Newspaper Page Text
February 9, 2022
MONROE COUNTY
Community Calendar
Calendar items run free
of charge as a communi
ty service each week as
space allows. Mail items
for the Community Cal
endar to Diane Glidewell
at news : -mymcr.net by 8
a.m. on Monday.
Feb. 22
Gordon State Col
lege hosts 3rd Annual
Legacy Lecture
Gordon State College will
host an evening of music,
reflection & leaving a lasting
legacy on Tuesday, Feb. 22
at 6:30 p.m. at the Student
Activity & Recreation Cen
ter. Writer/editor/administra
tor Mimi Kirk, a descendant
of John B. Gordon will be
the guest speaker, and the
award-winning male chora
group from Stilwell Schoo
of the Arts in Jonesboro will
perform. To attend, contact
OfficeOfThePresidenGgor-
donstate.edu for information.
Feb. 23
USDA virtual workshop
Georgia USDA will have
a virtual workshop for new
and prospective farmers
about getting started and
working with USDA agen
cies. “Roadmap to Success"
will be on Wednesday, Feb.
23 from 9 am -1 2:00 pm.
USDA considers anyone
who has operated a farm or
ranch for less than ten years
to be a beginning farmer
or rancher. To register, see
https://www.teamagricul-
turega.org/events/farming-
101 -workshop.
Feb. 24
Monroe Co. Democrats
Committee to meet
The Monroe County Demo
crat Committee will meet
on Thursday, Feb. 24 at St.
Luke A.M.E. Church, 1 43
James Street, Forsyth. The
purpose of the meeting is to
elect officers and commit
tee members. There will be
a social time at 6 p.m with
the business meeting begin
ning at 6:30 p.m.
Feb. 25
Hubbard Elementary
hosts Father-Daughter
Dance
Hubbard Elementary PTO
will host a Father-Daughter
Dance on Friday, Feb. 25
from 7-9 p.m. with music by
AJ the DJ, light refreshments
and a selfie booth. Tickets
are $10/person and will
be available at all three
elementary schools.
Feb. 26
Madeline Monroe Day
at Big Peach Car Wash
Big Peach Car Wash on
N. Lee Street, Forsyth will
donate $5/car to the family
of Madeline Monroe Sand
ers for every car washed on
Saturday, Feb. 26 (individual
washes & unlimited member
ships).
March 11
Forsythia Festival Golf
Tournament
Monroe County Kiwanis
Club will sponsor the For
sythia Festival Golf Tourna
ment on Friday, March 1 1
with lunch at 12 noon and
shot gun start at 1 p.m. Entry
fee is $240/team of four
golfers, including lunch, golf
and prizes. The tournament
is 4-man scramble (all play
from the forward tees). All
proceeds go toward local
scholarships. There is an
18-team limit, first come, first
served. Hole sponsorships
are $50 and donations of
door prizes are welcomed.
To register or for more
information, contact Lee
Smith at 478-994-1666 or
478-394-4001 (cell) or Lee’s
Haircutting, 76 N. Jackson
Street, Forsyth.
March 5
Mighty Stacks for
Mighty Madeline
“Mighty Stacks for Mighty
Madeline,” a pancake din
ner & silent auction benefit
for Madeline Monroe Sand
ers, will be Saturday, March
5 from 5:30-8:30 p.m. at
First Baptist Church Forsyth,
95 W. Morse Street. Tickets
are $10/person. To donate
items for the silent auction,
contact Lori Andrews at
478-960-6690 or Stepha
nie Crews at 404-323-
1086.
See CALENDAR
Page B
C ommunity'^p
Around Monroe County ► ► Forsyth • Juliette • High Falls • Bolingbroke • Culloden • Smarr
MC teen donates hair to Wigs for Kids
Kimberly Jackson is
an 11th grader at Mary
Persons who likes to help
others, especially children.
Her parents, Bishop and
Janet Herrington, say that
includes other members of
her family, people at church
and others that she sees an
opportunity to assist. As
she thinks about what she
wants to do as a career, she
is interested in pediatric
nursing.
Kimberly has beautiful,
long, thick, healthy hair.
As she began to consider
cutting it, she decided
she wanted to donate it
to children who had lost
their own hair because of
medical conditions. The
idea continued to grow,
and Kimberly’s brunette
tresses continued to grow
until they were the right
length and it was time for
the donation.
Over Christmas break,
she donated 12-13 inches
of her hair to Wigs for
Kids. The donation was
made through Great Clips
on Bass Road in Macon.
Wigs for Kids is based in
Westlake, Ohio and has
been serving children and
teens for over 40 years. It
was started by a hairdresser
whose teenaged niece
asked him to make a wig
for her as she began to lose
her hair because of cancer
treatments.
“Our daughter has been
growing her hair over the
last three years with only
clipping it every now and
then,” said her mother.
“Kimberly has a big heart
and loves babies and chil
dren; so she felt this was a
way of helping a child even
if she didn’t know them.”
Kimberly’s parents have
lived in Monroe County
about 10 years. They have
been foster parents for
30 years. Her father said
God sent Kimberly and
her brother, Tony, to them
and they have truly been a
blessing.
He said at first he was
reluctant for her to cut her
long hair, but he realized
that Kimberly’s hair is so
thick and abundant that it
was uncomfortable for her
sometimes. He said she is
happy with her new, easier-
to-manage style.
Left, Kimberly Jackson smiles for her mom
just before cutting her long hair to donate
it. Above, the hairdresser at Great Clips in
Macon cuts over a foot of Kimberly’s hair
to give to Wigs for Kids.
At home Kimberly helps
with the chores at the
family’s farm and helps her
mother with crafting and
canning. Her dad said she
works hard in school and
has done well academi
cally. Her mom
said she enjoys
participating in
HOSA, the health occupa
tions club, at Mary Persons
and is developing some
plans for a future career
from HOSA activities.
“She’s very kind and has a
very giving spirit,” said her
dad. “It takes people show
ing love for an opportunity
to look at the world in a
different light. Children
like Kimberly and Tony
make it all worthwhile.”
Local groundhog: Spring on the way
By Diane Glidewell
news@mymcr.net
“Happy Spring!” was
General Beauregard Lee’s
message to the hundred
or so fans who gathered
at daybreak on Wednes
day, Feb. 2 to see what his
prediction would be for the
next few weeks of weather.
When the local groundhog
prognosticator emerged
from his hibernation at his
little mansion at Dauset
Trails Nature Center, he
didn’t see his shadow and
hammed it up
for the crowd
a bit instead of
rushing back
inside.
The tradition
says that if the
groundhog
sees his shad
ow on Feb. 2
and rims back
to hibernate
some more,
there will
be six more
weeks of win
ter weather.
If he comes
out from his
long sleep
and, seeing no
scary shadow,
stays outside to
check out the world, then
Spring is right around the
corner.
Ike English, director
of Dauset Trails, read
“Beau’s” prediction, which
he described as the 41st
declaration that Beau had
presented on the change
of seasons. Beau began his
career as a weather predic
tor in 1981 at Yellow River
Game Ranch near Stone
Mountain in metropolitan
Atlanta. When Yellow River
Game Ranch closed in
2015, he found a new home
at Dauset Trails, which
is just north of Monroe
County in Butts County.
Although not quite as
famous as his Pennsylvania
counterpart, Punxsutawney
Phil, Beau realized that a
prediction on
the end of winter
weather from
Pennsylvania was
unlikely to be
accurate for the
Southern United
States. So Beau
steps up to let his
Southern neigh
bors know what to
expect each year.
Dauset Trails
naturalist Gordon
Respress said that
as well as a trum
pet blast of “Rev
HIM
I
General
Beaure
gard Lee
wakes up
from his
2021-22
hibermation
and comes
out of his
Dauset
Trails mini
mansion.
(Photos/
Diane
Glidewell)
Monroe County s Michele Head, left, brought a group to hear the Ground
hog Day prediction and enjoy Waffle House hot chocolate.
Left, after waking up and giving his prediction Beau
scurries toward the Reporter but declines an interview.
eille,” Beau is awakened
each Ground Hog Day with
his favorite, Waffle House
hash browns. He washes
them down with some of
the famous medicinal water
from the spring at nearby
Indian Springs State Park,
which English declares is
what keeps Beau active
and accurately predicting
the weather long past the
normal life span of a ground
hog.
The Ground Hog Day
festivities at Dauset Trails
were cancelled in 2020 be
cause of Covid restrictions
and weren’t back to the
level they had been previ
ously. But there was still a
crowd waiting outside his
replica of a Southern man
sion, known as Weathering
Heights, to see what he
would say. Representatives
of Waffle House gener
ously offered hot chocolate
and coffee to help ward off
the chilly morning air, and
volunteers sold commemo
rative T-shirts and gave out
Groundhog Day buttons.
A variety of popular tunes
played in the background as
the Groundhog Jim-beau-
tron flashed interesting facts
about groundhogs, such as
that the groundhog’s body
temperature decreases from
a normal 98 degrees to 39
degrees while it hibernates
and that the groundhog is
a clean animal that builds
separate chambers in its
home for eating, sleeping
and bathroom activities.
Sara Devlin and Alexan
der Devlin drove all the way
from Fort Campbell, Ky. to
be a part of Groundhog Day
at Dauset Trails. Sara said
they attended the festivities
in Pennsylvania one year
and decided to head south
this year, leaving at mid
night to reach Dauset Trails
before the 7:31 a.m. sunrise.
Mark Gunter, who
donned a top hat for the
occasion, said this is the
5th year he has attended
Groundhog Day at Dauset
Trails. He tries to bring a
different family member
with him each year but
brought his father for a
return visit this year.
“It’s a fun, goofy day” said
English. “I have to remind
people that it’s not whether
you see his shadow, it’s
whether he sees it.”
Surprisingly, when Eng
lish asked the crowd who
wanted Spring and who
wanted more Winter, the
response was almost evenly
divided.
There was a note on the
habitat next door to Beau’s
that said the red tailed hawk
who lives there had left for
Groundhog Day and would
be back tomorrow. Ap
parently he doesn’t enjoy a
crowd of people at daybreak
on a frosty February morn
ing. Although English said
that Beau wakes up grumpy
some mornings, after a
few minutes to stretch he
seemed to enjoy checking
out his grounds and his
fans. A Dauset Trails staff
member said Beau is known
to put on a show of antics
for those watching on some
summer days.