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MONROE COUNTY
Community
Calendar
Calendar items run free
of charge as a community
service each week as space
allows. Mail items for the
Community Calendar to
Diane Glidewell at news@
mymcr.net by 8 a.m. on
Monday.
March 18
Pregnancy Center holds
Ribbon Cutting
The Pregnancy Center of
Monroe County will have
a ribbon cutting at its new
location, 562 North Lee
Street, Forsyth on Friday,
March 1 8 at 12 noon.
March 18-20,25-27
The Backlot Players &
BOOYA present "Sher
lock Holmes: the Baker
Street Irregulars"
The Backlot Players and
Backlot's Own Original
Youth Actors (BOOYA) will
present "Sherlock Holmes:
the Baker Street Irregulars"
on Friday, March 18-Sun-
day, March 20 and Friday,
March 25-Sunday, March
27 at 7:30 p.m. (Sundays
at 2:30 p.m.) at the Rose
Theater in downtown
Forsyth. The play is directed
by Elizabeth Hunter and
sponsored by Persons Bank
ing Company. Buy tickets
at www.thebacklotplayers.
org/tickets or call 478-994-
0443 for more information.
March 19
Save A Pet Tree Plant
ing Event
Staff and volunteers at the
Save A Pet shelter, 430
Maynard Church Road, For
syth invite supporters to join
them on Saturday, March
19 from 1 1 a.m.-2 p.m. at
a Tree Planting Celebra
tion. The group will plant
several “Trees of Hope” to
beautify the shelter grounds,
and there will be a blessing
of the trees. The trees will
represent hope for Save A
Pet to continue to thrive in
loving support and care for
dogs as they await forever
homes. For more information,
call the shelter at 478-994-
3882.
March 21
Best Buddies Talent
Show
The Best Buddies Talent
Show will be on Monday,
March 21 at 6:30 p.m. at
the Board of Education
Auditorium.
By March 25
Monroe County 4-H
Vidalia onion fundraiser
Monroe County 4-H Office
is having a Vidalia onion
fundraiser with orders due
by March 25: 5 lb. For
$6, 10 lb. For $10, 25 lb.
For $25, 50 lb. For $40.
Order at Monroe County
UGA Extension Office, 484
Highway 83 S, Forsyth or
call 478-994-701 4. Cash &
checks accepted.
March 29
Mary Persons FFA
Spring Plant Sale
The Mary Persons FFA
Spring Plant Sale will be
Tuesday, March 29 from
7 a.m.-5 p.m. in the green
house behind the school.
All plants are grown by
Agricultural Education stu
dents and FFA members, and
all sale benefit them. Cash
& check only. First come,
first served. Choose from
hanging baskets ($10), flats
($10), 6-packs ($3), and pots
($2-$5).
FFA Alumni/Supporters
meeting
Monroe County Schools
FFA Alumni & Supporters will
meet on Tuesday, March 29
from 7-8 p.m. in the Mary
Persons Ag Room (back of
the school by the green
house).
March 31
Informational meeting
about new voting rules
A non-partisan public infor
mation presentation will be
held Thursday, March 31st
6:30 p.m. at the Mt. Zion
United Methodist Church
Grace Pavilion, Evans Road
in Smarr. It will explain
absentee, early voting and
election day voting provi
sions in accordance with the
new rules in Senate Bill 202.
Everyone is invited to attend
See CALENDAR
Page 2B
11
Beporter
. March 16,2022
Community ib
Around Monroe County ► ► Forsyth • Juliette • High Falls • Bolingbroke • Culloden • Smarr
Don't miss the show, Sherlock
By Connie Copelan
ccopelan@bellsouth.net
The Backlot Players and Back-
lot's Own Original Youth Actors
(BOOYA) present "Sherlock
Holmes: the Baker Street Irregu
lars" on Friday, March 18-Sunday,
March 20 and Friday, March
25-Sunday, March 27 at 7:30 p.m.
(Sundays at 2:30 p.m.) at the Rose
Theater in downtown Forsyth.
Adapted by Eric Coble, "Sher
lock Holmes: the Baker Street Ir
regulars" is a play based on a series
of graphic novels by Tony Lee
and Dan Boultwood. In the show,
Sherlock Holmes has gone miss
ing, and crime floods the streets of
London. Enter the Baker Street Ir
regulars, a group of street children
hired occasionally by Sherlock to
assist with cases.
The group bands together not
only to prove that Sherlock is still
alive, but also to find the mayors
missing daughter, untangle a
murder mystery from their own
past, and face the masked crimi
nal mastermind behind it all—a
bandit who just may be the bril
liant but evil Moriarty, Sherlock
Holmes’ archnemesis.
The group of street children that
Sherlock Holmes himself termed
“the Baker Street Irregulars” ap
pear in two of Sir Arthur Conan
Doyles books, "A Study in Scarlet"
and "The Sign of the Lour." Led
by a boy named Wiggins, the
children collect information that
Holmes himself cannot. The name
“Baker Street Irregulars” was also
used by a Holmes literary society
founded in 1934 by journalist
Christopher Morley. In addition,
Pictured, left to right, is the cast that will bring you Sherlock Holmes: the Baker
Street Irregulars : Anita Stephens, Miley Humphreys, Debra Moore, Camryn
Miller, Paul Holmer-Monte, Evelyn Biers, Gloria Peavey, Josh Humphreys, Grace
Peavy, Rob Laukaitis, Rachel Hunter. Below is an action scene where the villain at
tempts to murder young Wiggins at the train depot.(Photos/Diane Glidewell
the group has been the focus of
various televisions shows, films,
radio dramas, video games, board
games, graphic novels, and stage
plays such as the one the Back-
lot Players is
producing.
“As the Rose
theater comes
back from
the Covid-19
pandemic,
we wanted
to produce
a show that
would appeal
to young and
older audienc
es,” explained
director Eliza
beth Hunter.
“This play has
everything - iconic characters,
mysteries, fight scenes on top of a
train, even a little bit of romance.
It’s a wonderful way to escape real
life for a little while.”
Backlot volunteers, local
adult and teen actors from
Lorsyth and surround
ing counties have been
working hard to continue
to create theater despite
the restrictions from
Covid-19. Since we opened
back up "The Baker Street
Irregulars" marks the Rose
Theater’s third play for the
season. Our BOOYA are
thrilled to join together
again for this production
and share their talents with
our patrons.
“There’s nothing like
live theater,” said Connie
Copelan, a guild mem
ber. “This past year we’ve
discovered that you can
watch theatrical produc
tions on TV or online,
but there’s nothing that
compares to sitting in a
dark theater and experiencing a
story with other people. I think
we need the arts more now than
ever to help us connect with each
other, to share stories and experi
ences, especially as we begin to
move past the pandemic and start
focusing on healing and recovery’
Lor more information, call The
Backlot Players at 478-994-0443
or go to www.thebacklotplayers.
org/tickets. Tickets are also avail
able by calling or stopping by the
box office Wednesday or Thurs
day (5:30pm - 7 pm) before each
weekend show or box office opens
two hours before show time each
night to grab tickets, if available.
An Irish Tale: A creative salute to St. Patrick's Day & Irish folklore
By Connor Yates
MOMS student
Jack O’Connor was
standing at the rail of the
large overnight ferry, wait
ing to arrive in Ireland, the
ancient green isle. “Hey
there, laddie,” the captain,
who sported the unfortu
nate name of Reily O’Reily,
shouted to him a few min
utes later, “Go wake your
parents. We be almost to
the ancient isle.”
Jack stood soaking in the
wondrous scenery in front
of the boat, giant cliffs and
strange foggy tops, before
he slowly went to his par
ents’ cabin. As he knocked
on the door and walked in
he saw his parents poring
over a diagram and talking
loudly. “We should bait
it with gold...” “No, don’t
you remember that the
little folk like Irish poitin.”
He laid down on the bed
and started to throw a rub
ber ball against the ceiling
to annoy Captain Reily.
“Hey you guys, we’re
almost there,” he com
mented to his distracted
parents. They suddenly
looked at him. “That’s
great,” his dad said while
his mom looked at Jack
sadly and qui
etly asked
him to
walk on
every
rock and
to please
cut the
soles of
his shoes
with scissors
just a little bit.
Jack figured his
parents were a
little crazy, but he went
along with every weird
little request because he
figured it couldn’t hurt
him or even make him
look weird. He was lanky
and somewhat tall, but not
super tall. He had red hair,
and green eyes. The most
unusual thing was that his
parents gave him some
black hard leather boots,
like a leprechaun would
wear.
“We’re here!” he heard
the captain shout. A little
while later, his family was
standing in an old tav
ern. “Yes laddie,
we have some
rooms for you.
How long will
ye be staying
with us?” “Oh,
only around
two days. We
have some
business to
conduct here in
your town,” Jack’s
father replied.
A day later, Jack was
wandering around the
town with nothing to do
and one shoe missing. He’d
already visited the store,
which had only the most
basic modern stuff (10
boxes of Lucky Charms
and a toothbrush), and
gone to the docks with his
thermal swim suit.
As he wandered around
the small traditional Irish
town, he heard his parents
arguing with a voice he
didn’t recognize near the
general store. He walked
around the back to hear
his mother say, “ I wish for
my son to have good luck
and to be free of the lepre
chaun curse.” Jack quietly
hid in a bush and heard,
“You know you can’t do
that without the payment.
I don’t have enough magic
by myself to do that,” said
the voice, which belonged
to a little man with a red
beard and a weird hat.
Then Jack’s father jumped
in with, “Then we wish
you’d call for a council of
faeries.”
“Now that, I can do,” the
little faery replied, “and
where do you want to tell
them to meet?” Jack saw
his parents confer and say
together to meet at the
inn room they had rented.
Before he had exited
the bush, he found
himself in the room,
surrounded in a greenish
light and in the air with
a large group of strange
creatures and his parents
watching. “What’s going
on?” he asked his mom
and dad.
“We’re giving you a good
future of non-enslavement.
We love you so much!” his
mom said to Jack. “What
are you guys giving up?”
he asked suspiciously.
“Everything we have," was
the only response he got
and he shouted “But why
are you doing this?”
But before he got his
response, everything went
green and all that was left
of the large crowd and his
parents was a greenish
stone. As Jack went to go
pick up the rock, he saw
his parents on two dif
ferent sides of the rock.
To his surprise, his mom,
now overjoyous, started to
tell him why they had to
See Irish Tale • Page 3B
Forsyth native serves tour with Americorps
AmeriCorps Week 2022 is
March 13-19, an opportunity to
recognize the service of
the 250,000 Americans
engaged in Ameri-
Corps and AmeriCorps
Seniors programs an
nually. These dedicated
citizens help communi
ties across the nation,
ensuring students stay
on track to graduate,
combatting hunger and
homelessness, respond
ing to natural disasters,
fighting the opioid epi
demic, helping seniors
live independently, sup
porting veterans and
military families, and much more.
Reagan Wilson of Lorsyth is
currently serving with the Na
tional Civilian
Community
Corps (NCCC),
a 10-month,
full-time Ameri-
Corps program.
Loundedin 1994,
AmeriCorps
NCCC strength
ens communities
and develops its
young adult mem
bers into leaders.
AmeriCorps
NCCC oper
ates out of four
campuses, which
serve as regional administrative
hubs and training facilities. These
campuses, located in Sacramento,
Calif., Aurora, Colo., Vinton,
Iowa, and Vicksburg, Miss., train
and deploy new classes of mem
bers several times each year. Wil
son began her term of service in
Fall 2021 at the Southwest Region
campus in Aurora, Colo, and will
graduate from the program in
August 2022.
As a Corps Member, Wilson is
completing a series of different
six- to 12-week-long service proj
ects in different places across her
assigned region as part of a 5- to
12-person team. Projects support
disaster relief, the environment,
infrastructure improvement, en
ergy conservation, and urban and
rural development. Before joining
the NCCC, Wilson graduated
from Mary Persons in 2019.
“Over the years, I watched my
mother serve others through the
American Red Cross, the Medi
cal Reserve Corps and twice as an
AmeriCorps VISTA,” said Wilson.
“I started my college work at the
University of Cincinnati but due
to COVID-19 restrictions, I was
not able to continue my studies.
I decided it was a great time to
follow a different track of learning
and growing. AmeriCorps NCCC
will allow me to meet new people,
help others in need and gain valu
able work skills.”
See AmeriCorps • Page 3B
Reagan Wilson