Newspaper Page Text
Page 4C
May 2, 2018
■B
Exporter
Stan Hickman dances for a cause
After 15 weeks of re
hearsal, 12 local Central
Georgia business and
community leaders, includ
ing Dr. Stan Hickman of
Forsyth, will showcase their
best moves on the dance
floor, with their dance pro
fessional partners, for one
exciting evening to help
end Alzheimer’s.
The 7th Annual Danc
ing Stars of Central Geor
gia will be Saturday, May 5
at the Macon City Audi
torium. The event raises
money for the Alzheimer’s
Association, Georgia
Chapter’s care, support and
research. Since 2011, the
event has raised more than
$1 million.
Mirroring the popular
TV show, the 12 danc
ing pairs work to raise
money by gaining votes in
the one-night gala dance
competition. The other 11
celebrity dancers are Lori
Mitchell, Linda Brennan,
Dr. Douglas Brewer, Dr. Er
nest Carlton, Darlyn Davis,
Jordon Hale, John Holmes,
Wimberly Treadwell, Chris
Tsavatewa, Brittany Turner
and Dr. Champa Wood-
ham.
Supporters can vote for
their favorite star and pur
chase tickets to the event by
visiting www.dancingstar-
sofcentralgeorgia.com. For
more event information,
contact Laura West, event
organizer, at 478-442-9994
or lwest@alz.org.
The event will be hosted
by WDEN’s Laura Starling
and WGXAs Meteorologist
Jeff Cox. Celebrity judges
include Tripp Amos, Mark
Ballard and Michael Dun
away.
“No one is safe from
Alzheimer’s disease”, added
star dancer Linda Brennan.
“My father passed away
from Alzheimer’s last year
and now my father-in-law
is battling it. The struggle
is awful and the demands
on families and caregiv
ers are immense. Please,
please consider donating
to Dancing Stars of Central
Georgia. They support
caregivers and families
living this disease here in
Georgia,” added Brennan.
With the recent release
of the Alzheimer’s As
sociation’s 2018 Facts
and Figures Report, it is
estimated there are 140,000
Georgians living with
Alzheimer’s disease with
521,000 family caregiv
ers. Alzheimer’s deaths in
Georgia increased by 201
percent from 2000-2015.
With seven offices state
wide, the Georgia Chapter
provides vital education,
support and services in all
of Georgia’s 159 counties.
Alzheimer’s disease is a
growing epidemic and the
nation’s sixth-leading cause
of death. As baby boomers
age, the number of individ
uals living with Alzheimer’s
disease will rapidly escalate,
increasing well beyond to
day’s more than 5.7 million
Americans to as many as
16 million by 2050
Pictured top, Hydrangea Flower in color pencil by Kai-
tlin Hill; bottom left, “It Don t Matter” in acrylic oncanvas
by Leah Jenkins; bottom right, Expressive Self-JPortrait"
in pastel, acrylic by Laurel Sparks.
Mary Persons artists
win district awards
Kaitlin Hill of Mary Per
sons received third place
in this year’s Congressio
nal Art Competition for
her color pencil drawing
“Hydrangea Flower.” Leah
Jenkins and Laurel Sparks
of Mary Persons received
Honorable Mention for
their artworks. Congress
man Austin Scott of
Georgia District 8 recog
nized the three artists at a
reception on Sunday, April
22 at the Valdosta Mall,
in coordination with the
Annette Howell Turner
Center for the Arts in
Valdosta.
Grand prize winner
Ashley Wukasinovich
from Perry High School
is eligible for scholarships
and receives airfare to
Washington D.C. where
her piece will hang in the
U.S. Capitol for one year.
The second and third
place award recipients will
display their artworks in
Rep. Scott’s Warner Rob
ins and Tifton offices.
“The Congressional Art
Competition is a great way
to showcase the talent of
students from across the
Eighth District, and this
year’s submissions were
certainly no exception,”
said Scott. “I would like
to personally extend a
congratulations’ to this
year’s winners, as well as
to each and every sub
mission we received, and
extend a ‘thank you’ to the
art teachers who inspire
the talent, creativity,
and confidence of these
students. As I pass by
these great works, either
in our district offices or in
the U.S. Capitol, I will be
reminded that the work
we’re doing today is to
ensure a brighter future
for them.”
The second place winner
was Aisha Raza of Hous
ton County High School,
and the People’s Choice
winner, whose artwork
will be displayed in the
Washington, D.C. office
for one year, was Haley
Harden of First Presby
terian Day School. The
People’s Choice winner
was chosen by over 350
votes on Scott’s Facebook
page,
In addition to the art
work of Jenkins, Sparks
and Harden, three other
entries were awarded
Honorable Mention, all
submitted by Houston
County High School
students.This year’s judges
for the competition were
local professional artists
and gallery owners.
Birthdays & Anniversaries
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiffiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
May 2
May 5
May 8
Jennie Dodd
Marcia Dugger
Lee Perkins
Timmy & Leah Pritchett
Charles & Patriia Dumas
Kaejia Campbell
May 3
May 6
May 9
Emily Smarr
Moira Hester
Joe Woods
Ronnie Danie
Stan Cranford
Gracie Boodworth
Chris vey & Jill Lancaster
Lee & Deena Smith
Michelle Daniels
Garrett Bloodworth
May 4
May 7
Anna Beth & Josh Shepard
Nea Johnson
Cody Ham
Chad & Katie Moore
Terry & Lisa Drew
• This week’s birthdays and <
anniversaries are courtesy of Forsyth Lions
Club calendar. To have your
name added to the calenda
ir, contact Virginia Remick at 994-5426.
• Childrens birthday notices through age 12 and birth announcements
are published free of charge for
the community. Email Diane
Glidewell at news i£i: mymcr.net with information and picture.
Remember When
This look at what Monroe County residents were reading in the
Reporter 30,20 and 10 years ago this week is brought to you by...
Monroe County
Memorial Chapel
'We set the standards
that others follow'
Harley Ray "Spanky" Beck
86 West Main Street • Forsyth
478-994-4266
By Diane Glidewell
news@mymcr.net
Rep. Allen Peake was the
guest speaker at the April
18 meeting of Monroe
County Retired Educa
tors. Peake is completing
his fourth term in the
Georgia House of Repre
sentatives, having decided
not to run for another
term for District 141 this
fall. Several local leaders
joined the Retired Educa
tors meeting, including
Commission Chair Greg
Tapley, Tax Commissioner
Lori Andrews, Forsyth
Mayor Eric Wilson, Police
Chief Eddie Harris, City
Manager Janice Hall and
Culloden Council member
Dr. Margie Bryant.
Shirley Henderson
introduced Peake, de
scribing his biography as
“absolutely fantastic.” Peake
attended First Presby
terian Day School and
Auburn University, earned
a degree in accounting
from Mercer University
and attended seminary
before beginning a career
in the restaurant indus
try in 1985. A leveraged
buy-out of the restaurant
group where he worked
led him into the ownership
and management of what
became the 10th largest
restaurant franchise in the
U.S., with over 130 estab
lishments in three states.
In 1989 he passed the
CPA exam. Maintaining a
business philosophy based
on servant leadership, he
has continued a successful
business career while serv
ing on numerous boards
and working with commu
nity charities.
Peake and his wife of 29
years, Betsy, whose parents
were long time educators,
have three children and
two grandchildren. His av
ocations include running,
golf and scuba diving,
which may be why he was
interviewed as a contestant
for TV’s “Amazing Race.”
Henderson commented
that Peake’s biography
did not mention his work
to make medical can
nabis available for those
who need it, a cause with
which he has been closely
identified over the last
three years. Peake said that
was because the biogra
phy was not completely
up-to-date and that he was
about to cover the topic.
He said that he lives in
Bibb County, almost on the
Monroe County line. His
championship of medical
marijuana began with an
email he received from a
Monroe County mother
in April 2015 asking him
to help save the life of her
little girl, Haleigh Cox.
He said that this began
his championship of a
cause he never imagined
taking on. He visited
Haleigh, who was having
over 100 seizures each day
at the time, in the hospital.
Asking himself what he
would do if she were his
child, he answered himself
that he would crawl over
glass to help her. He saw
how cannabis oil helped
control her seizures.
“I am a conservative
Republican,” he said. “I
have never done drugs in
my life.”
He sponsored legisla
tion to allow individuals
with conditions helped
by cannabis oil to register
with the state to legally
possess small amounts of it
with low concentrations of
THC (less than .5 percent),
the active ingredient in
marijuana. It has benefited
Haleigh to the extent that
she is now able to attend
kindergarten in Monroe
County.
Hurdles to access of can
nabis oil continue. Peake
and his wife have made it
public that they help pro
vide legal 2-ounce bottles
of cannabis oil to those
who are registered and
will continue to do so after
he leaves the legislature.
He is pleased that in 2017
the legislature granted
reciprocity to those from
other states with medical
marijuana laws and added
more conditions that can
be registered for use, in
cluding sickle cell anemia,
PTSD and intractable pain.
Georgia has 3,964 regis
tered patients and 537 pre
scribing physicians. As well
as the bottles of oil, there
is now a spray to instantly
knock out a seizure.
Peake said he is opposed
to recreational mari
juana but believes Geor
gia should issue limited
licenses to grow and pack
age marijuana for medical
use in the state. That would
eliminate legal problems
of crossing state lines with
the drug and would let the
state regulate and control
the process. Peake was
part of a state commit
tee charged to study and
recommend on cultivation
of marijuana in the state.
It recommended against
allowing cultivation, 11-5.
He said that he and all the
physicians on the commit
tee gave the ‘yes’ votes, and
he hopes the new governor
will re-create the com
mittee. Cultivation is now
legal in 30 states.
He said that it is time for
Congress to act to clear up
the legal issues of crossing
state lines. “Public support
is off the charts, 84 percent
for medical marijuana,”
he said. “It’s less than 50
percent for recreational
marijuana.”
Chief Harris asked how
drinking a whole bottle of
medical cannabis oil would
affect someone. Peake said
the person would probably
get a bad case of diarrhea
from the other oils mixed
with the cannabis oil; he
would not get high. Peake
said cannabis oil is usually
administered under the
tongue with a syringe and
has a bitter taste; it is given
intravenously or by a small
capsule to some children.
“This issue is evolving.
It will be a non-issue in 20
years when our kids are
running the state,” said
Peake.
Tapley asked why not just
set strict regulations rather
than limit the number of
licenses for cultivation,
processing and packaging.
Peake said the the Depart
ment of Public Health
would issue the licenses,
which would be limited to
four or five places in the
state in order to address
law enforcement issues.
Henderson asked Peake
about his plans since he
is not running for office
this term. He said he has
endorsed Clay Tippins for
governor and is helping
campaign for him. He feels
Tippins will work to fix
issues important to him.
Asked if he is endorsing
anyone in the four-candi
date race to replace him in
District 141, Peake said it
is an interesting race with
four good men, but he is
not endorsing anyone.
“Thank you for the privi
lege to serve for the last 12
years,” said Peake.
The next meeting of
Monroe County Educators
will be Wednesday, May
16 at Forsyth Presbyterian
Church Parish House on
North Jackson Street. It
will recognize the 2017
retirees from the Monroe
County School System.