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Moldova again at center of tug
between Moscow and the West.
INSIDE, 4A
Tlil ]
Tuesday, February 14, 2023 | GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com
Industrial development in Oakwood
gets approved.
INSIDE, 3A
Honestly Local
Ex-teacher faces new
Millholland
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
A former Gainesville High
School teacher charged with
child molestation has been
arrested on new charges
he violated his bond order,
according to court documents.
Cameron David Millhol
land, 27, of Dawsonville, was
accused in August of child
molestation after allegations
of inappropriate conduct over
Snapchat with a student.
The bond order included
conditions that he have no
contact with children under
charges of violating bond
the age of 18 excluding his
sibling. Millholland was also
barred from using smart
phones, social media and
internet contact except for
work.
According to an affidavit
for a Superior Court arrest
warrant filed Feb. 8, Millhol
land visited Riverview Ele
mentary School in Dawson
County on Jan. 25 and Feb. 3.
Millholland, who coached
boys golf and taught social
studies, resigned from Gaines
ville High Aug. 19.
Magistrate Court Judge
Andy Maddox declined to
grant a bond for Millholland
after a Sept. 16, committal
hearing, but the Hall County
District Attorney’s Office later
consented to a $30,000 bond.
Superior Court Judge Kath-
lene Gosselin granted the
■ Please see MILLHOLLAND, 3A
‘It helps with mental health’
Photos by SCOTT ROGERS I The Times
Spout Springs School of Enrichment students and siblings Tucker Zimmerman, 11, right, and Piper Zimmerman, 9, use new
playground equipment Monday, Feb. 13, after the school’s PTO raised $65,000 from the community to have the site built.
Elementary PTO raised $65K for fitness-style playground
BY BEN ANDERSON
banderson@gainesvilletimes.com
Children are spending way more
time staring at their screens in the
wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Parent Teacher Organization at
Spout Springs School of Enrichment
wanted to do something to combat that
trend, so they raised nearly $65,000
to build a secondary playground and
donated 5% of the money to St. Jude’s
Children Research Hospital.
They cut the ribbon Monday
morning.
Children ages 6-10 spent an extra
1.4 hours each day looking at a screen
after the onset of the pandemic,
according to a meta-analysis pub
lished by The Lancet last year that
looked at 89 studies from around the
world. That is the largest increase in
screen time of any age group.
The study found that the more time
kids spend looking at their screens,
the less they sleep, the poorer their
diet and the worse their mental
health.
“Teaching some of the stuff we lost
with COVID, how to socialize and con
nect with others and be physically
active,” said Jared Belew, principal
at Spout Springs, one of Hall County’s
20 elementary schools. “It helps with
mental health.”
Gina Nuzzo, PTO president, said
children help raise money for a new
project every year as part of their
Seminole Sprint fundraiser by solicit
ing donations from family members
and neighbors.
This year, she said, they wanted to
do something a little different.
“They have a whole playground
over there with slides and all of that
fun stuff,” she said. “The goal was to
give them something to play on but
where they’re still moving but not run
ning down a slide.”
“It’s just a very cool concept,” she
said. “Maybe we start a trend.”
ExoFit Outdoor Fitness manufac
tures outdoor fitness equipment for
parks and schools not unlike what
you might find in a commercial gym.
Their ExoKids line provides equip
ment specifically designed for kids
under the age of 13, such as the Dou
ble Leg Press, The Air Skier and bal
ance beams.
“I really like it. I think it’s like fun
and stuff,” said Nuzzo’s fourth-grade
daughter Gia. Her favorite machine
is the Air Skier, where kids stand on
a small platform and swing back and
forth. “I was really surprised how well
it worked out and how it was all grass
and now it’s a playground.”
Former PTO president Nikki Bowen
said TurfMark, a Flowery Branch-
based company, provided about
$2,000 of mulch for free.
“We have a very supportive commu
nity,” she said.
When asked to name her favor
ite machine, Bowen’s second-grade
daughter Reese said, “The thing
where you go side to side.”
“I like everything,” she said.
Spout
Springs
School of
Enrichment
PTO
members cut
a red ribbon
Monday, Feb.
13, opening
a new
playground
at the school
built with
money raised
from the
community.
PTO
members are
from the left,
Nikki Bowen,
Morgan
Ellis, Spout
Springs
Principal
Jared Belew,
Gina Nuzzo
and Jennifer
Zimmerman.
l TT7
Tmj
m - — .
31
Motorcyclist dies
in Browns Bridge
Road accident
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
A man was thrown from his motorcycle
and killed after a wreck Friday, Feb. 10, on
Browns Bridge Road, police said.
Gainesville Police said Shane Copeland,
31, was pronounced dead at the scene of the
crash Friday on Browns Bridge Road and
Cresswind Parkway.
Lt. Kevin Holbrook said Copeland was rid
ing a Honda motorcycle around 4:40 p.m. Fri
day going west on Browns Bridge Road.
Holbrook said Copeland’s motorcycle hit
a Ford Taurus entering the road from Cress-
wind Parkway.
The driver of the Taurus, Michael Ehlers,
74, of Gainesville, was transported by ambu
lance to Northeast Georgia Medical Center
with minor, visible injuries.
Holbrook said police are still investigating
the wreck, though speed is believed to be a
factor.
Photo provided byAsbury Chapel
Asbury Chapel, Gainesville’s first Global
Methodist Church, holds Sunday services at
Memorial Park Funeral Plomes and Cemeteries
North-Riverside Chapel at 989 Riverside Drive,
Gainesville.
New Methodist
church begins
services in Hall
BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
Dick Williamson worshiped for decades
as a United Methodist Church member,
but recent years had put a bad taste in his
mouth.
The denomination was “going more and
more progressive, and that is not my theol
ogy,” said Wiliamson. “I’m very basic in my
theology. I’m very conservative.”
He said he felt called by God to help start
a Global Methodist Church in Gainesville.
The end result was Asbury Chapel, which
began meeting regularly on Jan. 8.
The Global Methodist Church began as a
new denomination on May 1, 2022, breaking
away from United Methodists after a long,
heated debate over same-sex marriage and
the ordination of openly gay clergy.
“We have been more than blessed,” Wil
liamson said in an interview this week
about Asbury’s beginnings. “The people I’ve
talked to, I’ve asked them for two things:
attendance and their financial support.”
The church first gathered for a candle
light service on Christmas Eve, an event
attended by 125 people, Williamson said.
Asbury holds worship services at 9:30 a.m.
every Sunday at Memorial Park Funeral
Homes and Cemeteries North-Riverside
Chapel at 989 Riverside Drive, Gainesville.
Williamson, 88, left Gainesville First
United Methodist to start the new church,
but members have come from many area
churches, said Asbury’s pastor, the Rev.
Whit Martin.
For his part, Martin, 41, grew up in the
Gainesville area, attending Gainesville
First United as a youth as part of a spiritual
journey that included visiting other area
churches.
Called to the ministry at an early age, he
last pastored at a United Methodist Church
in Villa Rica in West Georgia before he got
a call from Williamson asking him if he was
interested in leading the new church.
“I am humbled to be called to work
■ Please see CHURCH, 3A
