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Pinwheels for child abuse prevention / 2B Tuesday, April 13,2021 barnesville.com Barnesville, Ga. 30204 HERE’S THE SCOOP Get your grill on, BBQ & Blues is back! City flushing water lines The City of Barnesville is currently flushing wa ter lines and testing fire hydrants. Most testing will occur on weekdays from 7 a.m. - 6 p.m. The work is necessary to insure proper hydrant function and record pres sure and flow data. Customers may experi ence discolored water due to iron oxide buildup in the pipes. Run all your faucets, including wash ing machines, for a time to clear the lines. If discoloration contin ues, contact the fire de partment at 770.358.1246. Rock Springs expanding recreational complex Rock Springs Church is expanding its recre ational complex which will include new baseball and softball fields, a cross-county course and other facilities. Phase 11 of the complex is utilizing 40 acres at the corner of Chappell Mill and High Falls roads the church recently purchased. The second phase is part of the church’s efforts to create a space church members, RSCA athletic teams and the community can enjoy. Phase 1 was complet ed in March 2020. The church hopes to com plete Phase 11 by this fall. It will also include indoor batting cages, training facilities, tennis courts, pickle ball courts, an outdoor basketball court, playgrounds and conces sion stands. “1 believe this will be a tremendous asset to our community as we continue to grow. We are so grateful to those who have graciously donated to make this exciting development possible,” senior pastor Benny Tate said. Subscribe. Your name goes on the label in this box WALTER GEIGER news@barnesville.com After a one-year hiatus due to COV1D-19, BBQ & Blues is back with a vengeance and the fun starts at 5 p.m. Thursday with the After Hours kickoff event at United Bank. There will be food, beverages and a chance to meet cook team members and Georgia BBQ As sociation representatives. Cook teams will roll in Fri day with a cook team meeting set for 5 p.m. The smokers will go all night. The music cranks up at 5 p.m. as does the com munity cook-off in which locals can try to win cash for turn ing in the best wings, dessert or Bloody Mary. The musical lineup includes Caleb Anthony, Wes Robinson and Jesse Dickinson and The Furloughs. All music will be performed at the stage near the United Bank drive- thru windows off Greenwood Street. Saturday is all about the barbecue as teams from around the Southeast try to turn out the best pork loin, pulled pork and ribs. For more information, call the chamber of commerce at 770.358.5884. Thursday. April 15: United Bank Business After Hours 5 p.m.- 7 p.m. Friday. April 16: Family fun night, Taster’s Alley and free concert 5 p.m. Saturday. April 17: GBA barbecue competition, free concert 5 p.m. CALEB ANTHONY THE HERALD GAZETTE/WALTER GEIGER Long-horned bovine types need not apply Beef is an afterthought this weekend as BBQ & Blues puts pork, with a smattering of chicken wings, in the spot light. The fun begins Thursday with the After Hours kickoff event at United Bank. The longhorn, meanwhile, can continue to graze on the lush pastures at Bunn Ranch in Redbone. ★ ★ ★ VOTE TODAY! ★ ★ ★ Runoff: Polls open Lamar County voters go to the polls today to cast ballots in the special election runoff to fill the post of chief magis trate judge which was vacat ed last year by the death of Judge Karen Rhyne Henson. The two candidates re maining in the race are Paul Kunst and Jeff Mason. Polling places throughout the county are open from 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. Go vote todayto improve turnout. In the five-day advance vot ing period last week, Lamar elections supervisor Anita Reid and her staff welcomed 630 advance voters. They also mailed out 120 absentee ballots of which 92 had been returned at press time Mon day. For up-to-the-minute elec tion results tonight, monitor barnesville.com. All four LC teams will make it Soccer playoff picture comes into focus this week For some time, the soccer program has been the most successful program for Lamar County athletics and that trend continues this season as all four of the system’s soccer teams are in line to qualify for postsea son play. Barring bad weather or COV1D issues, the last match es of the regular season are this week for the varsity and middle school teams. Due to two weeks of inactivity, the varsity Lady Trojans dropped to #7 in the Class AA rankings. They had been ranked #6 for several weeks. LC is 9-3 overall and undefeated in Region 3AA action at 7-0. Meanwhile, the Trojans have not cracked the Top 10 but they have clinched the region crown and the #1 playoff seed that goes with it. They are 6-4-1 overall and 5-1 in region action. Lamar hosts ACE tonight for non-region matches. The Trojans travel to winless NE Macon Wednesday for a make up game Wednesday. NE Macon dropped its girls team earlier this season. Bleckley County is here Friday for the final region battles of the regular season for both teams. Home matches begin with girls’ action at 5:30 p.m. The Lady Trojans can clinch the region crown with a win over the #8 Lady Royals (12-2, 6-1). Lamar won in Cochran ear lier this year by a 7-3 score. The Trojans will host a first round playoff game April 21. The Lady Trojans begin post season play at home April 22. The LCMS teams also close out the regu lar season this week. They traveled to Fort Valley Monday and host Monroe County Thursday. First touch for the girls match is set for 5 p.m. with boys action to follow at about 6:15 p.m. Going into Monday’s match, the Trojans were atop the division standings at 10-1-1. Monroe is 8-1-1. The two teams tied 4-4 earlier in the season in a match played in Forsyth. The Lady Trojans were 8-3-1 and in third place in the divi sion behind Henderson (13-0) and ACE (10-2) prior to Mon day’s match. The tournament style play offs will be held Saturday at the MP soccer complex in Forsyth with the top four teams making the field. Monitor barnesville.com for updates and match times as playoff spots are finalized this week. LC’s Justin Brannan and his teammates close out the regular season this week with two home matches. ©2021 THE HERALD GAZETTE, BARNESVILLE, LAMAR COUNTY, GA 30204, 770.358.NEWS