Newspaper Page Text
20 YEARS
David Mercer of Monticello (left) was awarded his
20 year pin last week for serving as the county’s en
vironmental health specialist. The award was pre
sented by Rick Craft, Deputy District Director of
Training and Development for the North Central
Health District.
80s Decade Reunion Set,
Hosted by Class of 1984
THE MONTICELLO NEWS, THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2024—PAGE 3
Piedmont Newton Hospital To Provide
Next Level of Neonatal Intensive Care
CHURCH NEWS
Mt. Zion
Pastor
Appreciation
Mt. Zion A.M.E.
Church will host a Pas
tor Appreciation service
for Rev. Brenda Jacobs
on Saturday, April 27 at 4
p.m. in the church’s Fel
lowship Hall.
Mt. Zion has service
every Sunday with Sun
day School at 9 a.m. and
worship service at 10 a.m.
Services are also on
conference calls at 978-
990-5000 enter code
499921. Bible study is ev
ery Wednesday at 6 p.m.
and on conference all as
well.
Everyone is welcome to
join.
Blood Drive
Planned
A Red Cross Blood
Drive is scheduled for
Monday, May 8 from 1—
6 p.m. in the Fellowship
Hall of Monticello First
United Methodist Church.
The Red Cross national
blood supply has fallen by
about 25 percent and need
is critical. Please visit red-
crossblood.org and enter
jasper to schedule an ap
pointment. Walk-ins are
welcome; unscheduled
time is subject to avail
ability.
For more information,
contact Ken Horton or the
church at 706-468-6118.
Community
Calendar
Hurricane Track varsity
hosting 5A Region Meet,
today, April 25, begins at
10:30 a.m., at Hurricane
Field.
* * * *
Better Together one year
anniversary gathering,
today, April 25, 6:30 p.m.,
at Providence Baptist
Church fellowship hall
located at 520 S. Railroad
Street.
* * *
Jasper County Board of
Appeals, public hearing,
today, April 25, 6 p.m., in
the Commissioners meet
ing room.
* * *
Jasper County Recre
ation Softball, today,
April 25, games begin at
6 p.m., 7 p.m., 7:20 p.m.,
and 7:30 p.m.
* * *
Cougar Baseball at Cen
tral Fellowship, today,
April 25, 4 p.m., in Ma
con.
* * *
Pastor Appreciation for
Rev. Brenda Jenkins,
Mt. Zion A.M.E Church,
Saturday, April 27, 4 p.m.
* * *
New Bethel Grove Bap
tist Church, Sunday,
April 28, 11 a.m. worship
service.
* * *
Georgia Cities Week
2024 celebration and
Thursday & Friday, April
25-26 Citywide Clean Up
Days.
* * *
Hurricane Baseball in
GHSA Round of 16 State
Playoffs, Monday, April
29 vs. winner of Darling
ton vs. Weber.
* * *
Early Voting begins
Monday, April 29. Polls
open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Monday-Friday, Jasper
County Courthouse base
ment.
* * *
Jasper Superior Court,
motion day, Tuesday,
April 30, 9 a.m., Court
house.
* * *
Coffee Call, Tuesday,
April 30, 8-9 a.m., to meet
the emergency room staff
for Jasper Memorial Hos
pital, at the Chamber of
Commerce Office..
Attention Jasper County
High School graduates of
the 1980s: Get ready for
the grandest of class re
unions on Saturday, June
1 at Sands Park on Sands
Drive in Monticello.
The Class of 1984 is
hosting a class reunion
picnic for those who grad
uated from Jasper County
Comprehensive High
School from the years
1980 to 1989. The gather
ing will take place at the
park on Sands Drive in
Continued from Page 1
only live four-six weeks
as adults so they will be
gone before you know it,
for 13 more years.
Periodic cicada popula
tion densities can exceed
a mind-boggling 1.5 mil
lion individuals per acre.
Their incredible fleet
ing abundance is also a
key to their survival. Al
though highly nutritious
and gorged-on by many
animals, there are simply
way too many cicadas for
all the predators to eat,
ensuring the majority will
survive long enough to
reproduce. This strategy
is termed “predator satia
tion.”
Satiated predators can
benefit greatly from these
high-protein snacks. For
example, wild turkey
hens are known to pro
duce more poults on av
erage in years when peri
odic cicadas are available
for the taking. Further,
many nest and poult pred
ators opportunistically
switch to a cicada-heavy
diet, too, taking pressure
off turkeys and increasing
their survival chances.
Many fish also cherish
cicadas. If you’re an an
gler, try putting a live one
on your hook or tie on an
imitation fly/lure—they
are said to be “deadly” for
bass and other gamefish.
People can safely eat
cicadas, too, and recipes
are easily found with a
simple Google search. I
personally have not tried
them, but they are re
ported to have a nutty,
shrimp-like flavor. I’m
not very food-adventur
ous though, so I think I’ll
stick with actual nuts and
shrimp.
Cicadas are not poison
ous, they don’t bite or
Monticello from noon to
6 p.m. The event will in
clude music, food, games
and prizes.
Class representatives
from each 1980s class will
be posted on Facebook
under the JCCHS Class
of 1984 page. If interested
and for more information,
please contact John Whid-
by at 404-247-8778.
You can also check out
the Class of 1984’s Face-
book page for more infor
mation.
sting, and are not known
to transmit any diseases to
humans or pets. The only
potential concern they
pose is to newly planted
young trees and shrubs,
which may be damaged
when numerous female
cicadas concentrate and
cut slits on branches, lay
ing eggs within. Mesh
netting with holes no larg
er than 14” can be draped
over prized ornamental
and fruit trees to protect
them if you are concerned.
If you have plans to plant
new shrubs or small trees,
it may be best to wait until
the adult cicadas die off in
several weeks.
Periodic cicadas create
quite a racket with their
mating calls. Males buzz
to advertise their inter
est to females; receptive
ones respond by making
clicking noises with wing
flicks. You can mimic the
female’s call by snapping
your fingers, and if done
near a male you can lure
him to you, which by-the-
way is a really cool party
trick! Females can be
distinguished from males
by an elongate, tube-like
structure present at the tip
of the abdomen (rear-end)
used for injecting eggs
into wood.
Depending on your
viewpoint, you won’t get
to enjoy or have put-up
with them again until the
year 2037. Many folks
will certainly grow tired
of their noise and the car
casses they will leave ev
erywhere, but I hope you
will find appreciation in
their uniqueness and in
credible abundance for
the very brief and highly
intermittent time they are
around. In my mind, they
truly are magical.
Piedmont Newton Hos
pital will soon be able to
provide the next level of
neonatal intensive care.
Starting in the fall, the
neonatal intensive care
unit (NICU) at Piedmont
Newton will advance
from a level 2 to a level
3 unit. This change in
designation shows that
the facility and staff are
equipped to care for new
borns who need one of the
highest levels of medi
cal care and intervention.
This care might include
advanced life support, a
full range of respiratory
support, and advanced im
aging. Level 3 NICU care
is typically needed by ba
bies born before 32 weeks
of pregnancy.
GC&SIJ Plans
Delayed
Covid Grad
Ceremonies
Four years ago, the CO
VID-19 pandemic was
still raging and millions
spent their high school
graduation in lockdown.
They didn’t decorate caps
or walk the stage. There
weren’t handshakes and
flowers. No tassel film
ing. No pomp and cir
cumstance. Diplomas
were delivered by mail.
Now, those same stu
dents are graduating from
college.
Nearly 900 students
from Georgia College &
State University’s Class
of 2024 will experience
their first regalia dress-up
and rite of passage during
one of four commence
ment ceremonies Friday
and Saturday, May 3-4, in
Centennial Hall.
Receptions follow each
commencement.
In total about 1,420
degrees will be awarded.
This number includes
520 students getting their
masters and doctoral de
grees.
Each of the university’s
four colleges will have
separate ceremonies:
College of Health Sci
ences at 2 p.m. Friday,
May 3. Doors open at
noon.
John H. Lounsbury
College of Education at
7 p.m. Friday, May 3.
Doors open at 5 p.m.
J. Whitney Bunting
College of Business and
Technology at 9 a.m. Sat
urday, May 4. Doors open
at 7 a.m.
College of Arts & Sci
ences at 2 p.m. Saturday,
May 4. Doors open at
noon.
Many graduating se
niors remember social
distancing at trimmed-
down ceremonies in high
school or being recog
nized on virtual plat
forms. Some ceremonies
were simply canceled.
Others celebrated in small
groups with masks on.
Most missed the oppor
tunity to walk across the
stage and celebrate with
family and friends.
Piedmont Newton re
ceived approval from the
state of Georgia in late
March for this expansion
of services and will add
two NICU beds to accom
modate a total of eight ba
bies, four who need level
2 care and four who need
level 3 care.
“Our ability to provide
this higher level of neo
natal intensive care means
more families will be able
to remain close to home
for the care their new
born needs. Care close
to home affords families
the freedom to focus on
bonding with their baby,
rather than the logistics
of getting to a hospital in
Atlanta while balancing
other demands,” said Su-
sann Whittle, Women’s
Services manager at Pied
mont Newton. “We are so
pleased to be able to bring
this level of neonatal care
to Newton County.”
To provide this next
level of care, Piedmont
Newton will invest ap
proximately $200,000 in
new equipment to include
high-frequency ventila
tors and other respiratory
equipment. Proceeds from
last Saturday’s Concert
for a Cause will offset
these costs.
More than 700 babies
were born at Piedmont
Newton in 2023. Pied
mont Newton is expected
to be ready to offer the
more advanced level 3
NICU care as early as
September 2024.
Did You Know?
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To All of God’s People
We Cordially Invite You to Celebrate
Our Pastor and
First Lady
Pastoral
Anniversary
Rev. Jimmy
Horton &
Evangelist Horton
May 5, 2024
3 p.m. at
Springfield
Baptist Church
You are invited to:
New Bethel Grove
Baptist Church
527 New Bethel Grove Church Rd
Monticello, GA 31064
“In the Sanctuary” Worship Service
(Masks are provided for those that
need one. Hand Sanitizer is available)
2nd Sunday @ 8:45 - 9:45 am Sunday Study
3rd Sunday @ 11:00 am Regular Service
4th Sunday @ 11:00 am Regular Service
Elect
Chrissy
Pitts Mason
Chief
Magistrate
of Jasper
County
May 21, 2024
Animal cruelty is real,
and animals cannot speak for themselves.
It is up to the courts to hold people
accountable for unthinkable crimes
of abuse, starvation, and worse.
I believe in fines, retribution penalties,
and community service as a
deterrent to animal abuse rather than
partial fines or no punishment
at all.
Vote Chrissy Pitts Mason for
Chief Magistrate May 21, 2024.
COFFEE
CONVERSATIONS
JASPER HEALTH
SERVICES
TUESDAY APRIL 30TH
8AM - 9AM
Stop in at the Chamber of
Commerce and meet the new
Emergency Room staff
over coffee and refreshments.
Return of the Cicadas
