Newspaper Page Text
'Happy, Hew *\ear!
'
PIKE COUNTY
REPORTER
ONE DOLLAR
www.pikecountygeorgia.com
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2021
PIKE'S PEEK
COVID-19
cases spike
Just before Christ
mas, COVID-19 cases
rose to 34 over the
past two weeks ac
cording to the Georgia
Department of Public
Health on Dec. 23. That
was up from the 19
over the previous two
week period but con
siderably down from
216 over the first two
weeks of September.
In 2021, C0V1D
deaths increased from
14 in January to 52 last
week. The total num
ber of cases went from
674 in January to 1,938
and from 50 hospital
izations to 140.
Vaccinations are of
fered to those 5 years
old and up and 34%
(6,228) of Pike resi
dents are fully vacci
nated with 30% having
at least one dose of the
vaccine.
Edna Clark
retiring after
32 years at
United Bank
Veteran United Bank
executive Edna Clark is
retiring after 32 years
of service. She most
recently has served as
executive assistant to
John Edwards, chair
man of the bank.
She has worked
with four generations
of the Edwards fam
ily, Joel Edwards, Bill
and Joe Edwards, John
Edwards, and most
recently, Will Edwards.
Clark plans to travel
and spend more time
with her husband and
family. See the bank’s
tribute to Clark, page
on 2A.
Pike celebrates milestone in 2022
The New Year will bring an
incredible milestone for the
county - the 200th birthday
of Pike County - and plans are
underway to celebrate that ac
complishment throughout the
year. Pike was founded on Dec.
9, 1822 and named after explorer
and veteran Zebulon Pike.
“Two hundred years is an
important milestone no matter
what you’re talking about. The
fact that Pike County has been
around since 1822 and is a
strong, growing community that
we love speaks to the character
of those who came before us,”
said Stephen Brentlinger, chair
of the Pike County Bicentennial
Committee. “Pike is a beautiful
place, but the people who lived
and live here, whether ‘locally
grown’ or ‘imported,’ are what
makes it special. Throughout
the Bicentennial Year, we will
be celebrating those people. We
will be celebrating the stories
and memories shared with
children and grandchildren. We
will be celebrating the reason
that we all choose to live here
rather than anywhere else in
the world. 1 don’t know about
you, but I’m proud to be from
Pike County, and I’m proud to be
celebrating 200 years of making
history!”
The Bicentennial Com
mittee consists of chairman
Brentlinger, vice chair Mer
edith Maddox, secretary Karen
Brentlinger and treasurer Bryan
Richardson as well as others
who are contributing to the
ongoing celebration.
Pike County commissioners
will issue a proclamation for the
Bicentennial Celebration kickoff
at their Jan. 12 meeting.
The history of Pike will be
shared at many local events
throughout the year with a
special Country Fair Around the
Square planned for Aug. 20 in
downtown Zebulon to highlight
the county’s history. Other ten
tative plans to celebrate Pike’s
200th birthday will take place
throughout the year, including
at the Optimist Club Cornhole
Tournament at Zebulon City
Park on March 19, at the Wil
liamson Wisteria Festival April
1-2, at the Juneteenth Celebra
tion hosted by NAACP on June
19, at the American Legion Post
197 5K/10K event in April, at the
SlowExposures Exhibit Sept.
17-18, at the Meansville Music
Festival in September, at the
Concord Country Jubilee Oct.
15-16, at the Post 197 Veterans
Day event Nov. 11 and at the
Pike County Christmas Festival
and Parade in downtown Zebu
lon on Dec. 17.
ILLUSTRATION BY RACHEL McDANIEL / PIKE COUNTY JOURNAL REPORTER
Among many positive developments for Pike County in 2021 was the promise of high-speed
internet for Southern Rivers Energy customers through a partnership with Conexon. Look back
at the top stories from 2021 in the Journal Reporter’s Year In Review section on 1-8B.
2021 brings promise of high-speed internet;
look back at year's top stories on pages 1-8B
Pike tag/tax office
to upgrade DRIVES
system Dec. 30 to Jan. 3
The year 2021 brought
good news for local
internet access as it was
announced that Pike was
among 18 middle Georgia
counties to be provided
high-speed internet
through a partnership
between Southern Rivers
Energy and Conexon.
SRE’s current infrastruc
ture will be used to run
fiber internet to the more
than 3,000 accounts in
Pike. According to recent
updates, Conexon has
trial customers who are
giving feedback on ser
vice and the service will
offer several packages
with download speeds of
2000 Mbps and uploads
between 1,000 and 2,000
Mpbs. To find out more,
go to Connect Powered
by SRE at conexon
connect.com/southern
riversenergy.
See 2021 page 3A
The Pike County
Tax Commissioner’s
office will be unable to
process titles or tags
from Thursday, Dec.
30 through Monday,
Jan. 3 as the Georgia
Department of Revenue
(DOR) begins a system
upgrade to the state’s
DRIVES system - Driver
Record and Integrated
Vehicle Enterprise
System.
The upgrade will
require vehicle registra
tions and titling servic
es, including e-Services
and tag renewal kiosks
to be unavailable
Thursday, Dec. 30 at 7
p.m. through Monday,
Jan. 3. Vehicle owners
with expiration dates in
late December and early
January are encouraged
to renew prior to Dec.
30 at 7 p.m. to avoid
delays.
The Pike County tag
office and the Georgia
DOR Motor Vehicle
Division will be unable
to process transactions
during that time and
all online tag renewal
services will be unavail
able. The Pike office will
also be closed Jan. 3 in
observance of the New
Year’s Day holiday.
Customers and deal
ers seeking to conduct
any title transactions
should complete their
business at a county tag
office prior to Thurs
day, Dec. 30 at 4 p.m.
Dealers will be able
to initiate electronic
title and registration
transactions and issue
emergency temporary
operating permits over
New Year’s weekend.
Law enforcement will
still have access to mo
tor vehicle records.
Driver Record and Integrated Vehicle Enterprise System
Senior Center’s new director ‘Ms. L’ plans fun for all
PHOTO BY RACHEL McDANIEL / PIKE COUNTY JOURNAL REPORTER
Lavetrece Walker, known as ‘Ms. L’ by many, is the new director of the Pike County Senior Center.
Lavetrece Walker is
known lovingly as “Ms.
L” and she has been the
new Pike County Senior
Center director for sev
eral months. The center
is open Monday through
Friday from 9:30 a.m. to
1:30 p.m. for everyone 60
and older and has a gym,
art room and activity
area in addition to the
cafeteria where everyone
gathers for a fresh hot
meal each day.
‘Ms. L’ used to work at
the senior center in La
mar County for 15 years
and has really thrived as
Pike’s new director.
“I’m blessed to have a
career at the senior cen
ter,” she said. “Since 1 was
raised by my grandma,
1 have a heart for older
people. 1 just love them! 1
have fallen in love with the
job already. My grandma
always used to say, ‘Give
me roses now because 1
can’t smell them when I’m
gone,’ and 1 think about
that a lot and try to enjoy
all the moments we all
have here at the senior
center together.”
The senior center
calendar is packed with
activities each week,
including exercise ses
sions, game times and
social hours, visits from
local pastors, arts and
crafts projects, special
speakers, field trips,
informative sessions
on important topics for
seniors and Bingo every
Thursday and Friday.
“The goal of the center
is to keep everyone
moving and interacting
with each other and they
can choose the activities
they participate in. For
instance, Mr. James is 88
years old and he comes
in four days a week and
makes sure he walks his
two miles in the exercise
room,” Walker said.
In addition to pro
grams and games, the
seniors have seasonal
and even sports-related
activities to take part
in throughout the year.
They held their own
Braves parade after they
won the World Series and
had popcorn and corn-
dogs as they watched the
parades in Atlanta on TV.
Many have their favor
ite teams and tease each
other each week about
the season. One regular is
well known for her love of
Alabama college football
and ‘Ms. L’ heard her say
ing how she hadn’t been
able to put up a Christmas
tree in 10 years so she sur
prised her with her very
own tree - decorated with
all things Roll Tide.
In November, they had
a fall festival and they
decorated a Thankful
Tree with leaves listing
the things they have
been blessed with in
their lives. This month
they took part in ugly
Christmas sweater par
ties and seasonal arts
and crafts.
See SENIOR CENTER page 2A