Newspaper Page Text
Page 2— Wednesday, July 7, 2021, The True Citizen
National award winners, at center, from left, Jada Curd, Preston Adkins and Sarah Mallarc
are pictured with their Beta Club sponsors, from left, Tonya Torek, Erica Johnson, Anthony
Chiles and Christina Hillis.
BCHS Beta Club picks
up three national awards
DIANA ROYAL
jdianaroyal@gmail.com
The Burke County High
School Beta Club has devel
oped a track record over the
years for performing well at
competitions, and this year’s
group continued the tradition
of demonstrating creative
ways to help not just their
school but their community at
large. Three of the high school
competitors placed nationally,
with Jada Curd bringing home
the school’s very first national
championship.
During the BETA National
Convention in Orlando, Curd
earned first place in Division
I Speech, a contest that found
her competing against 51 oth
er students. Preston Adkins
placed second in Division II
Recyclable Art, and S arah Ann
Mallard was recognized with a
sixth place finish in Division
II Speech.
“It was such a privilege to
spend time with these phenom
enal young people and adults,”
said BCHS Beta Club Advisor
Tonya Torek. “These Betas are
full of gifts and personality,
and they are remarkably hard
working! I have so much re
spect for them as students and
individuals. BCHS Beta plans
to work hard next year and do
it all again!”
Several local businesses
made the trip to Orlando pos
sible for the students, includ
ing Kathleen’s Lawn & Shrub
Care, William Mizell Ford,
Southern Bank, First National
Bank, Liberty Square Pharma
cy, The Wing Joint, Papa’s Piz
za To-Go, Pecan Row, Lashes
by Haley McGowan, SoulBean
CoffeeHouse, Waynesboro
Primary School, Herff Jones,
Capital Furniture, Brown’s
Quality Seafood, Medical Spe
cialists Inc. and A2Z Pressure
Washing.
In addition to Torek, BCHS
Beta Club is sponsored by
Erica Johnson, Anthony Chiles
and Christina Hillis.
Real estate
Continued from front
Max Boswell of Mary Yelton Realty points out that of 20
houses currently listed for sale, only four are not listed as
pending or under contract.
area like Waynesboro and
Burke County,” he said and
mentioned a recent sale to a
couple from Maine who intend
to spend their retirement in
Georgia. “They love Waynes
boro, love the area and love the
people here.”
The size and geographic
location of the bird dog capi
tal make it a desirable place
to live.
“This is kind of a nice quiet
secret area of Georgia,” Bo
swell said. “So many times, I
hear from the people we work
with that they just love the
town, Burke County and the
surrounding area. That has re
ally been a good selling point.”
The County Commission’s
pledge, along with the school
system’s interest to contribute
to the remediation of the area’s
broadband issue, almost guar
antees Burke County’s future
status as a transplant hotspot.
The ability to work-from-
home has prompted people to
consider living outside of the
state where they work, and for
that reason, Boswell believes
that broadband expansion is
important to the county’s con
tinued growth.
“Internet access and broad
band access has become as
important as power and water,”
he said. “People say ‘if I can’t
have high speed DSL, then I
can’t live there.’”
Boswell said he is seeing
a mixture of clients, with no
particular age group that the
housing market flurry seems
geared toward. Additionally,
some are purchasing land with
the intention of building right
away, while some are planning
on paying off the land and us
ing it to secure construction
loans in the future.
“You can ride around the
county and see houses in dif
ferent stages of construction
right now,” he said.
Burke CountyPlanning Di
rector Scott Lee said permits in
general, including new homes,
renovations and additions, are
increasing.
“We noticed the increase in
permitting around this time last
year,” he said.
Abuilding permit is typically
required for any construction
activity exceeding $1,500.00
in value, with the exception
of ordinary repairs. Increased
building of homes means a bit
more money coming into the
county through permitting fees.
The county charges for permits
based on the total construction
value of the project. It is $100
for the first $ 1,000 of value and
then $5.00 for every $ 1,000
increment.
“We have seen an average
increase in permitting of about
50-75 percent,” Lee said. “We
consistently permit throughout
the county, but lately we’ve
seen an increase of housing
starts on the north end of the
county, specifically Spread
Oak Rd, West Four Points Rd,
Story Mill and the Greiner
Circle area.”
Boswell agreed that North
Burke County is definitely
an active area for land sales,
but when it comes to selling
houses, people are purchasing
them throughout the county.
“Because of the number
of buyers that are out there,
whether it is a house on 20
acres between Waynesboro and
Midville or a house and two
acres between Waynesboro and
Augusta, we seem to have a lot
of activity regardless of where
it is,” he said.
So far this year, listings
in Burke County have in
creased 31.5% compared to
the same time period last year,
Sales Agent Anne Marie Kyzer
pointed out. The figures do not
account for the number of pri
vate sales (unlistedproperties),
which are common in Burke
County.
“It's like a front row seat
watching an economics text
book play out in real life,”
Kyzer said.
There doesn’t seem to be any
indication that the real estate
market in Burke County will
slow down any time soon. As
the price of building supplies
begins to fall away from pan
demic-related inflated costs,
Burke County is on a path to
continued growth. Existing
plans to expand hospital and
airport services helps to ensure
future vitality.
“There are still a lot of buy
ers out there,” Boswell said. “I
think there will be some new
construction that will be com
ing on as material prices con
tinue to go down. Broadband
is on the horizon, so I believe
this will continue on for the
foreseeable future.”
Wimberly House Summer Camp
Burke County Sheriff Deputies Brittany Nelson and Robert Harrison
demonstrate the working talents of canines Boris and Juna during
the Wimberly House Summer Camp for elementary-aged students.
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