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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, 2021 WORLD SERIES BOUND The Pike County 14U All Stars and 6U All Stars will play in the USSSA World Series tournament in Louisiana this summer. See page 2A PIKE'S PEEK Concord's kids parade set for July 3 Concord’s Indepen dence Day Children’s Parade is set for Saturday, July 3, start ing at 10 a.m. Riders of all ages are invited to participate and are encouraged to wear red, white and blue as they ride bikes, trikes, skateboards, skates, wagons or any non- motorized vehicles in the parade. Pets are welcome as well. Refreshments will be served at the city park pavilion as the prizes are awarded. Participants are asked to line up at the Con cord Cafe at 9:45 a.m. behind the fire truck. New council members in Molena; ice cream social The city of Molena will not need a spe cial election after two citizens qualified for the two open council posts. Andrea Ashby will be the council member for Post 3 and Luis Vazquez Sr. will be the council mem ber for Post 4. The Molena Civic Club and city are working together to provide social events during the summer. “We have an ice cream social coming up July 1 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. hosted by the Molena Civic Club and the city is trying to arrange for a flag retirement ceremony,” said Molena city clerk Tina Lee. “Covid put a stop to our city’s social events and we really want to just draw the community back together.” SPECIAL PHOTO The Oak Ridge Boys will perform for the Celebrate America event set for this Saturday, June 26 at Christ Chapel along with Jason Hoard. All are invited to enjoy free inflatables and fireworks. Concerts, fireworks this Saturday The Oak Ridge Boys will bring their high- energy stage show to Zebulon on Saturday, June 26 at Christ Chapel as they perform classic gospel, country and pa triotic music outside the church for the Celebrate America event. Jason Hoard will also perform live music. The fun and festivities will start at 5 p.m. with water slides, inflatables and games for kids as well as food trucks and vendors. Everyone is encouraged to bring chairs and enjoy the show, the fun and the fireworks at dark. “The concert is going to be phenomenal. We want people to know that even though this is at Christ Chapel, this is a community event be cause that’s what Christ Chapel is all about,” said Chad Loyd. “You don’t have to go to our church, we just want to pull together as a community and celebrate America!” The Oak Ridge Boys’ hits include the pop chart-topper El vira, as well as Bobbie Sue, Dream On, Thank God For Kids, American Made, I Guess It Never Hurts To Hurt Some times, Fancy Free, Y’All Come Back Saloon and many others. They’ve scored 12 gold, three platinum and one double platinum album, plus one double platinum single and more than a dozen national Number One singles and more than 30 Top Ten hits. Parking will be in the large field across Old Zebulon Road from the church and no drugs, alcohol or tobacco is allowed. The concerts, fireworks and kids en tertainment are free but participants may want to bring cash to spend at the food trucks and vendors or for Celebrate America t-shirts that will be for sale. “We’re just trying to bring some normality back after the pandemic. We want to continue to give back to our commu nity and show them the love. We are trying to be the light for our commu nity,” said Loyd. “With everything that’s been going on, we want people to know that the love of Jesus still brings hope and changes lives.” PHOTOS BY JOHN ELLIS Members of Boy Scout Troop 37 and Troop 465 ceremonially retire American flags during the special Flag Day program hosted by American Legion Post 197 on June 14. Used and worn American flags may be placed in a drop box outside the Post 197 facility on Old Meansville Road. Flag Day program, retirement ceremony retires record 506 flags The Pike County American Legion Family 197’s special flag retire ment ceremony in honor of Flag Day retired a record number of flags with more than 500 American flags ceremoni ally retired. “When we look at our flag and pay it our utmost respect, we know there is much represent ed within that flag. We know that respect and honor towards our Flag is done not just today, but every day, because what the flag represents is not just a one day affair,” said Post 197 commander Bryan Richardson. “The American flag is the most recognized symbol of freedom and democracy in the world. And every day around the world to include within our own borders, we as a nation are being tested. We must be conscious of what our freedoms are, what a democracy is, and finally practice, protect and defend these ideals.” American Legion Post 197 commander Bryan Richard son shares the importance of the American flag. The ceremony includ ing the posting of the colors, the Pledge of Allegiance led by Scout Gryce Paslie, the read ing of Ragged Old Flag, prayers and the playing of Taps in honor of those who died defending the flag, nation and Ameri ca’s freedoms. The multi- organizational Color Guard consisted of U.S. Army SFC Stephen Ponce, SFC Eric Loving and SSG Jonathon Hansen, Legion Family members Stephen Golias, Stefan Huckaby, Melissa Patten and Jason Patten, Troop 37 Scout Elijah Mobley and Troop 465 Scout Lianna Rhodes. “We have been present ed with these flags of our country which have been inspected and judged as unserviceable. They have reached their present state in a proper service of tribute, memory and love,” said Richardson. “A flag may be a flimsy bit of printed gauze or a beauti ful banner of finest silk. The intrinsic value may be trifling or great; but its real value is beyond price, for it is a precious symbol of all that our brothers and sisters at arms have worked for and lived for, and died for - a free nation of free men and women, true to the faith of the past, devoted to ideals and practice of justice, freedom and democracy.” See FLAG page 2A Voter IDs are free at elections office BY RACHEL McDANIEL news@pikecountygeorgia.com Pike County elections supervisor Lynn Vick ers wants all citizens to know that the elections office is able to make free IDs for those who do not have a driver’s license and the Depart ment of Drivers Ser vices offers the same service as well. “As part of Senate Bill 202, citizens will need to have a Voter ID or govern ment-is sued photo ID for in- person vot ing,” said Vickers. Citizens applying for a Voter ID will need to take their birth certificate and a piece of mail showing their address (such as a utility bill or other bill) to the elections office at 81 Jackson Street in Zebulon. The process takes around 20 min utes to put all the infor mation in the system, take a photo and print out a temporary Voter ID. A hard copy of the Voter ID will be mailed to the resident’s home. Vickers noted that Georgia election law requires voters to show one of six forms of photo identification in order to vote in per son. Those six forms of ID include a Georgia driver’s license (even if it is expired), any valid state or federal govern ment-issued photo ID (including the free Voter ID card offered by the DDS and county elec tions offices), a valid U.S. passport, a valid employee photo ID from any branch, depart ment, agency or entity of the U.S. government, Georgia or any county, municipality, board, au thority or any other en tity of the state, a valid U.S. military photo ID or a valid tribal photo ID. She said that those taking ad vantage of absentee vot ing will need to include their driver’s license num ber or Voter ID number and their birthday in order to vote via absentee ballot. She said there are other changes due to the law as well. “One thing that con cerns me is I can’t send out courtesy absentee application mail like I used to for the elderly and disabled every year,” she said. “They will have to request it themselves and once we receive their ap plication, they will get absentee ballots for one year only. I just don’t want any voters expect ing to get their absentee application and it never arrives.” Vickers also remind ed voters that the ballot drop box will be inside the office and open only during the early voting hours. For more on ID re quirements and obtaining a free Voter ID, call the Pike office of elections at 770-567-2003 or go to sos. ga.gov/elections. SPECIAL PHOTO Voter IDs are now being offered at the elections office in Zebulon. Pike’s Chris DeMarco promoted with GBI The Georgia Bureau of Investigation an nounces the promotion of Pike County’s Chris DeMarco to Special Agent in Charge of the GBI Region 5 Field Office in Statesboro, GA. SAC DeMarco will supervise the agents as signed to the work unit and will oversee the administration of criminal investiga tions and the daily oper ations of the office. The Region 5 office serves 10 counties in southeast Georgia. SAC DeMarco began his career with the GBI as a Narcotics Agent in 2001, assigned to the State Drug Task Force where he worked state wide as an undercover agent. In 2002, he was promoted to Special Agent and assigned as a task force agent at the Atlanta High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), a federally funded multi-agency drug task force, inves tigating drug trafficking organizations. In 2005, he was assigned to the GBI Region 2 Field Office in Greenville, currently located in Columbus, GA. In 2008, he returned to Atlanta HIDTA as a task force agent until 2014 when he was promoted to Assistant Special Agent in Charge of Region 2. In 2018, he was assigned to the Georgia Informa tion Sharing and Analysis Cen ter (GISAC) in Atlanta, and de tached to the FBI to serve as the Deputy Com mander of the Transnational Organized Crime Task Force at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlan ta International Airport, where he served until his promotion to SAC. He holds an associ ate of science degree in criminal justice from Georgia Military College, a bachelor of science degree in criminology from Saint Leo University and a master of public safety administration degree from Columbus State University. He is also a graduate of the Georgia Law Enforcement Com mand College, the DEA Leadership Develop ment Program, and the 277th session of the FBI National Academy. SAC DeMarco has been a P.O.S.T. certified instruc tor since 2008. See DEMARCO page 2A CHRIS DEMARCO