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For the second year in a row, precipitation and cold marred the Forsythia Festival. Still, the rain held off Saturday afternoon for a surprisingly good crowd. And, the horseshoe tournament, the Forsythia pag
eant and the inaugural Faithfest comeptition were all big hits. See photos page 10-11A.
www.mymcr.net • VOL. 38 N0.11 • USPS 997-840
2 sections, 24 pages • Forsyth, Ga. 31029 • Wednesday, March 18, 2009 • 75$
Inside
Who won
this year’s
Forsythia
5K race?
See Page 1B
Deaths
Willie Ed Gresham
Khan Lineberger
Mattie Lue Mitchell
Wandra Masha
Pennington
Melvin Shannon
Aline Suarez
Lonnie Watts
See Page 6A
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County prays for Ivey Weldon
Friends and family across Monroe County
they’re seeing answers to prayer
for 12-year-old Ivey Weldon of
Forsyth.
The daughter of Matt and Toni
Weldon, Ivey has been in critical
condition and on a ventilator at
the Children's Hospital at the
Medical Center of Central Geor
gia since being involved in a car
accident on March 1 on May
nards Mill Road. But things are
starting to look up.
On Monday, Ivey’s family
learned that her MRI results
were better than anyone could
have expected. Doctors said she
had some bruising on the front of the
brain but that it should heal. And there are no
signs of shearing of the tissue.
“The doctor was optimistic and
believes that her outcome, with
rehab, looks promising,” wrote
family members on Ivey’s
CarePages website Monday. It
also said Ivey should be able to
come off the ventilator in a few
days.
It’s welcome news for friends of
Ivey, who consider her a rare
combination of old-soul wisdom
and live-for-today optimism. She
is quick to care for the underdog,
literally trying to save countless
IVEY WELDON animals, and those who are hurt
ing, says family friend Marcy Sanders.
She even has a poster of Kylie Seitz, a local five-
year old battling cancer, on her wall.
Although she is like other kids her age in
that she loves to spend time texting and listen
ing to music, she also likes to send her family
and friends e-mails about trusting God. But
now it’s Ivey who needs prayers. On March 1,
the day six inches of snow slammed Middle
Georgia, Ivey was severely injured in a car
accident with her mom, brother and friend on
Maynards Mill Road. Her friend suffered a bro
ken arm, while her brother and mother suf
fered severe concussions and both remained in
the hospital for several days.
But it was Ivey who was the most severely
injured. She suffered a broken femur, fractured
See IVEY page 7A
Everybody's been great. I really enjoy this area.
- David Sperau, new owner of Trophy Ford in Forsyth
DAVID SPERAU chose Forsyth as the place to realize his dream of owning his own dealership, Trophy Ford
New Ford dealer
realizing a dream
Sperau: On-site owner makes Trophy Ford a different kind of dealer
BY WILL DAVIS
David Sperau's new office in
Forsyth includes encased
sports jerseys of top athletes -
- from the No. 4 uniform of
NFL legend Brett Favre to
the No. 10 Braves' shirt of
Chipper Jones. But perhaps
Sperau's most treasured office
keepsake is a mere faded let
ter from 1955. It's not a letter
to David, who's only 38, but to
his grandfather, DeeWitt
Sperau, congratulating him
for being one of the top Ford
service managers in the coun
try.
The letter is especially
meaningful this week as
Sperau, a third generation
Ford man, fulfills a 14-year
dream of opening his own
dealership, Trophy Ford in
Forsyth.
A 1994 graduate of the
University of Georgia, Sperau
has purchased the Davis-
Cooper Ford dealership in
Barnesville and re-opened it
as Trophy Ford in Forsyth.
Ford appointed him the dealer
for a newly-combined region
of Monroe and Lamar coun
ties and he opted to re-open
the dealership in Forsyth.
See TROPHY page 7A
Man found
dead 3 days
after wreck
BY WILL DAVIS
DOT workers found the car
and body of a Lilburn man in
a wooded area off 1-475 near
Bolingbroke more than three
days after he was killed in an
apparent fatal crash.
A Department of
Transportation (DOT) crew
reported finding a black BMW
325i submerged in a creek with a body inside
at around 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 11.
Monroe County sheriffs deputies responded
and identified the body as belonging to
See FATAL page 4A
OTERO
Teacher of the Year Jennifer Pippin is congratulated by her
boss, Hubbard Middle School principal Steve Edwards.
Pippin county’s
teacher of year
BY GINA HERRING
Hubbard Middle School’s eighth grade sci
ence and math teacher Jennifer Pippin was
announced as the 2008-09 Monroe County
See TEACHER page 5A