Newspaper Page Text
ONE DOLLAR
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2023
www.pikecountygeorgia.com
Newspaper
to continue
publication,
office to close
The Pike County
Journal Reporter of
fice on the square in
downtown Zebulon
will close Dec. 29.
The newspaper will
continue to operate as
it does currently but
composition and other
pre-press work will be
consolidated with its
sister publication, The
Herald Gazette.
Staff members
Rachel McDaniel and
Jennifer Taylor will
continue with their
present responsibili
ties. The phone number
will remain same at
770.567.3446. Mail will
continue to be received
at RO. Box 789, Zebu-
Ion, Ga. 30295.
“We are not going
anywhere. Our report
ers will still cover
all the meetings and
events they currently
cover and the Journal
Reporter will remain
a local fixture,” Geiger
said.
E-mails will also
remain the same. Mc
Daniel can be reached
at news@pikecounty-
georgia.com. Taylor’s
e-mail is jennifer@
pikecountygeorgia.com.
Those with ques
tions regarding the
change may contact
Geiger at news@
barnesville.com or by
calling 770.358.6397.
Early deadline
set for Dec. 28
Due to the New
Year’s holiday, the Pike
Coun ty Journal Report
er will have an early
deadline of Thursday,
Dec. 28 at noon for the
Jan. 3 edition.
Dec. 30 concert to rebuild FFA barn
BY RACHEL McDANIEL
news@pikecountygeorgia.com
A special Dec. 30 con
cert at the Concord Cafe
will help raise funds to
repair fire damage at the
high school’s FFA barn
and allow animals to
once again be cared for
by students.
The New Year’s Eve
weekend concert to ben
efit Pike County FFA will
feature Montgomery Pike
from 5 to 8 p.m. at the
Concord restaurant.
Harrison Pugh and
The Kampfire Collective
will perform from 8 to 11
p.m.
The event is hosted
by the Pike County
FFA Alumni group and
donations are requested
to help with FFA barn
repairs.
The Pike County High
School FFA livestock barn
caught fire just before
5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 3,
killing two pigs and one
goat.
Three teachers were
walking nearby the morn
ing of the fire and they
saw the smoke and quick
ly alerted authorities.
Pike County firefighters
were nearby completing
training and were able to
respond quickly to save
SPECIAL PHOTO
These two pigs, Bill and
Night Ninja, survived the fire.
the barn. The fire started
from a heat lamp keeping
the animals warm.
Due to fire damage,
students are currently
unable to keep their
show animals in the barn.
FFA advisor and Ninth
Grade Academy agri
culture teacher Brandi
Baade said the barn is
an important part of
the program. It allows
students who may not
otherwise be able to
raise and show animals
to participate in FFA
programs and competi
tions. She said raising an
animal teaches students
important life lessons.
“To me, showing hogs
means learning how to
be responsible, respect
ful and a team player.
You have to care for your
animal, respect your
animal and other show
men, as well as lend a
helping hand to others in
need,” said tenth grade
FFA showman Makenzi
Prince.
Eleventh grade FFA
showman Walker Davis
agrees.
“FFA gives us a way of
showcasing the worth of
these animals and devel
ops us, the students, into
disciplined, empathic
and hard-working indi
viduals,” he said. “You
have to have grit to show
livestock!”
PHOTOS BY RACHEL McDANIEL / PIKE COUNTY JOURNAL REPORTER
Fiber internet was installed off New Hope Road early in 2023. By the end of the year, all Southern Rivers Energy customers in
Pike County had access to high-speed fiber internet. SRE connected more than 1,194 miles of fiber across several counties.
See more of 2023’s top stories in the special Year In Review section on pages 1-8B.
Year brings fiber internet, new rec. facilities
HONE OF THE 20I9
AM BASEBALL
STATE CHAMPIONS
Pike County school sports saw big changes in 2023 as
baseball head coach Don Hanson retired and the GHSA
moved Pike athletics from AAA to AA where they will be the
15th largest out of the 59 schools in the division.
In addition to a new Community Center in February, the Pike
County Parks and Recreation Authority saw upgrades at
all facilities, along with new fields in the softball complex.
PCPRA also got a new director, Ray Wilkerson.
Although it started
out with destructive
weather, the year 2023
brought high-speed
internet access to most
Pike citizens, a new
Community Center and
additional softball fields
at the recreation depart
ment and a new nature
trail at the elementary
school in memory of the
late Buddy Brown.
Changes at the recre
ation department includ
ed a new Community
Center with an official
ribbon cutting on Feb.
3 and a new Parks and
Recreation Authority
director as Ray Wilker
son took over after the
resignation of former di
rector Farry Moss. Many
upgrades were made to
the recreation facilities
throughout the year,
including the field used
by the middle school
baseball team as well as
concrete pads covered
with artificial turf for the
batting cages. Mem
bers of the community
helped with some of
the cost and labor for
those projects and at
the end of the year, two
new softball fields were
constructed.
Buddy’s Trail at the
elementary school was
another new addition
for the year, opening in
honor of the late ‘Buddy’
Brown, a former teacher
at the school. The
nature trail connects to
the other walkways that
connect the different
school campuses and
Buddy’s Trail used in
October as a Haunted
Trail as well as being
used by students, staff
and community mem
bers since its creation.
Initial work was done to
clear the underbrush by
a team of hungry goats
and volunteering stu
dents and their families .
The county pur
chased around 256
acres for $3 million in
the Zebulon city limits
which will provide the
space for a new jail and
sheriff’s office. The land
purchased includes
property from High
way 18/Concord Street
behind the city’s water
treatment lake all the
way to the south side of
County Farm Road.
The county heard an
ultimatum on return
ing funding that was
donated for the creation
of an animal shelter.
Commissioners decided
to return the $225,000
to the CFC Foundation
and it was then donated
to local animal rescue
Coco’s Cupboard. The
Animal Shelter sign on
County Farm Road was
changed to say Animal
Control instead and the
facility continues to only
house dangerous or vi
cious animals.
Wild weather was
part of the news cov
erage by the Journal
Reporter throughout the
year, including freezing
conditions early in Janu
ary and tornadoes mid
way through the month,
followed by flooding and
flash freezes in March.
The year 2023 started
out with an arctic winter
storm that left many
citizens without power
as they welcomed in the
New Year. In mid-Janu
ary, five tornados struck
in northern Pike and
several struck Spalding
County, leaving a trail of
devastation in its wake
that took many months
of recovery efforts on
the part of the county
and local citizens.
In March, a suc
cession of days with
freezing temperatures
dropping into the 20s
decimated the peach
crops in Pike, causing
Gregg Farms to close
for the season instead
of opening as usual in
the spring. Other crops
were damaged as well,
including pears, pecans
and others.
There were big chang
es for sports in Pike
County as the school’s
athletic teams were
dropped from AAA to
AA competition by the
Georgia High School As
sociation. Pike will com
pete as AA through the
2026 school year and
will be the 15th largest
team in the division out
of 59 schools. Jackson
will join Pike in AA while
Mary Persons, Peach
County and Upson-Fee
will remain in AAA.
Fegendary coach Don
Hanson retired from
coaching the Pirates
baseball team after 20
years. He won more
than 400 games with
the team and under his
leadership the Pirates
picked up two state
championship titles.
Blake Parrott, a former
Pirates baseball player
and assistant coach for
the past seven seasons,
was announced as the
new head coach in June.
During his time with
the team, they earned
six consecutive region
championships and two
state titles.
Pike athletes com
peted well - both at the
school and recreation
level - with some ath
letes earning state and
even national honors.
See YEAR IN REVIEW page 3A
County
holds UDC
workshop
Commissioners held
a UDC (Unified Develop
ment Code) workshop
Dec. 21 and discussed
many issues with several
proposed changes over
the two-hour meeting.
Members of the board
heard from locals Matt
Bottoms, Kacie Edwards,
Benny Evans, Steve
Reeves and Brooklyne
Wassel. No official action
was taken at the meeting
although several planned
draft changes were dis
cussed.
The board agreed to
make changes to the
proposed UDC update,
noting they did not want
agricultural limits on
lots over five acres. They
don’t want to require
building permits for
4-foot or smaller fences
and they also agreed to
remove paved roads and
parking requirements for
rural event centers.
See WORKSHOP page 2A
Thomaston Milk
Co. buys lot in
industrial park
The Pike County
Development Author
ity held a short meeting
Dec. 20 to approve the
purchase of 3.2 acres in
the industrail park by the
Thomaston Milk Com
pany.
Development Author
ity director Kyle Fletcher
said that the company
showed intertest in the
property months ago
and would like to close
on the property by the
end of the year. She
noted that they would be
covering all closing costs
and noted that they did
request assistance with
getting the water line to
the property.
Zebulon mayor Joe
Walter noted that the
company can officially
notify the city of Zebulon
to provide their justi
fication for waiving of
the impact fees. He also
said that the city does
not waive connection
fees unless the property
owner does that them
selves.
The final item of busi
ness by the board was to
cancel the Jan. 3 meeting
since there was no ac
tion on the agenda. The
next meeting will be held
Wednesday, Feb. 7.
