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Vol. 141, No. 48 - Waynesboro, Ga. 30830 Established in 1882 Wednesday, January 19, 2022 - $1.00
BCPS addresses COVID situation
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
As absences hit staggering num
bers, the schools are not ready to
shut down.
On its website, Burke County
Public Schools reports the number
of new Coronavirus cases among its
faculty/staff and student populations.
The numbers, posted on Mondays,
are cumulative totals from the week
prior. Last week, BCPS reported
101 new Coronavirus cases among
its students and 25 new cases in its
faculty/staff. However, principals are
reporting absences, during the eight
days students have returned from
Christmas break, that extend much
beyond those numbers.
At the BCPS COVID-19 Task
Force meeting Jan. 12, Waynesboro
Primary School Principal Sam At
kins reported 19 faculty members
out that day at his school alone. He
estimated that the school had seen
student absences hit between 105-
110 in one day. Principal Kaveous
Preston said the high school has
experienced student absence within
the same range. Recently,he has seen
100 students out at a time.
“Our biggest challenge is parents
sending sick kids to school,” re
ported Wanda Parrish, principal at
Waynesboro Middle School. “It’s
very uncomfortable for kids when a
student, even if they have on a mask,
is right next to them coughing.”
Lead School Nurse Rebecca Tins
ley said the nurses are working hard
to keep up with all of the new cases.
She reported 68 new cases between
Monday, Jan. 10 and Tuesday, Jan.
11.
“I know that I have gotten five just
this morning that are positive,” she
told the attendees of the meeting.
Contact tracing is becoming a more
difficult task. Determining if the
source of the vims is classroom or
externally related is getting harder
to accomplish, she said.
Monday, Jan. 10, the district was
short 12 substitute teachers. To assist
in covering the gap, central office
staff substituted in the classrooms.
Rev. Clary Dishmond said absences
are affecting the number of available
bus drivers as well. BCPS continues
to mn routes as they were designed
at the beginning of the school year;
however, they are close to double
mnning routes.
“We do have a plan in place in the
event that we get stretched too thin,”
Dishmond said. “We are stretched,
but we are still rolling.”
When asked at what point the
classrooms would transition to
online learning, Superintendent
Angela Williams pointed out that
BCPS looks not just at the number
of reported confirmed cases, but
also at the distribution of cases at
each school. She urged caution in
assuming that everyone
who is not at school is
sick with the vims. Out BCPS
of 50 faculty/staff that 16
Cubs are champs!
The Burke County Middle School boys basketball team brought home the gold
in a 51 -18 win to earn the title Coastal Empire Region Champions. The boys
played hard and finished the season with a 14-1 record. Pictured are, from
left, Kameron Lee, Banks Knight, Braylen Bellamy, Sean Vandiver, La’Quinton
Morgan, Coach Bobby Burum, Jayden Lambert, Quay Lovette, Javien White,
Omarion Cobb, Kendrick Carter, Talon Heath, Denzel Myers, Darrien Tullis,
De’Cori Fleming, Rashard Carter and Coach Breontrae Derricotte.
Tickets on sale for
Wimberly gala
From Staff Reports
It’s time for a southern soiree, and
guests are invited to dine on some of
the best local food while dancing the
night way for a good cause.
Tickets for “A Taste of Burke
County,” the Wimberly House’s an
nual gala, are on sale now, and orga
nizers have been busy planning the
event, which serves as the ministry’s
largest fundraiser each year. The gala
is slated for Saturday, Feb. 5, at First
Liberty Market in Waynesboro, from
6:30-11 p.m.
Eighteen restaurants, caterers
and local foodies will be serving up
their best dishes, everything from
appetizers to delicious desserts.
Gala attendees can stack their plates
with samples from Brown’s Sea
food, Burke Perk, Byne’s Blueberry
Farm, Camino Real, Country Boys
Cooking, Delmac, El Toro Taqueria,
Finely Seasoned Catering, Fish Eye
Grill, Fuji, Good Day Cafe, JJ’s
Crazy Nuts, Lake view Restaurant,
Paulette’s Fine Food, Pineland
Bakery, Round’s on Winthrope, The
Rabbit Hole on Liberty and The
Wing Joint.
In keeping with tradition, the gala
includes both silent and live auctions
as well as live music.
Lynn White, executive director
of Wimberly House Ministries, is
especially looking forward to this
year’s gala. “Over the past two years,
our community and world has been
through so many changes,” she says.
“During these unusual times, Wim-
Wunhedy iHouse
First LitMrty Maria Yteynestxw
FEBRUARY 5, 2022
ForTictefs
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berly House has continued to find
ways to keep our ministries active
and operating. As we continue mov
ing forward, we’re pleased to be able
to offer our Taste of Burke County
gala once again. Please join us
as we reunite and plan for 2022.”
Over the last 25-plus years,
Wimberly House Ministries has
provided vital programs within the
community for all ages and from
all walks of life. The gala makes it
possible these services to continue.
For more information about the
gala or to purchase tickets, contact
White at 706.554.6644. Individual
tickets maybe be purchased for $50
in advance and are $60 at the door.
Corporate sponsorships are available
for $350 each.
Competing in a dog’s world
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
Doug Ray is the only Burke
County resident competing in this
year’s Georgia Field Trial Associa
tion competition. In previous years,
local citizens made up at least a few
of the amateur- level participants.
The difference between a profes
sional and an amateur comes down
to the ability to earn more money
pursing the sport they love. A pro
fessional gets paid to train other
people’s dogs. An amateur runs their
own canines.
The lack of local participants may
be a sign of waning interest in the
sport first recorded in 1874 near
Memphis, Tn.
Competitor and bird dog author
Tom Word wrote on his website in
Nov. 2020, that the sport of held
trial is “threatened as never before,
from many directions.” He mentions
“world wars, depressions, reces
sions, loss of running venues and
training grounds due to urbanization
and the growth of anti-hunting senti
ment” as contributing factors to the
decline in interest.
Ray points to some of the same
factors.
“There are just not many people
in Waynesboro that have bird dogs
anymore,” Ray said and speculated
that like a lot of traditions, the sport
is losing momentum as time pro
gresses . “You don’t have the hunting
grounds like you used to, so you
don’t have the young kids getting
involved in going hunting with their
dads and their grandparents. Plus, it
is very expensive to do what we do.”
Ray developed a love for the sport
as a child. His parents participated as
far back as the 1960s. Ray obtained a
professional status after he graduated
from high school in 1988.
“Field trials have never been for
the masses, but rather a sport for the
few, those who appreciate the won
der of a top canine athlete: the truly
great bird dog,” Word wrote.
Serious competitors do a lot of
traveling. Ray will compete three
times this month. Training other
owners’ dogs helps defray the costs
associated with attending the compe
titions. Ray is cur
rently campaigning SEE
14 dogs. I’m Sparta- COMPETING,
cus, a 2-year-old 16
Doug Ray with I’m Spartacus, a 2-year-old male pointer.