Newspaper Page Text
CJ ready for SEC title game
Former Trojan standout now Bulldog CJ Allen is expected to start at inside linebacker Saturday when Georgia
takes on Alabama in the SEC Championship Game. Allen, a true freshman, had another solid game this past week
end as the Dawgs outlasted Georgia Tech 31-23 in Atlanta.
UGA is 12-0 and ranked #1. Allen has played in all 12 games.
The title game kicks off at 4 p.m. Saturday at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta. It will be televised nationally on
CBS.
barnesville.com
Barnesville, Ga. 30204
HERE’S THE
SCOOP
Letters to
Santa wanted
Santa’s helpers at the
The Herald Gazette want
to make sure your letters
get to the North Pole
before Christmas. Let
ters may be mailed to:
P.O. Box 220, Barnesville
30204, dropped off at
our office located at 509
Greenwood St., Barnes
ville or emailed: missy@
barnesville.com. Letters
will be published in the
Tuesday, Dec. 19 edition.
The deadline for letters
is 5 p.m., Friday, Dec. 8.
Help ‘Miss
Merle’ get 100
cards for her
100th birthday
WALTER GEIGER
news@barnesville.com
Merle Childs, the un
disputed queen of John-
stonville, will celebrate
SEE MISS MERLE 3B
Subscribe. Your name goes
on the label in this box
96852
78853
Barnesville gearing up for Christmas Parade
The Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree Parade
will be held in downtown Barnesville Dec. 9. The pa
rade began during the pandemic as a spirit booster
and has become very popular very quickly.
The parade will follow the usual Buggy Days and
homecoming parade route.
There will be judging for both floats and golf carts.
The top float will win $250 with second place get
ting $150 and third place getting $100. The first place
golf cart will win $120 with second place getting $75
and third place getting $50.
Staging will begin at the Gordon parking lots at 4
p.m. with preliminary judging beginning at 5 p.m. The
parade starts at 6:30 p.m.
Entry forms are available at city hall or by clicking
the parade ad on barnesville.com
For more information, call 770.358.2789.
Santa and Mrs. Claus led the ‘Christmas in Toyland’ parade through downtown Barnesville
last year.
PHOTO: DONNA FLOURNOY
High fives all around
Daxton Raines, 4 years old, gives Santa a high five at the annual Illumination Celebration November 22. His mom, Jeffreia Raines, brought him to see
Santa.
Southern Rivers Energy
Southern Rivers Ener
gy (SRE) hosted a Fiber
Network End of Build
Celebration on Oct. 26
at the Lamar County
Schools Fine Arts Center.
Guests in attendance
included SRE employees,
contractors and key
players who had a hand
in the execution of this
monumental project.
The fiber network
build has been a partner
ship between SRE and
rural fiber broadband
leader and internet ser
vice provider, Conexon
and Conexon Connect.
Aimed at providing all
members with high
speed fiber internet
service, SRE began con
struction in September
of 2021.
Remarks during the
program were made by
Michael McMillan, Presi
dent/CEO, SRE; Jonathan
Chambers, Partner,
Conexon; Representa
tive Beth Camp, 135th
District; John Gilmore,
Construction Project
Director, Conexon; Dr.
Robert Griffin, Super
intendent, Meriwether
County Schools; Erin
Cook, Manager, Member
Services and External
Affairs, SRE; and Stephen
Goodman, Board Chair
man, SRE.
The celebration high
lighted several accom
plishments throughout
the project. In a mere 25
months, crews con
structed 1,914 miles of
fiber. To date, there are
7,730 installs completed
and 343 installs pending.
Connect, powered by
Southern Rivers Energy
fiber internet is avail
able to each and every
member in SRE’s electric
service territory, regard
less of how remote their
home may be. The 40
percent penetration rate
has exceeded the 32
percent take-rate used in
the business model and
the partners expect it to
continue increasing in
the coming months.
“Over the past sev
eral years, countless an
nouncements have been
made about broadband
funding and broadband
construction. There
are far fewer announce
ments of the sort we are
making today — comple
tion of a fiber optic net
work to all members of
an electric cooperative,”
said Conexon Partner
Jonathan Chambers.
“Southern Rivers Energy
is the new gold stan
dard for broadband — a
fiber optic network built
for the electric coop’s
smart grid applications
with sufficient capacity
to ensure world class,
multi-gigabit symmetri
cal service available to
all, completed on time
celebrates end of fiber network build
Pictured are Lamar County Commission Chair Ryran Traylor (left) and Monroe County
Commission Chair Greg Tapley (right).
and under budget.
Michael McMillan,
President/CEO of South
ern Rivers Energy said,
“Our journey towards
this milestone has been
one filled with dedica
tion, collaboration, and
unwavering commitment
to serving the needs of
our community. When
we embarked on this
project, we knew it
would be a significant
undertaking, but we also
knew it was a necessary
step towards a brighter
future for our members.”
The Lamar County
Commission, Monroe
County Commission
and the Monroe County
Board of Education
contributed a total of
$630,000 towards the
project. Southern Rivers
Energy was also awarded
a $15.4 million Broad
band Infrastructure
grant through the Ameri
can Rescue Plan Act
(ARPA) in February 2022.
SRE used this additional
funding combined with
a low-interest long-term
loan from USDA Rural
Utilities Services to fund
the $53 million endeavor.
In another state
ment by McMillan, he
said, “Today, we can
proudly say that we
have achieved what we
set out to do thanks to
our partnership with
Conexon. We now have
a state-of-the-art, high
speed, and reliable
broadband network that
will transform how we
live, work, and connect.
In addition to all of that,
it’s also affordable! This
network will not only en
hance our quality of life
but also foster economic
growth, educational op
portunities, and techno
logical innovation within
our region.”
Contractor partners
included Conexon, Con
exon Connect, Every
thing Construction, Er
vin Cable Construction,
Gresco Utilities, Harpers
Tree Service, Kennedy
Broadband, LLC., Mas-
Tec, Inc., Osmose Utili
ties Service, Power Grid
Services, Sumter Utilities
and Vonalas, Inc.
©2023 THE HERALD GAZETTE, BARNESVILLE, LAMAR COUNTY, GA 30204, 770.358.NEWS