Newspaper Page Text
Page 2B - Pike County Journal Reporter - Wednesday, December 29, 2021
Callista Clark releases album Real To Me
Pike County musician Callista Clark, 17, released her debut album, Real To Me, with five songs that
she co-wrote and produced in Nashville. By the end of April, she was playing one of her original songs
on Live with Kelly and Ryan and being referred to as “the next big thing in country music.” She was
featured in People magazine in July. By the end of the year she was preparing to head out on a major,
16-city tour in January on the CMT Next Women of Country: All Song No Static Tour. She is also slated
to perform internationally for the first time at the C2C: Country to Country Festival in March in London,
Glasgow and Dublin. Her single, ‘It’s ‘Cause 1 am’ hit the top 25 on the Country Radio charts and her two
music videos were playing regularly on CMT as well as radio stations across the country.
PHOTO BY CHELSEA
THOMPSON
Pike County
musician Cal
lista Clark re
leased her first
album Real to
Me in February
with five songs
she co-wrote
and produced
in Nashville,
rocketing
her musical
career as her
songs and
videos went
worldwide. The
17-year-old
was even fea
tured in People
magazine (at
right).
The Wednesday Market
celebrates 10 years
The Wednesday Market in Zebulon celebrated 10
years of providing fresh fruit and produce as well as
homemade, baked and handcrafted items for citizens
in Pike and neighboring communities. Items are listed
at WednesdayMarket.LocallyGrown.net and custom
ers can place orders by Monday so local farmers,
bakers and crafters can have the items ready for the
market on Wednesday. Market items are then picked
up at 139 Adams Street in Zebulon.
Community mourned,
remembered Jamori
A tragic accident took the life of 17-year-old Jamori
Williams on Feb. 2 at his home in Concord. A firearm
was dropped in an adjacent room and discharged
when it hit the floor with a bullet trav
eling through the wall at an upwards
trajectory and striking Jamori. He was
transported to the hospital but suc
cumbed to his injuries. Known by his
classmates as Mari, he was a senior of
the Class of 2021 and students mourn
ed his death, gathering outside to
remember him and pray for his family
the day after the accident. Students at
all Pike schools wore Jamori’s favorite
basketball team’s colors - blue and
gold for the Golden State Warriors. During his time
in high school, Jamori was a basketball player, FFA
member and proud PCHS Pirate.
GSP trooper of 106th
class reinstated
precincts in the January election, Marie Broder re
ceived 73% of votes with her opponent receiving only
27% of votes.
Superintendent of the
Year honored at Capitol
Pike County’s superintendent Dr. Michael Duncan
was honored by legislators at the state Capitol as
House Resolution 42 was introduced by District 131
Rep. Beth Camp. Dr. Duncan has served as Pike’s
superintendent for 15 years and has designed, coor
dinated and implemented programs and initiatives
aimed at improving the quality of education offered
by Pike County Schools.
MARCH
Community mourned
loss of teen Riley Nuce
Paintings of Pike County
scenes preserve history
ADAM SALTER
Adam Salter of Pike County
was one of 32 GSP Troopers
who was cleared and recerti
fied after the Peace Officer
Standards and Training Council
reversed the decision of an in
vestigation involving the Troop
ers, showing that their instruc
tors said they were allowed to
use electronic devices and work
together on the radar gun test
during the 106th trooper class.
Animal shelter built,
nearly completed
Pike County students and the
community mourned the loss of Riley
Nuce, a multi-sport athlete, straight
A student, FFA member and friend
to many. He played basketball and
ran track and cross country at Pike
County High School and he was also
a Team Leader at Chick-Fil-A in Grif
fin. Students across Pike schools wore
cammo and cowboy hats in his mem- RILEY NUCE
ory March 12. The family asked that donations in his
memory be made to the Pike FFA or Pike Fellowship
of Christian Athletes, Pike County High School ATTN:
Shane Moore at 331 Pirate Dr. Zebulon, GA 30295.
SPECIAL PHOTOS
Local artist Keith Edmondson completed many paintings in
2021 honoring local historic scenes, including the Pike court
house square (above) and the Flint River at Flat Shoals (below).
Local artist Keith Edmondson started to focus on
painting after the pandemic postponed his concert
photography career and he chose Pike County’s
history as his subject matter. His realistic paintings
include two boys fishing at the original bridge over
Flat Shoals before the most recent one was built in
the 1950s, a Barnesville Street scene in Zebulon from
the 1920s, the old J.M Patton country store and gas
station, a farmer plowing behind mules, the old Con
cord Drug Store, downtown Williamson in the early
1930s, the First Baptist Church of Zebulon, Dr. Isaac
Bell Howard making a house call in Williamson, the
Zebulon train depot, the old Caboose in downtown
Williamson, the Whiskey Bonding Barn in Molena, the
R.F. Strickland building in Concord and the Strickland
Cotton Gin as well as others.
APRIL
PHOTO BY RACHEL McDANIEL / PIKE COUNTY JOURNAL REPORTER
Duke Brack crafts an item using a hammer and anvil at the
Friendship Baptist Church booth during the Williamson Wiste
ria Festival as a young visitor watches intently.
Construction on the Pike County Animal Shelter
facility on County Farm Road was well under way
despite setbacks due to inclement weather and the
pandemic. The total cost of the shelter was around
$300,000 with a $225,000 donation from the CLC
Foundation. A ribbon cutting event was held ... and
an Animal Shelter board established. The board was
meeting regularly by the end of the year to establish
ordinances and work on policies and procedures
before the facility can officially open.
PHOTO BY RACHEL McDANIEL / PIKE COUNTY JOURNAL REPORTER
EMC to deliver high
speed internet to Pike
Pike was among 18 middle Georgia counties that
will be provided high-speed internet through a part
nership between Southern Rivers Energy and Con-
exon. There are 3,934 active SRE members in Pike but
4,988 active metered accounts (due to some members
having multiple accounts/meters for shops, barns, ir
rigation pumps, etc.) SRE’s current infrastructure has
to be made ready to accommodate fiber in addition to
the electric wire and other attachments currently on
power poles.
Marie Broder becomes
first female DA in district
Governor Brian P. Kemp swore
Marie Greene Broder into the of
fice of the District Attorney of the
Griffin Judicial Circuit on June 2,
2020. Governor Kemp announced
Broder’s appointment in Febru
ary. She had been serving as
Acting District Attorney. Broder
was the first female to serve as
District Attorney of the Griffin
Judicial Circuit. In Pike County MARIE G. BRODER
The Pike County Animal Shelter facility still needs some
finishing touches (such as the awning over the doors and win
dows) but much work has been completed since the project
started earlier in the year.
Pike Probate Court
gets new website
Under new judge Ginny Blakeney, the Probate
Court of Pike County offered a new website (PikeP-
robateCourt.com) where citizens can pay traffic
citations and learn about other services offered by
the court. Citizens can look up and pay traffic cita
tions, find out what is needed to apply for marriage
licenses, download an application for Weapons Carry
Licenses, learn how to request vital records such
as birth and death certificates and other informa
tion. The site also includes the county’s traffic court
calendar.
Concord offered
citizens internet access
After years of planning, the city of Concord be
came a high speed wireless internet provider. The
first phase of service was offered to people who
could physically see the city’s water tank from their
home or businesses and the service was extended to
other more distant customers by the end of the year
with a total of 43 customers by November.
Williamson hosted
Wisteria Festival
The Williamson Wisteria Festival brought crowds
of visitors from near and far to enjoy live entertain
ment, vendors, catching up with friends and delicious
festival foods on Saturday. The Wisteria Festival
Talent Showcase was held Friday evening. Plans are
underway for another Wisteria Festival in 2022.
New vision for Old
Zebulon School building
New plans were discussed by the Zebulon council
for the Old Zebulon School
project. The building was
made structurally sound
and a new roof was put on
it after funds were raised by
members of the community
in 2018. Original plans were
to create rentable rooms
for overnight stays but
council members discussed
the building be used for
city offices while maintain
ing some classrooms and
the auditorium as rental space for the community.
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