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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