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Page 2— Wednesday, August 17, 2022, The True Citizen Community invited to praise in the pines SHELLIE SMITLEY thetruecitizen.shellie@gmail.com Praise in the Pines will offer families an inexpensive eve ning of fun and fellowship in a picturesque setting. While inflation, crime and the pandemic have chipped away at people’s morale, the Padgett family decided it was time to give back to the community. Bobby and Lisa Padgett are inviting everyone out to the 610-acre estate lo cated on Hwy 23 September 24 for an evening of contem porary Christian music. Food trucks will be on site. Musical groups will perform on a stage overlooking a lake while at tendees relax in an open held surrounded by a wooded area. “We have just had a lot of things happening in our com munity and Bobby just felt led to give back and do some thing special,” Lisa said. “We thought it would be great to have a Christian concert where people can come together and enjoy worship and bring their friends.” Bobby believes the grounds, first purchased more than thirty years ago by his dad, Leslie and his wife, Judy, have been anointed and ordained. The family, who started out strug gling fi nancially, has found much success in starting a marketing company, wedding venue and RV rental park on the property. “We try to give back in every way that we can,” Bobby said and mentioned a ministry event that previously took place for inner city kids. “If the world needs anything right now, it is love. We are commissioned by God to do two things, love God with everything we have and to love each other. When God put this on my heart, I said okay, we are going to do this.” The list of entertainers for the Praise in the Pines event promises an uplifting experi ence. Labeled a powerhouse voice intent on “making a difference in people’s lives,” JJ Weeks formed the JJ Weeks Band in 2001. The band re leased songs featured on the official soundtracks for both the high-profile films “God’s Not Dead” and “Four Blood Moons.” Weeks, originally from Macon, continues on as a solo artist. Brothers-in-law Cody Clark and Jerad Moffitt formed “Af ter Grace” in their hometown of Mountain Home, Arkansas in 2013. The duo has per formed with artists such as TobyMac, Crowder, Building 429, Colton Dixon, 7eventh Time Down, Sanctus Real, and Cochren & Co., among others. Joel Vaughn has consistently had his songs appear and chart on Billboard and Mediabase during his career. Songs like Wide Awake, As You Are, Pray It Up, More Than Good Enough, I Look To You, I Would Be Lost, and Already Done were all radio hits and also gained millions of streams on ser- vices like Spo- tify and Amazon Music. Sanctus Real recorded a cover of U2's song, "Beautiful Day" in 2004 and received a GMA Dove Award nomination for Modem Rock Song of the Year. The band has also been nominated for Grammy awards in 2009 and 2010. Originally Bobby’s idea, Lisa prayed about it before she jumped onboard, knowing that “If the world needs anything right now, it is love.” - Bobby Padgett it was a huge undertaking. The family, including 82-year-old Leslie, jumped in to prepare the estate for an anticipated large crowd. Without any advertis ing , the family sold 200 tickets. Oasis Church at Hephzibah organized a volunteer work day and the Burke County Sheriff’s Office will provide assistance with parking. “We want to make an impact on our community,” Lisa said. “People need hope. I feel like this is going to be an amazing event.” Praise in the Pines takes place 5-9 p.m. September 24. The gates open at 4 p.m. Tick ets are $5 and can be purchased at www.itickets.com. Tickets are limited to about 1,500. Attendees are encouraged to bring blankets or chairs. All of the proceeds will be donated to charity. Bobby, Lisa and Leslie Padgett are co- owners of the family business, Padgett’s Farm. The 610-acre Burke County estate will host Praise in the Pines September 24. BCSO Grant remainders BEN ROBERTS benroberts@bellsouth.net Sheriff Alfonzo Williams turned over $217,914.16 in remaining grant funds to the county last month and now it’s up to the Burke County Com mission to add those funds to the Sheriff’s office budget. The commissioners attempt ed that process at their regular meeting last Tuesday, Aug. 9, when they considered two separate budget amendments that would have allotted those funds to the 2022 budget for the Burke County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO). The first amendment was to consider $5,204.96 that remained from the $50,000 Housing Authority Grant. Burke County Manager, Merv Waldrop, recommended those funds be added to the small grants fund to be used for small equipment purchases, per Sher iff Williams’ request. In an email on Monday, Waldrop explained that, for the county’s accounting purposes, small equipment is defined as items that cost less than $5,000. Commissioners voted unani mously to agree to the request. The commission then con sidered the $212,709.20 left over from the $375,000 Vogtle Safety Grant. Waldrop told the commission he disagreed with the BCSO request to use this amount for small equipment purchases. He said the sher iff’s request was inconsistent with the terms of the grant’s agreement and instead recom mended the commission ask for clarification from Williams for his intended use of the funds. Commissioners took no action on the proposed budget amendment and will send it back to the BCSO for further consideration. In a statement emailed Mon day, Williams said he will ask that the remaining funds “be put in the sheriff’s office bud get to cover the cost of supply ing law enforcement services consistent with the contractual obligations we have to those entities.” Two previous Vogtle Safety Grants, totaling $500,000, were used to cover the sala ries of deputies assigned as additional patrol units around the western side of the county near Plant Vogtle. The 2021 grants were deposited in a bank account separate from the county’s general fund, however, without the commis sion or the county manager’s knowledge. The commission became aware of the grants’ existence back in April. A subsequent investigation revealed that Wil liams had spent approximately $207,085 since September 1, 2021. Williams has been unable or unwilling to turn over receipts for a large portion of those expenses to the county’s audit ing firm. As questions surrounding the purpose of those expenses continued, Williams agreed to turn over the remaining grant funds to the county. He also dropped the appeal of his Mandamus lawsuit against the commission. 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