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The True Citizen, Wednesday, December 22, 2021 — Page 13A
BES Spelling Bee
Champs
The Blakeney Elementary
School Spelling Bee was held
Tuesday, December 7, 2021.
Fifth grader, Jasan Luke, (left)
took first place in the Bee;
fourth grader, Coty Smith,
came in second; and fifth
grader, Kobe Doe, placed
third. Luke and Smith will
compete in the Burke County
Public School District Spell
ing Bee, which will be held
on January 11,2022 at 9 a.m.
in the Professional Learning
Center, BCHS campus.
Keysville
Continued from front
Fulfilling Christmas wishes
Burke County Missionary Ministry of the 10th District, which consists of volunteers from lo
cal churches, filled the Christmas lists of 49 local children December 9 and 10 who attend the
Waynesboro Early Headstart Program. In previous years, the children picked up the packages
at the Ice Plant and attended lunch, however due to COVID-19, the gifts are now delivered.
Shown with the packages is Chairperson Mary Bennett.
a presence and to show that the
community was doing some
thing to bring the senior mem
bers of the community and the
younger members together to
have a garden that everyone
could participate in,” Neely
said. Members of the commu
nity came together to construct
the fencing around the garden
that the city helped to supply.
“Now we have members of the
community planting. They can
choose 1 or 2 rows and they
can plant whatever they want
for the winter.”
Future plans include request
ing a larger spot once the proj
ect catches on. In collaboration
with the Masonic Lodge of
Gough, the Concerned Citizens
sponsored a turkey giveaway
in November. Additionally,
members like President Mar
vin Scott and Neely regularly
attend city meetings, keep
ing abreast of evolving poli
cies. The most impressive feat
though may be what they have
done to engage the younger
generation in local government
procedures.
The mayor’s response to a
local dilemma found the city
hall filled one day with mem
bers of the younger generation
up in arms .Controversy sur
rounding the Mt. Tabor Camp
Meet and parking sparked an
opportunity for the Concerned
Citizens to organize a junior
Concerned Citizen group un
der its umbrella. The group
consists of residents age 18-
30 years old. They have held
several meetings thus far.
“This basically rose out of
the issue with the parking,”
Neely said. “We said’ alright if
you are so interested, and you
care so much what the city is
doing and how it is doing it, get
engaged.’”
The result is older members
of the Concerned Citizens,
along with city officials, men
toring the junior members in
ways to identify projects and
learning how to present them
to the city in line with city poli
cies . Recently, the junior group
was instrumental in supporting
a parade at the Keysville Nurs
ing Home.
“They got a parade together
and got a band from Hephzibah
and got a few floats and worked
with a food bank,” Neely said.
All of the in-patients at the
nursing home were brought out
and received gifts. Residents
who showed up and partici
pated received canned food
Neely pointed out that it is
not uncommon for local lead
ers to hear from members of
the younger generation only
when something happens that
they do not like.
“We took the opportunity
from something happening that
they did not like, and they were
vocal about it, and said ‘this is
an opportunity to engage you,”
Neely said.
Part of the Concerned Citi
zen’s intention for the new
year includes growing the en
gagement of the junior group.
Empowering young people
to see themselves in future
local government positions is
necessary to the sustainment
of the city.
“Because if you look at all
of the people who are on the
City Council, at some point,
members of the community are
going to have to step up and
replace those people,” Neely
pointed out. “So, you want to
start grooming those people to
see where they can say, ‘I can
do that and I might be able to
even do it better.’”
The same holds true for the
original Concerned Citizens
group, the members of whom
Neely describes as “mature
adults.”
“The Junior Concerned Citi
zens need to start seeing them
selves coming in and beginning
to manage under the umbrella
of the Concerned Citizens, by
taking on more responsibility
for how things are executed,”
Neely said. “That’s how you
get people to come in but that’s
also how you get new ideas
for different things you can be
doing.”
Neely said keeping an open
mind toward the younger peo
ples’ ideas is crucial. They
want to see some of the things
they are interested in put in
place. Even if an idea looks
less-than -ideal at face value,
it is important not to discount
it, but to dig deeper to better
define it.
“We are trying to get a more
positive perspective, not just
a perspective but a reality in
Keysville,” he said. “To do
that it requires everybody’s
support. We try to engage the
entire community, and we are
going to continue to try and
do that.”
Ayden, 6, and Ethan, 3, sit
on Santa’s lap during the
annual Keysville Community
Christmas Dinner put on by
the Concerned Citizens of
Keysville December 17 at the
Charles Walker Building.
Approximately 70 people attended the Concerned Citizens of Keysville’s annual Christmas
Dinner.
The City of Keysville treated attendees of the December 13 council meeting to a holiday meal.
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