weekend of June 17-18.
Because of that, the restrooms be
tween fields 2 and 3 will remain
closed until everything is secured.
A statement on their Facebook
page stated, “The perpetrators
kicked the door off the hinges and
did a quite a bit of damage to the
concession stand and adjoining bath
rooms.”
In an interview this week, Rec.
Department Director Brian Jones
said that this wasn’t a case of some
one breaking in to steal, it was a case
where someone was angry.
“Someone was angry and broke
in just to destroy,” Jones said. “It is
summer and kids are bored and
someone was just angry. They
turned the concession stand into rage
room.”
There hasn’t been a serious van
dalism problem at Roper Park com
pared to other public parks, which
Jones attributed to their location
being a little ways out from big res
idential areas. “We’ve never had an
issue like this before,” he said.
A few years back someone was
breaking into cars at the community
center during sporting events but
that stopped.
Since then the security system
has been upgraded and is now being
extended to other areas of the long,
rectangle-shaped grounds. “All the
cameras will be up shortly and that
will give us good coverage of the
park,” he said. “We will know in real
time and follow-up with the sheriff’s
office [if something like this hap
pens again].”
But, there is no substitute for tips
and reporting from the public. Jones
said they got one lead that was
checked by sheriff’s investigators on
the vandalism that didn’t pan out,
See Roper Park on 10A
The Good Vibes Series
photo from Paula Adams
73-year-old Paula Adams performs Tittibhasana or firefly pose.
A long
stretch
Paula Adams
discusses
50 Years
of Yoga
By Christie Pool
Staff Writer
christie@
pickensprogress.com
Embracing the phi
losophy that exercise is
magic, Paula Adams has
spent a lifetime focused
on wellness. This year
marks her 50th year
practicing yoga.
“I started out when I
was 23 and I can hon
estly say I can do things
now at 73 that I could
never do when I was
23,” Adams said.
Adams’ adventure
into healthful living
began when she stopped
smoking after college.
“Through college I
had been a smoker and I
started getting bronchi
tis every time I got
sick,” Adams said.
“When I graduated col
lege I quit smoking and
went to work at Euro
pean Health Spa.”
She discovered a
book called Richard
Hittleman s Yoga: 28
Day Exercise Plan.
“I found that book
and started going
through the 28 day plan.
I couldn’t even touch
my toes at first,” she
said.
See 50 Years of Yoga on 10A
Sports
Results from
the Optimist
Flap Jack Run
Page 8B
Recipes
A sweet
patriotic
dessert
Page 8A
Public Safety
Sheriff’s office
receives grant
for lifesaving
AEDs in
patrol cars
Page 2A
Obituaries 11A
• John Boyd
• Nancy Dorsey
• Ed Goodwin
• Michael Purter
Contact Us
94 North Main Street
Jasper, Ga. 30143
706-253-2457
pickensprogress.com
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