About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (March 16, 2023)
LOCAL The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com Thursday, March 16, 2023 3A Hall students compete in electric car race event J r^—■■■,. .. Hi - . - ■■■. ■ ■- C i Photo courtesy of Sydnee Taylor Flowery Branch High School students participate in an electric car race event organized by the Georgia chapter of the Technology Student Association at Caffeine and Octane’s Lanier Raceway in Braselton on Wednesday, March 15. BY BEN ANDERSON banderson @gainesvilletimes.com Emma Veiga, a junior at Flowery Branch High School, still feels a pang when she recalls the cata strophic failure at last year’s race event. “The entire back wheel broke off the axle, and we could not fix it,” Veiga said. “That was probably one of the saddest things that’s ever happened to me.” But things were going much more smoothly this year, she said minutes before her final race. “When it comes to driving, you do all this work to finally get up on the track and it’s like that final moment, you’re just happy,” she said. “You just forget about all the stress.” Veiga is the driver for her high school’s electric car race team, which com peted Wednesday in an event at the Caffeine and Octane’s Lanier Raceway in Braselton. “I just like to go fast,” she said. More than 30 teams from schools across the state hit the track to see who could complete the most laps on a single battery charge in two hour-long races. Hall County Schools was represented by Flowery Branch and Chero kee Bluff high schools. The decade-old race event is organized by the Georgia chapter of the Technology Student Asso ciation, a national nonprofit organization of high school and middle school students with a passion for science, technology, engineering and math. The race is just one of many competitions hosted by TSA. “Basically, they have to figure out how to make the vehicles as efficient as pos sible,” said Steven Griffing, an engineering teacher for Barrow County Schools and one of the race organizers. Students are involved in all stages of building the car, from 3D modeling and graphic design to welding the frame and wiring the electronics. Garrett Murphy, the pit chief for the Flowery Branch High team, said his favorite part of the event is applying the lessons he learns in the classroom on the race track. “I love the application of it,” the junior said. “You can come out here and test it and see how you’re doing.” Murphy said their alumi num-chassis car can reach top speeds of 30-32 mph. But it’s not all about speed. “It’s an endurance race,” said Brent Hinkel, president of the Georgia Electrathon Association, which hosts electric vehicle races across the country and sets the rules and regulations. “It’s grown a lot” over the last ten years, he said. Micah Townsend, assis tant fabricator and a junior at Flowery Branch High with a particular interest in welding, said their alu minum car made it about three-quarters of the way through the first race. And while he wasn’t sure how they ranked Wednes day afternoon among the competing teams, he said he was just happy to spend a school day out on the track. “I just have a blast,” he said. Harmon Tison, an engi neering teacher at Flowery Branch High who oversees the student race team, said the race results won’t be announced until Saturday. Trophies will be awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places. But with five minutes left in the second and final race, things were looking good. “We’re leading right now,” he said. Their aluminum-chassis car can go as fast as 32 mph. He wears a headset and communicates with Veiga while she’s racing, keeping an eye on the car’s battery life and letting her know when to ease up on the pedal so they can finish the hour- long race. But it’s not about just about speed. “It’s an endur ance race,” said Brent Hin kel, president of the Georgia Electrathon Association, which hosts electric vehicle races across the country and sets the rules and regula tions. “It’s grown a lot” over the last ten years, he said. Micah Townsend, assis tant fabricator and a junior at Flowery Branch High with a particular interest in welding, said their alu minum car made it about three-quarters of the way through the first race. And while he wasn’t sure how they ranked Wednes day afternoon among the competing teams, he said he was just happy to spend a school day out on the track. “I just have a blast,” he said. Harmon Tison, an engi neering teacher at Flowery Branch High who oversees the student race team, said the race results won’t be announced until Saturday. Trophies will be awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places. But with five minutes left in the second and final race, things were looking good. “We’re leading right now,” he said. PILGRIM ■ Continued from 1A doctor’s office reception ist. She walked with a cane at that time, “then a couple of years later it became a walker, and then, suddenly, she had resigned from that position because she could no longer move her legs” and was confined to a wheel chair, Wilson said. Icie underwent three sep arate surgeries to remove both of her legs, starting with her feet and continuing just above the knees. Despite her maladies, Icie’s demeanor remained bright, her faith steadfast and unwavering. “She told us at an early age she knew she had a calling... to minister to people, to wel come and to love people,” Wilson said. “She was the epitome of what love is. If anybody had the fruit of the Spirit — love, joy, peace, patience, kindness — it was her.” “She was the happiest person you ever met in your life,” Darryl Wilson said. “I never saw a side of her that wasn’t smiling.” Burnette concurred: “She never let anything get her down.” “The thing about Icie, I think she was a trooper, ” said Ricky Davis. “I was think ing of a word that I could describe her as, and I came up with many things. She’s a diamond. She’s a trooper. No matter what was going on in her life — and she had many things going on — she always had a smile and a twinkle in her eye that you won’t forget. She struggled every day, but we never knew it. I could see in her eyes that she wanted to be out there playing with us and doing the things that we were doing, but she did it from the porch. She lived it through us.” A member of New Hol land Baptist Church, Icie also maintained an extensive phone ministry, regularly calling folks to check in and pray with them. “She had a ministry. She not only loved us kids, she loved everyone. You’d drive by her house and she’s just sitting out there, no longer able to work, always waving and smiling (at passersby),” Vic said. While she required help with some tasks, Icie lived alone and was largely inde pendent, regularly sitting by the stove in her wheelchair to stir homemade fudge and divinity candy for the neigh borhood kids. Some, like Burnette’s sister, learned to make the sweet treats from Icie’s lap. Though she had none of her own, children seemed to be drawn to her, Burnette said. “Every kid went to Icie’s,” he said. “We were a pretty rough bunch growing up; she kind of put the kindness in our hearts, I think. I don’t know how many generations she actually touched.” “I know we didn’t appre ciate it at the time, but later on, we understood: This was a safehouse,” Vic said. “She was a mother to us. I can’t say enough about that woman’s place in my life.” Vic remembers occupy ing Icie’s porch swing with a few other neighborhood boys, who asked why she was so selfless and caring toward others, to which she responded, simply: “It’s my calling.” “I remember us blurt ing out in unison, ‘Calling? What’s that?’ She explained her calling was the reason she was put on this earth. It didn’t blow me away then, but it blows me away now,” Vic said. “We knew where we were accepted, we knew where we were loved, we knew how safe we were (at her house). She was kind and sweet — kind of like Jesus. Kind and sweet and loved everybody.” According to Darryl, Icie Pilgrim was “the most uncompromised person” he’s yet to meet. “It’s infectious (when) you hang around somebody that’s positive,” Darryl said. “That’s why everybody was drawn to her, I’m sure — you fed off of it. She was defi nitely a glass half full, there’s no doubt about that.” 3 transported to hospital after sports car crash BY BEN ANDERSON banderson @gainesvilletimes.com Two people in a sports car Wednesday were critically injured when the driver of the vehicle lost control on Aviation Boulevard and crashed into a minivan, Gaines ville police said. The crash about 3:30 p.m. shut down Avia tion Boulevard between Dorsey Street and Queen City Parkway, officials said. “It appears a sports car lost control and struck a minivan,” police Lt. Kevin Holbrook said. Holbrook said two people in the sports car were transported to the hospital in critical condition. The driver of the mini- van was transported to the hospital in stable condition. Authorities: Man looked at child pom during home raid BY NICK WATSON nwatson @gainesvilletimes.com A Gainesville man was accused of looking at images of child por nography as officers searched his home, accord ing to authori ties. Alan Neil T h u r , 75, was arrested Tuesday, March 14, at his home and charged with seven counts of sexual exploi tation of a minor. He was booked in to the Hall County Jail, where he remains with no bond. The Hall County Sher iff’s Office case started in late February with a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Investigators believe Thur uploaded at least one image on Nov. 7 to a search engine. He originally faced two counts of sexual exploitation, with one count for posses sion and the other for distribution. But Thur faces five more counts after the search Tuesday at his home. “As deputies carried out the search, Thur was viewing five images of child pornography on his computer,” according to a Sheriff’s Office news release. Thur Man arrested in Kansas accused of raping local girl BY NICK WATSON nwatson @gainesvilletimes.com A man accused of sexually assaulting a Gainesville girl in 2020 was brought back to Hall County after fleeing to Kansas, according to authori ties. Felix Barra- gan, 45, of Hall County, was arrested in Shaw nee Mis- s i o n , Kansas, and taken into custody by the U.S. Mar shals and the Johnson County, Kansas Sheriff’s Office. He was booked in to the Hall County Jail Tuesday, March 14, where he remains with no bond. Barragan was charged with raping and molest ing the girl between Feb. 1, 2020 and Jan. 15 of this year. Hall County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman B.J. Wil liams said there were multiple assaults across that timespan but did not have a specific number. Williams said Barra gan, who was previously acquainted with the child, also showed the girl pornography. One of the girl’s relatives reported the alleged assaults to the Sheriffs Office after the girl made an outcry. The investigators learned from the girl’s family that Barragan had fled to the Johnson County area of Kansas. Barragan was charged with three counts of rape, four counts each of sodomy and aggra vated child molestation, 12 counts of sexual bat tery and two counts of electronically furnish ing obscene material to a minor. Barragan HABITAT ■ Continued from 1A as a “calling.” “Just taking a look at the position, and taking a look at myself and my career, I kind of ultimately deter mined it was a calling - it’s the time and place in my life,” she said. “I’ve always given back to the com munity. I’ve always had a service heart, but at this point and this place, I felt like Habitat for Humanity of Hall County needed me and the direction that I can take it.” To cope with the contin ued rise in building costs, which has posed a signifi cant challenge to Habi tat’s mission to build more homes, Weaver aims to ramp up fundraising efforts that dwindled during the COVID-19 pandemic. She also has plans to open a second location for Habi tat’s Restore, which resells lightly-used household appliances, furniture and common home improve ment products to raise money for their cause. “I feel like we are a hid den gem.. that’s really my mission is to really work on our brand,” she said. “I want a (Restore) that you drive by, and you’re like, ‘Wow, I forgot I’m look ing for a sofa, and that’s exactly where I need to stop.” She also hopes to attract more volunteers, which allows Habitat to bypass labor costs. “It’s a challenge, but the beauty of our organization are the (volunteers),” she said. “A lot of the cost of construction is labor, so volunteers are a huge, huge part of that.” With a growing disparity between median income and home prices in Hall, Weaver described Habi tat’s work as vital for lower and middle income people in the community. “The timing of the cur rent housing situation is really what has me here,” she said. “We need to make a difference in Hall County. We are a thriving place to do business.. but who honestly can afford (housing) that works at a restaurant or the hospital? We need affordable hous ing .. there’s so many great things about living (here), but the cost of housing is not one of them.” As developers continue to claim large portions of Hall County for industrial, commercial residential projects, a primary need for the organization is land. Weaver said that continues to be Habitat’s primary need. “We’re out there com peting against developers,” she said. “Any buildable land goes a long way.” Weaver said that mon etary contributions, vol unteers and donations of lightly-used furniture also are welcome, adding that funds raised from sales at Habitat’s Restore - located at 2380 Murphy Blvd in Gainesville - is fundamen tal to supporting the organi zation’s mission to provide housing to those in need. Those interested in donating to Hall County’s Habitat for Humanity can visit the website here to learn more. 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