Newspaper Page Text
2A CMeralti
<©a?Ettf Tuesday, April 27,2021
Nancy Butts critical after
being struck by train
WALTER GEIGER
news@barnesville.com
A Barnesville woman
is recovering after being
struck by a train while on
her morning walk down
town April 22. Nancy C.
Butts, 66, was struck in
the Elm Street crossing
just before 8 a.m.
Butts was stabilized
at the scene then flown
to the trauma center at
Atlanta Medical Center.
At last report she was in
critical but stable condi
tion after undergoing
surgery.
According to witness
es, a switching engine
was operating on one
track as a freight train ap
proached from the west
on a parallel line. Butts
apparently heard and
saw the switching engine,
waited for it to pass then
was struck by the freight
train, they said.
Butts, a published
author of children’s
books, is the wife of Don
Butts who is retired from
the Gordon faculty after
many years of service
there. She was an editor
at The Herald Gazette and
also appeared as a con
testant on the hit game
show ‘Jeopardy’.
THE HERALD GAZETTE/WALTER GEIGER
Barnesville police and first responders attend to Nancy Butts after she was struck by a freight train while walking April 22 in
downtown Barnesville. Butts is in critical but stable condition at Atlanta Medical Center. The incident occurred at the Elm Street
crossing near the First Baptist Church playground just before 8 a.m.
School board approves purchase of
21.09 acres adjacent to high school
KAY S. PEDROTTI
kayspedrotti@gmail.com
Land belonging to the
Town of Aldora, abutting
the high school property,
will now belong to the
school system and will
become first a training
grounds and obstacle
course for the high
school’s Army Junior
Reserve Officer Training
Corps (JROTC) classes.
At last week’s board
of education meeting,
the purchase was ap
proved unanimously by
all five board members,
with Ron Smith voting
by phone. Price for the
21-plus acres is $204,000,
payable in annual install
ments of $25,000, all com
ing from ESPLOST collec
tions. The Boy Scout Hut
on the property will be
converted
for the ca
dets’ pro
gram, and
more modifi
cations and
razing of
older struc
tures will occur, said
superintendent Dr. Jute
Wilson.
Maj. Paul Stinson,
head of the program
at LCHS, commented
later, “This gives us the
opportunity to have the
best-rated
obstacle
course in
the area, for
both com
petitions
and better
training
our cadets.” There are
more than 200 students
enrolled in the JROTC.
“There is enough land
that eventually we will
build more ball fields, so
that we don’t have three
teams (middle school,
varsity and B-Team) hav
ing to share one field,”
Wilson added. “It’s an un
comfortable position for
all the teams, especially
when a team practices
or plays ‘last’ and goes
home very late.” There
will be other upgrades to
the area as time goes on,
Wilson said.
Also, plans are in place
for “a complete over
haul and replacement of
equipment at the prima
ry school playground,”
Wilson said. The elemen
tary school play area
also will be improved. A
new HVAC system will
soon be installed for
Lamar County Middle
School. Plans are also in
the works to add a small
pressbox to the soccer
stadium and erect alu
minum bleachers in the
tennis court area, allow
ing parents and others to
see the students’ athletic
events.
The superintendent
also announced at the
board meeting that the
highly respected and reli
able “Wave 1 Generator
air filtration system” has
been installed in every
LCSS building. The sys
tem purifies the air and is
“99.7% effective in elimi
nating allergens, bacteria,
mold and viruses,” he
added. The $71,240.80
cost of the system will
be financed by Cares Act
funds. Two new school
buses will be bought with
Cares Act and ESPLOST
funds.
During recognitions,
eighth grade student
Sakara Simpson was
honored as the first place
winner in the Griffin
RESA 2021 Young Georgia
Authors writing com
petition. Wilson again
pointed out that Lamar
County students have
out-performed other,
larger school systems
such as Henry and Fay
ette Counties, in many
competitions.
“We’re up against all
eight schools and more
than 100,000 other stu
dents total,” he said. “Be
ing first place is a very
big deal. We are extreme
ly proud of Sakara.”
In other action, the
board :
•Recognized coach
Precious Banks and the
Girls Volleyball team,
who are AA Region
champs, breaking some
records along the way.
Banks described the
team as “profoundly
dedicated and hard
working,” and said she
is delighted to have a
middle school girls’ vol
leyball team: “Finally - a
feeder system!”
•Approved the results
of the ESPLOST election
on March 16, which be
gins collections in 2023.
Last month’s ESPLOST
amount for the schools
was $190,459.
•Amended the LCBE
Flex Benefits Plan effec
tive June 1, 2021, increas
ing the allowable carry
over from $500 to $550.
•Approved installation
of a Daktronics stadium
video board, scoreboard
and audio system and
possibly a small press
box at the Trojan sta
dium. Existing audio sys
tem will be moved to the
soccer stadium. Costs
are $260,000.
WILSON
STINSON
General and high-risk obstetrical care
Centering Pregnancy: Group Prenatal Care
Contraception care and management
Adolescent health education services
Offices inThomaston and Barnesville
UPSON
mm ob/gyn
Sherida L. Williams, M.D.
706-647-9627
THE HERALD GAZETTE/WALTER GEIGER
Chloe (left) and Patti Gunter walk through the chest-high broom sedge that now covers
the Gunter compound off Grove Street. The area was devastated by a killer tornado in the wee
hours of April 28, 2011.
Tornado survivor remembers
FROM PAGE ONE
to help people, and that
is a job that would let
me do that - something
different and important,”
she added.
College of the Ozarks
is a Christian school
and has a great reputa
tion, Patti said, but is
not Nazarene-affiliated.
Chloe will receive free
tuition for working 15
hours a week on the
campus. She regrets that
her best friend Ashlyn
Pearson won’t be at the
same college, but she is
upbeat about meeting
new people.
School sometimes
feels like a chore to
her, but she obviously
does well to be among
the honor grads of the
class of 2021. After the
interview at the Gunter
home, Patti and Chloe
had their pictures made
by The Herald Gazette on
what was once “Gunter
Lane” on Grove Street.
The area’s trees and
weeds have grown over
the piles of rubble that
used to be the Gunter
family’s homes. Patti and
Chloe walked part of the
area, with Patti pointing
out the places on which
the Dan Gunter family,
Paul and Ellen and Dr.
Olin Gunter and Chloe,
and Marty and Patti had
homes and outbuildings.
Chloe seemed sub
dued and wore an expres
sion of something like
melancholy. The reporter
asked her, “What are you
thinking about?” to deter
mine whether a memory
had returned. She first
replied, “Nothing.” Then
she said, “Actually 1 was
thinking about what Patti
is going to cook for sup
per.”
She will soon make her
new home at the College
of the Ozarks in Point
Lookout, Missouri as
she pursues a career in
public service.
Chloe has survived -
and will succeed.
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