About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 1, 2020)
LOCA^STATE The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com Weekend Edition - August 1-2, 2020 3B ALCOHOL ■ Continued from 1B it will feed the communi ty’s problems with alcohol addiction. While he believes in U.S. citi zens’ freedom to choose, he said he also believes the country was built upon Christian principles. “To take the very day desig nated as the Lord’s day and then quote-on-quote legalize the sell ing of alcohol on that day, is a slap in the face to God,” Reyn olds said. Josh Griffin, co-owner of Grif fin Auto Service in downtown Lula, said even without the ref- erendums passing, if locals want to purchase alcohol, they’ll do it. Residents can easily drive out of the city limits on Sunday and pick up alcohol elsewhere in Hall. “People are going to get it wherever they’re going to get it,” he said. “Might as well spend the money local.” Amanda Browning, owner of Amanda’s Farm to Fork, has never sold alcohol in her restau rant. Even if the business was open on weekends, Browning said she would not serve wine and beer. Having built many con nections with people in Lula, Browning said she doesn’t think the referendums are in the com munity’s best interest. “As far as the majority of peo ple in the area, I think they like knowing that our small town is sticking to the same principal of not having alcohol,” she said. Browning said she also cher ishes her relationship with the church members who congre gate at her restaurant on Friday nights and other days. By pro viding alcohol at her restaurant, she fears she could deter most of her customer base. “I’d much rather not have alcohol and know I’d have their influence coming in all the time,” she said. “We’re family- run, and we have our children here. We are just not geared toward having alcohol.” Ex-regent agrees to deal on federal charges BY RUSS BYNUM Associated Press SAVANNAH — A former mem ber of the Georgia Board of Regents has agreed to settle civil charges by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that he swindled inves tors in his energy development company out of $23 million. A consent agreement signed by Alford Dean of Conyers was filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta on Thursday, the same day the SEC filed a civil complaint that accused Dean of using bogus financial state ments to persuade 100 investors to buy millions worth of promissory notes in anticipation of high returns. The company, Allied Energy Ser vices LLC, was actually struggling financially and is now bankrupt, the SEC said in court filings. Dean never put his investors’ money into energy projects, the SEC said, and Dean funneled roughly $5.7 million of the money into his private bank account. He used some of the cash to make payments toward a multimillion- dollar home in Utah, to buy a car and to cover credit card debt, the court complaint said. He also used some of the cash to pay interest owed to investors until the scheme collapsed in 2019 after going on for roughly two years. “He gave investors the false impression that the investment opportunities that he offered pur portedly through Allied would be lucrative,” the SEC’s complaint said. “Contrary to such represen tations, (Alford) knowingly used investor funds to pay personal expenses.” The consent agreement Alford signed says he will agree to civil penalties to be imposed later by a judge. It also states Alford nei ther admits nor denies the SEC’s allegations. The deal doesn’t affect other civil or criminal cases against Alford. Some investors have lawsuits pend ing against him in federal court, and he was arrested last year on state charges of racketeering and theft. Katie Byrd, a spokeswoman for Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, said Friday the state’s case remains active. Alford’s attorney, Walter Jospin, declined to comment Friday when reached by email. The SEC said Alford wooed investors with fake documents such as a balance sheet claiming his company had $162 million in total assets and generated total revenues of $40.5 million in 2018. In reality, the SEC said, Allied’s tax returns showed the company had less than $1 million in assets and its 2018 receipts totaled less than $435,000. Investors bought promissory notes from Alford at values of $25,000 to $825,000 apiece, the court complaint said, with rates of return ranging from 12% to 34%. The SEC said Alford used money from newer investors to make interest payments to those who invested in the company pre viously, until he started missing interest payments in April 2019. Soon after, he failed to repay inves tors’ principal. Then state authori ties arrested him last October. Alford’s background in in state government stretched back much further. He served five terms in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1983 to 1993 as a Democrat, but later gravitated toward Repub licans. He later served on the state Board of Education and chaired the board of the Technical College System of Georgia. Photo courtesy Gainesville Police Department Members of the Cresswind at Lake Lanier community stand with Gainesville Police Chief Jay Parrish, center, and other officers after donating meals to the department Tuesday, July 28. RESPONDERS ■ Continued from 1B are loved and supported.” Geganto said recognizing first responders is one of the many services Cresswind residents provide to Gaines ville. They keep a perpetual community fund to serve the area, which they used recently to purchase iPads and com puters for children raised by grandparents unequipped for helping with online learning. During the pandemic, they additionally packed 1,000 boxes of food for Family Prom ise of Hall County, a nonprofit devoted to serving homeless children and families. “It’s a giving community,” Ehlers said. “It’s amazing to see how much Cresswind can do it we put our minds together. One of our slogans is ‘Cresswind strong,’ and we’ve adopted Gainesville as our home.” GRAIN ■ Continued from 1B perfect person to work with special education students. “He didn’t think they were different,” she said. “He loved them no matter what. He was just a joy to be around.” She recalled that her hus band loved his job with the school district, at one point recently telling her “Stacey, I’m going to work until I’m 80.” “He was just passionate about what he did,” she said. “It was just that love for others.” According to Debbie King, a longtime friend of the Crain family and a health care science teacher at West Hall High School, Scott Crain focused on getting as many special education stu dents as possible involved in Special Olympics, even helping to establish a Spe cial Olympics kayak team, King said. Whenever an athlete was unable to make it to an event, she said he was always willing to pick them up, no matter how out of the way the trip might be for him. “He just opened doors for these kids that I don’t know anybody would have thought to open for them,” she said. King added that Scott Crain was the type of person who “it’s going to take three people to fill the shoes of,” when it comes to his role with HSCD. Hall County Special Olympics Chair Christopher Badura expressed a similar sentiment. In Scott Crain’s time working with Special Olym pics in Hall, the organization tripled its number of regis tered athletes, according to Badura. Badura said he will be remembered for the posi tive impact he made on the community through his roles with HCSD and Hall County Special Olympics, as well as his ministry involve- ment with Woodlawn Baptist Church, West Hall Baptist Church, Pinecrest Baptist Church and Pleas ant Hill Baptist Church — where he most recently served as music minister. But according to Badura, Scott Crain was never focused on building a leg acy. All the service he did for his community came simply from the care he had for those in his life, Badura said. “He never wanted praise for anything,” he said. “He just did it out of the love that he had for these kids.” Badura said his fondest memories of Scott Crain were the Sundays following massive Special Olympics events that would some times involve coordinating over 100 athletes — getting them to the right events at the right times and making sure everyone made it onto buses and got home safely. Though the trips were exhausting, Badura said Scott Crain was always smil ing and willing to do what ever it might take to make the trips as fun as possible for participating athletes. “He touched so many kids lives, which touched parents’ lives,” Badura said. “And that’s something that we’ll never be able to replace.” In addition to his wife, Scott Crain is survived by his son Will Crain and daughter Claire Crain NeSmith, according to an obituary from the Little & Davenport Funeral Home and Crematory. According to his obitu ary, the Gainesville native worked a number of jobs around the area over the years, including at Frierson- McEver Menswear, W.S. Crain’s Menswear, Jim Hardman GMC Car Sales and Riverside Pharmacy before eventually settling in as special education parent mentor for HCSD. A private family service will be held on Saturday, Aug. 1 at Pleasant Hill Bap tist Church. A graveside service will be held at 12:30 p.m. at Memorial Park Cem etery and is open to those who wish to attend. Social distancing will be observed and masks required at the graveside service. There will also be a memorial service at the Olympic Rowing Venue Saturday morning from 8 a.m. to noon. A dragon boat will be put out for anyone to leave flowers or cards inside, and donations for Hall County Special Olym pics will also be collected. Photo courtesy of Heather Gamble Scott Crain works with Special Olympics children. Bennie Joe Peck Celebration of Life Services will be held Saturday, August 1, at 11:00 am at Young Funeral Home, Willie B. Young Chapel, Gainesville. Visitation was held Friday, July 30, at the funeral home from 2:00 PM-6:00 PM. COVID 19 precautions will limit the number of individuals to no more than ten at a time inside the funeral home and masks must be worn at all times. Arrangements by Young’s Funeral Home, Gainesville. Walter “Wally” Jacob Schindler, Jr. Died July 26, 2020 Walter Jacob Schindler, Jr., age 61, of Hoschton, died Sunday July 26. No services will be held at this time. Arrangements by Lawson Funeral Home, Hoschton. Sherka Danielle Statham Died July 18, 2020 Sherka Danielle Statham, of Columbia, SC, died Saturday July 18. Her service will be held Saturday August 1, at First Baptist Church on MLK, at 1:00 p.m. Arrangements by Wimberly Funeral Home, Gainesville. Nancy Lee Wood Stiles Died July 29, 2020 Nancy Lee Wood Stiles, age 79 of Gainesville, died Wednesday, July 29. Memorial services are scheduled for Sunday, August 2nd at 3:00 pm in the Chapel of Memorial Park Funeral Home. The family will receive friends on Sunday August 2nd from 1-3 pm at the funeral home, prior to the service. Arrangements by Memorial Park Funeral Home, Gainesville. Roger Baker Tapleshay Died July 28, 2020 Roger Baker Tapleshay, age 81 of Cumming, died July 28th. Due to Covid-19 Mandates, there will be a walk-thru visitation from 1 to 3pm on Saturday August 1st at Bethelview United Methodist Church, Cumming. There will be a Celebration of Life at 3pm in the Sanctuary (masks required, limited seating). Interment at the National Cemetery in Canton will be at a later date. Arrangements by Ingram Funeral Home & Crematory, Cumming. Christine Johnson Thomas Died July 27, 2020 Christine Johnson Thomas, age 66, of Buford, died Monday, July 27. A Funeral Service will be held Sunday, August 2, at 3:00 p.m.in the Chapel of Flanigan Funeral Home. Interment will follow the service at Broadlawn Memorial Gardens, Buford. Visitation will be held from 2:00 p.m.- 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, August 2. Arrangements by Junior E. Flanigan of Flanigan Funeral Home and Crematory Buford. Ralph William Tolliver Died July 27, 2020 Ralph William Tolliver, age 90, of Gainesville, died Monday, July 27. Graveside services are scheduled for Saturday, August 1, at 11:00 a.m. at Hillandale Memorial Park Cemetery, Lithonia. Arrangements by Memorial Park Funeral Home, Gainesville. Ricky Nelson Waters Died July 30, 2020 Ricky Nelson Waters age 62 of Gainesville, died Thursday July 30. Funeral services are scheduled for Sunday August 2nd at 2:00 p.m. in the Chapel of Memorial Park Funeral Home. Arrangements by Memorial Park Funeral Home, Gainesville. Joyce Thompson Whitmire Died July 29, 2020 Joyce Thompson Whitmire, age 81, of Gainesville, died Wednesday July 29. A PRIVATE graveside service will be held. Arrangements by Ingram Funeral Home & Crematory Cumming. Clint Steven Whittney Died July 27, 2020 Clint Steven Whittney 56, of Cumming, died Monday, July 27. No services are currently scheduled. Arrangements by McDonald and Son Funeral Home, Cumming. Nettie Ruth Thompson Wood Died July 27, 2020 Nettie Ruth Thompson Wood, age 87, of Sugar Hill, died Monday July 27. Funeral services were held on Thursday July 30, at 4:00 p.m. in the Chapel of Flanigan Funeral Home. Interment followed at Broadlawn Memorial Gardens in Buford. Arrangements by Junior E. Flanigan of Flanigan Funeral Home and Crematory, Buford. NOTICE: NEW DEADLINES Death notices are printed free as a public service by The Times. More information can be provided in paid obituaries. The rate is $100 for the first 100 words in print, and $50 per additional 100 words (or any part thereof). This includes an online notice where friends and families can post condolences for 30 days. Deadline for publication is as follows: To run Wednesday, submit by 3 p.m. Monday. To run Saturday submit by 3 p.m. Thursday. Death notices and obituaries are accepted only from funeral homes. They should be emailed to obits@gainesvilletimes. com. We no longer accept death notices or obituaries by fax. All submissions will appear in The Times and online at gainesvilletimes. com. For additional information regarding obituaries or death notices please email obits@gainesvilletimes. com, or call 770-718- 3419. She Stmts gainesvillelimes.com Honestly local. Obituary Notices are updated daily on GainesvilleTimes.com Sign up at gainesvilletimes.com/register to receive the latest news and obituaries from our daily email newsletter.
