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Vol. 142, No. 4 - Waynesboro, Ga. 30830
Established in 1882
Wednesday, March 16, 2022 - $1.00
Jenna Maddox, flanked by her husband Michael (I)
and father Bob Greene (r), accepted the award for
Business of the Year at the annual chamber ban
quet. She is the owner of Pecan Row gift shop in
downtown Waynesboro.
Burke County
Chamber hosts
annual meeting
Members of the family of the late Charlie Story accepted
his Citizen of the Year Award in his memory. Story was
recognized for his many contributions to the community
throughout his career.
Bo Blanchard, incoming
ber of Commerce, accepts the gavel from outgoing chair
Whitney Zeagler.
The Burke County Chamber
of Commerce hosted its annual
meeting on Thursday, March 10th
at the Augusta Technical College
Campus with a sold out crowd.
The banquet, which is held
annually, featured the passing of
the gavel from 2021 chair Whit
ney Zeagler to the 2022 chair Bo
Blanchard. Zeagler recognized
board members and listed accom
plishments, while Blanchard ac
cepted the gavel, thanked Zeagler
for her service as chair and said
he looks forward to a great year
leading the organization.
Also during the meeting, sev
eral awards and recognitions were
made. A donation was made to the
Johnny Jenkins Memorial Schol
arship in honor of his service of
42 years as Chairman of the Burke
County Board of Education and
his tireless efforts as a champion
for education in the county.
William Mizell was recognized
for 30 years in business as a dedi
cated business owner and gener
ous supporter of many events and
organizations.
Pecan Row was named Busi
ness of the Year in recognition for
outstanding retail excellence and
entrepreneurship, as well as the
creative use of embracing online
and social media platforms that
draw local and out of town cus
tomers to the store.
Charlie Story was named Citi
zen of the Year for his outstand
ing service, and contributions to
Burke County. Story passed away
last fall and his family attended
and accepted the award on his
behalf.
The event was capped off with
keynote speaker Jeff Manley,
who delivered a motivational yet
humorous message about making
a difference in our community.
Midville candidate’s bid
for mayor challenged
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
As the election approaches next
Tuesday, a citizen has challenged
Midville mayoral candidate Wal
lace Lemons’ Burke County voter
registration status.
According to Board of Elections
Director Beau Gunn, the department
received a challenge letter that is
being reviewed by attorney Adam
Nelson. Nelson will decide if the
challenge letter meets the specifica
tion of state code, requiring it to be
in writing and specifying the grounds
for the challenge. Nelson will deter
mine if grounds exist.
“If it is a qualified challenge let
ter then the board will set a hearing
within 10 days and all parties will be
able to present their case to the Board
of Elections,” Gunn said Monday
and pointed out that a decision in
the citizen’s favor could void the
election results if Lemons wins the
bid for mayor.“It is my understand
ing that he would not be qualified to
hold that office if he is not a Midville
registered voter.”
Gunn said he anticipated Nelson’s
decision before the end of the week.
“There have been several calls
and emails from concerned citizens
in the city of Midville,” Gunn said.
“But one person submitted a chal
lenge letter.”
Lemons hies homestead exemp
tion for tax purposes in Laurens
County, where he and his wife own
a home. However, Lemons is regis
tered to vote in Burke County and
stays in a camper in Midville. The
city’s charter requires that candidates
have been residents for at least one
year and be eligible to vote in the
municipal elections.
In an email Tuesday, Elections
Supervisor Lran Watson said the city
is continuing to allow Lemons to run.
Archway report specifies
most critical issues
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
On December 2, 2021, the Burke
County campus of Augusta Techni
cal College hosted more than 50
community leaders and interested
residents in two Archway listening
sessions to discuss the challenges,
opportunities and assets important
to the county’s growth.
According to the report published
by the J.W. Tanning Institute for
Leadership Development, a unit of
the Office of Public Service and
Outreach at the University of Geor
gia, participants were clear on the
critical issues and opportunities fac
ing Burke County in the upcoming
years. The most critical issues were
determined to be housing availability
and workforce development.
The housing issue was mentioned
in several contexts. The first is a
lack of mid-priced housing, which
participants felt is keeping indus
try from relocating to the area and
preventing those already employed
from residing within the county. Par
ticipants also generally agreed that
people with higher paying jobs are
not moving to the area. Additionally,
a lack of rental property is prevent
ing younger, early-career individuals
and families from re
locating because they SEE
cannot stay without ARCHWAY,
purchasing a house. 3
Braves Trophy Tour to make stop in Burke County
5 truisT©
TRUtST©
TRUIST©
World champions
Following their historic World Series Championship season, the Atlanta
Braves are taking the 2021 World Series Trophy on tour with 151 stops across
the Southeast, commemorating 151 years of Braves baseball. The World
Champions Trophy Tour will make a stop at the Burke County Chamber of
Commerce Office in Waynesboro on Wednesday, March 23rd from 4-7pm.
Fans are invited to take photos with the coveted 2021 World Series Trophy.
Executive Director Ashley Roberts said, “the chamber is looking forward to
hosting this event and has several other activities planned for the occasion.
Hot dogs, cokes and sno-cones will be sold while a live DJ will be on hand
to play our favorite baseball tunes. The community is encouraged to dress
in your favorite Braves Fan Gear all day on March 23rd.”
Freeze affects local fruit crops
SHELLIE SMITLEY
thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com
Temperatures, reaching down into
the 20’s over the weekend, put a
freeze on local berry growth.
Mother Nature played a trick on
local farmers when temperatures
warmed up enough to promote
growth and then dipped back down
enough to kill off emerging buds.
Dick Byne of Byne Blueberry Farms
said this is the second year in a row
that his blueberry crop has suffered
a major loss.
“They are burnt,” he said of the
nearly 90% of his Burke County
blueberry crop consisting of 306
bushes. Byne needs to check with
crops located around the state to see
if they suffered the same, before he
will know how much he has lost.
After 42 years of growing, Byne
has seen his share of issues. Typi
cally, every growing season presents
a different dilemma to tackle. The
same issue does not generally arise
twice. Farmers expect cold snaps this
time of the year, but bud develop
ment isn’t usually as progressed as
the last two years. Byne attributed
the premature growth to warm tem
peratures in December. Last March
cold temperatures killed off emerg
ing buds too.
“This is very discouraging,” he
said. “This is two years in a row.”
With no berries to pick, it changes
Byne’s summer work schedule. It
also causes him to turn the loss into
his insurance agency again.
“I didn’t get in this business to
hie claims,” Byne said.” I got into
it to sell blueberries and that’s my
passion.”
Tim Myers of The Strawberry
Patch on Hwy. 25 said his acre and
a half of strawberries was blessed.
Although his crop faced freezing
temperatures and harsh winds over
the weekend, most of his berries
were spared.
“They came through pretty good,”
he said of the plants. “We ran water
for about 18 hours overnight and
had a lot of ice but it seems to have
preserved most of them. There are a
few, especially on the edges, where
the wind blew the water off that
were damaged, but most of them
survived.”
Myers explained how watering
protects berries from harsh tem
peratures.
As water freezes, it releases
heat, in an opposite process of
evaporation. Evaporation cools by
absorbing heat, he said. When water
changes states from a liquid to a
solid, it releases heat.
A British Thermal Unit (BTU) is a
measurement of energy that it takes
to raise or lower a gram of water one
degree Celsius.
“Every degree Cel
sius that a gram of wa
ter is dropping, it re
leases one BTU,” My-
SEE
FREEZE,
8