The Monroe County reporter. (Forsyth, Ga.) 1972-current, February 11, 2009, Image 1

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Newspaper Page TextInside Score big with our MP soccer preview SEE SIX-PAGE SECTION, INSIDE Why are these guys smiling? SEE PAGE 1C Deaths Henry Schneider Fountain, Jr. Louise “Big Mama” Aultman Fomby Nettie Ruth “Sister” Freeman Betty Ann Harris Freddy Milton Jones H. Ray McCain Zarihanna Taniyah Perkins SEE OBITS PAGE 6A vox > l|_ O .. H in is (/) to O ” high, Repairs to leave camp a now God is going to do a great work this summer no matter wh - Mike Flowers, director of Camp Kaleo BY WILL DAVIS A Christian camp in Monroe County may have to make do for part of the camping year without its 29-acre lake. That's because the county is expected soon to drain the lake to replace a faulty flood gate. "It's gonna kill us during our peak season," said Camp Kaleo director Mike Flowers. Camp Kaleo is located about seven miles south of Forsyth off Hwy. 42. Owned and oper ated by the Georgia Baptist Convention, the camp serves more than 4,000 kids from around the state each year, mostly between March and August, said Flowers. The lake is one of the camp's biggest draws, said Flowers, offering See CAMP page 4A dry The county plans to drain the lake at Camp Kaleo to replace a faulty flood gate. Chief appraiser Alveno Ross takes a smoke break Monday. Commissioner Jim Ham said the county doesn’t need to hire another appraiser when Ross could do field work. But the tax assessors office says a state consent order says otherwise. Ham walks out on assessor gripes BY WILL DAVIS Monroe County commis sioner Jim Ham walked out of last Tuesday's com mission meeting during a heated exchange about the state of the tax assessors office. Ham left the room as Robert Grier, chairman of the Monroe County Board of Assessors, accused com missioners of not support ing the assessors office. Ham had just persuaded commissioners to spend $63,000 for improvements to the property maps in the assessors office. Grier had actually asked for just $25,000 to maintain their maps, saying commission ers needed to rescind a vote at their Jan. 20 to spend $38,000 to re-draw parcel lines on the aerial See HAM page 5A Water bills may go up to fund new meter read Monroe County water customers may see higher water rates so the county can fix its helter-skelter billing cycles. Currently, water customers never know when they're going to get a water bill. Some months, the county bills on a 40-day cycle. The next bill may come 20 days later. Last Tuesday, water department manager Marie Allen gave Monroe County commissioners two options for doing something to change that. She offered two See WATER page 4A A sweetheart deal for you? If you’re reading this on Tuesday, you still have time to register for free Sweetheart Packages being given away by local businesses. This is the 13th year the Reporter has sponsored the Sweetheart Package. area businesses offer customers a chance to drop their name and phone number in boxes for a raffle. Locals have a chance to win everything from a one-night stay with dinner and drinks at High Falls Hideaway to a Holly Doss Makeover at West Mane Salon. Stay near your phone because winners will be notified soon. See page 10C for more. Pray for leaders The Monroe County Ministerial Association is sponsoring a service of prayer and worship for the elected officials of Forsyth and Monroe County. The service will be held at noon this Thursday, Feb. 12 at the Forsyth United Methodist Church. All elected officials are invited. Forsyth translator returns to Iraq the front lines to work as interpreter Eliana Bunn returns to BY GINA HERRING Ever since she came home from Iraq four years ago, Eliana Bunn of Forsyth has known she would go back some day "I missed it," said Eliana. "I needed to be here in Forsyth for a while. Now it's time to go back." Originally from Beruit, Lebanon, Eliana is a translator. She can speak and interpret all 21 dialects of Arabic, a skill which makes her a valuable resource for the U.S. Army on the ground in Iraq. She spent 13 months working as an inter preter for the Army in 2004 and 2005 translating documents and helping sol diers communicate with the Iraqi civil ians and prisoners. Since returning to Forsyth in February 2005, Eliana has worked as a court inter preter. She easily settled back into her life in the country Eliana moved to Georgia in 2000 and married Darden Bunn soon thereafter. The couple had met online and there was an instant connection. Growing up in Lebanon, Eliana has seen her share of war. So when the Army asked her to go to Iraq to be a translator, Eliana never hesitated. It was good money and an exciting job. Eliana and Darden used some of her earnings to bring her teenage son, Sam, to live in Forsyth in 2005. For the last four years she has been content living a simple country life. She loves living in a small town. She loves cooking, playing with her dogs and watching the stars at night. She has a good life here, she says, but See BUNN page 5A Eliana Bunn slips some family photos into her suitcase as she prepapes for a long journey to Iraq. (Photo/Gina Herring)

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The Monroe County reporter. (Forsyth, Ga.) 1972-current, February 11, 2009, Image 1