Newspaper Page Text
! HAMMERIN’ HANK!
Read a timely tribute to the late Hall of Famer
and Braves baseball legend Hank Aaron.
See page 4A
PIKE COUNTY
JOURNAL REPO
ONE DOLLAR
www.pikecountygeorgia.com
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2021
Two special
elections
planned for
March 16
Pike County will
have two special elec
tions in March to fill
council member seats
in the cities of Molena
and Williamson.
Those desiring to
run for the Molena
Council Post 3 seat
may qualify Monday,
Feb. 1 to Wednesday,
Feb. 3 from 8:30 a.m.
to 3:30 p.m. at Molena
City Hall, 10 Spring
Road. The qualifying
fee is $9.
Qualifying for
candidates for the Wil
liamson Post 2 council
member position to fill
the unexpired term of
Melissa Kelsey will be
held from Wednesday,
Feb. 17 to Friday, Feb.
19 at Williamson City
Hall from 8 a.m. to 4
p.m. with the office
closing for lunch from
noon to 1 p.m. The
qualifying fee is $25.
Residents of the Mo
lena and Williamson
districts may cast their
ballots at Molena City
Hall and Williamson
City Hall from 7 a.m. to
7 p.m. on election day
Tuesday, March 16.
The last day for a
person to register and
be eligible to vote in
the March Special Elec
tion and Runoff Elec
tion is Feb. 16, 2021.
Other local elec
tions will be held on
Tuesday, Nov. 2 with
qualifying information
in a future edition of
the Pike County Jour
nal Reporter. The last
day to register and be
eligible to vote in the
Nov. 2 general election
is Monday, Oct. 4.
PHOTOS BY RACHEL McDANIEL / PIKE COUNTY JOURNAL REPORTER
A COVID-19 vaccine clinic was held Jan. 19 in Pike and 150 vaccines were administered to area residents who will get a
second dose of the vaccine in coming weeks. Members of the Department of Public Health, EMA and EMS volunteers as well
as medical reserve corps volunteers and sheriff’s office personnel worked together to make the clinic a success. As of press
time Monday, no more vaccine appointments are being made in District 4 at this time due to a shortage of vaccine. That
shortage will not impact those who got the first dose of the vaccine and they will be contacted soon about their second shot.
First vaccine clinic held in Pike
BY RACHEL McDANIEL
news@pikecountygeorgia.com
A total of 150 citizens
received the COV1D-19
vaccine at the first vac
cine clinic held in Pike
County on Tuesday, Jan.
19.
Citizens in the Phase
1A group lined up in
their cars at the Christ
Chapel building to fill
out paperwork and then
pulled around to get the
vaccine from Department
of Public Health nurses.
The 150 citizens who got
the first shot will get the
second part of the shot
at a future vaccine clinic
in Pike.
“It went great for the
first time doing this,”
said Pike County EMA di
rector Jimmy Totten. “Ev
erything ran smoothly all
day and the Department
of Public Health was able
to give 150 vaccines to
people from Pike and
surrounding counties.
We got a lot of compli
ments from people about
how well organized and
how quickly the line
went.”
Hayla Folden of
District 4 Public Health
- which includes Pike
County - encouraged
people to continue to fol
low safety precautions.
“For people who have
been unable to get a
COV1D-19 vaccine and
for people who have
only had one of their two
vaccine shots - please
continue to wear a mask,
maintain a physical
distance of at least 6 feet,
and wash your hands
with soap and water,”
she said. “We will contin
ue to schedule appoint
ments as we receive the
vaccine.”
The followup vac
cine clinic has not been
scheduled yet.
Angela Farr of the Pike
Health Department said
the county’s first vaccine
clinic went well.
“It went really awe
some. We had such good
help and that’s what
made it flow so smooth
ly,” she said. “We’d like
to thank Christ Chapel
for use of their property,
the county for putting up
our tent, our volunteers
who went through the
medical reserve corps to
help out as well as Pike’s
EMA and EMS and sher
iff’s office for stepping
up to help the health
department employees.”
The COVID-19 vac
cine is still only available
for people in Phase 1A
which includes health
care workers in a clinical
setting, staff and resi
dents of long-term care
facilities, all law enforce
ment and fire personnel
and adults 65 and older
and their caregivers as
applicable. The District
4 Public Health facebook
page announced Jan. 21
that the vaccine appoint
ment line was closed
until further notice.
See VACCINE page 3A
Marsha Landers (above) and Brian Hammock (below) get
the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine from nurse Laura
Rogers of the District 4 Department of Public Health.
V’‘*'~rtrrf/7r
COVID-19
cases in
Pike drop
The number of posi
tive COV1D-19 cases in
Pike dropped significantly
from the previous two
weeks, down to 88, com
pared to 109 for the previ
ous two weeks and 142
before that. As of press
time Monday, there were
no additional deaths, with
a total of 837 cases since
March, 16 deaths, 10
probable deaths and 59
hospitalizations accord
ing to the Georgia Depart
ment of Public Health.
As of press time, the
number of COV1D-19 pos
itive cases in the school
system had increased to
21 students from 17 in
the previous two weeks
and decreased to 3 adults
from 10 in the previous
two weeks. The number
of quarantined students
increased 217 to 337 and
the number of quaran
tined adults decreased
from 11 to 5.
Early
voting
ongoing
Early voting is ongo
ing for the Feb. 9 election
for District Attorney of
the Griffin Judicial Circuit
which includes Pike, Spald
ing, Upson and Fayette
counties. In the first week
of early voting, 236 Pike
citizens cast their ballots.
“Local elections are
very important,” said
election supervisor Lynn
Vickers. “Please come
out and vote!”
Early voting will contin
ue on week days through
Feb. 5 from 9 a.m. to 4
p.m. at the elections office
in Zebulon on Jackson
Street. Citizens may also
cast their ballots from 7
a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election
Day Tuesday, Feb. 9.
Republican candidate
Marie Broder is currently
District Attorney and
prior to that served as
Assistant DA. She was ap
pointed to fill a vacancy
left when former DA Ben
Coker became a Superior
Court Judge.
Democratic candidate
Rev. Dexter Winbush
is a private attorney in
criminal and civil litiga
tion and practices law in
Fayetteville and Griffin.
Ralph McCrary named Citizen of the Year by Zebulon council
The Zebulon City Coun
cil recently honored Ralph
McCrary as the Citizen of
the Year for 2020. He has
been employed with the
City of Zebulon for 35 years,
having worked in both the
Water/Wastewater Depart
ment and the Public Works
Department. Ralph is a
native of Zebulon, having
lived in the community his
entire life. He attended Pike
County schools, includ
ing the building that now
houses Zebulon City Hall.
“He has selflessly served
his community over the
years, having earned the
respect of the citizens of
Zebulon as well as his co
workers,” said city admin
istrator Larry Mitcham. “He
has gone above and beyond
by volunteering in the com
munity along with making
himself available to assist
anyone who might need his
help. Some of his volunteer
activities include delivering
breakfast to the elderly and
shut ins on the third Sunday
of every month and driving
citizens to doctor appoint
ments. He also takes the
time to assist citizens with
small things around their
home if they are unable to
do it themselves.”
Ralph and his wife Bren
da are members of Mount
Hope Baptist Church and
are proud to call Zebulon
their home. He was honored
with the Citizen of the Year
proclamation and a key to
the city during the Dec. 8
council meeting.
See RALPH page 3A
SUBMITTED
PHOTO
At left, Zeb
ulon mayor
Joe Walter
presents
Ralph Mc
Crary with
the 2020
Citizen of
the Year
certificate
as well as
a key to
the city of
Zebulon. He
has served
with the city
in various
depart
ments for
35 years
and volun
teers in the
community
as well.
