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PIKE COUNTY VACCINE REPORT Find out about COVID-19 vaccine availability and how routine exercise can help you live longer. See page 7 A REPORTER ONE DOLLAR www.pikecountygeorgia.com WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2021 PIKE'S PEEK COVID-19 daimstwo more lives According to the Georgia Department of Public Health daily C0V1D-19 report, Pike increased to 18 deaths caused by the disease, 10 probable deaths, a total of 882 illnesses and 59 hospitalizations as of Jan. 31. There were 93 confirmed cases in the past two weeks, up five from 88 in the previous two week period. There were 26 students in the Pike County school system who had confirmed C0V1D-19 cases as of Jan. 29, including one in primary school, two in elementary school, 14 in middle school, four at the Ninth Grade Academy and five at the high school. There were a total of 280 students quarantined for illness or exposure and five adults quaran tined. Jobless rate increases to 5.3 percent The jobless rate for the Three Rivers region, which includes Pike County, increased by 0.1 % in December. The rate was 5.3% compared to 2.8% in December, 2019. Initial unemploy ment claims in Decem ber were up by 15% from November. In addition to La mar, the Three Rivers region includes Butts, Carroll, Coweta, Heard, Lamar, Meriwether, Spalding, Troup and Upson counties. Black History Month: Stories of hope, sacrifice As citizens celebrate Black History month across the nation, local heroes were honored for giving the ultimate sacri fice during World War I. See page 2A for the full story on the American Legion Post 197’s cel ebration of four black sol diers who volunteered to serve - and gave up their lives - in the first World War, including William E. Bankston, Green Black man, John G. McLendon and Ben L. Scott. “When World War 1 started, many African- Americans chose to prove their right to equality by serving their country,” said Post 197 commander Bryan Richardson. “More than 350,000 African- Americans served during World War 1. Roughly, 200,000 black troops were shipped overseas. With those sacrifices and many others, blacks have shaped the history of this nation. Recent history has been made as well as Reverend Raphael Warnock was sworn in Jan. 20 as the first black Senator from Georgia and Kamala Harris was sworn in to become the first black, south Asian and female to hold the office of Vice President of the United States of America. “This is a great day for Georgia and for our country. Today, my father, a veteran and son of south Georgia, would have been 104 years old,” said Warnock. “Our country’s first black, woman Vice President swore in his son, Georgia’s first black United States Senator. That this is even pos sible is a testament to the promise of our democ racy and the covenant we share with one another as Americans. At the same time, our nation faces mul tiple crises brought into sharper focus by a once in a century pandemic. Con gress must get to work immediately to overcome the challenges impacting the lives and livelihoods of Georgians, and people across the country.” SUBMITTED PHOTOS A group of citizens and Pick Up Pike members recently picked up a trailer full of trash along Reisboro Road and will meet again Feb. 6 or 13 at 10 am, depending on the weather, to finish the project. Other roads to be cleaned by the end of Febru ary include County Farm Road and Williamson-Zebulon Road. Find more at Pick Up Pike (PUP) on facebook. Group aims to clean county roads; help needed Join Pick Up Pike’s next Big Cleanup event this Saturday, Feb. 6 at 10 a.m. as volunteers gather to pick up trash along Reidsboro Road and encourage oth ers to pick up trash around their area of the county. In case of rain, the cleanup date will be moved to Saturday, Feb. 13 at 10 a.m. Members of the group cleaned up part of Reidsboro Road Jan. 23 with the help of volunteers, including Scout Troop 107. “Thank you, every one who participated to get so much cleaned up. While we were clean ing up Reidsboro Road, there were many others who were also cleaning up on many other roads in the county. Highway 18 and Shortcut Road were also cleaned up again and looks fantas tic,” said Blanche Rossi, Pick Up Pike coordina tor. “We want to finish Reidsboro Road and maybe others can con tinue to cleanup in their own neighborhoods too. Teachers and parents, please purposely dis cuss with your students and family members the importance of not littering. Many times people have not been taught not to litter and it becomes a horribly, bad habit. For those who would like to learn more, please join the PUP Facebook group.” See PICK UP PIKE page 3A One of the Pick Up Pike founders Walker Chandler (right), PUP coordinator Blanche Rossi (left) and PUP volunteer Linda Swet- mon are hoping citizens will work together to clean Pike County’s beautiful countryside in the coming weeks and years with events planned monthly and a Big Cleanup planned annually. Four Chaplains honored online on Feb. 7 A Four Chaplains Ob servance Day program hosted by Legion Family 197 will be celebrated online Sunday, Feb. 7. “One of the major programs that the Legion Family 197 conducts ev ery year in Pike County is the Four Chaplains Program which honors the four Army Chap lains of different faiths who gave the ultimate sacrifice in aiding and comforting fellow ship mates during the German sinking of the United States Army Transport (USAT) Dorchester dur ing WW11,” said Post 197 commander Bryan Richardson. “This is an important historical event in our nation’s history. This program honors the self less sacrifices of these four Chaplains as well as provides an example of man’s love for God. It also helps educate the community with the stories of these four chaplains.” The four Army Chap lains honored include Reverend George Fox, Rabbi Alexander Goode, Reverend Clark Poling and Father John Wash ington. See CHAPLAINS page 3A The Wednesday Market celebrates 10 year anniversary SUBMITTED PHOTO The Wednesday Market is celebrating 10 years. At left, Anna Evans, Brenda Fayard and Sharon Fox spent many hours volunteering at the market. Above, place orders online at WednesdayMarket.LocallyGrown.net and pick up freshly har vested and made items at 139 Adams Street in Zebulon. The Wednesday Mar ket in Zebulon recently celebrated 10 years of providing fresh fruit and produce as well as home made, baked and hand crafted items for citizens in Pike and neighboring communities. Items are listed at Wednesday Market.LocallyGrown.net and customers can place orders as early as Satur day, giving time for the items to be fresh picked or made by the following Wednesday and picked up at 139 Adams Street in Zebulon. On January 26, 2011, The Wednesday Market in Zebulon opened. Each week, the products on line are updated. “From the beginning of our creation, our pur pose was to provide the freshest, locally grown produce, fruit and good food available,” said Market volunteer Beverly Walter. “When we first began, we did not know whether the Market would succeed. In the beginning, we struggled to recruit farmers. We struggled to learn the software and technology that makes the Market work. We struggled to develop an accounting system that is necessary to facilitate the Market. We struggled to figure out how to market the Market. Through our early years, we kept plugging away at it all. This last year, 2020, was remarkable in many ways - some good, some not so good. COV1D shut us down for a while, but eventually, just like so many other businesses around the world, we adapted. We made new customers in the pro cess, too. The pandemic and interruptions to global supply chains affected us all. Suddenly, many consumers realized the importance of locally sourced goods, especial ly food!” The Wednesday Market promotes small, diverse, family-owned farms that contribute to society’s overall health. According to the organiz ers, the Market helps en hance the local economy by spending money with local citizens, save natu ral resources by reducing fossil fuel and packaging materials, provide learn ing opportunities about sustainable agriculture and support small farms and the rural way of life by helping locals earn an honest living. “Just as we have been for 10 years, we are open for orders. Please place your order by 10 p.m. Monday,” said Walter. “Orders are ready for pick up between 2 and 4 p.m. Wednesday. Our managers are volunteers, as we have been from day one. Without our teamwork and dedica tion, the Market simply would not happen. A few of us have ‘retired,’ but our founders’ vision persists today. We are grateful to our farmers and customers for your support and look forward to continuing to serve you!” The current Wednes day Market volunteers are Sharon Fox, Nelda Miller and Beverly Walter and Wednesday Market founders and retired vol unteers include Anna Ev ans, Brenda Fayard, Irma Wing and Betty Dean.