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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. Subscribe. Your name goes on the label in this box 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