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ONE DOLLAR
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2021
PIKE
COUNTY
SHOWDOWN!
Local FFA Livestock Show Team
members win big at recent events.
See page 7 A
Helen
Mangham
dies at 105
Helen Mangham, a
lifelong Pike resident
and the oldest sibling
of the Guinness World
Records
Oldest
Five
Siblings
in the
World,
passed
away
at 105 years old. She
lived in the Lifsey
Springs area for almost
her entire life and
passed away at her
home Feb. 19.
Funeral services
were held Monday Feb.
22 at Beulah Baptish
Church where Flelen
was a member and
worked for many years
as director of the Sun
day school program.
See her full obituary
on page 5A.
Teen Summit
set for Feb. 27
February is Teen
Dating Violence Aware
ness month. Studies
show one in three high
school students expe
rience either physical
or sexual violence,
or both, that is per
petrated by someone
they are dating or
going out with. During
February’s Teen Dating
Violence Awareness
Month, Promise Place
has partnered with
the national campaign
of Love Is Respect to
promote teen dating
violence awareness.
The 2021 Teen Sum
mit’s theme, “#lthing,”
will encourage teens to
engage in and maintain
healthy relationships.
The summit will be
held virtually on Sat
urday, Feb. 27 on the
HOPIN Platform from
11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Visit Promise Place
at promiseplace.org
for more information.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF BIG MACHINE
Local teen Callista Clark recently released her first album and it’s already receiving glowing
reviews. To find out more and purchase CDs and merchandise, go to CallistaClark.com.
Local teen releases first album
BY RACHEL McDANIEL
news@pikecountygeorgia.com
Talented Pike County musician Cal
lista Clark recently released her debut
album Real To Me and her original
songs are already gaining media at
tention across the globe. The Journal
Reporter caught up with the 17-year-old
musician just as she finished an online
interview with a UK media outlet.
“The response, especially from the
local community, has really been awe
some,” she said. “Everyone has sup
ported me for a long time and 1 know a
lot of people have been waiting for me
to release an album.”
Real to Me includes five songs
released through Big Machine Records
that Callista produced with Nathan
Chapman and penned in Nashville with
renowned writers Jonathan Singleton,
Chris DeStefano, Liz Rose, Laura Veltz
and others.
“It’s pretty incredible that 1 got to
work with some of the top songwriters
in Nashville. I’m so glad they took a
chance on me when 1 am a young musi
cian and writing with them was some
of my first co-writes,” she said. “These
are still some of our favorite songs and
the ones we knew we wanted to put out
first.”
Callista said the first song she ever
wrote was in fifth grade and it started
out as a poem for a poetry contest.
“It was called Wildfire and when my
mom read it, she said this needs to be a
Callista Clark, 17, recently released her first
CD of original songs she helped write.
song. So my mom was the first person 1
ever co-wrote with,” she said.
To purchase Real To Me on CD or
other merchandise, go to CallistaClark.
com. Callista co-wrote each song
including her first single It’s Cause 1
Am, Heartbreak Song, Change My Mind,
Don’t Need It Anymore and the title
track Real To Me.
See ALBUM page 2A
Over 1.7 million
vacdnes given
COVID-19
deaths in Pike
rise to 21
Another Pike citizen
has died due to CO
VID-19 but the number
of confirmed cases in
the county has dropped
for the fourth week in
a row. There were 41
confirmed cases in Pike
over the past two weeks,
compared to 67,86 and
93 in the previous two-
week periods.
There have been a
total of 965 confirmed
cases in Pike since
the pandemic started,
causing 21 deaths with
10 probable deaths and
62 hospitalizations ac
cording to the Georgia
Department of Public
Health as of Feb. 22.
According to the
GDPH, 1,750,686 vac
cines had been dis
tributed as of Monday
morning, including 988
in Pike County.
To schedule a CO
VID-19 vaccination
through District 4 Public
Health (which includes
the Pike County Health
Department), call 762-
888-8180 between 8
a.m. and 5 p.m. Vaccine
recipients must either
be medical workers or
first responders, people
aged 65 or older or their
caregivers or people 16
to 64 with underlying
health conditions which
increase the risk of life-
threatening complica
tions from the disease.
Free drive-thru COV
ID-19 testing is offered ev
ery other Friday from 10
a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Pike
County Health Depart
ment. Pre-registration is
recommended at makeo.
exchange/scheduler/
registration/?location=
2434.
Pike students started
back this week after
winter break last week
so there are no new
COVID-19 numbers from
the school system.
School board
District 1 seat open
after Edge resigns
Board of education
District 1 member and
chairman Ryan Edge re
signed from his seat re
cently, leaving an open
seat for his district. He
was arrested
Jan. 5 by the GB1
on six counts of
felony theft by
deception while
working at The
Southern Credit
Union in Griffin
for the alleged
theft of funds dur
ing loan processing.
The board of educa
tion is currently accept
ing letters of interest
from individuals who
want to be considered
for the vacant District
1 seat and they must
be submitted by 4 p.m.
Feb. 25 to the Pike
County board of educa
tion office at 16 Jackson
Street, Zebulon, GA. To
be eligible for appoint
ment, candidates must
be a resident of Pike
County for at
least 12 months
and reside
within District
1 and be a
qualified voter.
Candidates for
the position
may not be
employed on
the governing board
of any private educa
tion institution or be
employed by the Pike
County school system
or the Georgia Depart
ment of Education.
The citizen appoint-
See EDGE page 3A
RYAN EDGE
VA Center construction delayed by rain, still set to open 2022
BY RACHEL McDANIEL
news@pikecountygeorgia.com
Pike County’s VA center
has been delayed by rains
but construction is still ex
pected to be finished in time
for the center to provide
services for veterans in the
first quarter of 2022.
“The United States De
partment of Veterans Affairs’
new Community Based Out
reach Clinic in Pike County
is scheduled to open in
2022, bringing much needed
access to VA Health Care in
our area,” said Rob Johnson,
Georgia Department of Veter
ans Services office manager
in Griffin. “We are excited
and very grateful, as I’m sure
you are, to have this facil
ity opening soon in support
of all of the veterans and
their families who have been
underserved for so long.
I’d like to personally thank
everyone in Pike County
for working so diligently to
make this medical facility
become a reality.”
The Griffin office of the
Georgia Department of
Veterans Services recently
released statistics from Fis
cal Year 2019, showing that
there were 1,316 veterans in
Pike County with a total of
$6,686,000 in compensation
and pensions for the year.
The report states that
there were 690,726 veterans
in Georgia in 2019, includ
ing 2,055 in Upson, 4,619 in
Spalding, 9,912 in Fayette,
1,624 in Butts, 464 in Talbot
and 19,918 in Henry coun
ties. The total compensation
and pensions for veterans
in Georgia in 2019 was
$4,383,902,000.
“Our mission is to serve
Georgia veterans, their
dependents and survivors
in all matters pertaining
to veterans’ benefits,” said
Johnson. “Many of our
clients encounter numerous
and complex problems relat
ing to veterans benefits. The
Griffin Veteran Service Office
continues to be instrumental
in assisting recipients in our
area to receive $295,325,000
in direct VA monetary pay
ments from Compensation
and Pension with a Total
Expenditure in our area of
$369,812,000.”
PHOTO BY RACHEL McDANIEL / PIKE COUNTY JOURNAL REPORTER
The front parking lot of the new VA Center on Highway 19 north was flooded last week
after several rainy days but work continued inside the structure. Construction should
be complete in time for the first veterans to get care at the clinic in the first quarter of
2022. According to recent information from the Department of Veterans Affairs, there
were 1,316 veterans living in Pike County in 2019, with many more in the surrounding
counties who will travel to Pike for the VA services offered here.
