Newspaper Page Text
Tuesday, June 1,2021
barnesville.com
Barnesville, Ga. 30204
HERE’S THE
SCOOP
Troop 38
celebrates
75th birthday
Boy Scout Troop 38 of
Barnesville celebrated 75
years of scouting earlier
this year but the mile
stone was not celebrated
due to weather and
COV1D. That changes
Saturday, June 5 with a
party and reunion from
10 a.m.-2 p.m.
The event will be held
at the Scout Hut in Aldo-
ra Park behind the new
high school. It will be the
last event at the hut due
to the school system tak
ing over the park for an
athletics/ROTC complex.
The celebration will
include bagpipes, a
flag raising, a court of
honor and an address by
scout executive Robert
Johnson. Lunch will be
provided by Aldora Meth
odist Church where the
troop is moving tempo
rarily.
A flag retirement cer
emony, held in conjunc
tion with the VFW, will be
held at 1 p.m.
Jobless
rate down
in April
The adjusted jobless
rate for the Three Rivers
region, which includes
Lamar County, dropped
by 0.3% in April. The rate
was 3.7% compared to
13.2% after COV1D hit in
April, 2020.
Initial unemploy
ment claims in April
were down by 17% from
March, 2021.
In addition to Lamar,
the Three Rivers region
includes Butts, Carroll,
Coweta, Heard, Pike,
Meriwether, Spalding,
Troup and Upson coun
ties.
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Warrant: Gordon coach allegedly stole $36,000
WALTER GEIGER
news@barnesville.com
Investigators with the Lamar
County sheriff’s office have
taken out a warrant for a former
Gordon State College football
coach for theft by conversion.
Lt. Chad Payne sought the war
rant against 37-year-old Bran
don Riley Carter who was to
serve as head coach the fledg
ling GSC club team.
As reported here in
January, Carter was
suspected of stealing
athletic fees paid by
players who had aspi
rations of playing on
the team.
The warrant, signed
by chief magistrate
Paul Kunst, alleges
Carter stole $36,000 in fees.
Much of the money
was paid through
online cash apps and
Carter converted those
funds for his own use,
according to the war
rant. Carter reportedly
had a criminal record
when hired by the
CARTER school. Once the al
legations came to light,
he was terminated.
Carter, whose last known
address is 428 Bell Flower Trail
in Locust Grove, has not been
located since the warrants were
signed May 17 and is consid
ered a fugitive.
The Highlander’s fall season
was postponed by COV1D. The
team played an abbreviated
schedule this spring and went
2-3.
Child
PHOTO NIKI SAPPINGT0N
Actors and crew work in the ‘rain’ on Market Street for an upcoming film titled ‘Gabriel’s Rapture on Friday, May 28.
Late night filming in Barnesville
A crew of 60 was on hand
in downtown Barnesville
overnight Friday to film a
scene from the upcoming film
‘Gabriel’s Rapture.’ Special
effects crews worked with
the fire department to create
rain on Market Street though
much-need real rain rolled in
as well.
The film is based on the
book of the same name by
Sylvain Reynard. Interestingly,
the director, who was in town
for the shoot, is Tosca Musk,
sister of Elon Musk, founder
of Tesla and SpaceX. She and
her crew were impressed with
Barnesville and could bring
more film projects here in the
future.
among
injured in
fatal crash
WALTER GEIGER
news@barnesville.com
An eight-year-old girl was
among three people injured
in an early morning all-terrain
vehicle crash on Steele Road
near Milner May 26 that
proved fatal for the operator
of the ATV.
According to a preliminary
report from the Georgia State
Patrol, 44-year-old Brian Wal
lace of Milner was driving
a 2019 Polaris northbound
on Steele Road when he lost
control at about 2:15 a.m. The
ATV ran off the west side of
the roadway. The front left
corner of the Polaris hit a tree
and the ATV overturned.
Wallace was partially
ejected and suffered serious
injuries. He had to be resus
citated at the scene. He was
taken by ambulance to Spald
ing Regional Hospital and
later lifeflighted to the trauma
unit at Atlanta Medical Center
where he died May 28.
Two passengers in the
ATV were also injured and
taken to Spalding Regional
with relatively minor inju
ries. They were identified as
Kelli Screven, 38, and Abigail
Screven, 8, both of Milner ad
dresses.
The ATV hit the tree right
in front of a residence at 325
Steele Road. First responders
reported there were alcoholic
beverage containers among
the wreckage at the scene.
Monitor barnesville.com
for updates to this story.
Rev./Dr. John Todd Shipp:
man of God, lover of kids
Dr. Todd Shipp, pictured with his wife Dr. Debra Shipp, was feted upon his
retirement from the Lamar County school system.
KAV S. PEDR0TTI
kayspedrotti@gmail.com
Last week’s Monday retire
ment party for Dr. Todd Shipp,
leaving the Lamar County
school system after 20 years,
was more than just that. It was
also an outpouring of love for
a gentleman scholar who has
been described many times by
students as “the one who cares
the most about us.”
Shipp has that vibe wherever
he is, whoever he’s with: I care
about you. He can’t help it, he
says; God is such an integral
part of his life that being kind
and caring comes naturally. The
pastor who closed the retire
ment festivities said of Shipp
that he “displays love in all
aspects of his life.” After the
party, Shipp spoke to The Her
ald Gazette about his philoso
phies and experiences.
When asked whether he liter
ally saved the lives of eight chil
dren, he said that did happen:
five at the elementary school
and three at the high school
were choking on their food dur
ing lunch. He said he performed
the Heimlich maneuver on them
successfully, and “people would
ask how I knew that child was
in trouble -1 pay attention,
and 1 believe God gives me
those times when 1 can observe
closely enough to be a help.”
Speakers at the party had
various comments and descrip
tions: Dr. Julie Steele, former
LCMS principal - “When you
speak, people listen ... and oh
what a difference you made in
our lives.” Dr. David Boland,
LCHS principal - “1 talked to
10 people about you, and nine
said immediately, ‘1 love that
man,’ and the other said ‘tell
him thank you.’ We appreciate
you so much.” Diane Harvey,
who began working in Lamar
schools with Shipp 19 years ago
- “He received the Milliken Fam
ily Foundation National Educa
tor Award, the very top honor
for educators in the country.”
A former teacher sent a mes
sage saying, “He cared about
those kids, every one of them,
even the ones you have to pray
over a lot.”
Shipp pastors a church
called Synergy in Macon,
where he lives with his wife of
28 years, Dr. Debra Shipp. A
calling to “spread the Gospel”
first came to him when he was
12 years old, he added, “and
1 fought it.” He finally got the
message loud and clear in
2002 and entered into what he
called (after the title of a book
he read) “the burdensome joy
of preaching.” He gave his first
sermon at St. Paul AME Church
in Macon under Rev. Terence R.
Gray.
Whether spiritually, aca
demically, or just in general, he
said, “You have to meet people
where they are. And then help
them.” Dr. Shipp and Dr. Debra
are “dedicated tithers” who
use their blessings to bless
others, like the 500-600 people
who were living in several
rundown motels because they
didn’t have enough money to
live anywhere else. “We gave
them food, clothing and other
needed things; we witnessed to
them about the gospel of Jesus
Christ, but we never once asked
them to join the church.”
Growing up, Shipp said, a
teacher condemned him to a
life of low skills because he has
dyslexia. He and his parents
refused to listen. Now Dr. John
Todd Shipp has a Bachelor
of Arts degree from Western
Kentucky University, Master of
Science from Fort Valley State
University, L-5 Certificate from
Georgia College and State
SEE MAN OF GOD 2A
©2021 THE HERALD GAZETTE, BARNESVILLE, LAMAR COUNTY, GA 30204, 770.358.NEWS