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Vol. 141, No. 45 - Waynesboro, Ga. 30830 Established in 1882 Wednesday, December 29, 2021 - $1.00
Christmas without Carleigh
How one local family turned their grief into gratitude
DIANA ROYAL
Special to The True Citizen
V ery early in her life,
it was obvious God
had a special plan for
Carleigh O’Connor. As just a
baby, she suffered a stroke that
sent her family down a path of
doctors’ visits and hospital stays
but that was lined with faith and
lit aglow by a smile so many have
come to know.
Jana O’Connor recalls a nor
mal pregnancy with her second-
born daughter - she was born
full-term with no complications
and no issues detected on any
sonograms leading up to birth.
All of that changed one night
during family dinner when Jana
noticed strange twitches on her
baby daughter’s face. A trip to the
ER confirmed the infant had suf
fered a stroke. They were rushed
to the Children’s Hospital of
Georgia (CHOG) via ambulance
and endured another five days of
tests but no conclusive answers
on what had caused the stroke in
the first place.
“They told us strokes in babies
were more common than people
realize,” Jana says. “She would
be followed by a neurologist and
started on seizure medication, as
well as physical and occupational
therapists to help us with any
developmental delays from the
strokes. They said this was likely
an isolated event that, with some
time, she could fully recover
from.”.
That was in February of 2007.
Later in May, the twitches began
again. Another trip to the ER
revealed Carleigh had another,
much larger stroke this time,
and finally the family had a
name to what was causing their
girl so many issues: moyamoya
syndrome.
“Basically, the syndrome
causes the carotid
arteries to constrict
until they close off, CARLEIGH,
cutting off blood 13
The Burke County Commissioners along with members of the Board of
Education met December 22 to discuss redistricting and developed this
proposed map.
Redistricting Burke County
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
A representative of the State’s
Reapportionment Office indicated
that the State wanted to make sure
that districts were of equal popula
tion or within 1% deviation. They
also wanted to use physical borders
and have the least amount of voter
registration relocation. The county
indicated that they wanted to keep
incumbents in their existing districts
and maintain districts 1 & 2 as major
ity black districts.
The BOC will vote on the pro
posed map during the January 11
meeting.
Sardis Controversy
rolls full steam ahead
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
The little steam engine that sits
in the Transportation Enhancement
Park (T.E. Park) could be leaving
Sardis soon.
A brief discussion was held dur
ing the city’s December 14 council
meeting regarding resident Robert
Bell’s expressed desire to remove
the steam engine. The machine has a
long history in the town first incorpo
rated in 1912. During the meeting, it
was stated that the old steam engine
was given to Robert Bell by Hardee
Bell. However, it sat at a dry clean
ing business for years after it was
loaned to Matthew Parkerson. After
the business closed, the engine was
moved near the city’s water tower on
Charles Perry Avenue where it sat for
many years. The city then cleaned
and repaired it and moved it to its
present location per agreement with
Robert Bell.
According to official meeting min
utes, Councilwoman Rolene Oliver
suggested that Robert Bell should
have to show proof that it was legally
willed and that he is the rightful
owner before he is allowed to move
it. Mayor Carol Edmunds stated
that she understood that Robert Bell
intended to leave the steam engine
to his son Tommy, but after he died,
he decided to give it to his grand
son, Felton Cope. Cope is also the
grandson of recently
defeated Mayor Ed
munds. Mayor Elect
Roger Lane pointed
SEE
SARDIS,
7
2021 - A Year In Review
Compiled by
Roy F. Chalker Jr.
The year 2021, much like its
predecessor, was dominated by
news of the COVID pandemic. In
the month of January alone, this
newspaper published the obituar
ies of 39 of our fellow citizens.
While not all were victims of the
virus, many were, and the toll
it has taken here will be long
remembered.
In spite of the ever present
shadow of the vims, life went on
in Burke County, and following
is a recap of some of the more
significant news stories of 2021.
JANUARY 6
With new cases of COVID
19 averaging over 50 per week
here, the Burke County Public
Schools announced that students
will learn from home for the first
two weeks of the new semester.
Second semester began Tues
day, January 5 as scheduled, but
face to face learning will not re
sume until Tuesday, January 19.
Obituaries included: Marlene
K. Boyle, Mildred A. Nevils,
James Jenkins, Elder Quincy
Williams, Sr., Willie Hankerson,
Deacon Judson Sapp, Sr., Roos
evelt Fulcher, Virgil Chance,
Edger James Dukes, Mamie
Elouise Green-Robinson, Lola
Gillette, Robert L. Biggins, Jr.
and Rev. Cornelius Smith
JANUARY 13
Mass distribution of the Mod-
ema COVID-19 vaccination be
gan Wednesday in Burke County.
According to Gina Richardson,
County Nurse Manager at the
B. Lamar Murray Public Health
Center, public health staff will be
administering the vaccine every
other Wednesday at the Burke
County Office Park from 8 a.m.
to 1 p.m. by appointment only.
Obituaries included Robert
“Bob” Bolton, Roy Keith Hood,
III, Annette Herndon Jenkins,
James Edwin Blount, Russell E.
Pate, Jr., Hammond Irvin Collins,
Jr., Brian Tervontia Carswell and
Shelia Howell Long.
JANUARY 20
The Burke County Chamber
of Commerce Board of Direc
tors has announced that due to
the ongoing health concerns sur
rounding COVID-19, this year’s
annual banquet will not be held
as usual.
“Our community has experi
enced some very difficult chal
lenges and endured some pretty
heavy heartache over the past ten
months,” said Chamber President
Ashley Roberts. “We’ve lost
friends and family members and
many businesses have suffered
economically. However, we’ve
also watched a community come
together in its greatest time of
need.”
Obituaries included Simeon
Alexander Gray, Perritt Lan
drum Rabun, Sr., Kevin Barnes,
Virginia Y. Williams, Emma
Lee Moody, Lakeisha Wynette
Jackson, Mildred Cohen Cole
man, Larry Dukes and Gertrude
Roberts Walker.
JANUARY 27
According to The New York
Times, Burke County has had
2,086 COVID 19 cases, with an
average of about 20 new cases per
day in the last week. The county
has also had an average of almost
one death per day in the last seven
days, with a total of 33 deaths
here from the virus.
Obituaries included Lizzie
Lou Gordon, Joseph Robert
“Joe” Law, Sr., Kendall Lewis
Young, Silas Brown, Jr., Pecola
Coleman Campbell, Katie Mae
Washington, Fannie Crawford,
Rev. Samuel Grant and Mary
Lee Tolbert.
FEBRUARY 3
The breakup of the Augusta
Judicial Circuit moved one step
closer to reality on Monday, Feb.
1, as Senate Bill (SB) 9 was
passed by the Georgia Senate
and will now move to the House
of Representatives for consider
ation.
If approved ®^E
there and then YEAR IN REVIEW.
signed into 12