Newspaper Page Text
Page 2A
iEeporter
June 29, 2022
Wilder leaving Forsyth Main
Street after just 8 months
to take Univ. N. Ga. position
Frank Wilder sings ‘God Bless the USA at Monroe Coun
ty’s Memorial Day program on the square on May 30.
By Diane Glidewell
news@mymcr.net
Forsyth Main Street
will bid farewell to Frank
Wilder next week. The
Main Street director
just took the reins of the
organization, which is
tasked with promoting
economic development
and community engage
ment through encouraging
a vibrant downtown, in Oc
tober, but he brought prior
knowledge of Forsyth and
Monroe County and the
energy needed to revital
ize the program after the
pandemic shutdown.
Wilder said he loves
Forsyth and has enjoyed
promoting his hometown.
He said that deciding to
leave was a difficult deci
sion, but he was offered a
position in a field about
which he is passionate, and
that position offers ad
ditional education oppor
tunities, a chance to work
with individuals whom he
admires and pathways to
career advancement.
Wilder, who just turned
25, is returning to his alma
mater, the University of
North Georgia as Resident
Director of Student Affairs.
He will be responsible
for training student staff,
working with struggling
students and crisis inter
vention and coordinating
community involve
ment on campus among
other duties. Wilder was a
resident assistant during his
last three years at UNG and
worked for the department
he will now guide. He said
there are good people in
the organization that make
the position attractive to
him. Wilder will begin
working at UNG in mid to
late July, getting ready for
activities as students return
for the 2022-23 academic
year.
“Forsyth will always be
home,” said Wilder. “I will
still be involved here. I have
family and community
here.”
Wilder has roots sev
eral generations deep in
Monroe County. He is a
Mary Persons graduate,
and his father, Buck Wilder,
is Monroe County's chief
magistrate judge.
He will be able to see the
result of his work to bring
the Forsyth Independence
Day celebration to down
town, including a concert
and other attractions to
add to the event. Various
individuals in Forsyth had
talked about how much
they would like to see
fireworks downtown for
years, and Wilder made it
happen.
He worked to re-ignite
the Summer Concert series
and the Forsyth Farmers
Market and is seeing grow
ing attendance and excite
ment at the events this
summer. He is also pleased
with the rural zone grants
and facade grants given to
downtown businesses.
“They say we’ve had re
cord breaking attendance at
the events,” said Wilder.
He quickly says he can’t
take all the credit because
people were so eager to
get together as they came
out of the pandemic. He
said the momentum was
there and he worked to
keep it going. He is pleased
with how events and other
efforts of Main Street, like
promoting downtown
businesses on the Main
Street Facebook page, have
helped to strengthen rela
tionships with downtown
businesses.
Wilder said he has
done planning for events
through the rest of2022
and feels things will rim
smoothly as Forsyth seeks a
new Main Street director.
“I have a lot of great
experiences to be thankful
for,” said Wilder. “I’ve done
everything with love for
this community, wanting to
see it do well.”
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Randall Oliver of Jonah s learned how to work hard at his parents water park.
Oliver shows some youngsters
still have strong work ethic
By Steve Reece
stevereece@gmail.com
It isn’t necessary to have
years of experience to have
a good work ethic. Randall
Oliver who will be just 25
years old on June 30, is a
great example of that. Ran
dall is the frontend man
ager at Jonah’s on Johnston,
which is a full-time job, but
in addition to that, he also
helps his parents, Kimble
and Deann Oliver, with
their business, the High
Falls Water Park, keeping
the chemical levels correct
before he goes to work at the
pizza restaurant and at the
end of the day. Working at
the water park was his first
job as a kid.
He says the best part of
working at Jonah’s is split be
tween their regular custom
ers who he says are super
fun to talk to and chat with
and the great food he gets to
eat. The only negative thing
about the job he could think
4 Irk
EVERYDAY HEROES
of was having to stock the
freezer. He said after only a
few minutes of that, he has
to warm himself by standing
next to the pizza oven.
He grew up in High Falls
and graduated early from
Faith Academy after taking
college courses for double
credit. He then went to
Gordon College for a while
but decided it wasn’t a fit
and took courses at the
Atlanta Institute of Music
and Media. There he learned
about sound production
and runs the sound board
for the Southside Church
in Peachtree City for two
services every Sunday
morning. He said that’s a job
he could do every day and it
would never feel like work.
Randall enjoys hiking and
this week he is flying out to
Washington state for a 5-day
mountain climbing experi
ence up Mount Baker as a
birthday present to himself.
He will be joined by five
strangers who will probably
know each other well by the
time they reach the summit
of the glaciated mountain
which is one of the snowiest
places in the world.
He wants to tell other
young people, “Try as many
things as you can. Do as
many different things as you
can. Do things that you have
never done before while
you’re young and you’ll find
things that you like.”
Each week the Reporter
salutes an Everyday Hero
in Monroe County. Jason
Connell of Volume Chevrolet
donates $150 to each winner.
If you know someone who
works hard and deserves rec
ognition, email Steve Reece at
stevereece@gmail.com.
Forsyth Main Street
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