Newspaper Page Text
Congratulations & t£e Graduates!
SEE PAGES 1B-6B
Wxt dlajette
Tuesday, May 18,2021
barnesville.com
Barnesville, Ga. 30204
HERE’S THE
SCOOP
Memorial Day
observance
set for Milner
The local VFW Post
will be conducting
Memorial Day services
Monday, May 31 at the
Veterans Memorial in
Milner City Park. All
veterans and those who
appreciate them are
invited to attend.
The proceedings will
begin at 11 a.m.
For more information,
contact post command
er Richard Wright at
770.584.4608.
Ag After
Hours is
Thursday
The annual Ag After
Hours event, hosted by
the Lamar County Soil &
Water Conservation Dis
trict and Farm Bureau,
will be held Thursday
at the Wetlands Trail
off Roberta Drive. The
festivities will begin at
5:30 p.m.
The event highlights
the importance of
agriculture to the local
economy and allows
producers to network
with local businesses.
For more information,
call 770.358.5884.
Early deadlines
for holiday
Due to the Memorial
Day holiday on Monday,
May 31, Tljc i)rral& Aurttr
will go to press early.
Please submit news and
advertising before noon
Thursday, May 27, to
be included the May 31
edition.
Subscribe. Your name goes
on the label in this box
LC Class of 2021 marches Saturday
The Lamar
County High School
Class of 2021 will
graduate during
commencement
exercises set for
9 a.m. Saturday at
Trojan Field. Up to
176 students could
receive diplomas
from superintendent Dr. Jute
Wilson and LCHS principal Dr.
David Boland, depending on
test results. Masks and social
distancing are encouraged.
After the proces
sional, keynote ad
dresses will be given
by valedictorian Ryla
Traylor and salutato-
rian Saffron Abreu. Dr.
Wilson will present
the graduation ad
dress.
Class president Connor
Gotell will welcome parents
and guests. Treasurer Tessa
Bateman will lead the Pledge
of Allegiance. Historian Keitrye
Parlier will outline the Class of
’21’s highlights.
School board chairman
Danny Turner will also address
the graduates.
After the diplomas are dis
tributed, class vice-president
Talaijah Murphy will deliver
closing remarks which will be
followed by the recessional.
The individual grads are
saluted in our special gradua
tion section on pages 1B-6B of
this edition.
THE HERALD GAZETTE/WALTER GEIGER
Nursing degree completed
Christine Pyrrhus holds her diploma aloft in exultation as she and her fellow nursing grads leave commence
ment exercises held Friday at Summers Field Park. Pyrrhus received her BS degree in nursing in the second of
two graduation ceremonies held at the park. Dan White, a member of the GSC Foundation, addressed the first
group of grads. Justin Gunnels, soon to be assistant principal at LCMS, addressed the second.
Dick Esco
to receive
Golden
Eagle Award
Dick Esco will receive the
Golden Eagle Award for Lamar
County from the Boy Scouts of
America May 20. The awards
banquet is set for
the civic center at
6:30 p.m.
Esco, is retired
from Georgia Farm
Bureau and is
very active with
the local chamber
of commerce and
other organizations. He has
served for many years as the
chairman of Buggy Days.
Mayor Peter Banks is chair
man of the awards committee.
For tickets or more informa
tion, call Banks at 404.433.0224
or BSA district executive Re-
bekah Florence at 770.468.4479.
ESCO
GSC soccer
seeks GCAA
championship
The GSC Highlanders de
feated Georgia Military College
1-0 Sunday afternoon in the
semifinal round and will play
for the GCAA title for the fourth
consecutive year Wednesday.
GSC (7-3) entered the postsea
son as a #3 seed and had lost
twice to GMC earlier in the
season.
Freshman Sophia Kotopka
got the lone goal of the match
in the 38th minute. Kotopka
is the GCAA’s leading scorer.
Becca Doyle had a clean sheet
in the net for Gordon.
The Highlanders battle #1
seed South Georgia Wednesday
at 4 p.m. in Douglas, Ga. for the
GCAA/NJCAA Region 17 title.
Fiber internet to arrive sooner than expected
In February, Southern Rivers
Energy (SRE) announced its
partnership with Conexon Con
nect to build a fiber network
alongside its electric distribu
tion system to bring high-speed
internet services to SRE mem
bers. Since then, staff on both
sides have been working dili
gently on the network design,
engineering and establishing
roles for the project.
SRE staff recently attended
a fiber network kick-off and
planning meeting at Conexon’s
headquarters in Kansas City,
with department-specific dis
cussions about each phase of
the construction process.
“We have a Conexon Con
nect Construction Project
Manager on-site and right now,
he is riding through the terri
tory in Phase 1 to compare the
fiber network design with our
physical electric system and
make any necessary changes to
the fiber design. We are in the
earliest stage of make -ready
engineering, which includes
identifying poles that need
to be replaced and trimming
trees and vegetation that may
interfere with electric and fiber
lines,” says SRE Director of
Marketing/Member Services
Erin Cook.
“The construction schedule
is divided into two phases, with
multiple zones in each phase.
These zones include the sub
station and every connecting
circuit. Now that we have the
design, Conexon is confident
SRE’s 2,150 miles of fiber will
be completed within about
three years, compared to the
initial estimate of 4-5 years for
Southern Rivers Energy’s and
Central Georgia EMC’s projects
combined.”
The fiber network design is
Fiber Internet Construction Plan
Phase One and Phase Two Order of Construction
connect
following the existing electrical
infrastructure. Where power
lines are overhead, the fiber will
attach to the poles; wherever
SRE has underground service,
the fiber will be installed under
ground.
Fiber construction crews
start at the substations and
work their way outward follow
ing each circuit. They build it,
splice it, test it and then release
it. Once a circuit has been
tested and released, Conexon
Connect will begin contacting
members in that area to sub
scribe. SRE members who sign
up for fiber internet service
while construction crews are
in the area will not pay a con
nection fee, regardless of the
distance from their house to the
road.
“The main thing everyone
wants to know is when fiber in
ternet service will be available
in their neighborhood. Although
we have an estimated timeline,
the actual start date depends
on when we finish the make-
ready engineering and construc
tion,” said Cook. “Right now, we
plan to start make-ready con
struction for the areas served
by the Tobesofkee substation
in late June or early July. While
we are still months away from
beginning the actual fiber con
struction, Connect anticipates
connecting the first customers
in Phase 1 this fall, barring any
weather events or other factors
that could delay make ready
and/or fiber construction.”
For regular updates on
construction progress, pre-reg
istration and installations, visit
conexonconnect.com/southern-
riversenergy or follow Southern
Rivers Energy and Connect,
Powered by SRE on Facebook.
Coweta
Spalding
Monroe
Meriwether
Upson
Crawford
©2021 THE HERALD GAZETTE, BARNESVILLE, LAMAR COUNTY, GA 30204, 770.358.NEWS