About Pickens County progress. (Jasper, Ga.) 1899-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 2023)
PAGE 8A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. DECEMBER 21.2023 Thrift Store’s ‘Tis the Season Fest brings cheer for the holiday Entertainment was pro vided with karaoke voices singing favorite Christmas tunes. By Suellen Reitz Public Affairs Director The gray sky and blustery winds didn’t dampen the spirits of all who enjoyed the 4th annual Tis The Season Festival held at the Commu nity Thrift Store last Satur day. More than 200 folks of all ages were in attendance of the festival. Proceeds from the event will be given to the ickens Library. In addition to the fabulous Christmas store offering un believable bargains, kids of all ages had a visit with Santa in his special workshop who had special toys for good boys and girls. The big event of the day was the volunteer’s entries of Below, the pony rides, courtesy of Cowboy Church kids and Ms. Rebecca, were a big hit. OCTS (.oimmmity Thrift Store SANTA WILL BE AT CTS DEC. 21-22-23 BRING THE KIDS Community Thrift Store Community Thrift Store will be closed December 25-Jan 1 For cleaning and restaging the store to make it even better. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! original recipe chili pots (top photo). Nine entries were sampled by guests with votes going to their favorite. It was a hard choice with so many deli cious choices, but first place went to Dale McKenzie earn ing him a $100 prize and bragging rights trophy. Sec ond place went to Phyliss McCarthy with her white chili recipe, giving her a tro phy to cherish as well. Thanks to the ladies from Ruth House with their assis tance in serving up the sam ples. The chili was accompa nied with hot dogs, cider and cookies of all kinds. Thanks to Jax Coffee for providing hot coffee to keep folks warm. If you missed the fun, you still have an opportunity to visit with Santa in his work shop Thursday- Saturday. Bring the kids for a photo op portunity of a lifetime and get a free gift. Santa’s mail box is also there for Christ mas wishes. The Community Thrift Store wishes Christmas blessings to all. Thank you for your wonderful support throughout the year with your donations and purchases allowing us to help others. Merry Christmas. Theater Volunteers If anyone is interested in volunteering as an usher or refreshment counter helper, please email and put “volunteer” in the subject line. Someone will get back to you, let you know more of what’s involved, and find out what date(s) you’d like to help out. taterpatchplayers @gmail.com Report from the Capitol State Representatiue Rick Jasperse Redistricting discussed Right after Thanksgiving, the Georgia General Assem bly returned to the Gold Dome and convened for a special legislative session. We were called into this special session following a court riding issued by U.S. District Judge Steve Jones in structing the General Assem bly to redraw Georgia’s congressional and state dis trict maps. The House Committee on Reapportionment and Redis tricting held several public hearings throughout the spe cial session to hear public testimony on proposed reme dial House, Senate, and con gressional maps before the legislation reached the House floor for a vote. To maximize our time under the Gold Dome during the special session, many other House committees, like my Transportation Commit tee, also held hearings in preparation for the next reg ular legislative session. The first piece of legisla tion that my colleagues and I voted on in the House was House Bill 1EX, or the “Georgia House of Represen tatives Redistricting Act of 2023,” the remedial House district map. This bill was passed in the House on Fri day, December 1, 2023, and was then voted on by our counterparts in the Senate on Tuesday, December 5, 2023, where it received final pas sage. This legislation has now been sent to Governor Kemp for his consideration. There were no changes to the Pick ens, Cherokee, or Forsyth parts of this map. Additionally, the House gave final approval to Senate Bill 1EX, the “Georgia Sen ate Redistricting Act of 2023,” which is the remedial Senate district map, on Tues day, December 5, 2023. After receiving final pas sage in the House, SB 1EX was also sent to the Governor to be signed into law. Simi larly there were no changes to the Pickens ,Cherokee, or Forsyth maps. On the final day of the special session, the House voted on Senate Bill 3EX, the “Georgia Congressional Re districting Act of 2023,” which would adjust the com position of Georgia’s con gressional districts. SB 3EX received final passage on the House floor on Thursday, De cember 7, 2023, and was also sent to the Governor’s desk. There were also no changes in who the congressman who represents us will be. This is the third one of these I have been a part of, and I am always impressed at the passion and outreach of our constituents on this im portant matter. I enjoyed talk ing with all of you over the past few weeks. If you want a copy of the map, I will be glad to send to you a link to in for your com puter, or you can go to the Georgia General Assembly webpage, “Joint Office of the Legislative and Congres sional Reapportionment.” Look at “Proposed Maps.” You can also read the public comments that were entered. Next week I will cover the resolutions and other things we did during the special ses sion. The General Assembly will convene for the 2024 regular legislative session on Monday, January 8, 2024. During my time at home, I will be looking ahead and preparing for the regular ses sion, so I encourage you to contact me regarding legisla tive issues that are important to you, your family and our community. You can reach my Capitol office at 404-656-7153 or rick.jasperse@house.ga.gov. Of course, contact me lo cally at 770-893-2039 or talk to me when you see me in town. Marcia and I wish you a Merry Christmas and happy holiday season. As always, thank you for allowing me to serve as your representative for House District 11. 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Which follows as: The PCRP will be the “exclusive body” to approve potential local candidates for the GOP ticket in Pickens County. The PCRP has empowered the Pickens County Republican Party County Committee (Executive Committee, 12 Precinct Chairman and Secretaries) to approve potential candidates; which includes a declaration of facts (affidavit). All candidates must be interviewed within the time, place, date allotted before the new “qualifying committee” for the approval process to occur. This date meets rules changes standards, that states, “anyone wishing to run as a Republican candidate in any upcoming primary or general election shall apply for PCRP County Committee approval by a date not less than 30 days prior to qualifying start date”. One will not be allowed to be on the Republican ballot without having first been approved by the PCRP. Please keep updated calendars for this event. The Pickens County Republican Party County Committee Candidate Interviews will take place: • Date: Saturday, January 20th, 2024 • Time: 10am to 12pm • Place: Pickens County Recreation Center: 1329 Camp Road, Jasper, GA 30143 If there are any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact the Pickens County Republican Party at the contact information below. David Oles, Vice Chair of Communications - Pickens County Republican Party Contact: (706) 751-9965 orchair@pickensgop.org
