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An Independent
Newspaper for
Independent
People.
Thursday, October 12, 2023 | Volume 136 Number 26 | Jasper, Georgia | 24 pages, 2 sections | Published Weekly | $1.00
School leaders question
roundabout at Dragon Drive
High school track
project also on the
table at called
board meeting
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
Georgia Department of Trans
portation’s proposed roundabout at
the entrance to Pickens High School
does not appear to have full support
from school leaders, some of whom
are questioning if it is the best solu
tion for the intersection.
Pickens Schools Maintenance &
Operations Director Chris Wallace
gave an update about the project
after a recent meeting with GDOT
where two potentially problematic
issues arose. At the school board’s
called meeting Friday, Oct. 6, Wal
lace said GDOT wants the system to
remove the high school’s digital sign
See Dragon Drive on 9A
Not only will the Pickens High
sign have to be moved as part of the
roundabout project, school officials
question the needfor a traffic circle
at the entrance to Dragon Drive.
:*fiow»L
photo/ Angela Reinhardt
Students
Interviews
with Pickens
High School’s
Homecoming
Court
Page 2-3B
First Baptist
celebrates
175 years
A drawing by former First Baptist
pastor Charles O. Walker shows
what the early church may have
looked like after a bell tower was
added in 1911.
(As written by Rev. Charles O.
Walker and edited by Bill Stone)
On October 22, 2023, the First
Baptist Church of Jasper will cele
brate its 175th anniversary in the
service of God to Jasper and Pickens
County. The event will be observed
with a special service including lunch
on the grounds after the 11 a.m. serv
ice. The service will include memo
rable music marking historical
moments in the life of the church. A
section of the church will be devoted
to displays of photography depicting
events and activities that have taken
place at the church over the years.
No records survive to provide the
actual date that the church was con
stituted. The original meeting house
was a log structure located near the
See First Baptist on 9A
Early Voting
starts
Monday for
city races
in Jasper,
Nelson
Jasper
candidate
forum Monday
7p.m. in
County Admin
Building
Staff Reports
Voters in the city limits of Jasper
and Nelson can begin going to the
polls Monday, October 16th, at the
Pickens Recreation Center in Roper
Park on Camp Road. Early voting will
ran most weekdays between now and
November 3rd from 8 a.m. until 5
p.m.
On Election Day, November 7th
voters will go to their regular polling
places.
The only races on the ballots are
city council seats and mayor in Jasper
and city council seats in Nelson.
Elections supervisor Stacey God
frey said they are getting a few calls
from people out in the county asking
what will be on the countywide ballot,
but this is only municipal races.
It is important for voters to remem-
See Voting on 9A
VOTE
Fall rolls in with Marble Festival
This year’s Marble Festival
drew between 8,ooo to
10,000 visitors last weekend,
according to organizers.
They credited beautiful
weather and an expanded
kids’ area, plus more ven
dors of both arts and crafts
and food throughout Lee
Newton Park.
Chamber President Am-
berle Godfrey said, “It was
an amazing weekend. All the
vendors were happy. We
heard many positive com
ments from festival visitors
and our numbers were up.”
The festival, hosted by the
Chamber of Commerce, also
featured the newly-unveiled
Marble Museum which saw
980 people check out the ex
hibits.
See ad next week thanking
all sponsors.
See more photos from the
county’s big festival on Page
12B.
photo/Max Caylor
Bike trail work begins
at Doris Wigington Park
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
It’s been nearly a decade since
Doris Wigington Park opened to the
public, and trail work has just begun
that Jasper leaders hope will breathe
new life into the park that has gone
mostly unused.
Trail work got underway just a
few weeks ago on Monday, Sept. 25.
Professional trail builders will con
struct 1.5 miles of new mountain
bike trails throughout the park, in
addition to a 650-foot climbing trail
and two downhill courses, one 625-
foot and another 400-foot.
The climbing trail and downhill
courses will be located near the
Lumber Company Road entrance,
also the location of a skills develop
ment area and pump track, the latter
of which has already been installed.
Doris Wigington will be an all-
skills-level ‘■‘family-friendly” bike
photos/Angela Reinhardt
Walt Bready of Trails B-Ready clears new mountain bike trails at
Doris Wigington Park. As of Tuesday afternoon Oct. 10, Bready had
cleared around 1,500feet. The new trail will have two loops with a con
nector between them.
Walt Bready explains the ins and
outs of trail design, including
drainage and how bikes respond to
the trails.
park when finished.
“Depending on weather, [trail
builders] Tailored Trails anticipates
completion during the month of De
cember 2023, or very early January
2024,” said Jasper’s Assistant City
Manager Kim Goldener.
All three entrances will have
trailhead kiosks with maps, informa
tion about the park, and connector
trails into the park.
The original plan for Doris Wig
ington was for it to have a “back to
nature” feel, according to former
mayor John Weaver, but the park
never gained popularity with the
public. The entrances on Gennett
Drive and Lumber Company Road
have been unwelcoming and over
grown for much of its history, and
rarely has cars in the parking lot.
Residents have complained that the
trails were poorly designed, too
steep in areas with gravel that is too
large, all of which make it unusable
for some segments of the popula
tion. The park also has a vacant,
“creepy” feeling that keeps people
away and is believed to attract illicit
activities.
At various points over the last 10
years some small efforts have been
made to improve perception of the
park. Doris Wigington received an
Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary desig
nation in 2019, Keep Pickens Beau
tiful donated a pavilion, and Atlantic
Coast Conservancy donated en
trance gates and Chimney Swift
See Trail Work on 9A
Government
Commissioners
announce
second year
with
no borrowing
ahead of
property tax
collections
Page 7A
An evening with
Mark Twain
coming to the
Tater Patch
Theater
Page 12A
Obituaries 8A
• Peggy Dorsey
• Grace Hammontree
• Alice Kappers
• Scott Stewart
• Patrick Thuman
$1.00 per copy
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