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PAINTINGS OF PIKE
See locations and scenes from Pike County’s
past brought to life through paintings of Keith
Edmondson all this month at the library.
See page 2A
PIKE COUNTY
JOURNAL REPORTER
ONE DOLLAR 1VAVAVA>11 ATOl'IilU'KM’fc■ EH«»li»■ WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11,2021
PIKE'S PEEK
COVID-19
cases high
in Pike
Confirmed COVID-19
cases in Pike soared
to 72 in the past two
weeks according to the
Georgia Department
of Public Health. The
numbers are rising
significantly as there
were 46 in the previ
ous two weeks and 36
cases in the two-week
period before that.
A total of 1,213 Pike
residents have had
COVID-19 since the
pandemic started and
there have been 29
deaths, 15 probable
deaths and 89 hospi
talizations.
Jerry Colwell,
Dee Parrott
pass away
Two well-known
Pike County residents
passed
away
this
week.
Jerry
Colwell
was a
lifelong
resident
of Pike
who was
an active
board
member
at Christ
Chapel
Com
munity
Church
and
owned several local
businesses.
Dee Parrott enjoyed
Pirates football and
baseball and support
ing local athletes and
families with a loving
hug and smile.
See obituatries on
page 7A.
JERRY
COLWELL
Qualifying for city seats underway soon
Qualifying for council
seats in Williamson, Ze-
bulon and Concord will
soon be underway.
The city of William
son will hold a general
election on Nov. 2 for
the Post 2 and Post 3
council seats. Qualify
ing for those posts will
be held from 8 a.m. to 4
p.m. Monday, Aug. 16 to
Tuesday, Aug. 17 at Wil
liamson City Hall.
The qualifying fee for
Williamson council seats
is $25 and the city clerk/
qualifying officer for
the city of Williamson is
Karen Brentlinger.
The city of Zebu-
Ion will hold a general
election Nov. 2 for the
District 1, Post 1 seat
currently held by William
Thomas and the District
2, Post 2 seat currently
held by incumbent An-
CITY
COUNCIL
thony Nalls.
Qualifying will be held
from 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon
and 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Aug. 16-18 at Zebulon
City Hall. The qualifying
fee for council seats if
$35.
The city of Concord
will hold a general elec
tion on Nov. 2 for mayor,
council seat Post 1 and
council Post 2. If needed,
a runoff election will be
held Tuesday, Nov. 30.
Candidates may
qualify for the positions
from Monday, Aug. 16 to
Wednesday, Aug. 18 in
the office of the city clerk
at Concord City Hall from
8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
each day.
The qualifying fees are
$18 for mayor and $9 for
council seats.
The last day for
citizens to register and
be eligible to vote in the
November general elec
tion is Oct. 4, 2021.
PHOTO BY RACHEL McDANIEL / PIKE COUNTY JOURNAL REPORTER
Quarterback Gage Lee completes a pass during a recent Pirates football practice. The team
will open their season at home this Friday against Whitewater with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m.
Pirates ready for Friday opener
BY RACHEL McDANIEL
news@pikecountygeorgia.com
The Pirates football
team is ready to hit the
gridiron in their first
home game this Friday
against Whitewater with
kickoff at 7:30 p.m.
“We are returning 17
seniors in total and eight
of them are returning
starters - Trenton Lackey
DB, Harrison Edge OLB,
Lautic Fordham LB, Jesse
Hammond LB, Wyatt Co
chran LB, Caleb Greene
OL, Jackson Jeffcoat OL,
Brody Sullivan DL,” said
head coach Brad Webber.
“The schedule to me is
the toughest AAA Region
in the state. It consists
of Peach County, Crisp
County, Mary Persons,
Upson Lee, Jackson, Cen
tral Macon and Americus.
Week in and week out
there are tough games.
You throw in our non
region games with Lamar
and Spalding and it is a
challenging schedule, but
I’m confident our boys
are up for the challenge.”
The team have been
working together since
December and competed
against each other in the
annual weight lifting and
combine competition
in April followed by the
start of spring practice.
The Pirates started
preseason workouts in
May and put in work four
days a week.
“We did five 7 on 7
passing games, and two
11 on 11 padded camps
this summer as well.
After the struggles last
year with Covid we have
finally been able to get
them in the weight room
on a regular basis and do
all the things necessary
for them to be success
ful,” said coach Web
ber. “It is a great group
chemistry wise, work
ethic wise and a number
of them played a lot of
football last year. I think
they have a chance to
be a really good football
team.”
See PIRATES page 2A
Pike Preservation needs
help solving local mystery
Location, info
on Rosenwald
Schools sought
For the 18th year,
Pike Historic Preserva
tion and a big group of
volunteers will host the
annual SlowExposures
Photography Festival in
Pike - an event during
the third weekend in
September that attracts
visitors from across the
country to see photog
raphy that celebrates
the rural South.
“This year, we are
reaching out to our com
munity to help us make
one of our events even
better - and solve a mys
tery,” said Chris Curry.
On Sept. 18 during
“Slow Weekend,” author
and photographer An
drew Feiler will visit Pike
to talk about his book “A
Better Life for Their Chil
dren: Julius Rosenwald,
Booker T. Washington,
and the 4,978 Schools
that Changed America.”
He traveled more than
25,000 miles photograph
ing 105 of the still-stand
ing Rosenwald Schools
that were built through
out the south in the
early 20th century for
the education of African-
American children. To
gether, Rosenwald (part
owner and president
of Sears, Roebuck) and
Washington (educator,
leader, and president of
the Tuskegee Institute)
created the project that
SPECIAL PHOTO
There were three Rosen
wald Schools in the county
in the past and Pike Preser
vation is hoping to find out
where they were located
and other info about them.
addressed the chronic
underfunding of schools
for black students.
The Rosenwald Fund
required local communi
ties to contribute match
ing funds in the form of
donated land, funds and
labor by African-Amer
ican communities and
that of white governing
bodies who committed
to funding the teachers
for the schools.
Pike had three Ros
enwald Schools - mod
est one and two-room
wooden buildings in
Concord (1929-30), Ze
bulon (1926-27) and one
known as Central School.
“We think it would be
great to find out some
thing about the schools
and include that as part
of the presentation to
honor our community’s
collaboration,” said
Curry. “We are asking
folks who have informa
tion about these three
schools to email us at
slowexposures@gmail.
com or call us at 770-
841-9268.”
Searching for invasive species, joining the pollinator census
and testing water samples at the Citizen Science Academy
BY BR00KLYNE WASSEL
Pike County Extension Agent
UGA Extension Pike
and Spalding Counties
hosted the inaugural
Citizen Science Academy
on June 23 at the UGA
Griffin Research and Edu
cation Garden. The event
sought to teach educa
tors and those passion
ate about science about
the incredible citizen sci
ence projects that are of
fered locally, state-wide,
and nationally. The pro
gram featured classroom
sessions which intro
duced different projects
in the morning including
Community Collabora
tive Rain, Hail, and Snow
Network (CoCoRaHS),
Invasive Species Moni
toring, Great Georgia
Pollinator Census and
Georgia Adopt-A-Stream.
Participants were able
to choose a project to
explore in depth for the
second half of the day.
Participants scouted and
PHOTOS COURTESY OF PIKE COUNTY EXTENSION
Above left, Morgan Hurkmans tests a water sample. Titration is the final step in the dissolved oxygen assay and it takes attention
to detail. Above right, Michelle and Heidi Walden search for invasive species in the UGA Griffin Research and Education Garden.
reported invasive species
on grounds with Spald
ing County Agent Philip
Hensley, practiced count
ing pollinators and build
ing native bee hotels with
Georgia School Garden
Coordinator Becky Griffin,
and became certified in
chemical monitoring with
Georgia Adopt-A-Stream
trainer Alexa Robinson.
This program hopes
to continue on an annual
basis as a way to inspire
and support citizen sci
ence, its mission, and its
community involvement.
See CITIZEN SCIENCE page 3A