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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
Clidewell at news@mymcr.net
by 8 a.m. on Monday.
Aug. 11
Monroe County
Democratic Comm, to
elect delegates
Monroe County Demo
cratic Committee will elect
delegates to the 2022
Democratic Party of Georgia
State Convention on Thurs
day, Aug.l 1 at the St. Luke
AME Fellowship Hall at 6:30
p.m. The Monroe County
Democratic Committee is
allotted 2 delegates and
1 alternate. The Georgia
Democratic Party State
Convention will be held
Aug. 27 in Columbus. You
must be a registered voter in
Monroe County to qualify as
a candidate and complete a
candidate affidavit.
Aug. 17
Braves World Series
Trophy visits Forsyth
On Wednesday, Aug. 17
from 4-7 p.m. the 2021
Braves World Series Trophy
will visit Forsyth City Hall, 28
East Main Street for photo
ops with fans. Mary Persons
Baseball team will be selling
concessions that add to the
ballpark experience. Follow
the Forsyth Main Street
Facebook page for ways
to enter your name into a
drawing for awesome prizes.
Storybook Masquerade
Story Time
In celebration of Monroe
County Library's Centennia
there will be a Storybook
Masquerade Story Time
at 1 1 a.m. on Wednesday,
Aug. 17 at Monroe County
Library, 62 W. Main Street,
Forsyth
Aug. 23
First Baptist of High
Falls has Red Cross
Blood Drive
First Baptist Church of High
Falls, 4408 High Falls Road,
will have a Red Cross Blood
Drive from 2 - 7 pm in the
Fellowship Hall.
Genealogy Lock-in
In recognition of the Monroe
County Library Centen
nial the library will host a
genealogy lock-in after hours
for research beginning at 6
p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 23.
Registration is required.
Aug. 27
Friends of M.C. Library
Community Yard Sale
There will be a Monroe
County Library Centennial
Community Yard Sale to
benefit Friends of the M.C.
Library on Saturday, Aug. 27
from 9 a.m.-l p.m. Vendors
must pre-register.
Aug. 31
Monroe County Library
Centennial Celebration
Monroe County Library, 62
W. Main Street, Forsyth will
hold its Centennial Celebra
tion & Dedication Ceremony
at 10 a.m. on Wednesday,
Aug. 31.
Sept. 10
Juliette Roadway
Clean-up
The Juliette River Club will
have a Juliette Roadway
clean-up day on Sept. 10,
at 8 a.m. Meet at the
Juliette Fire station. All are
welcome to help.
Oct. 8
High Falls Triathlon
The High Falls Triathlon spon
sored by the Friends of High
Falls State Park will return
this year on Oct. 8. It will
be a three-mile run, 12-mille
bike ride and a 1.5 mile
kayak paddle to reach the
finish line. The event is limited
to 100 competitors and
benefits High Falls State Park.
The last High Falls Triathlon
was in May 2019. Sign up
at ultrasignup.com/register.
aspx?eid= 15162
On-Going
AA meetings
AA meetings are held at
Christ United Methodist
Church, 417 N. Frontage
Road, Forsyth on Tuesdays,
Thursdays & Sundays at 7
p.m.
iEeporter
August 10, 2022
Community ib
Around Monroe County ► ► Forsyth • Juliette • High Falls • Bolingbroke • Culloden • Smarr
Malcom Mitchell inspires Monroe County
Schools employees
By Diane Glidewell
news@mymcr.net
Monroe County Schools
invited motivational
speaker Malcolm Mitchell
to headline its 2022-23
Back to School convoca
tion on Thursday, July 28.
Mitchell, who gained noto
riety through his prowess
on the football field for
Valdosta High School,
University of Georgia and
the New England Patriots,
has successfully shifted
his focus to promoting
literacy.
In introducing Mitchell
at the gathering of employ
ees from all six Monroe
County schools, Superin
tendent Dr. Mike Hick
man said Monroe County
Schools has chosen as its
2022-23 theme, “Building
champs through literacy’
which is the theme of
Mitchell’s Share the Magic
Foundation in spirit if not
in those words. Hickman
said that although Monroe
County students per
formed well on the most
recent state tests, there are
still many students, espe
cially younger students,
who are working to make
up for the time they lost
away from regular face-to-
face learning.
As well as speaking to
the school system employ
ees, Mitchell returned to
speak at an open meeting
for the community where
he answered questions
from the crowd about
literacy, football, inspiring
young readers and things
between those topics.
Mitchell had a stellar
football career at UGA,
which led to his being
drafted by the Patriots in
2015. For many Atlantans
the most memorable game
of his career was the part
he played in defeating the
Atlanta Falcons in
the Patriots’ come-
from-behind Super
Bowl victory. Injuries
took Mitchell out of
the NFL after only two-
and-a-half seasons, but
at UGA he had begun
working on his literacy
skills in the same way he
had earlier worked on his
academic skills, and he was
ready to embrace a new
mission with a new team.
Mitchell’s persona is far
from the braggart one
might traditionally associ
ate with a football cham
pion. He spoke with pride
Left, Malcolm Mitchell likes the pro-literacy shift one of the
Monroe County Schools employees is wearing. Above, Mitchell
signs the children's book he authored for some Monroe County
teachers. Below, Mitchell poses for a photo opportunity with
some young fans.
about his
athletic skills
and about
working hard
physically and
mentally to be
successful in
the competi
tive game of
football. But
he was also
self depreci
ating as he
acknowl
edged forget-
See MITCHELL . Page 4B
CGEMC 85th annual meeting
attests to continued growth
By Diane Glidewell
news@mymcr.net
Central Georgia Electric Mem
bership Corporation (CGEMC)
held its 85th annual meeting on
Wednesday, Aug. 3 at CGEMC
headquarters annex on Highway
36 in Jackson. CGEMC provides
electricity to residences and busi
nesses in 14 counties, including
Monroe. Since it is a member-
owned company, it must have an
annual meeting with a quorum of
members present to elect its board
of directors and conduct other
required
business.
This
year 661
members
registered
as present at
the annual
meeting,
which met
the required
quorum,
but the ac
tual meeting
lasted less
than five minutes. For most of the
CGEMC’s existence since 1937,
its annual meeting has been an
important social gathering, espe
cially during years when the area
it served had multiple contested
political races on tap for the fall.
However, like many other com
munity gatherings, things changed
with the pandemic of2020, and
CGEMC continued a plan of
conducting the annual meeting
primarily by drive-through again
this year. Instead of the hot dogs-
chips-soda-ice cream sandwich
lunch where folks chatted while
they added their condiments
at long tables and while they
munched, plates of two sausage
biscuits and a bottled water
were handed out with smiles by
CGEMC employees as members
drove through after registering.
Along with breakfast, registered
members received the traditional
gift of an EMC bucket with two
LED lightbulbs and other gifts
marked with the
CGEMC moniker.
The buckets have
decreased in size
from five-gallon to
one-gallon but are
still useful, quality
buckets. Other gifts
for 2022 included
a combination
lantern-speaker, a
notepad, refrigera
tor clip and hand
sanitizer. Live
entertainment at
the annual meet-
Top: Most of those who attended the 85th CGEMC annual meeting saw
only a line of vehicles ahead of them as they pulled up to a station for
their bucket of gifts & breakfast. Left: One thing that hadn't changed from
previous meetings was the friendly welcome from CGEMC employees,
ing was replaced by a slide Above: CGEMC board chair Arthur White, at podium, conducted a brief meet-
show, wllich included some j n g. Monroe County's Phil Ham is at far left; Monroe County attorney Bobby
of the community projects Melton is 4th from left; CGEMC president/CEO George Weaver is far right,
in which CGEMC workers
had been involved during
2021 and pictures from the 2016,
2017,2018 and 2019 annual meet
ings.
For many years a major lure for
members to attend the annual
meeting was the drawing for up to
60 prizes donated by local busi
nesses plus a drawing for a major
grand prize. There were also prizes
for the oldest, youngest, longest
married and most recently mar
ried folks at the meeting. These
prizes have been replaced for
the last three years by credits on
CGEMC bills given to members
who register. The amount of the
credit isn’t disclosed before the
meeting, or even during the meet
ing, but was about $25 last year.
Information provided at the
Aug. 3 meeting showed that in
2021 CGEMC served 8,144 me
ters in Monroe County, third most
among the counties CGEMC
serves, behind only Henry County
(20,122) and Spalding County
(13,082) and just ahead of Butts
Count (7,097). CGEMC Opera
tion Round-Up awarded $16,273
in grants in Monroe County and
paid $231,123 in Monroe County
taxes.
Monroe County’s representative
on the CGEMC board of directors
is Phil Ham of Smarr. He is in the
midst of his three-year term and
wasn’t up for reelection. The three
directors whose terms were expir
ing, Warren Holder, Linda Jordan
and J. Everett Williams, were all
reelected without opposition.
In his written note provided to
members, CGEMC president/
CEO George Weaver said the
corporation’s mission continues to
be to provide “the highest quality
services at the lowest practicable
cost.” He said for the 10th consec
utive year CGEMC ranked among
the three lowest-cost electric
providers in Georgia.
Weaver highlighted the con
struction on a CGEMC-wide
fiber-to-the-home network that
started in June 2021 and now
serves almost 13,000 locations
and will reach 20,000 by the end
of2022. Other highlights in 2021
included adding about 1,500
new services and building over
40 miles of new electric facilities,
increasing the number of carbon-
free resources in CGEMC’s
energy portfolio and Fuel Georgia,
CGEMC’s natural gas subsidiary,
continuing to build its customer
base.